To be mad at Starbucks hosting a musical baby morning

[imnotreally]

My local Starbucks is located on the junction of an A road, just outside of town. People go there to work or to take business meetings. It also happens to be near the towns crematorium so a lot of mourners stop there for a coffee. I go because it’s a grown up coffee, away from the kids, I can have peace and quiet and think or work.

This morning I got there and half the seating was reserved. It turned out that a large portion of the seating area was being turned into a mother and baby/toddler group. Ok, fair enough but not really what you expect from a place where professionals meet. Then came the music. Loud kids music which involved clapping and singing along.

Am I being unreasonable to think they picked a totally inappropriate place and Starbucks are crazy to have arranged it?!

I can also imagine there are probably a lot of parents who would prefer it to be in a community centre or somewhere where the coffee is a bit cheaper.

since when are coffee shops offices ????
it's super annoying when people use them as their office and have meetings then glare at others who have come to meet friends and chat and bring (gasp) children because mums cant sit in the house all day alone !!!!!!!
go rent an office !!!

Yes OBlomov18 lets get all those mother and toddler groups in a freezing church/parish hall. Oh and I do not know how you cope with not having more child free venues!!

The Starbucks near where I work has business meeting tables set up in the basement, alongside regular tables. Been that way for a couple of years. People have meetings in there all the time.

I would not be annoyed at kids being their unless they were running around. But the music and clapping would seriously pee me off. As would aforementioned business meetings being noisy.

I'd find this annoying. Groups of parents and kids meeting? No problem.
Singing and parenting VERY LOUDLY - too much.
It happened to me recently. I was meeting a friend for a coffee and she was telling me a very serious story. Next thing we are silenced by the nursery rhymes beside us.

Kids in Starbucks - obviously fine, although I'd probably go to a different coffee shop myself if I walked in and saw them.

Kids and parents in Starbucks singing loudly - not fine, and I'd expect the staff to ask them to be quieter.

Kids and parents in Starbucks singing loudly at some kind of event organised by Starbucks - fine, obviously they can hold whatever event they want on their premises, and I'd just take my business elsewhere at that particular time.

Those of us agreeing with theOPthat It's annoying to find a coffee chain hosting an organised toddler group are objecting to the singing and clapping, not the mere presence of toddlers
This. ^^
Presence of children - fine
Loud groups with music and singing - bloody irritating

Why is it some people seem to think everywhere is a place for children to be loid and noisy and play? And then worse, their argument to anyone who objects and says 'readomable chatter is fine but being loud isn't appropriate' is yeah but if people want quiet they shouldn't go out, should go to thr library, should hire an office. Wjy should they? They aren't seeking silence. They just don't want to be subjected to nursery rhymes, peppa pig and loud play.

Then it's but some people have loud phone calls...ooh business people. Again. People being loud is rude and inconsiderate just like parents having loud play abd sing song.

Hardly rocket science - don't be loud or inconsiderate in public places (true of phone calls and loud play). Being a Mum eith a toddler doesn't change that.

I go to a baby group every week in a coffee shop...my fave group as the coffee is decent and included in the price. It's a public place...if you don't like it you can leave and go to one of the other 20 coffee shops nearby 🤔

If ever I need a definition of over-entitlement this will do. Starbucks are in business to make money, and the only power anyone has over them is the power to withhold their own custom. I love the arrogance of the OP's imagining that her need for a quiet place to think should come before the needs of twenty others to have a friendly and happy family event.

I've missed a trick here...
When my dc were younger it was frowned upon to take up seating in a coffee shop to have a meet & greet with other mums and now my dc are teens I can't even get into a coffee shop because they are filled with mums having a meet & greet.

That argument does rather lose relevance when the parents concerned are attending an event specifically billed as a singalong for toddlers though maisy. If they'd all randomly decided to descend on an unsuspecting coffee shop and throw an impromptu music fest, that would be unreasonable. As it is, they're not doing anything remotely wrong by attending a function aimed at them and engaging in the activity advertised.

I don't have kids and would not be particularly pleased to see the baby group but I think YABU. They have a right to be there and of course all Starbucks cares about is money - they're a business, it's how it works. Nothing wrong with that.

I just love how you think "professional" people are allowed to conduct work meetings there, but parents aren't allowed to meet there, that's hilarious. It's a coffee shop that sells horrible coffee, not a board room.

You do know that no one has more right over a space than anyone else, right?

it smacks of unprofessionalism having a business meeting in public Exactly, I hope they aren't discussing confidential matters there...

it smacks of unprofessionalism having a business meeting in public

Fucking hell, is this line still going?

It's not Mad Men any more, you know; work is no longer confined to offices and to swish restaurant lunches. Sneering at people working/having meetings in cafes is outdated. End of.

cantuccini that's exactly what I tell DD when she complains that the smell of the fish and chip shop makes her feel sick. It's her problem, she has to avoid these places, not expect them not to exist. It's the same thing.

Before the Sainsbury's café opened, the only place I could take my DC to eat after clubs was Café Nero, due to DD's sensory issues with greasy food. It was extortionate, and all I could get them was paninis, not a proper meal. DS2 was still a toddler, but I had no other option.

Starbucks does free babychinno, has baby seats, baby change and sells marshmallows covered in chocolate. Of course they want the mummy money.

Next thing you know those same parents will be sitting on a bus with an unfolded b iggy in a space not needed by anyone else and thinking they're as entitled to live their life as normal people. The cheek. The horror.

Even our local Art Galleries run baby / toddler groups because its easy money and it well advertised so people can go elsewhere if they prefer

it was frowned upon to take up seating in a coffee shop to have a meet & greet with other mums why would it be frowned upon to go to a coffee shop and buy and drink coffee?

YABU

It's fantastic that the space is open to all.

Look, people can hold business meetings in whatever public place they want, provided the owners if there are any don't object. It's a free country. Other people can take the view that this is unprofessional if they want, again because it's a free country. And the people who are holding the business meetings there don't have to give a single fuck about what others consider professional. So far, so reasonable.

What you can't reasonably do is start complaining because a space you weren't paying for the exclusive use of becomes unconducive to the business you felt entitled to conduct there.

Hardly rocket science - don't be loud or inconsiderate in public places (true of phone calls and loud play). Being a Mum eith a toddler doesn't change that

How do you suggest the mums keep their toddlers quiet? Frighten them into silence?
Toddlers are by nature loud and inconsiderate. They grow out of it. You can explain being considerate to them, but they are still egocentric because their brains are very underdeveloped compared to an older child.

I'm happy for my toddler to talk loudly, sing and express her feelings, coffee shop or not. Her development and sense of security is my priority. Being loud and excitable is age appropriate behaviour. I don't care if people want to conduct a business meeting or drink their coffee in serene silence- it's a coffee shop that welcomes kids.

I don't think there's anything wrong with showing toddlers how to behave in public enclosed spaces –indoor voice, careful when moving about, don't run about wildly etc. Especially when running about might mean them knocking hot food and drinks off tables/spilling them over themselves and others.

Never knew Starbucks was a meeting/work place. It's people who have turned such places into work/meeting zones. Starbucks can host whatever activity they want as long as it's legal. It's a coffee house for goodness sake.YABU.

I think this post boils down to what people feel is appropriate behaviour in a public space more than anything. Some don't mind people (of any age) being loud and intrusive to others. Some, like me, feel that wherever you are (supermarket, coffee shop, train), it's appropriate to keep your voice to a normal indoor level and not inflict your music, streamed videos, or loud phone calls on others. Exceptions are places designed for people to let off steam and be loud (soft play, parks). It's turned into business professionals versus mums and kids (cleverly, where did OP go?) but the elements of the behaviour that make a coffee shop singalong inappropriate are exactly those which would make a worker's behaviour equally inappropriate if they were sat in a Starbucks singing at the top of their voice!