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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think waiting rooms are not playgrounds

380 replies

FairfaxAikman · 27/03/2018 10:36

Feeling like utter crap today and functioning on very little sleep as a result I hauled myself to a GP appointment this morning.
In the waiting room was a toddler who was LOUD!
They were running around the whole of the large waiting room pushing a large digger and shouting and squealing at the top of their voice.

I'm all for kids playing and enjoying themselves, but AIBU to think a Doctors waiting room, which is full of sick people, is not the time or place for it?

OP posts:
Sleepyblueocean · 27/03/2018 14:00

Tbh I dread doctors and hospital appointments because of the waiting room. He needs both of us with him now to keep him safe and he is not going to sit nicely and quietly in a place that isn't geared up for his needs. We always hope that we will be given somewhere else to wait but that is often not possible.

goose1964 · 27/03/2018 14:02

Two words indoor voice.

WannaBeWonderWoman · 27/03/2018 14:07

In this situation I thank god that it's not my kid that I have to do anything about, and that my 4 are all older now so dealing with that crap is over.

Kids make noise, get over it.

If it was a sick kid who was crying in pain, would you get antsy with the parents about it?

I don't think kids are less well behaved or parents lazier these days, more that people are less tolerant and more self entitled.

Thequeenisdeadboys · 27/03/2018 14:11

YABU

NutElla5x · 27/03/2018 14:13

Imsosceptical the child was a toddler ie little more than a baby.It was not being a brat,having temper tantrums,running up to people and smacking them on the legs.It was merely playing Personally I love to watch littl'uns running around playing in the doctors waiting room,it takes the monotony out of the usually long wait.If the child happens to just sit there quietly I think poor thing there must be something really wrong with it.

Gileswithachainsaw · 27/03/2018 14:16

You can't have then running round though Confused

What if people are carrying their baby or sick chikd in and don't see them and trip
over.

Or people who are unsteady on their feet.

You have to try and contain them out of way between the desk and the door at least

Gottagetmoving · 27/03/2018 14:22

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NutElla5x · 27/03/2018 14:25

This particular child was very helpfully shouting and squealing so the chances of him/her being unnoticed and tripped over would have been very slim.

Louiselouie0890 · 27/03/2018 14:25

People get so hysterical over these things lol

incywincybitofa · 27/03/2018 14:27

The last time I took my child to the GP there were adults being noisier ruder more annoying than any child. Adults unaware of their indoor voice, or that their obnoxious opinions on foreigners was offensive, or that most of us in the waiting room didn't want to hear the details of their latest gardening project or their off spring's success at uni.
I would far rather hear a child playing than any of that.
Adults behave badly in the waiting room as well.

Gottagetmoving · 27/03/2018 14:27

I don't think kids are less well behaved or parents lazier these days, more that people are less tolerant and more self entitled

I think you are wrong. Children will behave as they like unless parents guide and teach. Children are not a problem, it's usually the parents lack of awareness and responsibility that is.
People are not less tolerant, in fact people bend over backwards to 'understand' and do tolerate far more than they did years ago.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 27/03/2018 14:29

Nobody is hysterical. Just some posters saying that it's unfair to leave your child to make as much noise as they want in a GP's surgery.

NutElla5x · 27/03/2018 14:30

It's very sad you think it's impossible to manage a child that you would make such an extreme sarcastic response like that. Grow up.

It's very sad that some people are so po-faced and miserable that they can't bare to see a small child enjoying itself.Chill the fuck out and give parents a fucking break.

BishopBrennansArse · 27/03/2018 14:31

Portable babycage? 😂😂

To think waiting rooms are not playgrounds
Gileswithachainsaw · 27/03/2018 14:31

I've heard it all now.

It's ok to let them scream and make a racket cos at least people will hear where they are when they run about and won't fall over them Hmm

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 27/03/2018 14:32

You're one of those parents aren't you NutElla Wink

NutElla5x · 27/03/2018 14:35

That was a joke Giles.Fuck me sideways some of you lot are uptight!

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 27/03/2018 14:40

That wasn't a joke in any shape or form. And you have no room calling anyone uptight! Grin

Bodicea · 27/03/2018 14:40

Well aren’t you the perfect pArent op. I am sure your kids are quiet at the drs because of your amazing parenting skills nothing to do with their personalities. For the record I have one dd that could be kept quiet with books etc and one did that can’t keep still for a minute, and would be v noisy probably. Not much I can do about it. He is what he is.
I did once have an elderley man shout at me for letting my son run around the waiting room. I was heavily pregnant there wad a child with chicken pox in the side room and no toys. His charming wife then chipped in “I hope he traps his hand in the door.”Needless to say a few people complained and it wasn’t about me or my son.

NutElla5x · 27/03/2018 14:41

You're one of those parents aren't you NutElla
Yes *GreatDuck one of my kids is expelled from school,one has an asbo and one is in jail,and all because I just couldn't be bothered to tell them off for playing in the doctors waiting room when they were toddlers Wink

ChainVaper · 27/03/2018 14:51

Before kids I would’ve probably felt the same. After having 2 lovely kids one of which is a lovely energetic boy I’m not going to strap him to a waiting room chair in my gp for anyone, especially if he’s playing with a toy that’s there for that purpose. Trust me the parent will be feeling just as stressed as you to be stuck in a waiting room full of people judging their parenting and won’t have dragged their toddler along for the fun of it. YABU! Nobody wants to be in these places !

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 27/03/2018 14:55

We are in a GP surgery for a very finite time

Is fractious toddlers really the end of the world ? NO

Can’t even believe someone was pissed off to the extent they started a thread

Imsosceptical · 27/03/2018 15:05

Nutella5x, not everyone sat in the GP surgery, clearly feeling unwell finds your child running smock an ‘ah bless’ moment, you clearly feel entitled and a priority, gawd you could have been the first person to ever give birth WOW, but in reality most of those patients have been parents with successful kids and look at you and just feel pity... but your language and disrespect to other posters says more about you than anything, I totally understand why you write what you write and I pity you.

TammySwansonTwo · 27/03/2018 15:06

My crazy twin is generally better behaved at home. He spends the day picking up whichever toy takes his fancy, brings it to me and then we play with it together. That’s because he’s alreasy spent days on end repeatedly pulling out doorstops and banging the doors together, tipping over stools and chairs, trying to climb into and on the coffee table and now knows the toys are the most interesting bit. In a new space with lots of new things? I’m screwed, especially when I have both of them there.

The calmer one recently had a clinic appointment while he was an inpatient having tests. He was uncharacteristically loud and crying no matter what I did, I got all the looks, but those people didn’t know he was very unwell and hadn’t been allowed to eat for nearly 18 hours by then. I think most adults would be pretty miserable too.

I do my best but 18 month olds are curious and have no concept of inside voices.

OneStepSideways · 27/03/2018 15:13

Not unreasonable to feel annoyed, but what did you expect the mum to do? Sometimes 2 year olds just won't sit quietly no matter how hard you try to engage them in a book/game. You can restrain them but that will likely cause a full blown ear shattering tantrum. You can tell them off but they often take no notice. In a cafe you can threaten to take them out if they keep misbehaving, but not if you're waiting to see the doctor.

I usually let mine watch Peppa Pig but then people glare at me because the iPad is noisy!