Young children in the theatre

[LyndaLaHughes]

So yesterday I took my two oldest children to the theatre. I left my youngest who is three at home. A family behind me had bought a three year old who proceeded to talk loudly constantly asking questions and his mother was then replying at normal volume to every question. It was all I could hear. Now I could understand if the child was talking and the mother was making an attempt to quieten them but she wasn't and she was also just speaking in a normal voice. I feel bad about it now as I know what it's like but WIBU to turn around and ask them to be quiet. I wasn't rude I just said that sorry but all I could hear was them talking. The mother's response was that he was three to which I replied that I had a three year old myself but left him at home as I knew I couldn't expect him to be quiet. Also this child was quiet clearly unwell and coughed non stop throughout the whole show. I know what it's like- I have a young child myself but was it unfair of me to be annoyed by this?

Definitely YANBU. You did the right thing to leave your 3 year old at home. She sounds like one of those people that doesn't give a shit about how her actions impact on others.

yadnbu

Yadnbu.

When I took my 4 year old to the theatre the manager made it very clear that I would be expected to remove her if there was the slightest hint of her disturbing anyone.
As I expected she was as good as gold and was enthralled throughout the performance. But I absolutely would have taken her out if necessary and had booked end of row seats just in case.
You should complain to the theatre management and ask for a refund. It is very selfish behaviour, tickets are so expensive.

Should have reported to usher - they would have told them, shut up or leave.

Was it a children's performance billed as suitable for age 3+ or an ordinary adult play?

The mother shouldn't have been talking at normal volume and should have encouraged quiet obviously, but if it was The Tiger Who Came To Tea or The Gruffallo ywbabu. If it was a more "grown up" play YANBU.

YANBU at all. I would be furious. Theatre tickets are not cheap. You could complain, I very much doubt the theatre will do anything unless you complained at the time - they don't like dishing out refunds!!
I absolutely hate the enabling behaviour of some parents... yes he is 3 but he still needs to learn that there are times when talking is not acceptable. If he is too young to understand that then LEAVE HIM AT HOME!

Very selfish behaviour from the mother. We had this at a cinema recently. It was a children's film but not a film for children as young as the little boy in front of us who talked, questioned and generally created distraction during parts of the film. He was there with both of his parents and two older siblings and I really don't see why one of the parents couldn't have either stayed at home with him or brought him out when he got noisy.

Thank you for your replies. I don't feel so bad now! It was Wicked. So not a show I would consider suitable for that age no.

YADNBU- Wicked I would assume is billed at an older audience (seen it several times so know the content and wouldn't dream of taking my two little ones to see it).

Fair enough if you want to try your child at the theatre, but sit on an end and discuss what's gone on at the interval or in a whisper very quickly.

That's outrageous.
Mind you, people do behave incredibly badly in theatres now. We went to see 42nd Street and as the show started the people behind us loudly starting eating their Byron Burger dinner. WTAF. How they got it past security I do not know.

Went to see Matilda a couple of weeks ago and lady behind had a probably about 8 year old? Good age for the show. However she sang loudly and enthusiastically along with every number - completely ruining it for the others around her. Mummy smiled wildly at how talented her daughter was. The tickets were £70 each 🤬

Yep Wicked is clearly unsuitable for a 3 year old so YANBU.

We've had kids performances spoiled by extrovert adults singing along though (chatting and giggling abozt their inner child before the lights went down and possibly somewhat tipsy at a matinee...), it's not always kids!

I wasn’t allowed to take my three year old into wicked in 2008, times have changed

We went to see the Addams family and there was a family behind us, the one child was constantly moaning, up and down out of his seat and eventually ended up on his mums lap who was sat behind me kicking my chair 

Ugh. YADNBU.

I only took DD to cinema/theatre once she was old enough to follow my instructions of silence or quiet whispers only when necessary. I also taught her NEVER to kick the back of the chair in front.

In this day and age where cinema tickets can be £15 pp and theatre tickets often £70-£100 pp, it’s not fair to take children who can’t behave.

There are child friendly shows where it’s better for young fidgety children to go to while they learn. As adults we need to teach our children the common courtesies and considerations that cinema or theatre visits require.

The very expensive Lion King was ruined by other theatre goers. There were too many of them all over the place to get them all to stop. Young children moaning and talking, adults crunching with packets of food, adults and teens talking about every bit of it, mummies and their little darlings having a full blown conversation about every element of the show. I felt like standing up and screaming out SHUT UPPPPP!!!! People are getting worse, don’t get me started about people talking into loudspeaker on their phones or playing with tablets without headphones. Rudeness is increasing, it seems.

We went to see a Shakespeare play. In front of us was a girl of about 14 (so perfectly appropriate age for her to be there) with her family. The mum kept talking to the girl at normal volume throughout (and the girl would then chat back to her) and we were really struggling to hear. Not just the odd quick comment but a constant stream. Towards the end of act 1 DH said to the mum that we would like to be able to hear the performance and not their conversation. The mum looked at us with absolute entitled outrage and said "but I'm helping her understand it better!" She was genuinely astonished that we might feel her choice to edify her daughter about the plot points or conventions of Shakespeare during the performance shouldn't be everyone else's top priority too.

YANBU. Wicked is billed as being suitable for ages 7 plus. Totally irresponsible to take a 3 year old.