To be annoyed...

[Oartistic]

...by people who refer to 'my eldest' and 'my youngest' when they only have two children?

Why?

It's perfectly sensible.

It would only be odd if the parent of an only child did it.

Well it should be elder child or younger child but I wouldn’t get annoyed.

Yes you are. To be ‘annoyed’ by it so much you felt the need to post online about it is a bit odd, especially as they do have an eldest and a youngest. What other term should they use that wouldn’t insight such anger from you?

I refer to mine as the eldest and youngest

Because they are

Why does it bother you so much

How would you like them to refer to their DC, OP? One is older, one is younger...I don't see a problem.

You need to post this on the pedants' corner board.

What a total non issue.

Well it should be elder child or younger child but I wouldn’t get annoyed.

This.

How else should they refer to them? I say this about my kids, especially if I am speaking to people who don’t know my kids or how old they are.

How many people do you know that says that?

Agreed, non issue.

Seriously ?
What would you like them to called ? Number 1 and number. 2 ?

No wonder so many mums post on these boards that they are struggling to make friends with other mums when there are women around who analyse every minutiae of every interaction they ever have and judge people for it.

Eh?

@Bluntness100 it should be "elder" and "younger" when there are only two, strictly grammatically speaking.

I can usually see why things might be annoying, but I'm stumped with this one. What exactly are you objecting to?

I'm flummoxed over this one OP.

I call my two youngest and oldest. How bizarre.

I have four dc, my two youngest being twins and I often call the second eldest my middle child. I'm a lost cause eh

It’s a complete non-issue but most people have got something they care about slightly too much!

But yes, ‘eldest’ implies three or more.

Eh?
Wierd. What a non issue.

It's actually sensible. It saves time. A lot in conversation.

It lets the other person quickly know that you've got more than one child, and it could explain so much more : eg:

that this child you are referring to isn't your first, they are younger, So ........ possibly more mature because they've always had an older sibling to copy?

it also means that you've been through this before i.e. this isn't the first time that you've done potty training / primary school applications / secondary school application etc, GCSEs etc.

It could also imply that you're not a PFB mum , you've seen it all before, not much shocks you now!

explains quite a lot actually without having to say my eldest son is aged so-and-so and my second daughter is aged so-and-so.

I’m presuming you mean elder/younger rather than eldest/youngest. I agree with you if I’m being pedantic, but it would also mean I was being a bit of an arse.

Yes. It's the comparative/superlative thing. I don't really come across it much IRL, but it appears all the time on here. I don't know why it winds me up so much (especially as it's hardly life-threatening), but it's just one of those little things that makes me feel slightly murderous. I fully accept that many people would regard it as pedantic, though and also accept that I am possibly an arse

also trying not to be a pedantic arse about 'insight' and 'incite' in response to the third reply to my OP

MirandaWest 😂

@MirandaWest

I say eldest and youngest even though I appear to only have 2 children as my middle child died. It seems wrong to completely ignore her existence but equally it's often a conversation killer so I don't tend to bring it up unless I know folks