WIBU? - Child waking the street

[Iltavilli]

We live on a cul de sac with a ginnel (alley for non-northerners) at the bottom, so it is often used as a cut through for people walking children to the local schools about half a mile away. Leaving the house this morning around 8am (huge lie in as I normally leave at 6am), a girl of around 7 or 8 was being walked to school by her mum.

The girl was banging what looked like two plastic sticks together, quite loudly, and was shouting “get up, get up, it’s time for school and work” all the way along the street. She was about 100 metres ahead of her mum, but mum was laughing along and not trying to stop her. I said to the girl that some people, like nurses, work at night and need to sleep in the morning so they can take care of people the next night. The girl burst into tears, and as mum got to where we were (outside my house) shouted at me for making her daughter cry.

Given the weather is so warm, and people have windows open to sleep, was I wrong to ask the girl to stop - but also to explain why she should stop?

Bloody hell. She doesn’t sound pleased at all.

It’s not just shift workers - parents of young babies, people with serious health issues, people who are unwell. Some noise is unavoidable, this isn’t. I’d be mortified if one of my children did this and I definitely wouldn’t be laughing!

Very inconsiderate of them. Well done for speaking up op

You were right, bad behaviour, but you should have spoken to the mum not the child. I was still in bed at 8am!

YANBU. There is a big difference between ordinary noise and deliberately making a racket and shouting "Get up!" - that is just plain rude and inconsiderate.

8am on a weekday isn't that early, so possibly yabu...

Except it’s when my dh is just dropping off to sleep after night shift.

I don't get how people feel they have a right to interfere with others.

What, like by deliberately waking them up, you mean?

If I was her mum I’d have to you to fuck off. Then I’d make a point in doing it every day outside you house. Only I’d bring a tambourine, moracas and dds flute.

Massively childish reaction. God help your kid when he/she realises that you can’t do exactly as you please in life and you have to have some consideration for others.

The child was being anti-social and the mother was an idiot for allowing it. Plenty of people work irregular hours, medical staff, emergency services etc. No-one expects silence, but I’d expect anti-social behaviour to be stopped.

Well done OP, that mother isn't doing her child any favours with her poor parenting, a case of the apple not falling far from the tree.

The child is only acting out the rude behaviour of the mother who thinks it's funny to deliberately be rude and inconsiderate to others then swearing in front of her child.

I pity the child's teacher having to deal with that child and mother. She's probably known as that parent.

Normal noise fine. I asked two neighbours that were letting their children scream under my (ground floor bedroom) window and batter a football against it to stop as I was on nights. They grumbled but 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️ tough, go bash a football against your own window or walk to the pitch 3 minutes away

Gosh YABU. What an unkind thing to do to a small child enjoying themselves! Who made you noise warden?

If I was her mum I’d have to you to fuck off

And that would have explained her behaviour.

Perhaps @cottonwoolmouth could consider a namechange to feralpottymouth

Well done op! Can’t fathom the mother’s indignation. Some people are just selfish to the core I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️

What an unkind thing to do to a small child enjoying themselves!

So, you think children can do whatever they like if they happen to be enjoying themselves? Really?

YANBU. The girl's mother should have stepped in as soon as she started making a noise and explained that people have all sorts of legitimate reasons for needing to be asleep at 8am.

It's never to early to teach someone good manners and consideration for others.

You seem quite pleased that you made a 7-year-old cry

Obviously untrue, but it is horrible for a child to be told off by someone who is not their parent. Which is why parents have to teach their children how to behave, to save them that embarrassment.

Well someone had to be 'noise warden' because the mother sounds useless.

I assume it'd be OK to tell the kid off if she was enjoying herself throwing stones or scratching cars? Or is that off limits too in case the poor little darling is too upset?

Better someone tell her, gently, that some people are still asleep than an irate person on nights swear at her from their window. But if that's what the mother wants I'm sure it'll happen one day.

Good for you it is not for the girl/her mother to decide whether or not people should be up or not.

It's not "unkind" to calmly intervene when a child is disturbing everyone with poor behaviour.

Then I’d make a point in doing it every day outside you house. Only I’d bring a tambourine, moracas and dds flute.

It would probably coincide with the time I needed to water my garden with my powerful and inaccurate hose.

“I assume it'd be OK to tell the kid off if she was enjoying herself throwing stones or scratching cars? Or is that off limits too in case the poor little darling is too upset?”

Don’t be daft, can’t you tell the difference in levels of behaviour between singing in the morning and scratching a car?

Whilst it's not particularly early, the noise wasn't exactly necessary or just general noise from someone playing either was it? It was noise being made deliberately to annoy and wake people up. YANBU OP, I'd have said something too and probably wouldn't have so polite either - nor cared if I made the child cry.

YANBU - It's basic manners. Good on you for saying something. It never ceases to amaze me how people can have so little consideration for others - the other day there was a group of around 8 adults standing chatting in the street outside my house for around 30 minutes at 11pm doing a drunken drawn out goodbye after a party - I was far too scared to tell them to shut it

What an unkind thing to do to a small child enjoying themselves

The world does not revolve around small children and their ineffectual parents.

I don't know. Many night shifts are only just finishing and handing over at 8am, so they wouldn't be asleep. A minority may work odd shifts outside this. I can see there may be others affected, but for a one-off and relatively innocuous behaviour from a child I wouldn't have intervened.

I hate the bloody shift worker crap argument! When I was on mat leave and my baby and I were day napping I didn’t go mad if someone mowed their lawn or a child laughed outside my home.

You could have said something to the mother OP but I guess you don’t want to go head to head with an adult- easier to make a child cry!

can’t you tell the difference in levels of behaviour between singing in the morning and scratching a car?

Can't you tell the difference between "singing in the morning" and shouting, which is what the child was actually doing,along with banging sticks.