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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

WIBU? - Child waking the street

411 replies

Iltavilli · 21/05/2019 17:24

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?

OP posts:
FrancisCrawford · 21/05/2019 19:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ScreamingValenta · 21/05/2019 19:45

OnlyFoolsnMothers

so using that logic everyone should walk round likes it 3am every day? Does that also give night workers the right to mow their lawn at 2am?

If, by walking round 'like it's 3am' means not making unnecessary gratuitous noise, absolutely they should. There's no need for people to shout and yell on public streets at any time of the day, save in an emergency situation.

The lawn-mowing example was yours, not mine. I don't class that as unnecessary gratuitous noise and I doubt a normal domestic mower would wake me up.

If anyone wants to try to mow their lawn in pitch darkness, good luck to them - just hope nothing's pooed on their lawn Grin.

tor8181 · 21/05/2019 19:46

good on you,i would have given the mother a mouthfull too for not thinking of others

we dont go to sleep till 6-9am (or not at all some days he has been know to go 3 days straight without sleep) as i have children with severe disabilities that dont sleep and have no concept of time and as we home educate we dont have to get up for school

there is a school at the end of our street and we get woken up/hear children shouting and screaming at 10 to 8 every school day as they are on their way to breakfast club

if she was outside my house and i only had a bit of sleep i would be fuming as well as once mine is up hes up,be it 8 hours sleep of 8 minutes

people need to think that no every one fits into a normal life style(ie sleep at a certain time,get up at certain time and not everyone is in school)

RomanyQueen1 · 21/05/2019 19:52

YWNBU, some people don't operate the same hours as others.
I'd have done the same, maybe spoken to the mum though.

AlexaAmbidextra · 21/05/2019 19:52

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

🙄. Why are some people so intent on seeing things that aren’t there? It must take quite a bit of effort.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 21/05/2019 19:54

So what if the child have special needs and the OP just made her cry?

My issue is the point should be raised with the mother not the child! If you don’t it’s not because you think your teaching the child it’s because you are a coward !

BoneyBackJefferson · 21/05/2019 19:56

OnlyFoolsnMothers
So what if the child have special needs and the OP just made her cry?

The unltimate "what if"

The shut up cos SEN argument.

We have reached the bottom of the barrel.

SoupDragon · 21/05/2019 19:58

Singing comes in all different volumes. It’s no big deal.

She was shouting. No one was singing other than in your imagination.

WaxOnFeckOff · 21/05/2019 19:58

So what if the child have special needs and the OP just made her cry?

Then the parent should have been providing appropriate supervision. Also, having special needs doesn't mean that you have carte blanche to do what you like at all times.

AlexaAmbidextra · 21/05/2019 19:59

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.

In your little bubble maybe. Lots of police night shifts are 10pm to 6am.

teyem · 21/05/2019 19:59

The shut up cos SEN argument.

Confused

Nice.

FrancisCrawford · 21/05/2019 20:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WaxOnFeckOff · 21/05/2019 20:01

My issue is the point should be raised with the mother not the child! If you don’t it’s not because you think your teaching the child it’s because you are a coward !

No, I have no problem dealing with an adult, the adult wasn't beside the child in this scenario. Just the same as if a child is playing out and I tell them off for something, I'm not going to leave them to it whilst I go an find their adult. I just don't get the angst about other people telling your DC off tbh.

lifetothefull · 21/05/2019 20:02

I don't think that was bad behaviour from the child. It was a child being playful on her way to school. If you know full well that a neighbour works shifts and goes to bed at 7:00am yanbu, but to do it just generally is over the top.
However we all had to deal with grumpy grown ups when we were children so no harm done.

Tolleshunt · 21/05/2019 20:02

My issue is the point should be raised with the mother not the child! If you don’t it’s not because you think your teaching the child it’s because you are a coward !

This just doesn't make sense. The child was with the mother. The mother would know what was going on regardless of who was addressed. So no cowardice about it. You're just making stuff up to try and get at the OP.

FrancisCrawford · 21/05/2019 20:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WaxOnFeckOff · 21/05/2019 20:05

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.

People work all sorts of shifts. DH sometimes does lates where doesn't start until 10 or noon, so quite likes a longer lie on those days. If there is general noise (we also live by a school) that's just life, this wasn't general noise, it was a deliberate attempt to wake people up. There is a difference.

MRex · 21/05/2019 20:06

YANBU, there's no need to deliberately try and disturb everyone's peace.

Daphnesmate · 21/05/2019 20:06

My dd sometimes makes a noise, shouts if she cant get her way in the morning on the school run - I ask her to think of others who may still be sleeping (whilst wishing that I was also able to have a lie-in).

WaxOnFeckOff · 21/05/2019 20:07

It's a bit like someone playing with a ball in the street, it accidentally hits your door, you either ignore 'cos it was accident, or you might ask them to be a bit more careful maybe. If they were standing kicking their ball against your door deliberately then you'd tell them not to.

clairemcnam · 21/05/2019 20:08

I would have spoken to the child, because the adult obviously did not give a shit.

BoneyBackJefferson · 21/05/2019 20:08

teyem

If it makes it any clearer, bringing SEN in to this is (as I posted) the bottom of the barrel.

Its a "what if" based on the poster having no real argument to make and that everyone else should shut up because the child might possibly, almost maybe could have a SEN and not be a child that at this point in time was being poorly parented.

clairemcnam · 21/05/2019 20:17

And if the child had SN, it is still fine to explain to her why trying to wake people up is not okay.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 21/05/2019 20:17

life it was bad behaviour, 7 is old enough to know better (at any rate, my DS7 has been brought up to know that's not OK, sounds like there are a lot of indulgent parents of entitled little brats on this thread).

It might be different if the kid had been unthinkingly making a racket, but this one was deliberately making noise in order to wake people who were sleeping.

SinkGirl · 21/05/2019 20:19

And if the child had SN, it is still fine to explain to her why trying to wake people up is not okay.

I have twins with autism. I still don’t let them do whatever they want without attempting to stop them if the behaviour is a problem.