Peppa pig and the pub

[tiredandnotfeelingveryblessed]

I'm in our local, having a quiet pint with the OH. It's busy, it's Sunday lunch time and it's a popular place to have lunch, with or without children.

There's a family on the next table with a small child. Small child is watching Peppa pig on a mobile phone. I have four children so I am aware that keeping them entertained at the pub can prove difficult. But this child is watching at a very loud volume with no headphones.

Obviously I have no intention of saying anything - they look far tougher than me But AIBU to be slightly aggrieved?

Its a sad sign of the times that a 2 year old cant get through a meal without watching a screen.

No need for kids to 'run amok'. Some teaching about sitting early on and engaging with children rather than just sticking them in front of a screen would be a start. Nothing worse than seeing a child sat for whole time in a venue on a screen. There is a time and place. Maybe after the meal when adults want to linger but not before meal arrives and certainly not whilst eating

I know on Mn it seems to be ok to glue your child to a screen during a restaurant visit but it really isn't, SEN aside.

Out of interest, would you prefer the parents to be singing? I rarely bring toys or books out with me, I just do action songs or recite the stories from memory. Is that more or less annoying?

Fuck me! Yes, I’m afraid I’d be trying to drown you in my pint! 😂

Daddy Pig has gone to the pub while Mummy Pig cooks the sunday dinner. When it's nearly ready, she sends Peppa to fetch Daddy from the pub. George cannot go, he's too small. "Don't forget your wellingtons, Peppa" says Mummy Pig; "the carpet will be sticky".

to be continued ....

We took books and activities and played games with ours when they were toddlers.

It was hard work simply because 2 year olds generally don’t want to sit still and really savour a decent meal 😂😂😂😂😂

Peppa pig can't through the throngs of piggy locals crowding the bar drinking beer, to find Daddy pig. When she does Daddy pig tells her to go home and tell mummy pig "He'll come home when he pleases" and snorts with laughter into his beer as his friends slap him on the back.....
TBC....

On a serious note though, I pads and the like are a Godsend for waiting staff. A lot of people don't see why they need to ruin their meal by looking after their own children, and therefore end up ruining other people's and ensuring waiting staff play dodgems while trying to avoid tipping soup down someone's neck.

Headphones make this so easy. We have nice, cushy, volume controlled headphones for DD. She isn’t allowed to turn the sound on in public without them. Actually, I don’t turn my sound on without headphones either.

Mamselle Gazelle is standing at the bar, cabernet sauvignon in hand, chatting up Daddy Pig. She's always had a thing for him since she first saw him at parents evening.
TBC...

I don't mind ipads at all if the volume is off or head phones used.

On what fucking planet is it acceptable to play at game at full volume on a 4.5 hour flight home at 10:30pm and air staff cannot ask to turn it down.

@IvanaPee Don't worry, I don't go to the pub very often!

PSA - No more singing from me, if you do see a woman singing the wheels on the bus or baby shark, it isn't me (anymore)!

Very much enjoying the new Peppa storyline...

Its a sad sign of the times that a 2 year old cant get through a meal without watching a screen

Really? None of my children could sit through a pub meal at that age and we have never used screens. We just brought toys and colouring and took it in turns to chase them round the pub. Then we realised this was no fun so we stopped going to pubs with 2 year olds. I think plenty of 2 year olds would find sitting nicely through a pub meal a challenge. I do think it's nicer to engage them in some kind of activity rather than sticking them in front of a screen for the entire meal but if you give them your phone for 15 mins to give yourself chance to eat I hardly think it's a problem. Totally agree about the volume though.

Janet for president

Guess I'm just lucky then that I was able to stop my child running around a pub or restaurant

Your OH must be shit company if your MN whilst out with him.

I wouldn't judge someone for placating a young child with a screen but they should wear headphones or keep the volume low.

Guess I'm just lucky then that I was able to stop my child running around a pub or restaurant

Yes at two years old I can assure it was just luck. Many kids can't sit still through a one hour meal at that age however many colouring books, interesting conversations, toys you present them with.

Your comment is pretty much me saying "I guess I'm just lucky that both my kids were talking fluently at 14 months". Yes it was luck some kids get some skills quicker than others.

I love how people say 'SEN aside', like you can tell just by looking. My DS is being investigated to see if he has ASD and I suspect does, but it's not obvious to a casual observer. No doubt the 'SEN aside' bunch are judging the living fuck out of us if the iPad comes out at a family meal (no sound, ever, btw) but it's the only way we all get to sit and eat. Maybe I should have a t-shirt printed for him or something (then I could watch how many people curled their lip at him, like the 'nice' checkout lady did in Boots the other day when she asked why he used signing and I told her). 🙄

High volume is just antisocial though, obvs.

I'm always amazed how shocked people look when you ask them to turn it down or use headphones.

I've no issue with screens with the sound off or headphones.

I tried to resist screens for my two. DS1 was fine until he got mobile, and it was just easier to avoid prolonged eating out for a good while. I often ended up leaving family meals early. It turns out that colouring didn't engage him because he's dyspraxic and it hurts. Dyslexia makes reading difficult, particularly in a busy environment. I spent years having to draw "car transporter trains" to his exact specifications or risk meltdowns. I believed in trying to engage my DCs over the table... I just have the wrong kind of child for that, and SNs have taken years to become apparent.

Eating out is no fun when it's just a low level stress trying to prevent your child from being a public nuisence. Doubly annoying when you're being "treated" to the not-so-dulcet tones of Peppa fucking Pig or the CBeebies playtime app from another table.

magicBrenda no he's excellent company. We spend a fair amount of time at our local, sometimes chatting but very often sitting in companionable silence while mumsnetting or reading the paper or whatever. Neither of us feel the need to be yakking to the other constantly