To ask why people let their kids run riot?

[alfie22]

Sat in the GP waiting room and there's a child of about 4/5 running around screaming and shouting so loudly. Mother is sat on her phone not paying attention to her DC. There's a patient here who is clearly unwell and obviously the mother isn't considerate enough to calm her child down.

AIBU to think there is a time and place for this? Do some parents just not care about what their kids do?

My 4yo can be like this and can't cope with waiting rooms at all but I sure as hell would not be sat on my phone whilst it's ongoing.

And there's no chance she would get near enough a Dr room to try it. The only thing I don't know How to deal with is the volume she comes out with but if I physically have to hold her on to my lap then I do

Had a debate on this only yesterday at work. Where do the rights of parents, children and everyone else fall? Is a toddler's (circa 2 years old) right to "free expression" greater than an 80 year old with hearing aid to participate in a solemn church service and not be tripped up?

We provide toys and colouring - but they don't encourage them to use them.

Unless SN are involved, its either because it's easier to ignore them (due to variety of reasons including MH, stress, clueless parenting or just sheer laziness) or because their 'norm' is semi feral kids. I had a neighbour like that, her philosophy was no rules or boundaries etc "because the time for that is when they're adults". Needless to say her child was a nightmare, unpopular at school & also needy & insecure in new situations.

Don't get me started on family cinemas. Where the kids are encouraged to run round. What on earth is that teaching them about appropriate behaviour.

@GinDaddy, you talk a lot of sense

Maybe that's the way the mother was brought up and doesn't know how to do it differently. I'm not condoning anything I'm just saying that behaviour is learnt and if her parents ignored her then the cycle just repeats itself...just an opinion please don't yell at me.

Because they don't usually parent, can't do it, and outsource to others.
Or they are Knobs, doing their dc no favours, by not socialising them.

well, I've been helping out a lady this week who is a single mum and currently has pneumonia.

She had to go to the doctors this morning, they had asked her to come back for a follow up visit. When I picked her dc up to take to school she could hardly stand, she has a toddler. She will have dragged herself to the doctors with the toddler. She has no support network, and no help. Neighbours are helping but she is rapidly using up their goodwill, as she has been ill for a week.

Fortunately her toddler is tiny and barely walking, but she may have had a crying/scream moment while waiting at the doctors.

I don't think people should let kids behave like this, but I am also sympathetic to the idea that we don't always know what is going on, and the lady I am helping is normally a good mum, but I know this morning, it will have taken all her energy to get there.

I sat in my doctors waiting room last week and watched the two opposite ends of the spectrum play out in front of me. Mum1 had two young DC with her, one toddler and one around 5/6 and Mum2 had one toddler at the other end of the waiting room. Mum2 was on her phone, toddler running riot, shouting, getting in other patients way etc, Mum did nothing. Mum1 was talking to her two, doing spellings with the older one and generally chatting about their day. Her toddler kept putting his feet on the seat and she kept calmly reminding him not to, eventually telling him she would make him sit on the floor if he couldn't sit nicely. I have to say I see far more Mum2's than Mum1's around here, shame