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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think a lot of parents of very young children become quite selfish

608 replies

allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 10:07

I am expecting to be flamed but here goes.

Yesterday I was walking on a really narrow street and a couple were walking with a very young baby who’s only just started to take a few hesitant steps, maybe 11 months, so he had dad on one side and mum on the other.

Because the street was so narrow it meant everyone behind them either had to walk at toddler pace or step into the road to get by.

I’ve seen this in a lot of my friends with really young children. Is this a thing and does it pass?

OP posts:
gamerwidow · 31/12/2019 15:26

It's annoying but I do think you go into a bit of a baby bubble when you kids are very young and you forget what it's like to be a normal and not be obsessed with your kids.
Most people grow out of it, having got to the other side I can sigh and roll my eyes but also be a bit indulgent of them when I see it remembering what it was like.

Scbchl · 31/12/2019 15:27

Who cares, how hard is it as an adult to walk round them on the road. My goodness people honestly get annoyed about the most irrelevant things.

Drabarni · 31/12/2019 15:30

It's selfish, like the ones who don't say think you when you stop to let them past.
I always hold the door open in shops, have been known to summon staff to open double doors for a double buggy.
I rarely get a nod let alone a thank you, too busy on their phones, not even talking to the child.

MissConductUS · 31/12/2019 15:32

People taking up the whole pavement and moving slowly really isn't confined to parents of small children.

Tourists.

I'm a New Yorker. New Yorkers walk fast. Places to go, people to see, etc. And because the city is so densely packed (Manhattan being a fairly small island) it's often faster than taking the tube or a taxi for shorter distances.

Tourists constantly clog the sidewalks, looking up at the all buildings, looking at a map, sometimes just chit chatting. It drives us a bit bonkers. I try to just go around, or if that's not possible, I politely ask them to steps aside. Some NY'ers are not quite so polite about it.

Equanimitas · 31/12/2019 15:35

To be honest, I struggle to see the problem with overtaking this family by stepping out into the road. It's not as if we risk certain death by doing that, we all cross the road regularly and know how to avoid traffic.

Original poster
allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 15:42

You do in a certain city renowned for its bicycles. Not death but certainly stupid to walk in the road when it’s dark, rainy, Misty and traffic is heavy and lots of cyclists.

OP posts:
MintyMabel · 31/12/2019 15:43

Every time it was a parent and their toddler walking at a snail's pace

On the other hand, when we went with DD in her wheelchair, she spent half the day being kicked in the head by toddlers being carried by their parents. We got her out and she walked slowly pushing her wheelchair for balance. I couldn’t care if it pissed people off, it stopped her being kicked in the head.

Nursejackie1 · 31/12/2019 15:44

I think you need to take stock here OP. You have started a thread and are continuing to spend your day griping about a BABY walking along a path with their probably proud parents. People are not allowed to enjoy anything in life anymore. It was hardly a dangerous awful nasty thing for a family to be doing now was it? God forbid you were forced to say excuse me. HTH.

Original poster
allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 15:44

Had you read the thread Nurse you would know why I didn’t just say excuse me

OP posts:
Vulpine · 31/12/2019 15:46

Yeah and old and infirm people walking really slowly in front of me really give me the rage Hmm

Original poster
allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 15:48

Then that’s awful vulpine

OP posts:
Original poster
allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 15:48

And I know you were trying to be clever. It’s not.

OP posts:
Shockers · 31/12/2019 15:51

Just walk round them!

Nursejackie1 · 31/12/2019 15:55

But toddlers really do pretty much take up all your attention. To the point where yes sometimes another capable adult that happens to be walking by does not take absolute precedent just for the fact they have come into vision. It’s an parents job to be focused on their babies/toddlers. We all try to be respectful to everybody else at all times but there are times when it’s just impossible to give everybody in one scene your full attention. Especially near roads.
You would soon be moaning that the parents weren’t “watching their kids” had the child ran into the road or into somebody etc. Give parents a break and let them enjoy that short time their kids are small.

Original poster
allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 15:55

And get run over shockers ok then Confused

OP posts:
my2bundles · 31/12/2019 15:56

Equan, I have a big problem stepping into tne road to be honest Yes we all cross roads but when I'm with my kids I choose that place carefully. I object strongly to making my kids walk into a road to avoid people who could easily be aware of others and make room esp when it's a busy stretch of road that I would never normally cross on. Honestly the entitlement of some on this thread is astounding. To be poster who said picking up a baby could upset them, please, making my kids walk on the road for little diddums does more thsn upset us it puts s in a dangerous situation. So baby cries for a few minutes, that's life and everyone else's life does not revolve around a baby getting upset because it is temporarily picked up.

Whatisthis56 · 31/12/2019 15:58

Yep you are definitely miserable. Babies and toddlers have miserable people like you already annoyed at them. The baby has a right to enjoy a slow walk and be kept safe by parents holding each hand. I'm the sort of person who says hello and ahhh to them. Not get annoyed at them. I'm sure once upon a time you toddled along gripping someone's hand walking at 1mph stopping to explore every hedge and pebble. It's called developing. I actually think you are miserable! Walk around the baby or say excuse me!

Nursejackie1 · 31/12/2019 15:58

So don’t step into the road then. Say excuse me or wait. Simple.

Original poster
allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 16:02

No nurse had you read the thread you would know that there were a lot of people also walking at toddler pace and similarly reluctant to step into a busy road between us.

OP posts:
Original poster
allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 16:03

And since you think the baby would have cried if he’d been picked up excuse me wouldn’t have made a difference, would it?

OP posts:
Nursejackie1 · 31/12/2019 16:04

Talk about blowing it all out of proportion!you weren’t walking through bloody landmines there was a baby walking in a street with its parents!

Original poster
allthewaythere · 31/12/2019 16:06

nurse you’re absolutely right and if I had started a thread saying that I felt I was walking through landlines your point would be a salient one.

As it is, it wasn’t.

OP posts:
my2bundles · 31/12/2019 16:10

What is this. My kids enjoyed leisurely toddles while developing. Difference is we didn't do this on a busy street while forcing people onto the road.

Whatisthis56 · 31/12/2019 16:14

@my2bundles say excuse me please then. Who knows their situation and what made them walk their. Hardly makes them selfish rude arseholes does it. Enjoying a pleasent walk with their tot on New year's Eve. There's alot more to cry about in this world.

my2bundles · 31/12/2019 16:20

Also whatisthis. What's miserable about wanting to keep my own children safe? Really I'm supposed to make them walk into the road so baby diddums parents can continue cooing. My kids have the right to walk down tne street in safety you know.