Little girl in beautiful dress scolded for jumping up and down.

[0None0]

They were at the bus stop. She was about 5 It was a beautiful white dress with embroidery, and matching shoes She had a carton of juice, and was told off for a little skip of pleasure at the sight of their bus coming, in case the juice splashed on her dress or her shoes. Brother that looked the same age, maybe twins, or just very small age gap, in dark clothes and trainers, also drinking a carton of juice with a straw, leaping up and down like a show jumper, without attracting comment.

WIBU to say something?

Do you not have more important things to think about?
It’s not how I’d parent and it’s sad she’s not allowed to enjoy herself but it’s not your kid.

Perhaps the OP works in dry cleaning

YABU one of my kids starts taking his own clothes off the second they get wet or dirty so I’d be telling him off for jumping around with juice because I don’t want to be dealing with that. You’re making a lot of assumptions from a brief snapshot of someone’s day

@VerticalHorizon amazing 🤣

What I find funny is the lack of logic on the part of parents. Who puts girls in pretty clothes for the playground?

many girls LIKE pretty dresses. And climb trees and run just as well as boys in shorts. We are not talking bodycons.

People also make comments if you put a white tshirt on a boy
In the sun, it happens to be more comfortable than navy.

YOU don't have to wear a tutu. No one gives a damn what you are wearing, but no one gives a damn about your opinion on their kids clothes either.

Seriously you have seen 5 minutes of this family, you have no idea what’s going on or anything. Keep out of others business.

@pleasedonttextmyman

What I find funny is the lack of logic on the part of parents. Who puts girls in pretty clothes for the playground?

many girls LIKE pretty dresses. And climb trees and run just as well as boys in shorts. We are not talking bodycons.

People also make comments if you put a white tshirt on a boy
In the sun, it happens to be more comfortable than navy.

YOU don't have to wear a tutu. No one gives a damn what you are wearing, but no one gives a damn about your opinion on their kids clothes either.

This was in reply to a previous posts where parents were worried about pretty clothes getting dirty. To which the answer is - if you don’t want them getting dirty , don’t let kids wear it to places where it could get dirty. Like a playground.

If you don’t care about dirt then it doesn’t matter.

@pleasedonttextmyman also you clearly haven’t read my previous post where I pointed out exactly that - dresses don’t prevent girls from doing anything …

What I find funny is the lack of logic on the part of parents. Who puts girls in pretty clothes for the playground?

My little girl wears pretty dresses every day. They don't restrict her or hold her back. She can keep up with all of her peers at running and climbing and exploring (and is ahead of most of them). I don't mind how dirty she gets (dog poo excepted).

I wear dresses every day too, and it doesn't hold me back when it comes to DIY or gardening or hiking.

This is the damage that a double gin can do on Saturday afternoons.
Combine it with heatstroke, and you get threads like this.

Don't drink and chat!

I'm confused, what was that upset you? That she told the girl off but not the boy? Maybe they were off to a wedding, so there was a good reason for wanting the clothes to stay clean. Maybe she saw the girl but was distracted and didn't see the boy jumping. Or maybe she knew the girl's drink was still full but knew the boy's was almost empty.

Are they really people paying that close attention to what others are doing? Are some people that desperate to find sexism anywhere they look?

Yabu, you saw a tiny snapshot of their life and are leaping to conclusions, have no idea where they were off to or why the little girl might have to look smart, tomorrow she might be in muddy shorts and t-shirt, you don't know! Mind your own.

Brother that looked the same age, maybe twins, or just very small age gap, in dark clothes and trainers were you upset because the boy should have had beautiful clothes and matching shoes too?

@VerticalHorizon

This is the damage that a double gin can do on Saturday afternoons. Combine it with heatstroke, and you get threads like this.

Don't drink and chat!

@RowanAlong

I’m with you OP, if it smelled of sexism, it probably was. But you’d have to be brave to say anything.

What a crock of shite.

Light clothing versus dark clothing when drinking juice = A no brainer to remind the child the juice will stain.

IMPORTANT NEW INFORMATION:

The OP witnessed this as she staggered out of the Queen Vic in East London. The little girl in the white dress was in fact a 22 year old bride and the little boy was the groom. The 'mother' was the brides mother concerned about the wellbeing of the dress.

The bus was, after some investigation, determined to have been a wedding car, but she mistook the chauffeur to be a bus conductor. Easy mistake after a few gins.

This is the silliest thread I’ve ever seen. Absolutely mind your own business. Imagine even thinking you should say something to the parents?

It feels a bit off to me, totally get where you are coming from, the message starts early to girls ‘you are here to look pretty and nice for others’. BUT, totally unreasonable to say something in a situation like this where what you are seeing is a perfectly common parenting approach.

Reminds me of a time I watched parents with a girl aged 3 or 4, wearing a skirt, constantly telling her off for showing off her pants as she wriggled about in the waiting room being your typical preschooler. Not the child’s problem that you dressed her like that! But I’d never dream of commenting, how would that help anyone.

The brother leaps up and down like a show jumper whilst the sister gives a little skip of pleasure hahahaha
And you think you should say something to the mother? Something about sexism? Hahahahaha

@ 0None0

@ BIWI

Mind your own business!

Why is this not everyone’s business?

—————-

Strangers (parents not the little children) in public may be very defensive and hyper sensitive so best to avoid unnecessary concern and contact in case you inadvertently cause offence when you intended good will and care. People tend not like to be spoken to as if they are wrong or incapable. It is simply unnecessary judgement as you not be right as you do not know the chain of previous and relevant circumstances in this scenario and indeed jumping to your own conclusions incorrectly.

@Undersnatch

It feels a bit off to me, totally get where you are coming from, the message starts early to girls ‘you are here to look pretty and nice for others’. BUT, totally unreasonable to say something in a situation like this where what you are seeing is a perfectly common parenting approach.

Reminds me of a time I watched parents with a girl aged 3 or 4, wearing a skirt, constantly telling her off for showing off her pants as she wriggled about in the waiting room being your typical preschooler. Not the child’s problem that you dressed her like that! But I’d never dream of commenting, how would that help anyone.

It feels a bit off to me, totally get where you are coming from, the message starts early to girls ‘you are here to look pretty and nice for others’

I think that message is far more likely passed on by parents posting their kids photos on social media, not a random warning at a bus stop about juice and how it stains clothing.

This thread is bonkers. Some girls like wearing dresses. I have a girl and a boy, whoever was wearing the light coloured clothing would get told to not jump around and spill their drink.
Some girls like to climb trees and play with mud, some don’t. Same with boys. No sexism involved.

Maybe the parent would have said the same to the son if he was wearing light clothing and not to the daughter if she was wearing dark clothing, you never know

You’re seeing a snapshot of their lives. A moment in time. It doesn’t mean anything.

Why is this not everyone’s business?

It was a tiny short lived snapshot of life with children.

You don't know that this is a regular occurrence and you have no idea why the child was in a white dress.

Maybe they are in their way to a special occasion - a party or a wedding (Saturday in summer so a wedding wouldn't be out of the norm)

Maybe it's a special dress that the child asked to wear and had been told fine so long as you're careful.

The little boy was in dark clothes so far less on an issue than with a white dress.

If it was always the case that the little girl had to dress like that and behave in a certain manner then of course it's an issue but based on a 2 minute interaction at a bus stop you have no idea if that's the case.