Silence in the waiting room

[Meatandseventeenveg]

Was at the doctor's with my 2 year old this afternoon. We were playing in the children's corner of the room, nothing noisy but just a chat about the pictures of the animals in the room, and DD was also making the animal sounds.

Another person in waiting room told DD to be quiet as there are sick people there (at this point it was just us three in the waiting room). I'm afraid I snapped back that my daughter is sick as well, and turned away.

My daughter, the angel, understood the woman and proceeded to talk in a whisper until the woman left.

So WIBU to think that toddlers are allowed to talk in the doctor's waiting room?

If there’s a play corner it’s literally there for children to go and play in to make sure they are not bored in the waiting room. It’s there to be used!

This thread is sad now. There are lots of places that it is fine to let your kids 'be kids' in. There are also a few places that not everyone is going to be happy with the noise your children create. A GP waiting room is one of them!

This is really odd. Kids are kids. They don't just 'be kids' sometimes depending on where you are.

@XenoBitch

This thread is sad now. There are lots of places that it is fine to let your kids 'be kids' in. There are also a few places that not everyone is going to be happy with the noise your children create. A GP waiting room is one of them!

A GP waiting room is not a silent area, or even a quiet one, as SickAndTiredAgain explained so well.

@2littleonesx @SirChenjins

You both make similar points, there is a difference between quiet and silent and at no point has anyone said that kids need to be silent. The two year old child adapted her volume - two years old and they understood that they didn’t have to sit in silence but whispering with your mum in a quiet space is OK.

I realise that when you’re trying to force a point, it’s helpful to use extremes and exaggerate but that’s not what anyone has said here as far as I can see.

Isn't there generally toys to entertain children in GP waiting rooms because the surgery understands that young children will become board and so have provided them with the toys? Should they play with them in silence with no parent interaction?

Maybe people can campaign to have these areas removed from their local surgery.

@IWishToAnswerInTheAffirmative

I’d keep a toddler quiet in a waiting room.

It’s about reading a room though isn’t it. If you walk into a quiet room don’t be the one that disturbs the peace and creates a big noise. I get with toddlers its not always possible but honestly for me that would be a rare situation where if all else failed I’d give them my phone to play with or something

Hallelujah! Common sense

No child should have to whisper in a children’s play corner - don’t be silly.

Shame someone felt they needed to shut your kid down, but you'll have to suck it up. You don't know how stressed or worried she was about her own illness.

Tbh I'd be livid they told my child to be quiet instead of speak to me. I wonder if two elderly people were in the waiting room and were talking - would they be told to be quiet? I very much doubt it. I think people think they have a right to comment when it is children

@SirChenjins

No child should have to whisper in a children’s play corner - don’t be silly.

Why not?

You know, name calling isn’t helping you make a convincing case?

A GP waiting room is not a silent area, or even a quiet one, as SickAndTiredAgain explained so well

It should be somewhere that there is a modicum of respect really. If you can't work out the reasons why, you are lucky.

@claymodels

That’s where we differ, I consider them in the same way as I would a library.

You have taken that upon yourself, so yes we certainly differ. If I am expected to be quiet somewhere, I will, but I won't make up bizarre rules of no talking in other places.

But it isn't a made up rule, it's an unwritten rule. You show other's respect in a waiting room by speaking very quietly.

I feel sorry for the woman if she felt so ill that she needed to make a comment like that but UANBU because you were doing what you could to make your sick toddler feel at ease in what can be a stressful environment.

Waiting areas are often occupied by people who are seriously unwell, or waiting for potentially life-changing news. You just don't know what that other woman was/is going through. But if she was distressed enough to feel she had to ask for your daughter to be quieter, then I think you should have respected that and not snapped at her. For all you know, she could have been waiting to be told how long she has left to live.

Maybe bring a book or a quiet toy next time, or avoid the animal noises?

Depends op....my gran had a brain tumor which sadly killed her .any noise especially animal noises caused her severe pain ..how noisy were you really. It's a doctor's waiting room.

You know, name calling isn’t helping you make a convincing case

Let me be clear - I really am not concerned about making any sort of case to you.

It should be somewhere that there is a modicum of respect really. If you can't work out the reasons why, you are lucky

Respect works both ways, of course.

@SirChenjins

It should be somewhere that there is a modicum of respect really. If you can't work out the reasons why, you are lucky

Respect works both ways, of course.

Yes, stop your kids yelling in a GP waiting room. How on earth do think you are entitled to this?

@SirenSays

I wouldn't say anything but your angels animal noises would irritate the hell put of me. Maybe bring the ipad or a book next time.

Most kids books are going to have onomatopoeia in them if other people talking bothers you (general) that much, maybe just get noise cancelling headphones rather than expecting everyone (including little children) to bend over backwards to accommodate.

@XenoBitch

This thread is sad now. There are lots of places that it is fine to let your kids 'be kids' in. There are also a few places that not everyone is going to be happy with the noise your children create. A GP waiting room is one of them!

Nothing the OP has said implies that her child was acting inappropriately. Talking and playing in the children's corner or a waiting room is entirely appropriate and completely normal

@SirChenjins

You know, name calling isn’t helping you make a convincing case

Let me be clear - I really am not concerned about making any sort of case to you.

That’s good.

The OP’s child wasn’t yelling. However, some people in the waiting room might, for reasons outwith their control. You are not entitled to silence in a GP waiting room - no-one is.

That’s good

Indeed.

@Justheretoaskaquestion91

If there’s a play corner it’s literally there for children to go and play in to make sure they are not bored in the waiting room. It’s there to be used!

Exactly! I really don't get the animosity of some posters. And the intolerance of children..on a parenting forum is really odd.

you were doing what you could to make your sick toddler feel at ease in what can be a stressful environment

Exactly this, kids can get stressed too, and my toddler is fed up of being prodded and poked, stripped and examined, blood taken out of her time and time again.

It's really frustrating that if adults are feeling delicate they must be respected, but if any child makes any noise ever it's because they are self-centred little idiots with self-centred idiot parents who refuse to control them.

If talking to me about whether she prefers sheep or cows makes my daughter's trips to the doctor a bit more bearable, I think she has the right to that.