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?

i think the issue is that there should be a difference between soft play and GP waiting room.. but some parents think both are fair game

Have you ever been to a soft play? In my experience the children are not sitting in a corner talking and playing with their parent

@ yikerspipers of course I have. Maybe I just know how to parent properly.

It would not bother me one little bit

I wouldn't have been keen on your angels animal noises either

@ldfdyjxzyjkv

@ yikerspipers of course I have. Maybe I just know how to parent properly.

Watch you don't fall

@ BlaBlaSmthSmth I think there are a lot of people on here trying to justify their poor parenting. If you teach a child that there are times that they need to respect other people they will do it. It really isn’t hard. If you are defeatist of course your child will just do what they want. I dont think it is acceptable to have a normal volume conversation in a waiting room - with a two year old or anyone. People don’t want to hear it. OP’s description shows how a 2 year old can be told to be quiet - she said herself how her DD complied immediately. The woman would have been rightly annoyed that it was left to her to do the parenting OP should have done. I know it is hard to accept but no one wants to hear anyone else’s DC.

think there are a lot of people on here trying to justify their poor parenting. If you teach a child that there are times that they need to respect other people they will do it. It really isn’t hard.

I have taught my children respect. They have grown into excellent adults who I am very proud of. I would have spoken to them and made animal noises when they were 2 years old as well.

If you are defeatist of course your child will just do what they want.

I'm not defeatist. I'm not a crazy controller either. No harm comes to anyone by an exchange of sounds between a parent and child in an area where noise is not restricted - this is a key point, we don't have to be silent because some people think we should.

I dont think it is acceptable to have a normal volume conversation in a waiting room - with a two year old or anyone.

It doesn't matter what you think though. It's allowed. The waiting room is not a quiet area.

@claymodels

think there are a lot of people on here trying to justify their poor parenting. If you teach a child that there are times that they need to respect other people they will do it. It really isn’t hard.

I have taught my children respect. They have grown into excellent adults who I am very proud of. I would have spoken to them and made animal noises when they were 2 years old as well.

If you are defeatist of course your child will just do what they want.

I'm not defeatist. I'm not a crazy controller either. No harm comes to anyone by an exchange of sounds between a parent and child in an area where noise is not restricted - this is a key point, we don't have to be silent because some people think we should.

I dont think it is acceptable to have a normal volume conversation in a waiting room - with a two year old or anyone.

It doesn't matter what you think though. It's allowed. The waiting room is not a quiet area.

You can have your view. We can hardly do an empirical study of social norms on a MN thread. I suppose it depends on how you were brought up.

Just as a side note, what’s with all the venom towards animal noises? Why is ‘ducks go quack quack’ so much more offensive than ‘that duck is green’?

@ldfdyjxzyjkv

@ BlaBlaSmthSmth I think there are a lot of people on here trying to justify their poor parenting. If you teach a child that there are times that they need to respect other people they will do it. It really isn’t hard. If you are defeatist of course your child will just do what they want. I dont think it is acceptable to have a normal volume conversation in a waiting room - with a two year old or anyone. People don’t want to hear it. OP’s description shows how a 2 year old can be told to be quiet - she said herself how her DD complied immediately. The woman would have been rightly annoyed that it was left to her to do the parenting OP should have done. I know it is hard to accept but no one wants to hear anyone else’s DC.

No, I think there are a few posters on here with an axe to grind and who keep bringing up things like 'running around' 'shouting' and 'screaming' when this is a conversation about a mother and child having a normal interaction in a public place.

The woman was not 'rightly annoyed' I don't particularly want to hear what Phil and Gladys are having for tea or that Amanda passed her driving test or any other shit people talk to each other but we live amongst each other and it's just part and parcel of every day life. I wouldn't dream of shushing a talking child anymore than I would Gladys .

Are you trying to have a snide dig insinuating that I must be a shit parent with a feral child just because I disagree with you?

@Meatandseventeenveg

Does it make any difference if we're the ones waiting for the difficult test result?

Quite right. Lots of perfect parents on here tonight.

All the 'performance parenting' comments from people who are offended by parents spending one to one time with their children and actively engaging with them.
Just because you dislike your kids and would rather ignore them, doesn't mean the rest of us feel the same way 👍

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

Asking a child not to make loud animal sounds in a waiting room is asking them to bend over backwards? Interesting.

Don't forget this is the UK, we hate children. How dare they breathe and make a duck noise. They have no business in a restaurant or a gp waiting room when they are ill. They should play by the bins and eat there and not make any noise or breathe and never disturb a living being

@Houseofvelour

All the 'performance parenting' comments from people who are offended by parents spending one to one time with their children and actively engaging with them. Just because you dislike your kids and would rather ignore them, doesn't mean the rest of us feel the same way 👍

No actually it’s much better to teach your child how to behave.

@cayennepepper

Don't forget this is the UK, we hate children. How dare they breathe and make a duck noise. They have no business in a restaurant or a gp waiting room when they are ill. They should play by the bins and eat there and not make any noise or breathe and never disturb a living being

Dramatic and pointless

Honestly on MN I wonder who all these people are who behave like no one I have ever met. It is bizarre.

@SirenSays

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

Asking a child not to make loud animal sounds in a waiting room is asking them to bend over backwards? Interesting.

But you added the "loud" all by yourself, why did you do that? OP said the opposite in fact, she says "nothing noisy"

Well I was going off the fact it was clearly loud enough for another patient to hear and the fact that the daughter then got quieter..

No actually it’s much better to teach your child how to behave.

Nobody is saying they don't teach their child to behave. My opinion of behaving very much differs from yours though. There is no enforced silence in a waiting room, or anywhere really. 2 year olds are absolutely fabulous little humans who are always learning and they way they do that is through communication- that's not something we need to be stamping out in favour of some made up 'social' rule.

@SirenSays

Well I was going off the fact it was clearly loud enough for another patient to hear and the fact that the daughter then got quieter..

That doesn't imply she was loud though. It sounds like she was having a normal interaction with her mum and then she started to whisper after being told off by an intolerant and rude adult.

@ldfdyjxzyjkv if you consider a child making animal noises misbehaving then god help your children.

[quote Houseofvelour]@ldfdyjxzyjkv if you consider a child making animal noises misbehaving then god help your children. [/quote]
I said behave not misbehave which has an entirely different meaning.
‘Behave’ is how you act or conduct yourself in case you don’t know.

For what it's worth, there was no duck, and she only made the pig noise once. She did like the bumble bee and did that a few times.

Does that make it better or worse?

Of course 2 year olds can be quiet without an iPad

Yes, they can be quiet when you’re interacting with them and playing with them. My son has an exceptionally high IQ and even he, at 2, could understand but not practice being quiet. There are absurd expectations on here. It’s actually so unpleasant

Also re the waiting room being quiet; of course it is. Just like the dentist or the literally any other waiting room because people tend to go there alone and therefore are not talking.