To think we need an antidote after the "What is going on with British kids?" was one of the nastiest ones on here for ages

[Poolnoodlepoodle]

The "What is going on with British kids?" thread is full (thank god). I read the whole thing which I know was silly when it was pissing me off but there we are.

It was full of a lot of judgemental posts about families who (gasp) don't eat at the table which somehow morphed into a pretty shocking discussion on families with ND children.

So please can we have a thread of lovely stories about kids and families being nice to others? An antidote, a bit of positivity.

I'll start, there's a little girl in my dd's class who is blind and in a wheelchair (she can crawl a bit). At the last all class birthday party a group of the kids helped her into the bouncy castle slide thing, they'd learned to tap the floor so she knew where to go, they helped her climb up and slide down and made sure she was included in all the games (pass the parcel / musical statues etc.) It was so lovely to see how they made sure she wasn't left out. My heart grew a little bit ❤️.

I didn't get that thread. My first trip to France at the age of 11 with the school resulted in loads of French kids breaking into our accommodation and stealing our stuff. Not sure what people were talking about there with well mannered French kids.

I think we are more accepting of differences here and maybe have the ability to critically think beyond social norms when a child is ND and understand their view point. Although our governments and local governments don't seem to get this judging by the state of SEND services.

Why are all these people gawking at other groups of people when they are socialising? That's just weird. The last thing I would do is stare at an ND child and tut at their behaviour. You just look like a bit of a dick if you do surely?

Anyway, my story is I was struggling getting a buggy onto a train. The only people who offered to help me were teenagers. That says it all really.

My mum lives in France. I like visiting her and the local scenery is stunning but I really struggle with the rudeness of the people in her local area. Queue pushing, staring at anyone disabled or ND, enormous amounts of hostility towards the British etc, terrible inconsiderate driving. It puts me off going.

Well my kids are nice - they can sit at a table well enough. My Dd14 goes out to eat in restaurants with her friends plenty so it seems they can all use a knife and fork - I'm sure they all have their phones out though! I work in an SEN school too and they're all great too - a genuine pleasure to work with.

I tend to hide the "Aren't British people Awful!" threads. Ignorance is bliss. 🙂

We went camping the other week and I found my DS10 and his friends giving an impromptu football training session to some random younger boys. My son also insists on carrying my shopping bags even though I'm stronger than him.

I didn't read that thread, but I always have a bit of a smirk when I see the threads about how much better behaved French kids are. I used to live in an area where we got lots of tourist, including French school parties. Those groups were generally considered to be the most rude and badly behaved groups of the lot. And when the local police did a crackdown on shoplifting, let's say they found a certain demographic was in predominance down at the police station.

At work (café) we had a grandad come in a couple of weeks ago with his two small grandchildren, the older is under assessment for autism, and they're both living with him due to neglect from their parents.
He bought them a drink each and a cookie, and they were so sweet about it. They thanked their grandad, the people that served them, the people on the seats next to them... Then they whispered together and each put half their cookie into a napkin and said they wanted to save it for "nanna" who was at work.
The older one got a bit stressed and sat under the table, so I sat on the floor and chatted to him. At the end he said "thank you for letting me sit on the floor".
If they come in again I've saved a couple of colouring books for them.

Grandad was clearly a bit overwhelmed at finding himself looking after two little ones, but was doing a fantastic job with them both. He'd only had them a few weeks at this point, and was having to sort out schools, doctors and all sorts of things that hadn't been sorted out for them.

I partook in that thread in the last few pages he has it made my eyes hurt so much reading what people had to say, all I kept thinking of was this video 😂 https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZGJ4vktWK/

because* 🙄

My school did a French exchange. We took the students shopping one day and they were showing us all the stuff they'd shoplifted. 😀Maybe they are only well behaved when their parents are watching!

Bloody hell, I'm an emotional wreck at the min and this one got me

You also have to have a medical reason even for a private prescription and prescribers will want proof of your GP notes. That’s way too much hassle and waiting for addicts who can get their hit by calling Skinny Ray (or whoever scumbag dealer they know) and having it delivered in less than 10 minutes.

Im not saying all cannabis users are like this, many do it for medicinal/pain purposes and have a prescription. I don’t have a problem with that. But let’s not pretend the average cannabis user is just a lovely middle aged lady trying to get some pain relief for her arthritis.

Oh FFS I’ve posted on the wrong bloody thread 😂😂😂😂

It's interesting.

In my home country we don't force any ND children to go out etc anywhere that's too much for them - restaurants etc - it's for them, but also, it's for the sake of other people.In general, it's pleasant to eat out, kids are well behaved BECAUSE people undertsnad not to put stress on their ND kids, forcing them to go out etc for the sake of the parents wanting to eat out. ND kids are kept at home, or other safe spaces, where they feel safest and happiest. I find it odd in the west where parents force ND kids out to cafes and restuarants etc. Why do that to them?

The point was that some ND children are perfectly happy to sit in a restaurant, sometimes with a tablet ….but a lot of people seemed to have a big big issue with complete strangers children being sat on tablets in restaurants as though it personally offended them. Just weird, why is everyone bothered what other people’s kids are doing when they’re not doing anything to harm anyone else.

I hate the way that thread fetishised French parenting methods. They aren't all that. I have a cousin who lives in France. She has two DC. She isn't raising them to be repressed little robots and neither are most of the parents in her peer group. They're two lovely, normal little boys. She reckons the whole 'French children don't thow food thing' is bullshit.

I read a few pages of that thread and as someone who lives abroad, and has done for a decade, I'm not sure why British kids are getting such a bashing. I'm currently in a European country and the children run wild in restaurants. I used to live in a Middle Eastern country and the amount of the local children who absolutely ran amok was staggering.

I was having a conversation recently with a local lady in my current European country. She was complaining that her friend's son got told off for running around a restaurant and how 'he's just a kid'. We starting talking generally about kids in restaurants. I said running is dangerous and not fair on other people. This lady actually said 'I don't care about other people. I'm going to let my kids be kids and if other people don't like it, tough'. This seems to be a prevailing attitude here! I could not get over the cheek!

Anyway I was on holiday recently and met the loveliest British family. Their son was a little gentleman and their daughter was so sweet. It's been a long time since I've met children out and thought 'wow, what great kids!'.

It's so black and white with the table thing that MN seems to have. In my reality we sometimes sit to the table and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we have friends over/go over and sit for hours chatting, drinking, eating and sometimes all the dc go upstairs and sit eating pizza whilst on the xbox and the grown ups chat without them round. I prefer the dynamic of children not around when out around friends as I want to catch up with my friends! Even going out for food with friends we have always sat dc on one end and adults at another. I love my friends and their dc but no I don't want to spend my meal talking to kids.

@YouJustDoYou but if you never try, how do you know if they'll like it or not? Or what if tbeyl Ike it but part of their enjoyment is having their tablet out, or talking all through dinner, or making other noises or actions which aren't 'typical' of typical kids?

If your kid hates eating out and is going to be distressed all meal, it's going to be hard work whether they're NT or ND.

The idea of just keeping ND kids at home so they never get to experience anything they might actually enjoy because other people don't want to see them is thankfully one we don't comply to here

haven't you noticed that the MC think everything European is 'better'? Especially France. It's bizarre.
I've lived in France, have lots of friends who live there and my DH is Belgian so I spend lots of time in France. Some things are great, some are awful. The people who fawn the most over Europe are usually those who don't really know much about it other than a holiday there! Apparently the kids are all perfect and the women are all thin and chic. Trust me, definitely not true. 😆

We were on a horrible hot crowded bus in Belgium with our young DD having to stand and being pushed around this week. In the UK, for all our faults, she would have definitely had someone offer to give her a seat. People in Britain are less uptight and I love that we can find humour in nearly everything.

As a final note, lots of French people smack their kids.

I was carrying an awkward (but not heavy) plastic box home from school on Thursday. I was approaching the station when one of my year 10s sprang out and said 'Can I carry that for you, Miss?' I didn't need the help, but how polite!

Teenage Boys
In raucous straggling gangs
Bingeing and vomiting
Thumbs pattering like frantic mice
Sending texts on mobile phones
Wires dripping from their ears
And the faint tsch tsch of mind-numbing music,
Heads nodding to the beat.
Rapping and slouching
Their voices mid-Atlantic cockney.
Cool dudes indeed.
Jeans droop
Bum cracks gather dust
I-pods and pads and online games
Twittering and tweeting.
Surfing without boards
Chat-up lines over the ether.
Erratic voices, growl then squeak
Macho shouts and mock fights
Punching and dodging their way along.
Peeing in doorways,
Dropping fag ends
Rebellious hormones
And body parts endowed with an anarchic life of their own
Lolling in bed till teatime
Pustulations and piercings
Tattoos and trailing arms.
Speeding recklessly in their beaten-up cars,
Their lives forfeit to the image god.
Hidden in their hoodies,
Flashes of facial stubble
Living on takeaways, and cans of beer.
Locked in the eternal competition,
The ritual mating display.
They own the street,
They own the world.
But they love their Mums
And the lad next door carries my shopping.

Thank you for starting this thread OP. The stories shared on here have been really uplifting and heartwarming

Oh dear, another French bashing thread, this place is becoming an annex of the Daily Mail 😂

Poor beaten up French children, not allowed to run riots in pubs and restaurants, while little brits are little darlings allowed to express themselves meaning they will transform the world with their discovery, inventions, art, engineering...

I am summarising the thread you quoted, it was only nasty against anyone non-British.

My young dd loves playing football, and whenever we're at a playpark adjoining a pitch and there are people (mostly teenage lads) playing, she insists on going to join in. She always gets a warm welcome and a wee kickabout, much to her delight (any my embarrassment!). I never let her stay for more than a minute or two, but it always makes her her day.