AIBU to be cheesed off with shrieking kids on holiday?

[AnnoyedOnHoliday]

Recently my DP took me on an amazing surprise holiday for my birthday a few weeks ago, 4 nights in a beautiful 5 star hotel - definitely a big treat and really outside of our normal budget so obviously wanted to enjoy it to the absolutely maximum. Hotel was absolutely beautiful and facilities/staff were pretty faultless.

I don't want to say it was ruined but definitely marred by the amount of unruly children. The main pool of the hotel had two pool - a smaller shallow one for kids and another larger one bit more suitable for being able to get a proper swim in. Everyday the main pool as well as the kids one was taken over by kids shrieking in rubber rings, splashing and jumping as well as just being smack bang in the centre of the pool so hard to swim. The area was basically taken over by the constant noise of shouting, screaming, crying and small children sprinting into your sun lounger every two seconds. I found it really hard to concentrate on unwinding and couldn't concentrate on reading my book as so noisy and chaotic and obviously found using the pool for swimming quite annoying also.

The hotel was very much in the countryside so we ate the really great hotel restaurant quite a few breakfasts, lunches and 2 dinners. Every single time, early in the morning, late at night children were sprinting up and down the dining room, running into waiters, more of that shrieking again. More examples but you get the idea.

It seemed to be happening in many different families and every single time I'd look over and they'd be just ignoring their kids or encouraging them to run around so they could have drinks/eat their meal without having to deal with them and 9 times out of 10, I'd never see them being reprimanded for being disruptive.

I get that looking after small children is full on and stressful (I'm really not talking about kids crying/distressed as I know that cannot be helped - referencing the running around shrieking behaviour) but AIBU to think to think it's a bit out of order to just zone out and let everyone have their meals and relaxing time ruined because you're in 'holiday mode' and want some time off parenting?

It just felt a bit jarring that we'd paid to be on holiday too and were basically having to endure everyone else kids.

Book a villa or an adults only resort. Going on holiday to a family resort in school holidays & complaining about kids playing in a pool is beyond stupid. “AIBU to expect children to act like boomers while on holiday”

@sunglassesonthetable You think shrieking, unruly children in hotels is acceptable? Christ. I can imagine how your children behave.

It's about shrieking unruly children in a hotel. Which isn't (or shouldn't be 🙄) acceptable.
'Family friendly' or not.*

Don't agree.

It's about expectations.

Why didn’t you book an adults only hotel ? Tired of these post about entitled adults ! The world has children , they are actually part of society and need to behave as children , while they are in fact children !

Because OP didn't book it! Her husband did as a surprise. It's in the first post.

And being part of society means being considerate to others too. Kids can still have fun while being polite and considerate. It does them no favours to think that the world revolves around them.

The children and families aren't complaining about you using the facilities - you are welcome too.

YANBU. It's not impossible to teach most children to behave more politely, and if they can't or won't, you should remove them from the situation rather than allowing them to run wild. You can't force lazy or entitled people to parent this way, of course, but it's not unreasonable to recognise that they could and feel that they should.

What are teachers supposed to do?

Some parents are indeed awful. They seem to think it's okay to palm off their noisy children with their super soakers onto other people as far away from them as possible.

I used to find as well when my kids were small that people would try and get you to adopt their annoying children because you were actually playing with your kids. No I don't want Arabella and Hugo tagging along thanks very much. I chose to have my well-behaved children, I didn't choose to have yours.

This thread is like one big game of spot the nightmare parents/neighbours.

"Kids are supposed to shriek, shout and be daft in the pool in the holidays though."

No. Plenty of kids manage to entertain themselves and enjoy holidays with nary a shriek or shout.

No one minds "Hey Oliver, toss me that ball!" in a raised tone. It's the mindless, soulless screaming and shrieking and shouting. So many of these kids careen around seemingly oblivious that other human beings, beyond their immediate families, even exist. They run around the sunbeds like they're on an obstacle course, right up next to people trying to relax. There is no call for doing that in a pool area.

As to shrieking, I grew up around lakes. In no uncertain terms, we were trained at a young age to never scream around water unless someone were in danger or drowning. And I mean, never. It simply wasn't permitted, by our parents or anyone else's. Kids that shrieked and screamed were removed into the house, and punished, not applauded.

If the kid can't control its shrieks, its parent should take it indoors/into the car/into the caravan or somewhere else away from people, until the child is more composed.

It really is!

You think shrieking, unruly children in hotels is acceptable? Christ. I can imagine how your children behave.

I think all the noise around the pool, splashing, shouting, shrieking. etc is par for the course in a hotel, that families visit, during the summer hols. Whatever the star rating.

I don't agree that kids should be running in restaurants. And If the parents don't stop it, the restaurants should for H&S reasons.

And you don't have a clue about my kids.

I must've missed this abundance of adult only hotels. From experience it's limited to one or two in a resort? Delighted to find this isn't the case now!

And parents need to parent them.

children do need to play but crucially also need to understand how to fit into society.

its literally the only job a parent has to do; teach your kids to be functioning and decent adults

Kids should not be shrieking in a pool area. At all.

Talk about inconsiderate.

You missed tolerant

Genuinely can’t see how ANYONE could think you unreasonable here OP , I really can’t

If kids are supposed to shriek 24/7, how is anyone supposed to know when they're actually injured or being kidnapped?

That's why my parents - and parents of my peers back in the 90s - taught their kids not to shriek.

Kidnapping happens all the time

*Kids should not be shrieking in a pool area. At all.

Talk about inconsiderate.*

😂😂🤦‍♀️

This. Yes kids should parent and I 100% agree with at mealtimes running around and shouting is completely unacceptable but the pool stuff is definitely just part of holiday life in a resort in the school hols.

I don’t think children playing or running around a pool os unexpected . There are adult oniy spaces . Go there

Exactly.

Kids need to adapt to the world around them, not the other way round. They are not full members of society yet.

Kids are not adults and don't have the same responsibilities OR privileges as adults. There is a reason every culture since the dawn of humankind has created coming-of-age rituals to distinguish when people leave childhood and assume the responsibilities and accountability of fully adult members. Meanwhile, they shouldn't be allowed by their parents to disturb others.

*If kids are supposed to shriek 24/7, how is anyone supposed to know when they're actually injured or being kidnapped?

That's why my parents - and parents of my peers back in the 90s - taught their kids not to shriek.*

Where are all this 24/7 shrieking kids exactly
that are everywhere ( these days) ?

God alive.

That thread was infuriating. The amount of people who said "oh kids make noise, they can't sit in silence blah blah blah". Blatantly ignoring the posters saying that the shrieking nowadays is nothing like kids playing having fun, laughing etc.

There's kids in my estate who do the shrieking, blood curdling screams. It was so bad one day that me and my neighbour came out of our houses at the same time to check the kids were ok (not out kids, mine are past the stage of playing out), we thought there had been a serious accident. Now we ignore it as best we can and god help the kids if they do have an accident.

Are kids allowed to make noise in playgrounds