To be annoyed at the couple who commented loudly on how children are much noisier than they used t.o be

[wolveschick]

...and were obviously talking about MY DDs. We were in the supermarket, DD1, 5 saw a Peppa Pig toy and was telling her little sister, 2 about it who was in my trolley. Yes, volume could prob have been turned down a notch but they had just been soooooooo good at lunch out with friends and then visit to clinic for 2 year check. Miserable couple just made the above comment well within my earshot but I am mad with myself for not thinking of a biting retort...any ideas for what I should have said.

did you make an equally loud comment about grumpy whinging old people who clearly have nothing better to do with their time than whinge about happy children talking loudly?

People are a lot RUDER than they used to be?

or how about a simple 'Shut it you twats' (directed at couple, not children)

To feel thankful that they aren't deaf, and have the good fortune of being able to hear them

my dd is often loud in the supermarket - just chatting, often to a loaf of bread. We often get stared at - so i encourage her even more . if people want peace and quiet when shopping they should do it online. what a pair of miserable sods

you could have said to your children:

SORRY DARLING I CANT HEAR YOU FOR THE SOUND OF SOME RUDE PEOPLE TALKING OVER YOU

I'm writing all these down - all I can ever come up with at times like these is something that should not be said in front of children

Am cheering up considerably now. It wasn't as if they were doing what they often do which is a medley from Annie/Joseph/Sound of Music for which I feel the need to have a T-Shirt printed saying 'I'm not a stage school mother honest..! Or DD1 pretends to be Sarah Jane Smith from Doctor Who, pinning herself up against the bread rolls with her sonic screwdriver! Today they were being little angels.

How do they know how loud children used to be? When was this, when they were young? Which children?

their remark was utter nonsense, wasn't it?

LOL or you could comment :

Really children....the older generation are really a lot more vocally opinonated than when I was a child......

they are, i started a thread about my son earlier they are very loud these days

squimlet - can I take you along with me next time I go to the supermarket?

I think these 'type' of folks just hang out at supermarkets waiting for the slightest opportunity to pour scorn on any unsuspecting mother...did you notice if they were actually doing any 'proper' shopping or did it look more like they had thrown a few items in the trolley just to make them look like genuine shoppers while they looked for their next victim?

I am at your service bigbadmouse

Children, have you noticed how much more sour the middle-aged are these days, darlings? I know I have.

Now see, if only these children creatures would learn that it is appropriate to be seen but not heard.

Yes, the government advises us against beating them these days, so they do get a bit noisy.

i have been known to say blatantly out loud.......'yes they are children remember you were one once ......a long time ago'

it's an interesting subject though. kids have become louder.

on another thread - someone said that the amount of background noise in the house could make a difference.

it makes sense

I was on the bus the other day, a couple of seats away from a young mum (16 or so). She was puce with embarrassment because her baby was screaming it's head off and virtually the entire bus was tutting.

I went and say next to her and started to chat to her and the baby. the point I made to her, which cheered her up no end, was that every single one of the tutters will have, without exception, cried on the bus at some point when they were babies.

I made sure that I said it loud enough for folk to hear. And it bloody well worked. Most of them shut up and a couple of old dears changed thier tune completely and ended up chatting with us too.

I were right proud of meself.

nice the humphers and tutters really give me the scunner.you can feel their eyes drilling into you, and hot breath as they snort

Message withdrawn

My mother has been known to spout this. Until I remind her that she was fool enough to make tape recordings of her own offspring. And those recordings are still extant...

But - and I hate to say this -I think they are! I'm not talking about you and your children , wolveschick, it does sound as if the comments were out of order, but in general terms, I think people without children (or who don't have their children with them) do have a right to the "quiet enjoyment" of places that are not specifically for children. I try not to let anything I do have an adverse effect on anyone else - and that includes getting my children to speak in quiet voices on the bus.

Oh, and (sorry, humourless ponce alert), why do people assume that the miserable couple were old? In my experience, it's young middle aged people who are most disapproving of children who are not actually sealed in a soundproofed box!

Well I think they probably are louder. Generally I think that children were a little more sat-upon when I was a child. Many things are different these days. So what? As long as they are happy loud, rather than whingeing loud it doesn't matter. I can cope with happy loud any time .

I agree with this "it's young middle aged people who are most disapproving of children"

What age category would you say is "young middle-aged'? Because most people I know in their 40s (which probably used to be considered middle-aged) have young children themselves....