What are your unpopular opinions that most mumsnetters don’t agree with?

[Rosebush1245]

Curious to know what opinions you see constantly on mumsnet that you think “Am I the only person that disagrees with that!?”

"Claiming a table in a cafe before ordering is normal - indeed, Ive never seen it done any other way."

Of course. No way am I queuing up for ages to then have no table to sit at!

That's a popular opinion on here. There's a thread saying such every week.

Please explain how someone who doesn't drive can take their dog without using public transport?
Most parks are multi-purpose with a fenced off playground.

So that would be all pubs and cafes?
I was a dog owner for many years, I'm always surprised that people take their dogs to things like an Antiques Road Show for the day, instead of organising a dog minder or day care for their dog. That said, OP you sound extreme, to say the least.

had to comment on this because it’s just ridiculously stupid and dimwitted. You can only murder a breathing human that has been born. a 6 week old embryo doesn’t have arms legs or eyes yet and is basically a cluster of cells. jesus christ i hope you are willing to take all these unwanted babies in and look after them when the 14 year old moms who can’t provide for them hand them over. imagine forcing a 14 year old to carry and give birth to a baby they don’t want. you absolute sicko.

I think you’ve misunderstood my point. I’m not punishing or judging women who have sex at all. We all do have sex. For what it’s worth I had a condom break. I took the morning after pill but if it hadn’t worked and I got pregnant (not ideal) there’s no way I could have aborted. Falling pregnant as a result of rape etc is entirely different

Children with ARFID absolutely will starve themselves to the point of malnutrition if only given non-safe foods or not provided with safe foods. Sometimes that safe food is chicken nuggets, sometimes it’s bananas, sometimes it’s cans of tuna, occasionally it might be malteasers. It’s 100% unfortunately not just fussiness, and they won’t “just eat it” if given no other option.

I agree with you, but she was right in it being an unpopular opinion!

Amen to 2 and 3. Everyone wants a 'village' when it suits THEM. So few people put in the time, then moan that all these people they can barely bring themselves to say hello to aren't babysitting their kids at the drop of a hat.

people get pregnant accidently for all sorts of reasons. some irresponsible and some accidental. doesn’t mean a child should be born into a household that can’t provide for it or love it

yep she was absolutely

Rules, you don't need rules. These are your beloved DC, not employees. If you are doing it right, there will be respect on both sides and you muddle along working things out as you go.

Food; They will eat enough, don't make it a battlefield. Offer healthy food, if they don't eat it, give toast.

Beds; if ours were scared in the night they knew they were welcome to get in with us however old they were. They hardly ever did though.

School; Not really important, If they wanted a duvet day fine! I've even done their homework so they could play out. Mental health is more important. Funnily enough, all 3 of them are now educated to masters level.

Family; The more people that love your child the better, so work on family links, even if you don't get on with your parents or in laws, your DC might.

Teenagers; Pick your battles, compromise to find a safer way, Don't be afraid to have a row occasionally. Forgiveness is good.

Alcohol, well ours were having a tot of wine with meals since about age 10. They hardly ever drink now.

Drugs; Talk, talk , talk to them about the risks. AFAIK all of my DC are anti drug, they are in professions where drug misuse would not be tolerated.

Gender; Whatever.

@Sharptonguedwoman - I probably am extreme - I don’t think people should be exposed to dogs unless they choose to be.

Until very recently you couldn’t travel by air with dogs or cats, you had to find other provisions. I believe that all public transport should be the same - if you want to travel with a dog there should be dedicated services for that, for which you may need to pay a small premium to allow it to run.

Also with places that serve/sell food - it should be clearly indicated if they welcome dogs to allow people to decide whether they want to enter or not. From my experience, places that excluded dogs would attract large numbers, as a lot of people don’t want to share culinary spaces with animals, and in my opinion have the right to that option.

I do particularly feel that places that welcome and encourage children to be there and move around freely should be entirely dog free (excluding, of course, guide dogs and similar).

That crayons or toy cars in restaurants or on planes are a good way to keep kids occupied. I'm team ipad (with headphones) all the way.

"No" is a complete sentence

Just go NC with a parent that's a bit frustrating (mine would hunt me down)

Children should never be smacked (sorry, but a light smack won't kill your kids)

That all badly behaved people must be "on the spectrum". No, some people are shits and some kids are just naughty!

When people are supportive of pregnancies with absolute shitty shitty men that 100% do not want the baby. I read responses like you can do this alone, or have the baby and chase CMS etc. I honestly don’t think it’s a good idea to bring a baby into a situation where one parent is a gobshite and doesn’t want anything to do with them, you’re tethering yourself to a lifetime of drama and heartache.

That state school is a mass education service, not a bespoke one.

That people moan on and on about the cost of childcare, then moan about their taxes. Who would you like to pay for this, exactly? Everybody wants the world on a stick, but heaven forfend we ask anyone to pay for it.

That immigration to fill low-paid jobs is partly a result of an increased number of white, British people refusing to work in those sectors, not just because of the low pay, but because everybody expects to 'do better' these days and nobody wants to do shifts, turn up for the hours the job requires, work weekends, work at Christmas, work past 3:30, come in before 9. Presenteeism has become a dirty word, employers have to let you do as you please at the drop of the words 'my child...' Immigrants haven't shafted the working classes. We've shafted ourselves by being bone idle fucking whiners looking for someone else to blame.

• having people visit you and your newborn baby is really nice
• developments in extended rear facing car seats does not automatically make their rigorously-tested front facing predecessors a death trap. And let’s face it you’re probably driving a car that’s like a tank anyway.
• Trans rights are human rights. The amount of shit I read on here about biological males (DHs usually) treating their partners horribly over periods of years and constantly being excused away. Yet suddenly the thought of sharing a bathroom with someone who has undergone gender reassignment surgery is all consuming and the risk however minuscule warrants real vitriol.

That step parents are always wrong and cant possibly love a child that isnt theres.

That step parents will always prioritise natural born child, and they cant possibly think fairly and reasonably about both

That a step parent cant have an opinion on how to parent said child in any way shape or form

That cooking a meal for a child that did not come from your vagina means that you are attempting to parent them

That the original parent must do everything for a child and the step parent should do nothing and if the step parent does do something, they are being taken advantage of.

That a step parent cant possibly do something on their own with the child as every minute of every day needs to be spent with parent.

I am a step parent and a parent who also has a vagina child.

Oh agree with this also.

Everyone wants a village but don’t want to BE the village.

Similar to my comment about PTA stuff. Everyone wants fun events put on for the kids but no one wants to volunteer to make them happen.

It’s always someone else’s job.

Yes and yes! I do wonder if people are as quick to "go NC" on their friends/family in real life as they advise others to be on Mumsnet.

Oh and when someone eg an older relativd does something awful they probably aren’t needing a diagnosis of dementia or neurodivergence. Some people are just capable of being total dicks.

Completely agree. Bat shit crazy to put the potential life on some cells over a living breathing human who has made a mistake. I’m thinking of the example of a 14 year old child getting pregnant. Bringing a baby in to the world when it wasn’t wanted in dire circumstances is far far worse than getting rid of an embryo that doesn’t exist anywhere near a human

The birth rate is only going to continue declining as more and more women realise that motherhood is something of a scam and men and society exploit their unpaid labour. Although children are lovely and undeniably cute, we will move towards a majority of women rejecting parenthood.

If a disease suddenly stuck down all mothers so that fathers had to do everything, a significant proportion of children ostensibly from two parent families who are presently happy and well cared for would suddenly be at serious risk of neglect.

People who get het up about parking in front of their own house should get a life (unless there is a disability in which case get a space marked as such)

I loathe picnics with a passion

People who think abortion is murder should keep their noses out of other peoples business. They can apply this belief to themself and no-one else as it is a belief, not a fact

Dogs on the whole are much nicer than people

There is nothing wrong with being trans. They are no more a threat than any other person you go past walking down the street. They are incredibly brave people who just want to be their true selves and it has fuck all to do with anyone else