Weeing in the theatre

[Didimum]

Went with my DCs to the theatre in London. There was a little boy seated in front of us with his mum. I think he was around 3-4yrs old. During the show, his mum had him wee in a bottle twice when he needed the bathroom. Trousers down and everything. They were otherwise fine during the show – not noisy or anything.

I get that it’s annoying having to take your kids to the loo during a show, but I would never have done this. Poor woman in front of them turned round and got a … well, a full on view.

YABU – I would do this
YANBU – I wouldn’t have

Absolutely gross and disgusting.

I wouldn't like to be the person infront, given the chances of a mishap 😳
I suppose people moan when people go in and out also though. It's not the worst crime.

Eww that is gross.

disgusting would have put me right off the play. other kids must be coming up with embarrassing questions too!

I think this is totally not ok, however people do moan a lot if you get up to go to the loo which is probably partly why this happened. By the way I have an overactive bladder and love the theatre so have often had to get up to go to the loo during the show. They DO let you back in! You may have to wait for a few minutes for an appropriate time for them to let you slip back in. Like when they’re changing the staging or pausing after an emotional scene before moving to the next. The theatre ushers are well trained and know at what point in the show it’s going to be less intrusive for you to go back to your seat. I’m ok with this. Back in the day when I was a child yes you often had to literally wait til the half time interval but I suspect these days people would complain it’s not disability friendly of you’re not allowed to go to the loo if you really have to!

Wtaf

It’s the sort of thing Buddy would do, like he sings when Jovie is in the shower, in the film. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist it!)

But I thought this was going to be a rant about queues for loos. I didn’t realise it was literally about weeing in the theatre.

Perhaps he’s seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and wanted to provide a sample for Mad-Eye Moody. “I warn you, Polyjuice Potion tastes like goblin piss.”

That’s insane. And not a cheap kids show but an expensive musical / I would have complained for sure.

I don’t even like seeing people pull their kids’ trousers down to do a wee by a tree in full view in the park, let alone in the THEATRE. Absolutely disgusting and classless.

Even though you were in the one place where it might be expected?

I must say I was prepared for a report from the front line that this kid was allowed to just squat on the carpet between the mum’s feet.
Her having brought a bottle along appears almost like civilised behaviour compared with much of the grimness that’s reported from theatres.
(Unless the little child was roaring drunk, of course, and that too could be believed now. 😤)

Grim. Reminds me of the mum I saw telling her little boy (about 5) to pee in the communal shower of the local pool. There were about 6 other kids in the shower and toilets approx. 5 metres away.

Gross! Theatre etiquette is totally lost nowadays. We had a family in front of us at the theatre bring a massive flask of tomato soup about 30.mins into the show the mum got these little travel bowls out of her handbag and tipped soup from the flask into all the bowls and gave everyone one then gave everyone a crusty roll. One of the children was fidgeting and spilt her soup all over the lady in front. Family got told to leave but they had no idea that eating soup in tbe theatre is not a done thing!

Yep! It had happened, can’t rewind it.

I mean, the wait for women’s loos are always awful for sure, especially in the older theatres where they are limited for toilet space.

I would never do this, closest I've come is using our travel potty in the boot of my car or at the side of the car with both doors open. I feel like kids deserve privacy with toileting the same (if not more) than adults. I understand there can be situations where its tricky while potty training etc is getting established but I think you just take that as a season of life and plan around your kid and how they're getting on. I do think there should be exceptions to theatre rules about not being allowed back in if you need to use the loo- what happens for people with illnesses or disabilities where they may not be able to wait.

That’s surely just an issue at intervals. During the performance they wouldn’t have to wait I’d imagine.

Well he can’t have been as young as you say. elf has a strict no admittance policy for under 4’s.

It was just a comment on women’s loos in general, not this specific incident.

He definitely was 3 or 4. They can’t be that strict. They weren’t when I went to Frozen last year, which was also an age limit of 4+.

There's seemingly always another level.

OP said he was 3-4.

So he was likely aged 4 but 3 year olds do get in if their parents bluff (who carries their child’s birth certificate to the theatre except me because aged 5 Ds looked about 2-3 years in 18 month old clothes!

That's absolutely disgusting - this is what the interval is for! You get there early, go before the performance begins and make sure they try again at the interval, which is not normally any more than one hour and a half into the performance!

I would have never done this. We didn't take the kids to panto until they were potty trained and aged 3. They didn't go to the actual thetre till aged 4 or 5. I still had to take them to the loo before we left home,when we got to the theatre and in the interval. It's why we always go for the end seats. Of course, you want to minimise disruption to the show but we chose to protect our children's dignity and also be mindful of others.