...because they seem to expect a lot from my 18 mo DD.
Today we met a friend in a cafe with his 2 teenage children. After DD had eaten her lunch she started to whinge and wanted to play so I sat her on my knee and entertained her for the rest of the time, which meant I couldn't really join in the conversation with everyone else. At the end of the meal my friend told me I was spoiling DD because I played with her too much I don't know what he expected me to do, maybe ignore DD and let her have a tantrum?!
Another instance is when we visit DHs parents they always either take us out for lunch at a restaurant or cook a big formal three course meal (with wine, napkins, conversation). This is lovely lof them and I loved it pre-DD. However now DD just gets restless and whingey after 5 /10 mins, so to avoid a full blown tantrum me or DH have to take her out the room to play and end up missing our lunch Or if we're in a restaurant everyone stares and it's embarrassing. It annoys my in-laws too, as they can't understand why DD can't be MADE to sit and enjoy the meal
Another time I was trying to get DD to sleep in her buggy (we were out). She had just had a big tantrum mainly because she was very tired. A family friend kept sticking her head into the buggy and talking to DD so started crying again. ARGH!
All these people have children of their own (now teenagers / grown-up), am I being unreasonable to expect them to remember what toddlers are like? Or have they forgotten? Or should I expect more from my 18 mo?