to dislike it when I call a friend and a child answers the phone?

[hambler]

Tonight called a friend whose very bossy 10 yo dd answered with "Hello who am I speaking to?"

She has been doing this since she was about 5 or 6.

I HATE it when kids answer the phone. It's not like the call will be for them.

It never crossed my kids' minds to pick up the phone when they were young and I would never have suggested/encouraged it.
AM I alone?
BU?

[pagwatch]

My children answer the phone sometimes - I have a big house and one phone so they may well hear it when i don't. But they answer very politely and know what to do and say - even my 6 year old.
She is happy to chat if it is grandma or someone friendly but OP wouldn't have any problems - she passes the miserable gits over to me pretty quickly

Actually I find her very useful. When cold callers phone I ask them to hold the line and then put her on. She has a nice long chat and they never call again.

[bruffin]

"I HATE it when kids answer the phone. It's not like the call will be for them"

In our house the phone is usually hidden in DD's 11 room so i have to get her to find it before the answer phone cuts in, and it's usually for her anyway!

[ingles2]

I do know where you are coming from Hambler...
I can't stand talking to ds1 on the phone. He's awful monosyllabic, grunting, really bad.
Ds2 is a pleasure though, always asks if you've had a good day and then proceeds to tell you long stories about his

[JulesJules]

Pagwatch - good idea about the cold callers! I have a friend who always puts her elderly mum on - she tells them her life story

My dd1 when she was about 2 went through a phase of picking up the phone when it rang and putting it straight in the bin, so I think actually speaking into it is a significant step forward. Agree it is annoying though.

[Morloth]

My DS sometimes answers the phone, he is 5. He is perfectly capable of saying hello and asking who it is.

The call usually is for him, either my SIL or one of his friends (most people contact me and DH via mobile).

[Spidermama]

Phone calls are more likely to be for my 10 year old dd than me in this house.

I think you perhaps have a problem with THIS child answering the phone and not with CHILDREN in general.

They have to learn about phone answering just as they have to learn about all other forms of communication so YABU. Big time.

[Mintyy]

OP - yanbu. Completely agree with you!

I phoned my friend after school one day to have a two minute conversation with her about something I'd forgotten to say at school gates.

Her dd answered the phone. She knows me perfectly well. I say "J can you get mummy for me please?" (J is about 4). Long pause, J can't find Mummy, J comes back on phone and screeches "MUMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE" down phone at me and gets hysterical. So I'm left trying to calm down tantrumming 4 year old who picked up the phone - when I could have just left a message on friend's answerphone! I really wanted to just say goodbye to J but didn't feel I couldleave her so upset. I'm talking her through "is she in the loo? is she upstairs? calm down darling she won't have gone out and left you!" with J still bawling hysterically down the phone.

After 5 mins of this my friend came in (had been bringing in washing) and then has to calm J down so says "can I phone you back?"...

Harrummmppphhh.

[ExpositionDesMains]

Tee hee.

My 2yr 2month old dd is on the phone right now. She answered it. It's her Grandad, we have caller ID... Transcript...

"Yes Grandad Fish... I went to the park... on the swings and the slide and running... No... didn't... Mamgu did it... look Grandad the piano is there... I can... Yes... No... Shreddies and 'nana... No... Don't like tea... What's that sound?... Go on a picnic... yes in the library... no it's my card... read the books..."

Oh hang on, phone being waved at me.

OP, you would hate ringing here!

[UnquietDad]

I rather like the "bossy 10-year-old"'s way of answering the phone too!

I think it's quite funny. Surely answering the phone is a skill we should be teaching children?

I do wish, though, that when DD's friends phone they would not all do the same routine of:

Me: Hello?
Girl: [long silence]... um... hello?
Me: Yes, hello?
Girl: hello....
Me: Yes, hello, who is this?
Girl... It's Jocasta-one-of-unquietgirl's-friends, is unquietgirl there please?

Tell me who you are straight away, please, 9-year-old females. You all sound the bloody same on the phone!

[Dumbledoresgirl]

UQD - that is exactly how a couple of ds1's (13 yo) friends ring up too. No attempt to say who they are, or say "hello Mrs DG" to me, or even ask for ds1. Just repeated hellos until I say to them "Do you want to speak to ds1?" Why can't they just say "Hello, this is X, can I speak to ds1 please?" Even I, who to this day still does not like speaking on the telephone, could manage that as a teen.

Another of ds1's friends is fantastic, I could kiss him, as he speaks clearly and maturely, explains who he is and what he wants - great.

WRT the OP, I am afraid you are being unreasonable. It is good for children to learn to answer the phone. I encourage my children to do it all the time. Ds1, like his friends, just says "hello" and then mutters (and most people think he is me - not sure what that says about us! ) but ds2 has a lovely manner.

[TheMitsubishiWarrioress]

Um.....

I work from home, and my DC's regularly answer all calls. People compliment them on their phone manner. It is after all one of the many life skills children need. so 'most kids sound rude and thick on the phone' is a bit of a to me...

Personally I am more likely to be about an adult with a crap phone manner than a child answering the phone.

One of My DS's mate's fathers rings up and when you pick the phone up launches into...'is X there?'

without so much as a 'Hi, 'it is X's Dad, is he there please'

And winding small people up is a source of much fun!!

[ohbabygivemeonemorechance]

I was told by ds1 yr2 teacher to encourage him to use and answer the phone.
I agree they should be taught what to say,and to pass phone over.
I do think under 5 is silly.And quite annoying as it comes over as "listen to my prescious darling for hours on the phone,while we all wait for hours isn't it adorable!"
But YABVU after all,the whole family live there and they don't know who the phone is for in advance do they?
Also people are more free and easy with phones now than in the 70's~tho I answered the phone all the time,correctly and politely of course....

[Surfermum]

I'm really not getting this, I can't even formulate an argument for them answering the phone .

I don't see what the issue is. You ring someone, someone answers and you ask for the person you want, or you get to speak to them directly. What difference does it make whether a child or an adult answers?

[random]

I wish my teenage DS would answer the phone...it can be right next to him and he will shout mummmm phone!

[Ripeberry]

I worked in an Insurance call center many years ago and loads of times when i rang a customer back, a child would answer, but i did not mind as it made a change from the usually grumpy adults!
Several times i've had to talk to children in the middle of a call, as the customer's little darling wanted to speak on the phone and were going to have a full stroppy meltdown if they didn't.
The best one was, when i rang a lady and she must have been in the kitchen and it was quite an important call and she went "Oh NO!" Her little 2yr old had got in the fridge and had emptied a whole bottle of milk all over the floor and trown in some eggs for good measure!
Even after all these years i still feel for that lady.

[Othersideofthechannel]

Hambler, does you friend say 'Hello, who am I speaking to?' when she answers?

Since DS turned 6 I have been teaching him to answer the 'phone if he is nearer to it than I am then bring it to me. Like others I think it is an important life skill.

I remember using the 'phone to make arrangements with friends well before I was 10. I should imagine it is even more so the case nowadays that 8 yr olds can't walk halfway across the village to knock on a friends door and say 'Is xxxx playing today?'

[Othersideofthechannel]

I also like speaking to my friends' children. With little ones it is essential so that we can then get in a decent conversation once they've had their turn. But with children you don't see very often, if they talk to you on the 'phone, it helps the relationship.

[OrmIrian]

"I HATE it when kids answer the phone. It's not like the call will be for them.
"

Really? In our house it almost certainly will be At least between 3.30 and about 7 in the evening.

I don't understand why it bothers you.

[blinder]

I am SO glad it's not just me agreeing with OP. Ballonslayer, I believe you have transcribed the exact conversation I had with a boring darling child just the other day.

Maybe I am not so evil.

I am sure these conversations are just as torturous for the child as for me. They really make me not to want to even bother talking the the friend after all. Too bloomin exhausted by then!

[Jillydix]

My husband's nephew, a literal lad, would answer the phone, and when the caller asked, "Is your Mummy there?" would simply answer "Yes" and keep holding on to the phone. In his mind the question had been asked and answered, and he was waiting for round 2 of the conversation, which most often did not happen, as the caller kept holding on in silence, under the erroneous impression that Daryl had gone to call his Mum.

[OrmIrian]

DS#1 has a friend who calls round for him regularly. DH will open the door and this lad will be standing there. He will say 'Alex?' (not much of a conversationalist has to be said). Dh always without fails says "No, Alex is shorter and has blond hair". Child has yet to crack a smile.

[Aranea]

profiterolethief

blinder - I agree with you completely. I suspect the problem though is that I find other people's children quite annoying. I know, I know, I'm horrible. And I do try to conceal it as best I can.

[TheMitsubishiWarrioress]

Lol Orm .

I have been known to hide in a cupboard under the stairs when I don't want to answer the phone and listen to my DC's trundling around saying....'no nanna, I'm not sure where mum is at the moment, i'll tell her you called...'

[Jux]

I have been encouraging dd to learn to use the phone and answer it since she was about 2.5!

She is nearly 10 now and people comment on what a fantastic telephone manner she has. I think you're being a meanie; we all had to start somewhere. I clearly remember my brothers and I having great fun one boring afternoon when the parents were in the kitchen with friends; we spent many happy hours ordering tons of coal for people we knew (ie. our piano teacher, the guy down the road, the local priest etc).