to have felt like pushing this noisy family over a cliff!

[5Foot5]

I accept that I may just be a grumpy old misanthrope and probably IABU but I just wanted to get this off my chest!

We have just returned from a lovely, lovely week in the Lake District. We had smashing weather and lots of superb walks. (Fortunately several miles away from where recent, tragic events took place.) However, on one of our walking days I was incensed by the noisy behaviour of one particular family group.

There were lots and lots of fellow walkers out this week - not surprising with it being half term and such good weather - and many people, including ourselves, were walking with their kids. But this particular group behaved as if they owned the whole bloody mountain! I think it was two families walking together as there were four adults, five or six kids and at least one dog. They set off from the same place as us at roughly the same time and seemed to be doing approximately the same circuit so we kept encountering them throughout the day. First we would pass them having a rest and then they would pass us. But you could hear this wretched crowd coming from a great distance as they were constantly yelling, shouting and whooping encouragement to each other. I mean they just never, ever seemed to shut up and it was always at full volume.

The adults were much, much worse then the kids at this and it just went on and on. So there you are sitting on top of a lofty peak trying to enjoy the beauty and majesty of the view around you - but all you can hear is this endless babble of:

"Oh X I am so proud of you you have done so well!",
"I have the biscuits, who would like a biscuit? Biscuits anyone?",
"Team photo now - Y and Z put your drinks down, boys stop frowning, girls further this way..."

and so on, you get the picture.

Of course it is a good thing to take your kids on long walks and certainly encouragement is needed but why oh why do some people feel they need to bray at the top of their voices the whole damn time regardless of the fact that they are surrounded by other people trying to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the countryside! Is this their normal out of doors voice do you suppose? Or is it done because they think that talking in loud, hearty voices demonstrates to other people what a good time they are all having?

Aaagh!

Eventually Mr 5foot5 found us a path down the mountain slightly different to the route that the noisies were taking and to our relief we got in the pub at the bottom and out again just before they arrived!

Hmm. I can see both sides but ultimately I think YABU.

BTW are you quite sure none of the party members were hearing impaired?

RunawayWife I have reported your comment

it made me laugh very loudly and this has hurt my sore throat

We had campers next to us who did just that (played a tinny radio I mean). It was set at just the right volume for it to be unintelligible to us, but too loud for us to blank it out.
They will be on here next complaining about the people next door talking in voices so loud they couldn't hear their radio.

hatwoman We live in the Peak District too! We know it well and yes I agree there are lots of lesser known places that we can visit there if we want to avoid the crowds. However, when you only get to go visit an area for a few days a year inevitably you want to spend some of that time in the better known spots. They are usually popular for a good reason.

SloanyPony Your zoo experience sounds annoying but, TBH, in our case it was the noisy adults that were the problem. The children themselves could barely get a word in edgeways!

imahappycamper No, doesn't sound like you! This was a much bigger group. While we had lunch we thoroughly enjoyed watching the antics of one family of four whose kids were playing in the tarn. They were making a noise but it wasn't at all annoying - just kids having fun rather than adults showing off!

On the site we were on he would probably have got it pinched!

Hmm, ordinarily here I would have said YABU, they're only enjoying themselves and have a right to interact as they choose (bad language etc aside obviously) but I know a family who interact just as you describe, and Oh My God it is soooooooooo bloody annoying!!

The family that I know only do it so that everyone can see How Wonderful they all are, they make my teeth itch!

YA sooo NBU

Ha! We were cycling the Peak District this week and were indeed giving noisy encouragment to DD on her first long bike ride. She needed it. We had a great time. Sorry

We were cycling in the Peak District. She'd have needed more than encouragement to cover the whole area. As would I...

Well, they were most likely complaining about the miserable bunch of walkers who were tutting and eye rolling at their enjoyment.

Get over yourself!

Ha, I live in the Lake District, fecking sick of tourists who think they own the place. My ds once got shouted at for making a noise (playing in a stream/ waterfall thingy ) by some tourists 'because they'd paid to go on holiday and wanted to enjoy the surroundings in peace'.

I told them to move elsewhere, my son was playing in the pool long before they got there, whether they'd 'paid' or not.

I think yabu and quite stuck up tbh

Interesting thread. I am fence-sitting here, as a mother of 5 mini-volcanoes but also someone who loves beautiful walks. I think I agree with you about the volume but not so much about the content.

In a large family it is much more of an issue if one person is struggling with keeping up / eating / behaviour, this can be very disruptive, and being noticed/praised positively in front of the whole group can be an important motivator and the best way to avoid tears and mishaps. It would never occur to me to do this to show off to people. Also the choreography for photos etc can on occasion require a bit of loud fascist diktat.

Can't criticise a FAMILY on here - for they are all beyond stain and reproach and better than the rest of the world.

Sounds a bit like it was done for show - let's convince everyone else we're having a fab time to kid ourselves it's great too... had a woman like that in the doctor's surgery waiting room the other day - jabbering to her baby.. yeah fine... but after each sentence she'd look around the room frantically wanting a reaction and praise from the rest of the waiting patients - and she went on for a good 30 minutes or so with this lark. None of the talk to the baby was for the baby's benefit at all - it was all trawling for compliments from everyone else.

Get it a lot when kids get picked up from school "Oh darling what a beautiful painting tell me all about what you've done at school today".... second they're out of sight you see them being clipped round the ear, told to shut up and the iPod being shoved into the parental earholes.

I think learning to appreciate silence, and stillness is really important for children actually. And how can they really develop all the senses - looking at that beautiful view, smelling the fresh air, hearing the birdsong - if some chirpy adult is wittering on. Children spend enough time plugged in and hooked up to laptops,ipods etc - sensory overload. Give them a break.

There can be a terrible tendency among some parents to feel they have to 'fill the gaps' if ever there is a quiet moment. Try a bit more zipping of the mouth, and opening of the ears.

YABU to think people speak loudly to demonstrate their great parenting skills to you! I think this is simply untrue I have never once seen anyone look around to see if anybody is watching. Some people do genuinely want to praise, talk to their children, it's called social interaction.

Personally I prefer loud, positive people to prissy, quiet types - I think this is stranger. Equally nature does not exist in absolute silence so why should humans.

Maybe they don't see their DCs very often and feel that they are not getting on if they don't fill every moment with sound.

I thought this could have been about my family and friends, we were in the lake district this week 4 adults and 5 children, no dog though so cant be us - phew.

It is sometimes necessary to keep praising etc to get the kids to actually do the walk, i was over the moon dd walked 4 mile last week and she did indeed get well done, would you like a biscuit and hey lets take a group photo SMILE.

I think live and let live if everyone was enjoying themselves

Well said VioletHill.

OP - I agree with you. You are not advocating that the families concerned talk only in hushed reverential whispers, merely that they don't bray loudly so that you can hear ever word. Was an extended family group in local Italian restaurant recently - could hear them discussing the latest BOGOFs at Sainsburys amongst other most excellent subjects . Whilst we as a family of four were not sitting there in mute silence, I doubt they could hear me and dd discussing crossword clues because we were talking in normal voices!

what draggedthrooabush and Firawla said.
Did you see a "keep noise to a minimum" sign, anywhere on your travels?
The great outdoors is there for us all to enjoy, and just as we are all different, we all experience and enjoy outdoors differently.
Good job it wasnt your dc wailing and throwing a "wobbly", or it could have been you being written about on here. As has been said, live and let live.