As a parent, what "issues" annoy you the most?

[willow2]

OK, what is it that gets you ranting? Holiday prices, education reforms, the state of the maternity service? What would you change most, if you could? Discuss...

The cost of childcare
Parent and child parking spaces - they don't have to be right near the entrance, and they need to be patrolled
People who check with me because ds1 has just asked for water. It's his favourite drink ffs.
Agree with scummy about people having low expectations of Dads (as in, when you're out in the evening "oh, who's looking after your children?")

attitudes towards single mothers!! single dads dont get the same slagging off do they!

Kathy - really agree on the gender thing. There is a fantastic line in an Ian McEwan book (I think it is The Child in Time ?) where he describes a Toys R Us - I doubt I get it totally right but he describes the toys in their gendered aisles as ranging "from domestic drudgery to military killing"

sending my gorgeous ds to school, and it ruining him! Going from a sweet 4 year old who loved thomas to a karate chopping power rangers nut cos all the other kids were into it... being at school with other peoples kids who don't speak proper..innit!
Or should I be on the snob thread?

How we're all meant to have spotlessly clean homes and generally be 1950s housewives but without the gin.

Think we should get more money for raising kids. And then we can choose whether to spend it on nursery or staying at home ( that I would ever say this, 3 years ago I was the most gung ho advocate of nurseries alive).

Crap food for kids.

As HC says, the way that "children's" is a shortcut for "crap".

The fact that John Holt, a truly visionary writer on the rights (and responsibilities) of children, is largely unknown except by BEd students.

And some more things...

Tell us more about John Holt then!

Chicken nuggets
Little girls dressed like hooers
Paying for childcare out of taxed income

Not enough mother and baby parking, too much disabled parking, disabled people that think a mother and baby space is a disabled space, people who say I have a lovely little boy when dd is dressed in a pink coat, shall I go on???

still dont understand what the problem is with sausage rolls and buggies!

The fact you are expected to do homework with your child, teach them tables, make up general shortfall of state education. IF I D WANTED TO BE A TEACHER, ID HAVE TRAINED AS ONE.

The feminisation of primary education - run by women for girls. So my son has had to do sewing and netball and dancing. But I don t see the whole class doing woodwork, football and rugby the next week.

Secondary transfer in London - really, really scary and stressmaking.

People who think being parents excuses all manner of selfishness and grabbiness - from driving 4x4s to not closing buggies on buses so older people can sit down.

Computer games - parents who buy PS2 or whatever then moan their child never does anything else. Well, why did you buy such a dumb, addictive toy?

Smiled wryly when I read this one:-
People who check with me because ds1 has just asked for water. It's his favourite drink ffs.
I've had that particular gem also!!.

Some gripes in no particular order:-

Holiday prices outside of term time

School dinners for children aka crap - makes airline meals look edible. Think they use the same company. All done on the cheap.

Not enough male teachers particularly in infants schools. Seems that teacher's primary role these days is to get the girls to achieve and the boys to behave. A sad state of affairs

Schools who cover up bullying issues badly by brushing it all under the carpet

The way in which men are protrayed by the "meejia" in adverts i.e thick

Having to fight for SEN support from LEA

Parents who make up for lack of emotional attention of offspring by buying them things

The Childfree people who use the word "breed". Boring!!

Women who say "F Off" to their children whilst in public

Ill mannered adults who plainly do not like children at all

Kathy, I agree re pink-ification of toys. It's hardly the most vital thing I guess, but I get annoyed that what was once the ELC art centre in green and purple is now available in blue and pink. So you have to get two if you have both sexes?
Also re "children's" menus which are crap and chips, especially if the adults are offered nice pasta or salads or whatever. Some people eat like that at home too, which I find bizarre.
Can't agree with you all re holiday prices tho - it's a matter of supply and demand, the holiday companies charge that much because they can, they are there to make money after all. If I worked for a holiday company I would want it to turn a profit to keep me in employment. The real answer is maybe for LEAs to stagger holidays so that the school holiday time is not fixed across the country.

yes that annoys me too, about everything being in pink or blue. Clothes too - trying to find what I consider to be age appropriate playclothes for dd1 is ridiculously difficult.
and WHY do I have to decide if I want the balls to go in her ball pool in blue or pink?? wtf??

LOL at Filyjonk 'without the gin'. Abso-bloody-lutely - if we're meant to be perfect housewives we should damn well get the gin as well.

Have thought of another one: the way it's assumed that there are paedophiles around every corner and that if you leave your baby in a buggy outside a shop he will get abducted and murdered.

Ok here we go.
Parents who talk to their kids like total crap then complain because the kids behave like total out of control hooligans not listening to a word they say...one word...'respect'..you show it, they'll give it.

Diabled people using mother and baby parking spaces..yes I know you need to be near the entrance too but use one of your own bloody spaces.

Gender specific toys....arghhhh.

Children's menu's containing nothing but crap + chips and beans.

As others have said - clothes for girls that make them look like prositutes. THank god I've got boys - although still hard to find decent clothes that don'e make them look like mini-16yr olds, skater boys or combat terrorists.

Idiots who don't put their children in proper car seats or worse still don't even make them wear seatbelts. Saw one this morning on the way into
work. Makes me fume.

Ohh this is getting me going. Will go for a coffee and calm down. More to follow!

can't think of anything. Parp.

oh yes, it drives me a bit bonkers that in Oxford city centre, any children's department is either on the first floor or the basement. but i'm trying not to use out of town stores so it's my choice.

Department and high street stores who put childrens clothes on the 1st, 2nd floor etc so you have to find some rickety old lift that takes 5 minutes just to open its doors.

Having to wait for the stream of perfectly able bodied people who actually queue to come through the automatic doors because they are too pathetically lazy to open one of the normal doors.

The trolleys at my local Sainsburys where every single childseat is covered in birdpoo and ds has to end up sitting on a carrier bag and then we discover it has a flipping wonky/jumpy wheel.

lol acnebride, you beat me to it, glad to know I'm not the only one though

Crap food for babies/children in restaurants and supermarkets
The ridiculous amount of toy adverts on in the mornings.
The lack of decent/responsible/challenging/well paid part time work
The utter lack of low cost childcare or encouragement to stay at home and look after your children
The HUGE discrepancy between cost of living from one place to another in this country (mayor ken has alot to answer for for that) and yet the Inland Revenue/CHB etc dont seem to take that into consideration with CTC/CHB. (If i move to somewhere cheaper im nowhere near family or "free" childcare.)
They way ALL companies take advantage of parents by charging excessive prices for anything "Family" or baby related. eg cots, push chairs, holidays, clothes - ESP maternity clothes.
The inconsistency and shortfalls in healthcare
The utter shambles of a midwifery system that blurs many maternity units in this country
The lack of support women get to b/feed after birth ie feeding in public etc after having had the benefits and pro's fired endlessly at them the whole way through pg
The lack of decent stereotypes/role models on tv with regard to b/feeding/single mums/dads
People saying "it never did me/mine any harm" whilst disregarding sensible advice.
People parking in parent/child spaces without children in tow - i have a bad back and pelvis from spd and would rather not traipse across a car park with heavy trolley/two children under 3 - just so its quicker for you to buy your fags/lunch - sorry.
People who impose what their idea of a treat is on my children - MY daughter LOVES water AND raisins AND fruit. What is so fantastic about sweets with 100's of preservatives/additives - errrr NOTHING.

That'll do me for now.

Oh, and shops that stick sweets etc within arms reach from a buggy/trolley in the checkout aisle.

Ooh this is a great rant thread. I agree with so many on here.

Love the pink-ification thing. I almost never buy my DD pink things but she has loads that are either presents or hand-me-downs. When DS was born I bought as many as possible neutral things - cot bedding in strong primary colours, vests in white, play balls in primary colours, wellies in red etc etc partly because they were sensible colours for the items and partly because I am tight and there was a possibility my next child might be a girl. And that was how it worked out. I half regret it now that I have a 5yo DS and a 1yo DD who both have red as their favourite colour. Maybe if I'd colour stereotyped them we wouldn't have fights over who gets the red toothbrush....

So my rants are:
wall to wall pink clothes for girls
dull clothes for boys
tarty clothes for girls
kid's menus and lack of variety thereon
parents who have to park within 5 metres of the school gates and drive to school despite only living 50 metres away, never mind how difficult they make it to cross the road with a pushchair
people who block the way in shops with huge off-road pushchairs
what messing with prams, pushchairs, car seats etc does to your nails
class sizes

Oh I've thought of another - pubs/restaurants that won't warm up or provide hot water for the purpose of warming up home made baby food. It is my decision whether I feed my baby out of a jar or not, not theirs.