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...

Bozza - have you had people refuse you hot water for the purpose? That's shocking! IME they blame refusing to heat it themselves on health & safety regs, which may be true, but there is no excuse for not giving you the hot water!

People who say this:

"Not enough mother and baby parking, too much disabled parking, disabled people that think a mother and baby space is a disabled space"

and this:

"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."

The state of education is my biggest bugbear. Standards seem to be dropping year on year and there are people going to university and getting degrees who wouldn't even have been capable of A levels when I was at school. Qualifications are becoming pretty meaningless imo.

Oh, and people who don't strap their children into car seats, let them ride in the front seat and carry them on their laps.

Also people who let their children stand in supermarket trolleys.

I hate the stereotyping of clothing too. I think it's really insidious. I find myself looking at the till receipt and discovering that what I thought was a perfectly neutral top (say, with fishes and a submarine on) is actually a boy's top. Sleepsuits in Mothercare (which in its name negates the very existence of fathers): pink with 'angel' for a girl, white / grey / blue for a boy, saying things like 'I'm a pirate!' or 'Looking for treasure!' Angel or pirate. I know which I'd rather be.

So many of the girl's clothes I see are just too pale and pretty for doing anything interesting in - and surely this means that girls somewhere are being hampered in their exploration of the world, because they'll get themselves dirty - because pale pink is just not suitable for activity. My mother bought a snowsuit from M&S for my daughter - and luckily it washes really well because it's white and pink and presumably not designed for fell walking in Cumbria with a bouncy dog. And what about dresses / skirts that might hamper their movement when they're starting to crawl? And why did lots of people buy pinafore dresses for my daughter (now 5 months) when all they did was ride up uncomfortably and she was left with just a pair of tights to keep her legs warm...

If it's a choice between blue and pink for something - like the balls for HC's ball pool - I'll go blue.

probably already been said but resent the fact that most child-friendly restaurants etc serve such appalling food - hungy horse, mcdonalds, pizza hut etc...
would be lovely to swan into great pub/restaurant knowing that kids would be happy/safe/have somewhere to play/be offered healthy & fresh food on the kiddies menu AND us parents could just sit back & relax with a couple of glasses of wine and great food...

Yes kathy - it was a Brewsters I went to with my 3 yo DS, my 7 month old DD and my 40 week pregnant sister. They would not give me water or warm the puree for me. I was so angry. DD had never had a jar and although I am not against them I don't think it is their decision to make that I should start giving them to her. So I ended up trying to warm the veg puree up on the radiator and mixing it with some of DS's mash to bring it to a temp she would eat - not ideal at all.

Had a feeling some of you would want to rant... do we feel better now?

Attitudes to childcare - why the pay for nursery nurses where I work is the same as the pay for a cleaner in the same organisation.

Restaurants that don't have high chairs or babychanging facilities.

The fact that Leappad comes in blue AND pink, fgs.

Sexualising(?) girls' clothes - Why is it hard to find nice warm clothes for small girls but not for boys? And WHY would I want to put my six-year old in an off the shoulder top? Or a midriff top? Or one that says "babe" on the front?

That'll do for now

The lack of choice of boys clothing. Went into Monsoon the other day and 80% of the stock was girls clothes!

Never being able to park in a mother and baby space because they are always full!

Able bodied people who queue for the lift when there is an escalator a 100 yards away, and who steam through the electronic doors in the shopping centre with no regard for people with pushchairs/wheelchairs. Why can't they open a door themselves?

Shop layout - if you have a pushchair you might aswell forget going in half the shops in our shopping centre, oh and shops with more than one floor and no lift. I didn't really want to go and look upstairs did I?

People who think they have the right to tell you how to bring up your children and cast judgement.

Rude people.

The main thing that gets me ranting is when people who abuse/murder children get short totally unacceptable sentences handed down to them. This is a particular rant of mine, every time there is something on the news, off i go again
The way that so many kids cannot get NHS dental treatment.

As Twiglett said - the poor design and choic of boys clothes on the High Street , and the price of them.
And the amount of little girls clothes that are strapless/see-through/cropped etc
The fact that most restaurants have a staple "kids menu" of Nuggets, pizza and burger, and the look of shock i get when i ask if my kids can have a small portion of the adult meals instead.

The fact that some parents treat they children as a fashion accessory, or as a way of getting money. They should be loved and valued just for being children.

My MIL telling me that I shouldn't have dolls in the house,should take Ds to rugby and let them do boys things.
Also get annoyed at the education system in this country.

getbackinyourjimjams...come on then why the particular exception to mine and other's comments re: mother ad baby parking. I'm not advocating disabled people not having their spaces, just that they seem to have lots for themselves that are free and available yet park in mother and baby ones that are hard to come by, yet we would be publically flogged if we used the disabled ones (rightly so).

Totally agree with the comments about the lunacy surrounding not being able to heat up baby food in public places because of health and safety. I have also been refused hot water to warm food as it is also a H&S issue as the water may spill and scald somebody. FFS, allow people to take some personal responsilbility for the saafety of people on their table so that their baby (with allergy who can't eat any of your crap) can have some paletable warm dinner.

If I go out with ds1 and cannot access a disabled space in some instances we cannot then get out of the car and do what we wanted to do.

If I go out with ds2 and ds3 and cannot access a P and T space I am perfectly capable of getting my fat one out of the car and waddling over to a trolley and bringing it back to collect the 2 kids.

Resenting disabled people for their "benefits" completely misses the point. Disabled spaces are a necessity (and in some cases no they can't wait- if we go somewhere and can't park- we can't wait- he'd smash his head to pieces- cars don't stop except to park). P and T spots are a luxury, an add on, a marketing ploy.

smoggie, honestly. Come on.

I can't believe anyone can truely resent disabled cars in M&T places? Surely you should be p'ed off with the idiots who have parked illegaly in 'their' spaces which is why they've parked in 'yours'.

M&T parking is great, but not a right.

smoggie the ironic thing is that on that occasion my DD pulled burning hot custard all over herself and me. I ran to the toilets with her and ran her arm under the cold tap so she didn't come to any harm other than the initial upset. I, on the other hand, had burns on my legs through my jeans. again.

completely agree with jimjams

get over these parent and child spaces, peeps! they're a courtesy. they don't even exist in most countries. i'd never heard of them till i got here, in fact. never use 'em myself, too much of a hassle driving around near the front of the shop. park in the back and am damn grateful i have the ability to walk in - for a long time there, i didn't.

Of course I don't resent disabled people parking in M&T toddler when there aren't any available...come on I'm not a moron. I just meant the one off situations when (as has happend to me) there are lots of disabled spaces available that they haven't used, but have used a M&T spot that has resulted in me having to park miles away with 2 screaming kids. Yes I know - laziness on my part not wanting to walk in the rain with 2 screaming kids, or bang somebodies door because I'm struggling to get the children out. I was just commenting on a one off situation that hapennned to me that annoyed me. Probably just an oversight on their part and didn't read the signs or realise that there were at least 5 disabled spaces available. If there aren't disabled spaces available then of course - us a M&T spot, their need is greater.

nah expat they aren't a courtesy
they are there to encourage parents with children to use the shop to buy loads of turkey twizzlers and first size crop tops
they are there because parents spend more money, simple

Batters - agree with everything so far. Particular hates are holiday costs and the relentless advertising/marketing of rubbish that's targeting our kids.

smoggie - how do you know that the disabled user didn't also have a child though, thus making it perfectly acceptable to use a mother and child space?

Breast is best annoys me the most. Both of my kids were bottle fed and both are very healthy and have had no long term problems.

Oh yes and 5 year olds being given mobile phones. My 6 year old DD cannot understand why she can't have a phone!!!!