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Original poster

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

216 replies

willow2 · 06/03/2006 17:39

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...

OP posts:
merrymum · 07/03/2006 22:20

have got the jist of this thread but not enough time to read all of it so appologies for repeating anyone!!!
-tarty clothes made for children
-mcdonalds advertised,anywhere!!
-children in car seats.not enough is done to ensure kids are safe while travelling in a car no matter how short the journey.
-microwaves,- i dont have one,dont want one and will not have one would much rather cook proper food in the oven thankyou. please will people stop telling me how much better/easier it is with one.....
-safe crossings on busy roads, theres just not enough.

Blu · 07/03/2006 22:25

"Toys that encourage little boys to be aggressive (knives, swords, guns, that sort of thing)

The parents who give them those toys "

People who think it's that simple! (if only it was)

soapbox · 07/03/2006 22:27

A total lack of tolerance of other people's choices in bringing up their children.

spursmum · 07/03/2006 22:30

Ive got another one that really grates on me.
Bloody students who try to encourage ds to cross the road when the 'little green man' isn't showing. He has ASD and no road sense but is finally learning that we walk with the LGM and then all these idiots run across the road in front of the traffic!!
Parents that drag their kids across the road without waiting for the LGM.

paolosgirl · 07/03/2006 22:32

The extremes....smoking over kids, giving them crap food, sticking them in front of the TV all day and not bothering your shirt about what they are getting up to, blaming everyone else but yourself for their bad behaviour.

And the other extreme....smug, self-satisfied, zealous over-parenting, where the merest whiff of a chicken nugget is enough to cause an apoplexy.

As I am a perfect parent, I don't have to worry that my choices annoy anyone Grin

jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 07/03/2006 22:36

For me.....

WHY is it more expensive for me to go back to work and put 2 kiddies in childcare than it is to stay at home.

If i was to go back to work full time, it would cost me £280 a week to put my girls in a nursery meaning my take home pay would have to be £14500 just to cover their costs! THen petrol,parking,lunches etc to add on top.... SO not worth it.

tabitha · 07/03/2006 22:53

I think this is a brilliant thread, with so many great posts. I've really enjoyed reading it and agree with so much that's been said.
I think I would have to say that my biggest bugbear is, like Debbiethemum, ignorant people parked on pavements so that nobody, apart from a very skinny limbo can squeeze past them. I'm thinking about getting special little spikes fitted to the buggy to scratch their paintwork as I squeeze past on one wheel :o

handlemecarefully · 07/03/2006 23:01

"people who have nannies and cleaners"

Of ffs what's wrong with having a cleaner. Get a life (or a cleaner)

chipmonkey · 07/03/2006 23:09

"Toys that encourage little boys to be aggressive (knives, swords, guns, that sort of thing)

The parents who give them those toys "
LOL Blu! Ever notice that people who say that hardly ever have boys!

handlemecarefully · 07/03/2006 23:12

ha ha! - it's a moot question anyway whether such toys encourage children to be aggressive. Frankly I am doubtful...

Blu · 07/03/2006 23:18

Just to be clear - I agree with you both, Chip and HMC! (but it's reaching 'own thread' proportions, now!

colditz · 07/03/2006 23:18

Having recently observed ds shooting passers-by with a plastic letter L, and demanding a "Stick for poking" every time we go to the park, I come down firmly on the side of the "Boys will poke and powpowpow and bang bang regardless, it is nothing to do with pieces of plastic" brigade! Grin

colditz · 07/03/2006 23:19

And he has never to my knowledge seen things like that on TV, I honestly think it is innate.

chipmonkey · 07/03/2006 23:19

I think boys are just different from girls. I have friends who have tried to raise their daughter very "correctly" no gender-stereotypical toys at all. At 3 she decided her favourite pastime was to dress up in ballet gear and prance across the living room. Before I had the ds's I said I'd never buy them a "Weapon" to play with. One day I bought a mini hoe, spade and rake so they could "help" (LOL) with the gardening. Ds2 on the way home asked if the "weapons" were in the boot!

Blu · 07/03/2006 23:21

DS has a terrifying range of swords, light sabres and piratical hardware - and is the least agressive child you could come across! He also does all the dance routines from Charlie & The Choc Factory - wearing his plum velvet coat, - and loves his BabyBorn dearly. They all occupy equal areas of his IMAGINATION.

ThePrisoner · 08/03/2006 01:40

People who feed other people's children without asking if it's OK (usually sweets, crisps etc.)

Klicious · 08/03/2006 03:02

:)Hi everyone! I have two little girls and sorry but I love the pink stuff!!! it really suits them... but I agree about the tarty girls wear and boring boys wear(but Verbaudet has some nice stuff for boys).

Those toy adverts drive me MAD.. the begging afterwards!!!

Cant stand people who make a big deal out of breast feeding mothers, a woman was actually asked to leave a store in my area!! but you have to put up with men gawping at page 3 and no one says anything about thatAngry

and when your'e breast feeding people think it's okay to do it in the TOILETS!! why don't they try eating their dinner in the loo DISGUSTING!!

Parents who send their kids away to boarding school at 6yrs old and wonder why all they care about is their inhertitance at 18??

Rude children and parents...

Having to explain why I'm not back at work yet MYOB

Lousy kids food in restaurants...so expensive as well!!

Celeb/Talentless worship anyone can walk down the red carpet nowadays and everybody whats to be famous!!(personally I'd rather just be richWink).

Kids shoes...why are decent LEATHER ones so expensive!!and whats with the platforms??? they are ugly and children cannot walk in them!!

That the government is trying to contemplate making women pay for epidurals bl**dy cheek you cant get the pain relief you want as it is!! when I was in labour didn't get pethedine till 15mins before giving birth and I was begging for hours!!it takes at least 20mins to start working so just survived on gas & airAngry.

Young children with mobiles better than mineEnvy

I could go on..... probably be back later to post some more gripes..Grin

speedymama · 08/03/2006 08:40

"Toys that encourage little boys to be aggressive (knives, swords, guns, that sort of thing)

The parents who give them those toys "

Last christmas after wrapping the presents the I gave DTS the cardboard roll from the wrapping paper to play with (they were 21 months at the time). They promptly started bashing each other and anything else that took their fancy. At the moment, they do not watch TV or have older siblings. It is innate and it is what boys do. After all, think about all the wars that have been fought long before TV and mass advertising.

Boys will be boys and so will girls.

So a guess another one of my gripes is parents who get hung up on gender specific toys. Load of claptrap, imhoSmile.

bl0ndie · 08/03/2006 09:05

The way you have to justify every choice you make for your baby:

whether you use pain relief in labour
breast or bottle feeding
when to wean
whether to use a dummy
whether you're into routines

The list is endless

Also, competitive mums, especially those who brag their baby sleeps through the night (only because I'm jealous :)

tarantula · 08/03/2006 09:05

ooooo Ive got an issue that isnt on here yet. Parents who jaywalk with buggies across busy streets without looking properly during rush hour where the cars might be slow or stopped but the bike and motorbikes are still whizzing along, esp when there are PLENTY of crossings around.

spursmum · 08/03/2006 09:10

Tarantula, thats similar to my gripe of parents that drag their kids across the road during a gap in the traffic rather than wait for the 'little green man'.

blueshoes · 08/03/2006 09:13

Mums who have "easy" babies and smugly put it down to their parenting skills - I am jealous too!

tarantula · 08/03/2006 09:15

ooooooooo and I thought I'd got a new one. that'll learn me to read the thread properly. Grin

spursmum · 08/03/2006 09:17

Doesn't it just grate on you when you are standing there patiently to teach your child good road sense only to see a child being dragged across the road by an impatient and careless parent.[fume]

koolkat · 08/03/2006 09:31

IGNORANT, PARANOID, JEALOUS IN LAWS !

My MIL: it is amazing how someone with little education or common sense thinks she knows better than me !

Sister in Law is just as stupid - gave 8 month old DS a cherry (a WHOLE cherry) which he nearly choked on and I had to remove with my fingers.

Father in Law - was offering 8 month old DS chocolate...

And yet they all think they know more about babies than I do...

They also think it is better to pick a crying baby out of his car seat while the car is moving at high speed...they think it is better to calm him down and as there is so little risk of a baby out of a car seat being involved in a car crash Shock

DS is now a 20 month old toddler, still breastfeeding, lives on organic food, no junk food diet, does not get shouted at or slapped or sworn at, is cuddled and hugged and loved very often, is the least sick child in the family, is one of the happiest toddlers around (so say all my friends and my family)...etc...etc...etc..

BUT what I do is still not good enough for the bloody in-laws !