Pettiest parenting pet peeves?

[Tucancrossing]

What's the pettiest thing that annoys you about other parents? Something that you know is so pathetic to care about but it really grinds your gears?

Mine is probably when people say they're doing 'a bit of traditional weaning and a bit of baby led weaning' - you can't half do BLW... traditional weaning is purees AND finger foods, BLW is your child ALWAYS feeding themselves regular food.

So petty, I wish I could let go of it, but I internally eye roll every time.

[quote Greyrootszerohoots]@GreenCrayon the stick song is a banger though 😅[/quote]
It's OK the first 200 times, after that it's nothing more than a very frustrating ear worm.

Oh. We're all about the dancing bug band here

Stair gate (or lack of) superiority is one that annoys me. "Oh, we don't use stair gates - I just keep an eye on my child......" Like I was installing stair gates and then just leaving him at the bottom of the stairs and fucking off to the shops 🙄

Lol that to 😂😂

@sar302

Stair gate (or lack of) superiority is one that annoys me. "Oh, we don't use stair gates - I just keep an eye on my child......" Like I was installing stair gates and then just leaving him at the bottom of the stairs and fucking off to the shops 🙄

I had no idea this was even a thing

Performative parenting by dads...it’s always dads. They are out for the day...probably on a rare occasion with the kids, and they speak in this annoying tone. Things like: did you see that duck Oscar? The correct term is mallard etc etc. and you can so tell they expect everyone around them to be super impressed. Annoys me no end

This is an MN thing rather than RL but people with either no DC or with very young DC advising on how to parent a teenager based on their own experiences of being a teen .

@legalseagull

Anyone who puts a label on how they raise their kids - "gentle parenting". Bloody ridiculous. What are the rest of us then? Rough parenting? Just crack on and shut up

Brilliant. The term 'Gentle parenting' makes me wretch

Performative parenting by dads...it’s always dads. They are out for the day...probably on a rare occasion with the kids, and they speak in this annoying tone. Things like: did you see that duck Oscar? The correct term is mallard etc etc. and you can so tell they expect everyone around them to be super impressed. Annoys me no end

Yes, this is my DP with SDC. I find it so irritating, he's obviously trying to get attention from bystanders around etc. It annoys me to no end. I know you're not this chatty at home, so cringe.

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba you should hear my DH talk to his dad about our DD's. I think you'll find they do.

@bookh
That sounds horrendous!! That would push anyone over the edge. And there I was moaning about a few bags of stuff!!
I think I’m in for the long haul, this particular friend, her boys are older than mine, so now getting a constant trickle of stuff dropped at my door every month or so. I’ve said politely so many times I don’t need anything but she’s a family member so I don’t want to upset her. It’s driving me mad but at least she can’t get into my house!!

@sar302

Stair gate (or lack of) superiority is one that annoys me. "Oh, we don't use stair gates - I just keep an eye on my child......" Like I was installing stair gates and then just leaving him at the bottom of the stairs and fucking off to the shops 🙄

Haha yes!!!!

@spittycup

Performative parenting by dads...it’s always dads. They are out for the day...probably on a rare occasion with the kids, and they speak in this annoying tone. Things like: did you see that duck Oscar? The correct term is mallard etc etc. and you can so tell they expect everyone around them to be super impressed. Annoys me no end

Yes, this is my DP with SDC. I find it so irritating, he's obviously trying to get attention from bystanders around etc. It annoys me to no end. I know you're not this chatty at home, so cringe.

I do this as I said earlier. I do it out, at home, in the garden, in the car. I just talk to my child, I don’t see how it’s performance parenting at all. I just talk to him about stuff, point things out, make him laugh, tell him stories. It’s just engaging with your child, it’s pretty boring being silent all the time!

@ForgedInFire

Mothers who talk endlessly about how easy labour was and how all they needed was a puff of gas and air. Often with comments about their high pain tolerance. Never seem to consider that their labour was just easier then some women's or that they were lucky. Gets my back up every time.

Oh this this this! I had a full 3 day labour, hard contractions all the way. My "friend" called me a drama queen for having an epidural (at 9cms, 2 and a half days in!) because she had only gas and air with her 3 hour labour. And after I tried to diplomatically say maybe if her labour had been a long one she may have felt more open to an epidural she told me she wouldn't have because she had a high tolerance for pain. So do I love, I did 2 and half days of contractions every 5 minutes and back to back baby for half of that. It wasn't the easy way out it was the only way to have enough energy to push!

I think I'm still angry at that one

Oh yes I agree! I don’t mean normal talking and joking with the kids, which is a lovely thing to see...I mean the dad that is so obviously trying to impress bystanders with how great a parent he is. He speaks in a certain tone and crouches down to point at things in an irritating way. I hope you get what I mean...it’s great to talk and explain things when out and about in a genuine way!

I do this as I said earlier. I do it out, at home, in the garden, in the car. I just talk to my child, I don’t see how it’s performance parenting at all. I just talk to him about stuff, point things out, make him laugh, tell him stories. It’s just engaging with your child, it’s pretty boring being silent all the time!

Yes but that poster specifically said they knew the person in question and they didn't do it at home. You're finding a lot of ways to get your back up on this thread!

That was to fatsams

The pettiest thing that annoys me about other parents is when they let their children run around after a meal... hands and face sticky and covered in food.

@Moonwatcher1234

Oh yes I agree! I don’t mean normal talking and joking with the kids, which is a lovely thing to see...I mean the dad that is so obviously trying to impress bystanders with how great a parent he is. He speaks in a certain tone and crouches down to point at things in an irritating way. I hope you get what I mean...it’s great to talk and explain things when out and about in a genuine way!

I absolutely love seeing Dads giving a shit about their kids.or any parents engaging with their children in fact. Better than staring at their phone which is sadly all too common.

@FatSams why do you do it though? Bystanders aren’t impressed so why try to get their attention? Just interact with you child normally and at a normal volume.

Self righteous parents on mumsnet irritate me quite a bit Haven't been using mumsnet for long but I've been quite surprised how judgemental and mean other parents can be. Aren't we all just winging it one way or another?!

Honestly? Parents who think hard enough about parenting to do any of the above, or mind about anyone else doing any of the above!

Appreciate that might make me sound like I’m “cooler” than everyone else, but seriously. Raising children has gone on since the beginning of humankind. None of it’s that important really: outside of the extremes, our parenting barely impacts the adults these babies become.

It’s just not that big a deal 🤷‍♀️

@FindYourPorpoise ah I’m sorry you experienced that too it’s crap. Conception and birth are deemed a medical need and beyond your control and therefore no blame (rightly!!!! Might I add!). But breastfeeding it’s all ‘well if you’d just tried a bit harder, my nipples were bleeding and I persevered…’ yeah thanks already feel terrible don’t need a pile on 😂🤦🏼‍♀️

Can we stop this shit?
One person's performance parenting is another just trying to engage their kid or make their day bearable. Or if they do want to explain mallards, what the fuck is is to you??
Perform all you like.
Christ. This is depressing

@andora82

The pettiest thing that annoys me about other parents is when they let their children run around after a meal... hands and face sticky and covered in food.

Came on to say this! Babies, toddlers and young children with food all over their hands and faces after a meal/snack - surely the parents can see it as much as I can?!

I'm well aware of how explosive mealtimes with small children can be but a quick baby wipe afterwards is better than nothing! 😬