Took my wife out to lunch today for her birthday with the family. Unfortunately, there was a moment my 3 year old son bolted off down the restaurant, whilst she was in the loo with my daughter, and I had to run after him to rescue him, but not before he'd climbed onto the bench on the table next to a couple eating. Never had this before but they were very rude about it, "Do you mind? We're trying to eat here." and then commented on my inability to keep my child under control. I must admit I was fuming for most of the rest of the meal, until my wife calmed me down.
Yes, they were triple-lockers. Charming.
Sorry to hear that happened CR, it goes back to what we were discussing about having families a few days ago when OnlyLivingBoy made the point that in the UK there's a sense that children should be seen and not heard. I do find that Mediterranean countries are much better for families and so much friendlier to kids than any Northern European countries.
There's just this pervasive attitude that parents should keep their kids under control 100% of the time and any failure to do so makes for bad parenting which is completely unacceptable.
We've had that same experience where our 3 year old went and sat next to some randoms because we were fussing over the baby she made a run for it but the couple were really nice and just entertained her for a few seconds while I went and grabbed her. It just depends on the people but I do find there's a lot of miserable people out there and that's something that's for them to deal with rather than for us to be upset about.
Just think about how sad their lives must be to scold a child or parents for something so minor? Absolutely zero joy at all.
I had a strong impression we'd become a lot more positive about children in the UK in these types of situations around about the late 1990s compared to how we used to be, but it sounds like it might have gone into reverse somewhat.
“Let's start with the most important. What does Ukraine want? Peace? Yes. At any cost? No. We want the war to end, - but not Ukraine. Are we tired? Very much so. Does this mean we're ready to surrender? Anyone who thinks that is deeply mistaken. They clearly still don't understand who Ukrainians are after all these years. A people enduring 1,407 days of full-scale war. Just consider those numbers. That's longer than Nazi occupation of many cities in World War II. 1,407 days of undefeated Ukraine, spending nights in shelters, fighting daily, often without electricity or sleep, many days at the frontlines. But always without panic, chaos, or division - united for peace. Do we want the war to end? Absolutely. Why hasn't this happened yet? The answer lies with our neighbor. Can Russia end the war? Yes. Do they want to? No.” - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his New Year’s address https://x.com/KaterynaLis/status/2006486773720035416
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