Do you openly berate other parents in public settings?

Question

You don't agree with their parenting style, or the child has done something that you find personally or socially offensive, do you offer support, keep your mouth shut, or openly berate the parents no matter what the setting?

I personally always offer support, but I guess I have a little vested interest in doing so.

Answer 1

If a child is screaming down my ear yes. If theyre not doing me any harm or screaming down my ear or touching my things then na let them do it themselves.

Answer 2

I try to offer support, but I'm not afraid to do something if I think the child might be in danger.  

Earlier this week, I was out shopping when I saw a woman with a baby who was no more than a month old.  The infant was crying while the mother tried to rock and comfort her.  I then heard the mom say sharply, "Now that's ENOUGH!  I've been listening to your whining all day, and I'm not putting up with it anymore!  Now BE QUIET!"  I thought she must have had an older child with her, but was a bit shocked to see that she was talking to the infant.  The mom looked generally exhausted and stressed.  I casually started a conversation with her by saying how cute the baby was, and congratulating her.  I then shared my previous experience with a new mom, and said something like, "Oh, the early weeks are exhausting, aren't they?"  I told her about a support group for moms of infants in our community.  The center also has a crisis prevention hotline, parenting classes, etc.  Again, I could tell that the woman was stressed, and the way she spoke to her newborn really concerned me.  But berating and criticizing would just cause a new parent in that situation to become defensive and even more stressed.  Like you said, it's better to offer support than it is to berate if you do choose to speak up.

Answer 3

Why would you 'berate' someone because they have a different parenting style to you?  What if you were in the wrong, not them?

Unless I see a child in danger, or putting someone else in danger, I keep my nose out.  It's not my business to tell someone else how to raise their child.

Answer 4

I leave it alone because it's none of my business. The only time I would step in is if the child was in immediate danger other then that I have no being in their business.

Answer 5

It depends on the child's age and what they are doing. I was at the park a few weeks ago and a child was screaming getting into the car and I recognized it as not wanting to leave and smiled at the mom in support seeing as I'm going to be facing that as well in a few years myself.

Answer 6

I went into Ihop the other day with my 15 month old son and I will be the first to tell you, he is loud! Now its not the crying screaming loud but when he is happy or excited about something he will let you know. He ended up letting us know that he was very happy and despite my efforts on trying to keep him calm he was still a little loud. But what made me mad was when a lady turned around and gave me a horrible look and then told me to, "shut your child up!" I then looked at her and told her that she needed to learn when it is appropriate to speak to someone like that and then I told her to mind her own business, after all he was not hurting her in any way. After one of the waitresses heard her tell me this they went and got the manager and he kindly asked her to leave the restaurant and then he apologized for how she acted.

If a child is not hurting you or touching you, then you really need to mind your own business.

Answer 7

I don't think so. Most of the time I'm busy myself. I haven't noticed or seen anything so bad.

I think I'm more like you, wanting to offer support. I suppose I may have kept my mouth shut. Again, it depends on what it is. I have not witnessed anything so terrible. My husband and I rarely go out to eat. We don't go to the mall very often.

Answer 8

I like a lot of us , if we could would personaly, strangle

the other parent and shout till nightfall at them !!! as i

said already if we could.

Alas i do as you do.......i cringe and walk up and try

to communicate, to turn things into a small laugh

and hang around with them for a while to let them

know this crazy lady is not going to be so easy to

shake off.