Screaming children

[TLinden16]

Hmm. Maybe we should create a new reality show--Parents and Kids Behaving Badly

It seems in more and more families the kids are running the show these days. My parents would have never tolerated me running around, and screaming like a maniac to get my way in public the way I see some kids at Disney and other places. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a kid throw a tantrum after being told "You can't have that" only to get that item five minutes later--kids are smart, they know how to play their adult.

When I was at Disney last December, there was a large group eating at the table next to us at Mama Melrose's--close to 20 people. Well, the adults sat there, and talked, and the four or five kids ranging in age from about 3 to 7 were running all around the table, and even ventured further away from the table. This was right near the kitchen, and every server had to walk by with their tray of food--I was just waiting for one of them to trip over one of these kids. Not once did any of the adults in that group try to get those kids to sit down and behave--the adults just sat there gabbing and eating.

My biggest annoyance is when parents force a crying kid screaming "I don't want to go on the <insert name of ride>" onto the ride. Parents go on and on "You're going to love it. I didn't spend all this money to come to DW to not go on rides, etc." Most of the time the kids go on the ride they hate it, and they screech the entire ride, ruining the ride for the others in the vehicle (had a kid screeching in my ear on the Spiderman ride at Universal last year).

I know it's inevitable that I'm going to see screaming crying kids at Disney World. As annoying as that can be at times, I have to say I get more enjoyment from watching a kid's reaction to a character waving at them at a parade, or singing along on It's A Small World, or just being awed by the attraction. When I do see a kid behaving, I just walk on by and can't help but grin because I know it isn't mine

Karen

 

[diswedwish]

DH and I (23, 26) have decided that once we can visit Disney, see an angelic-looking child turn into a howling monster, look at each other and *still* say - we can handle that - then we'll be ready to have our own For now though, we go and enjoy the fact that after seeing a few (or many) screaming kiddies in the park we get to go back to our resort, shut the door and *poof* no more screaming

 

[pennyring]

TLinden16 said..

"When I was at Disney last December, there was a large group eating at the table next to us at Mama Melrose's--close to 20 people. Well, the adults sat there, and talked, and the four or five kids ranging in age from about 3 to 7 were running all around the table, and even ventured further away from the table. This was right near the kitchen, and every server had to walk by with their tray of food--I was just waiting for one of them to trip over one of these kids. Not once did any of the adults in that group try to get those kids to sit down and behave--the adults just sat there gabbing and eating."


Ahhh... I do believe we also dined with this family in February a couple of years ago!! We were having dinner at 1900 Park Faire in the Grand Floridian. The table next to us was about 12 adults and 6 kids. The kids started out by not sitting still in their chairs. They were up, they were running all over, they were under the table, they were standing on their chairs, they were screaming at the top of their lungs. I didn't think it could get much worse.. but by the end of the meal, 4 of the 6 kids had stripped down to their diaper and/or panties and were running around the restaurant semi-nude. Not once did the adults look up, stop talking or even notice that their kids were playing tag half naked in the middle of a restaurant! Amazing.

~Amber

 

[PeterandWendy]

This is a very interesting thread. Thanks for starting it.

A couple of years ago my DW and I took two of our nieces to WDW(we have no kids, and chances are slim their parents would ever afford it)
After eleven days, a few tantrums and a few days of homesickness, we can honestly say that they were probably the best mannered we've ever seen them. I'd like to give a bit of an opposite side of the story.

We went to Chef Mickeys one evening, A wonderful place and a truly magical evening. We told our nieces all trip that they were to act like ladies, not monkeys. well they proved to us that evening that they were ladies. While other kids were running around trying to get Mickey and the gangs' attention, the girls sat at the table eating their dinner and waited for the characters to visit them. We watched so many kids get run over or ignored by the characters because they didn't listen to the instructions of the CM's, our youngest niece asked us" why don't they just sit down and wait like they're supposed to?" I'm telling you we were extremely proud of them that night. It made the trip so much more enjoyable. True they were not perfect angels, but I would not have traded the experience for anything.

Next year we are planning to bring their brother, of course I'm not sure if he isn't a monkey so it aught to be interesting.

BTW, I had an adult snoring next to me during Harry Potter. THE WHOLE MOVIE!!! And it was at IMAX so it's not like it was a quiet nook. I think I would rather of had a cell phone going off every two minutes than that. Wait. That was during another movie. Sigh, Where is Miss Manners when you need her.

 

[vhoffman]

I have a story that's the opposite of what I've read here. When my twins (a boy and girl) were three years old we were in Las Vegas on christmas Eve. We went to the Bellagio for dinner. Our kids were unusually well-behaved. However, they have never had the type of public meltdowns described here. I had several people come up to us and compliment us on our children's behavior. I especially remember the lady who said "your children are as beautiful as they are well-behaved". On the way out the restaurant manager gave each child a little sutffed bear and thanked them for being so good. That really made my night. However, it might have something to do with the fact that our kids were well-rested, dressed comfortably, and not over-hyped. As my mother used to say, if you expect the child to be considerate of you, you need to be considerate of the child! That includes not dragging a hungry, hot, tired, over-stimulated child all over Disney (or anywhere else) just because you want to get your ticket's worth. Know when to call it a day!

 

[KELLIE JONES]

my DH (30) and I (27) dont/ will never have any kiddies. we really like kids, dont get me wrong. ( we planned on having a couple but God had other plans )

but when they act like little butts we turn into cranky old people. you know, the good ol' " when I was a kid.........."

we have a little inside joke that helps us keep what little sanity we have intact. every time a child acts like the above posts etc. we look at eachother and say a number ( ex: 122, 987 ) well the number stands for each reason that we are better off not having kids. lolol

i also have about a million horror storys, but they are just about the same as everyone elses so i will spare you guys! lol

TTFN,
KELLIE

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

It's interesting what children remember. We just returned from a quick trip to WDW, my children's second visit. The first time we went to celebrate DD's 8th birthday and DS was 4. While we were there this past trip, both kids recalled DS's previous meltdown at MK. He'd started the day in a mood that his wishes were the only ones that counted, and put up a fuss whenever they were thwarted. Before we'd even left for WDW, we'd discussed that anyone who did not behave would have to sit out the next ride, and sure enough, that day DS had a tantrum over wanting to ride HIS choice a third time, so I made him sit and watch his sister ride the teacups. The rest of the day went just fine after that. I was amused that both children not only remembered this last week but even commented that some other children could use a dose of that medicine!

Overall, most of the meltdowns we saw this week were obviously heat- and fatigue-inspired, but there were a couple that really made me upset. Just to get this out of my system:

A woman brought a terrified 3-year-old into Muppet Vision - the child was afraid of the darkness and the way people looked in the glasses, and cried through the entire show. The mother kept telling her that it would be fine if she'd just watch the show, but the little girl was scared of the glasses and of course the film looks blurry and weird without them, so she alternated hiding her head on her mother's shoulder and asking to leave, crying throughout. Her father had already left about 5 minutes into the show with her younger sister, so half the family was already outside waiting for the show to end. It made no sense that the mother insisted on staying. Poor kid.

At Ghirardelli's, a 2- or 3-year old boy just kept pounding on his mother. He didn't want to sit at that particular table, he changed his mind on the ice cream he'd asked for and wanted something else, he wanted to leave, he wanted to stay - and with every "want" or complaint, he'd punch his mother. At one point he slugged her in the chin! At no time did either parent try to stop him, either physically or even saying no. My mother (who is one of the strictest parents I've ever known) finally asked us to hurry and leave because she was so distressed over it. As a Middle School Teacher, I see that type of child when they hit adolesence, and it's sad all around.

 

[ChisJo]

we have a little inside joke that helps us keep what little sanity we have intact. every time a child acts like the above posts etc. we look at eachother and say a number ( ex: 122, 987 ) well the number stands for each reason that we are better off not having kids. lolol

OMG! My best friend and me do this all the time! She actually counts in order though, and she is seriously at something like 250. I just had to laugh when I saw that because I thought we were the only ones who did this! Thanks for the laugh!
Jo

 

[jobanana]

I have a 4 year old D and I can't stand when kids scream. That's a huge no~no w/ me. The only time on our 6 days @ Disney this past Easter she was upset is at MGM. We left. Now I love this park and it was my friends first time there. But we went back to the hotel. Not because she was being punished but because she needed some down time. These parents want their children to act in ways they don't even act in. What about respect for others? I have relatives like this. They'll just continue on eating while the kids run around and scream. I paid to be there and so did EVERYONE else. My D is not a perfect child. But she is pretty good. But when situations arise where I feel she's bothering others I will remove us from it. I also talk to her about the whys of things. I ask her if she's like others to behave that way and she'll say no. She may not always understand. But I try my best to be considerate .

 

[Deep-Thots]

Just this past June, DH and I (who are newly-married, 37, and childless) were on our honeymoon at WDW. One night, we had dinner at the Brown Derby at MGM (as part of the Fantasmic package -- excellent thing to do, btw). We were seated in one of theh smaller booths at the back of the restaurant, and across from us was a large booth comprised of four 5-7 year-olds. The parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents (not quite sure who was who) were seated in a booth next to the kids.

Throughout our dinner, the kids screamed, cut up the free crayons with their knives, pulled the tablecloth off the table, poured salt and pepper into each other's drinks, threw their napkins around, and initiated fights by trying to eat each other's desserts. Not once during the entire time did any adult from the next table reprimand any of the children. they just sat there and finished off the remains of their wine.

Being that this group appeared to be in the end stages of their meal, DH and I figured we could tough out the commotion. After about 25 minutes and with no end in sight, however, we asked our waitress was the scoop was. She explained that the group had come in requesting two tables and subsequently had been informed that they needed, for safety reasons to have at least one adult sit with the, er, monsters. The adults, however, claiming that they needed "time away from the kids and time to themselves," ignored this request and sat the kids all by their lonesome, unsupervised, at a separate table. The waitress offered her fervent hope that they would soon leave (particularly since the restaurant was packed and she could use the tables back).

Unfortunately, however, it soon began to POUR. As a result of the rain, the adults decided to just hang out at the table another 45 minutes, until it all finally passed -- without ordering anything else from the menu. (Please note that the kids continued to scream, etc., during this entitre time.)

As this fun and friendly family prepared to leave, DH and I listened in horror as they discussed the fact that because a gratuity had already been added to their bill (since their party numbered greater than 8), they *did not have to add an additional tip to the bill*!!!

We just couldn't believe it. We felt so sorry for the waitress that we left a 30% tip for her on our not-inconsiderable bill.

IMO, those people demonstrated a remarkable lack of class, and should be subjected to some form of torture both lengthy and painful. I hope karma is real!!

 

[auds35]

Hi,
We go to the mouse house in two weeks.As a single mum to two children I know what it's like when your kids misbehave. Mine are 17 and 11 now and have been visiting Disney for the last five years.

I personally can't stand to hear my own kids having a tantrum so I can sympathise with others who have to listen to it. Mine fortunately don't give me much trouble but I remember seeing Tarzan Rocks last Summer. A mum bebind us had her toddler on her knee who proceeded to kick my seat throughout the performance. I looked back a couple of times without looking unpleasant but still she let them do it.

I suppose it boils down to acceptibility. What you as the parents sees as being o.k behaviour even if others don't.

We are all there to enjoy ourselves. It just requires consideration from all of us.

 

[cocowum]

Last week DD and I went to six flags. On our way over to the Superman ride we heard a little boy screaming. I mean screaming bloody murder, everyone was staring. He was laying on the concrete at his mothers feet. She was waiting on line to buy dippin' dots, completely ignoring him. It was a long line. DD and I just shook our heads and got on the ride. (we had a Qbot (fastpass) so there wasn't much of a wait.) When we got off the ride maybe ten minutes later, we could still hear the boy screaming. As we got closer we could see that the mother was just getting her ice cream and the little boy, maybe 3 yrs old was still on the ground but now not only was he screaming, he was kicking and punching his mothers legs and trying to bite her shoes. I have never seen a child act like this and I could tell everyone around was shocked too. The mother just ignored him, shaking him off like a dog and walked a few steps over to a bench a began eating her ice cream. The boy crawled across the filthy (six flags not disney) concrete toward her, red faced, still screaming. DD who is 9 just looks at me and says "oh my gosh!"

 

[helenk]

My two children are now 17 and 21, and I know that they are not or never were perfect, but I would never allow them to disrupt other people's meals.
My family and I were in WDW the end of June, we were having dinner at the Plaza Restaurant and there was a table behind us with a large family. They had a boy that was about 2 years old that screeched the whole meal, it was the highest pitched scream that I had ever heard, it would go right through you! Even my daughter who wants to teach young children could not believe that no one in this family did anything to quiet this child. No one picked him up to hold him, or anything. Everyone around this table was looking at the family giving them "dirty" looks but it did not faze them.
It honestly ruined our meal. The whole place was full and there were 6 of us, so we could not move our seats. We ate and got out of there.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Originally posted by Deep-Thots



As this fun and friendly family prepared to leave, DH and I listened in horror as they discussed the fact that because a gratuity had already been added to their bill (since their party numbered greater than 8), they *did not have to add an additional tip to the bill*!!!

We just couldn't believe it. We felt so sorry for the waitress that we left a 30% tip for her on our not-inconsiderable bill.

IMO, those people demonstrated a remarkable lack of class, and should be subjected to some form of torture both lengthy and painful. I hope karma is real!!

My husband and I have seen this happen all the time and we too always end up tipping a little bit more because we feel sorry for the waitstaff.

BTW- you really made me laugh with the "karma". We always say that too.

 

[Pkaroch]

I'm now 27 and still fo to DW with my parents, and we have a great time together. We always hit some character meals, because we love attention from large fuzzy creatures as much as the next person. We had breakfast at Chef Mickey's one morning, and were blessed with a table of raucous children and apparently deaf adults right next to us...I believe it was several familes, maybe a Magical Gatherings type thing. The children were allowed to run all over the area we were in, and the parents encouraged the children to interrupt the characters when they were at other tables, instea dof making the children sit and wait like they were supposed to. The icing came when Mickey stopped at our table before theirs, and one of the mothers said, in a pretty loud voice, 'Why does he even have to stop there? There's no children at that table, he could have just skipped it.' I almost choked. Seriously, is it such a stretch that adults would enjoy chracter dining too?

My parents have been taking me since I was 3, and whenever we see s screaming, tired, hot, hungry child, they shake their heads. They said it was always easier to lose a few hours letting me nap and putting me to bed early than to push me and have a Princess meltdown in the middle of the parks. Sadly a lot of parents forget that it isn't the money spent, it's the fun had that counts.

 

[underdesea]

Hi. After reading these stories, just had to add one to the mix. My DH and I went to the World on our honeymoon, the first of many such trips together. My mother, who had given us the trip as a gift, had arranged for us to have dinner in the Castle one evening. We had a nice table for two by the windows and were settling in for an enjoyable meal when a couple and their young son were seated next to us. He immediately began screeching, crying, whining and fussing, all of which were ignored by his parents. Next, he started loudly banging his silverware and dishes on the table, and then started throwing food, all while continuing the vocalizations. We finally gave them "the look" out of frustration, and the mother said (in that same loud voice others have mentioned in this thread), "People who don't like children shouldn't come to Disney World." I thought about explaining that it wasn't children we disliked, it was parents who had no sense of control or discipline, but figured she wasn't the type to understand "subtle" distinctions. Ever since then, though, we do make an effort to compliment parents with well-behaved children--figure they will appreciate the positive reinforcement!

 

[vhoffman]

To Underdesea,

You were well within your rights to have asked to be moved to another table. I hope you will do so in the future. You're a paying guest, too. Unfortunately, people without children are often put in the position you were--that you just don't understand children because you don't have any and therefore should be overjoyed to put up with other kids screaming, misbehaving, etc. As a mother of twins (boy and girl), it is possible to have well-behaved children in public places. I never allowed my kids to act up to the point of ruining another's meal, because by the time they would have ruined someone else's time they would have more than ruined my evening. Your story reminds me of an incident many years ago, before our childrern. We were on vacation and having breakfast in a restaurant, when a group was seated right next to us. They had a baby about a year old who proceeded to bang on her highchair with the silverware and scream at the top of her lungs. I wasn't feeling well and had a bad headache. I asked the waitress to move us to another section. The people at the other table gave me "hate looks", and said thing to the effect of, "Well, I guess she just doesn't like children or she'd have her own!" Geez! All I wanted was to eat my breakfast in peace. BTW, the waitress told the manager of the situation and he wrote off our bill and gave us a gift certificate for the next meal (despite my protests that it wasn't the restaurant's fault). We go back to that restaurant whenever we can. One should not be expected to just put up with someone else's screaming kid, whether they are parents or not.

 

[WDWguru]

Originally posted by underdesea
We finally gave them "the look" out of frustration, and the mother said (in that same loud voice others have mentioned in this thread), "People who don't like children shouldn't come to Disney World."

My response would have been "Parents who can't control their children shouldn't take them to nice restaurants." As a childfree couple DH and I have been told this very thing many times, and have had the opportunity to actually use that answer. It shuts them right up and usually gets affirming nods and thank-you's from surrounding guests. I've even gotten applause!

 

[jobanana]

I have a 4 year old D and I would be mortified if she behaved the way some of these kids do. I would remove her from the situation. So, what would these dips say to me? I have a child and I can not handle kids screaming and banging things on a table.

 

[Terk-1]

First, I have 3 nieces & 3 nephews, so I have had PLENTY of time and experience with little one's. The one thing we do not tolerate is screaming, either at home or out. If we are at WDW and the youngest one starts screaming or misbehaving, one of us pulls him out of the attraction, so as not to ruin it for everyone else. This does not happen often, luckly.

When I went solo last trip, I ran into several attractions, movies, shows, meals, etc., where parents just ignored the fact that their child's piercing screams and crying were annoying to everyone else. This is the part that makes me VERY angry. I go to WDW at least once a year and have been several times solo, since this is a good way of dining are more adult restaurants.

Let me give some good examples of the "cute" behavior of some little one's:

1. Dining at Spoodle's next to a table with Mom's and their 2 year olds. Mom's are just chatting away as the kids are throwing food at each other and on the floor, crawling around under tables picking up food on the floor and eating it, banging the booster seats on the chairs and floor and so on.

2. Waiting for Fantasmic to start while sitting a section away from a child that was screaching so loud, we could not hear the women's voice announcing the show. Took until a 1/3 of the way through Fantasmic before the mother pulled the kid out.

3. Dining at the California Grill, parents just chit chatting with each other, while their 2 kids are yelling and fighting with each other.

4. Waiting for Spectro parade to start at the Magic Kingdom (had been saving my seat for an hour), was sitting next to this very nice family, when another tried to shove their way in between us 5 minutes before the show started. Now there was barely enough room for one person, never mind 4. Before I had a chance to say something, the dad next to me told them that there was no room for them and that we had been waiting for over an hour. Parents were mad that we would not give up the seats for their kids and stormed off. The dad next to me said "oh well."