Things Parents Say That Make Your Cringe

[lucincia]

Not sure if there is a thread on this already. But, I hope we can post some of the things you overheard (or even the stuff that you have said yourself) to your kids at WDW that you wish were not said. This is not a judgement on people's parenting skills, but more of a reminder that that sometimes we need to step back, take a breath, and realize that we're in a happy place. Maybe after reading this thread, we will learn and keep in mind next time we're in WDW and watch what we say to our kids

Again, I hope this is not a flame bait and meta moral/prarenting debate. Heck, I can wish on the star for impossibles, right?

 

[lucincia]

While in line for Space Mountain last week, A couple with their 6 or 7 years old DD were in front of DD7 and me. The other DD was almost in tears, saying that she doesn't want to ride and she's scared. The father was telling the mother what they should do. The mother said "I don't care. I want to ride this ride." They argued a bit and then the father took their DD out of the line. The mother just stood there and stared straight ahead.

Another time, the Santa line in MK just opened. We were sitting nearby waiting for the start of our Family Magic Tour. A mother ran up with a preteen daughter and yelled at her to get in line. There were several lines there (some for the tours). The daughter stopped and turned to look at the mother, asking her which line. The mother yelled at her the Santa line. In the meantime, several other people got into the line for Santa. The mother said "Look what you did! You let the line got longer!" Guess long lines at WDW are kids' fault

 

[disneyvoice]

We once saw a woman who was already obviously very annoyed bring her two kids into Boma for dinner with their pajamas on. The boy was about two or three, and the girl was about eight and was obviously mortified that her mom made them were their pajamas into the restaurant. This woman was very loud and obnoxious and kept complaining about everything her kids did. Then the little boy accidentally spilled his drink. The mother started screaming at him about how stupid he was and made this huge scene. Two CMs came over to help get the spill cleaned up and you could tell they both felt so bad for the little boy. Everytime the mom would scream at him they would say things like "It's okay, accidents happen." to try to make the little boy feel better. I think everyone in the restaurant hugged their kids while this scene was going on. It made me think that here is this woman who has obvously spent a lot of money to take her kids to WDW and stay at AKL. Yet no amount of money will ever make up for how terribly she treated her kids, and how sad they both looked.

 

[frayedend]

Reading how other people have treated their kids is a good way to make me think twice about it. I get easily frustrated with my kids and can see myself getting upset in a restaraunt. Especially when they make a mess and won't sit still. I am actually quite nervous about our Jan trip and eating out for all of our meals. The last post will help me stop and relax before I yell at my kids for things. I would never bring them in PJs to dinner , but maybe to watch fireworks or something if it is past bedtime. Then again, since they sleep in sweatpants and a t-shirt I don't think anyone would realize it was PJs.

The only thing I am doing for this trip is telling myself over and over that it is for the kids. I will try to make sure they do what they want. If I miss a ride or something I want to do then that will be okay if the kids have the best time ever. (But I really want to do Mission Space and that hotel drop thing).

 

[susykt4]

We were in the big store in ToonTown the first day of our first family trip. A couple with a VERY tired ~6 yr old girl had a huge armload of souvenirs and were harrassing their daughter about choosing between one thing and another and making ridiculously empty threats about putting everything back and leaving with nothing if the kid didn't make up her mind. The kid obviously didn't care at all about choosing yet another souvie and the parents were obviously determined to buy her about twenty things she cared nothing about.

Their behavior really put me on the right track about how to treat my kids that trip. I was terribly excited to finally be at WDW and have always been a commando tourist. Every time I was tempted to push my kids "just one more ride" or "let's just check out this one last shop" I remembered the the nutty people from the first day...

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

Reading how other people have treated their kids is a good way to make me think twice about it. I get easily frustrated with my kids and can see myself getting upset in a restaraunt. Especially when they make a mess and won't sit still. I am actually quite nervous about our Jan trip and eating out for all of our meals. The last post will help me stop and relax before I yell at my kids for things. I would never bring them in PJs to dinner , but maybe to watch fireworks or something if it is past bedtime. Then again, since they sleep in sweatpants and a t-shirt I don't think anyone would realize it was PJs.

The only thing I am doing for this trip is telling myself over and over that it is for the kids. I will try to make sure they do what they want. If I miss a ride or something I want to do then that will be okay if the kids have the best time ever. (But I really want to do Mission Space and that hotel drop thing).

I agree! Vacations can really be a stressful time! It is difficult, especially for children, to be out of their comfort zone. Sometimes it causes them to act up and for parents, who have spent a great deal of money, time and effort, it can intensify their reactions. We went with our BIL, SIL, and their 6yo. I felt their expectations were a little unreasonable. They expected him to sit still and be quiet. I think as long as the behavior is not outlandish or hurting someone, that maybe its okay to just turn your head a little while you're there. After all, it's hard for me to sit still and be quiet myself when you're in a place like DISNEY!!

 

[MomofKatie]

The comment that always makes me cringe (and I hear it at least once or twice every time I am at WDW) is, "We paid a lot of money to come here- shut up and have fun or we'll leave right now and never come back!". I feel so bad for the kids who are probably just tired or overexited- they get berated because their parents think they aren't "getting their money's worth" out of the vacation.

Whenever I hear comments like that, it makes me stop and really think about one thing- are we having fun, all of us? I understand wanting to do and see it all at WDW, but if part of the family is having a rotten time (or just pooped out), it's time to take a break.

 

[BonnieA]

Last week as I waited to watch illuminations there was a family in back of me also waiting. One of the children was very nervous about the upcoming fireworks. She kept asking her mother over and over if they could please go into a shop. The mother replied that these fireworks would not make any noise. She said they were quiet fireworks with no bangs. The poor child was begging to be taken into a quiet shop and wasn't falling for the line her mother was trying to feed her.
They did eventually leave. Not sure if they were just changing locations or if the child got her wish to be away from the fireworks.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I always cringe whenever I hear parents say, "Stop that or we're going to leave right now!" Then the kid does it again and the parents say that again and so on..... As a parent and a teacher, I always believed, "Don't make a promise you're not willing to keep, and don't make a threat you're not willing to carry out." These parents knew when they said it that they weren't really going to leave, and so did the kids. So why did they say it?

 

[colonels cruisers]

WE did a 7 day cruise (I know not the parks) when DS was 3. We had the early seating but DS would eat his supper and say mommy I am ready for bed. I would take him back tot he cabin and he would crash. I mean out by 6:30. (The servers knew the drill and his supper came fast) One night another parent at the table told my husband that we were not doing my son any favors that DS was old enough to sit thru the meal until we were done as he told his children to "shut up and sit still". If you tell your child "**** up and sit still" in public.. what do you think they say at home?

 

[Forevryoung]

I had an interesting family sitting across the isle from me on my flight to orlando. There were 4 young kids (under age 8 or so) and the parents brought NOTHING for their kids to do on the 2.5 hour flight. Then the kids started getting antsy and the parents started with the empty threat of "IF you dont behave you are going to have to sit with Grandma all day while we ride all the rides" (grandma was on the plane with them)

The kids didnt get any better. They still whined and cried the whole time.

 

[tlbwriter]

While in line for Space Mountain last week, A couple with their 6 or 7 years old DD were in front of DD7 and me. The other DD was almost in tears, saying that she doesn't want to ride and she's scared. The father was telling the mother what they should do. The mother said "I don't care. I want to ride this ride." They argued a bit and then the father took their DD out of the line. The mother just stood there and stared straight ahead.

I wonder why the father didn't just step out of the line with the little girl and let the mother ride instead of arguing about it.

 

[Lucky4me]

We were at Downtown Disney Monday night around 10pm. We walked by this little boy who was leaning against a building and sobbing, he must have been five or so. We stopped and told him it would be okay, that we would find his parents. My cousin alerted a CM around the corner.
We started looking around and after a minute or two spotted a man about 50 feet away, standing with his arms crossed and smiling widely, just watching us. The little boy was reaching towards him and just crying his little heart out. The man did not move. I guess he thought it was FUNNY that his little guy looked like he was lost, but really wasn't.
I walked up to him and said I thought he was more immature than his 5yo son and what he was doing was not funny. I also said one day the wrong person would come along and he'd either get arrested for child neglect or the kid would get snatched. He was too far away to do anything if anyone had it in their mind to do that. He just continued to smile and laugh as if the whole thing was a great big joke while his poor son cried and cried.

It ruined my night.
Some people should just not be parents.

 

[goofie4goofy]

After reading these posts it is becoming clear why there are so many messed up people in this world. I'm sure these parents are not on their "vacation behavior" with their kids, but treat them this way all the time.

 

[WDW TRIP NUT]

OK ,These are all breaking my heart. I'll add one that I thought was pretty funny but you probably had to be there to appreciate it. My two sons and I were getting off the bus at Downtown Disney and a mother and her son (around age 14) were waiting to get on. He had a terrible look on his face ( The you-don't- know- anything look because I'm a pre-teen and know EVERYTHING look) LOL His mother turned around and said, " The ONLY thing I want to hear come out of your mouth is THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU!"
As soon as my sons and I got out of hearing range, we all burst out LAUGHING!!! Even my preteen son thought it was funny.

 

[disneymom225]

Anytime I say something that echos my mother I cringe! It's happening more frequently these days!

 

[ElleBelle]

This story somewhat applies- but DH and I thought it was hilarious!!!

DH and I were sitting and waiting for Fantasmic to start. Sitting just behind us was a very loud family that consisted of a mom, dad, 2 young boys (about 5 and 8) and a grandmother and grandfather. Everyone in their group were rather noisy, bickering, constantly moving around, etc... except grandpa. He was just sitting there keeping quiet. The two boys were arguing about who should be able to hold the "special light spinner-thing"- and basically getting into a full contact wrestling match between their parents knees and our backs! Mom and dad did nothing as far as discipline- and continued to just talk loudly over the two little ones fighting. After I thought I had no other choice than to turn around and make them stop myself- grandpa decided to chime in. All of a sudden- over everyone- he yells (and in the most serious and threatening tone)- "YOU'RE IN THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH- NOW SHUT-UP AND SIT-DOWN". Everyone in about a 10 foot radius, including DH and I had a good laugh.

We didn't hear another peep out of a single member of the family until the show was over.

 

[JRJohn]

I wonder why the father didn't just step out of the line with the little girl and let the mother ride instead of arguing about it.

Probably he was expecting a little common sense, common courtesy, and a little face saving dignity. I'm sure he was aware that his wife was being unreasonable and that others may have been noticing as well.

 

[kapica3]

Once a very long time ago when I was a teenager, I was a server in a restuarant. One night, late in the evening a woman came in with two very sweet looking children who were behaving unbelieveably well for their young ages (I would say they were probably 3 and 4). One of them asked politely for ketchup for his fries and all Heck broke loose. She started screaming at him something about if he doesn't sit down and behave she was going to boil him in oil. It made my skin crawl to hear her, I remember I had to walk away to try to keep the tears from rolling down my face. I was just a kid myself back then. Too bad. Because if that were to happen now....when I know better.....she would have had Child Services there quicker than she could choke down her steak dinner.

 

[Skylarr29]

Some of these stories are so sad. I dont know why some poeple have children... If you know that having children is just a burden to you why dont you just get fixed and not have any????

It is a huge pet peeve of mine to see things like this at wdw... I cant fathom why parents would take their children there and then behave that way.And if you want to ride all the rides then leave your kids with the grand parents or something.