- A woman says she was “shocked and taken aback” when a friend yelled at her 2-year-old son during a weekend visit.
- She says the incident occurred after the toddler “threw his cup of water against the wall.”
- The woman detailed her experience on the community site Mumsnet.com and asked others if she was being unreasonable to think that “you don’t shout at other people’s children.”
A woman says that her friend shouted “angrily” at her two-year-old son when they came to stay for the weekend, and she’s still “shaken” by the outburst.
The woman detailed her experience on the U.K.-based community site Mumsnet in a post titled “Aibu [am I being unreasonable] to think you don’t shout at other people’s children[?]” In the post, she explained that she and her toddler recently visited her friend, her friend’s husband and their baby, and that at one point during the visit, her toddler “threw his cup of water against the wall.”
“My friend REALLY shouted at my (just turned) two-year-old,” the woman wrote, adding that her friend then said, “That was naughty! You did that on purpose! I’m not happy with you! Tantrum all you like you’ve been bad!”
The original poster (OP) says she was “really shocked and taken aback” by the incident, noting that she took her son down from his high chair and then “took him back to say sorry after they had both cooled off.”
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However, the woman says that her friend and her husband were still “quite frosty” with her son despite the apology and his young age.
“I texted her today to say thanks for having us and offering to send paint out to her if needed,” the woman wrote — to which she says her friend curtly replied that she will “tackle the wall this week” with “no reassurance that it’s fine.”
“I think she’s still angry with my son/me,” the OP wrote before adding, “I would never shout that angrily at someone else’s child (or my own).”
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“What do people think?” she asked at the end of her post.
A number of commenters were quick to assure the woman that her feelings are totally valid and that her friend was the one who behaved unreasonably.
“Shouting at a 2-year-old is just as naughty as throwing a cup and an adult should know better,” one person commented.
“Whether or not a 2-year-old ‘should’ know not to throw things, they do still throw things. Yes, correct the behavior but shouting is unnecessary,” added another user.
Yet another commenter chimed in with, “She is in for a shock when her baby becomes a 2yo. Until then, I wouldn’t visit this friend again.”
A few others said that while the behavior did require correcting, it was not the friend’s place to do so.
“Yes, a 2-year-old [who throws] a cup of water definitely needs telling off very strongly. Quite possibly you should have shouted or certainly very firmly told him off. But not her,” said one person.
Another person added: “I have told other [people’s] children off quite firmly when they were standing by doing nothing about their children’s terrible behavior … And I don’t really care what the parents think of me. However, actually shouting at a two-year-old for throwing a cup of water against the [wall seems] unhinged.”
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