Is it normal to want to scream at screaming children?

89% Normal
18 Comments

Whenever I think I'm going to have a peaceful shopping experience; I don't. Everytime I go out to a store, my eardrums are violently penetrated by the sound of a child shrieking, and for no reason. They just sit there in their cart and just scream just because they can, and the parent just sits there like an idiot and does nothing to stop them. Just because its okay to you that they scream because they can't have some oreos, doesn't mean that it's okay to us; the ones who want to have a peaceful shopping experience. Sometimes I just want to scream back at them, I want to do it ten times louder; so loud that they go deaf.

Am I the only one who feels like this?

Voting Results
89% Normal
Based on 114 votes (101 yes)
Help us keep this site organized and clean. Thanks!
[ Report Post ]
Comments ( 18 )
  • NeuroNeptunian
    11 years ago

    Some parents are just fucking idiots and somehow become immune to their child's crying i.e. their parental instincts have somehow gone numb. Chances are, those kids were being carted around shopping all day, are way overdue for a nap, probably hungry with blood sugar that has gone through the floor and just want some damned attention, food or some sleep. We wonder why our kids are developing horrible anxiety disorders as teens, but fail to give them proper care and structure as small children, when it is MOST VITAL.

    And hell, some parents just can't discipline their kids. As a kid, if I would have thrown a fit over some damned oreos, I'd be taken to the car by my Dad and given a whooping and I would come back in, sniveling, but quiet. If it was my Mom, I wouldn't be whooped, I'd be taken straight home and she would have left me with my Dad so she could shop alone and my Dad would punish me. Many parents don't have such relationships with each other any more and are not willing to commit to regular discipline because it would inconvenience them further than simply being a parent already has.

    TL;DR normal, some people should just stick to dogs and cats.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    4
    4
      -
    • charli.m
      11 years ago

      I agree with what you said, only I don't think hitting the kid is effective discipline.

      When I have a kid screaming in a supermarket, I take them home. I don't want to inflict that shit on other people, and I don't want to have to deal with it there.

      One of my kids had a massive tantrum at playgroup the other day. We're toilet training, and he still shits his pants (he wakes up in the morning and tells me "I will make poo on the floor" emphasis on 'will' - he doesn't have any intention of following through, he just thinks telling me is funny...)

      So he shat his pants, and I took him to the toilet to clean him up. We had no wipes, I was intending to use toilet paper and water. He flipped for some reason, and we had half an hour of him screaming til his face was red and snotty. It was as if I was beating the shit out of him...and I wanted to whack him for it, believe me. But I didn't, because I'm the adult, and if I'm to teach him about impulse control and appropriate behaviour, I need to model it. I did yell though, and I never yell :/

      Finally got the shit off him (and the walls...and the toilet...and the floor...ugh...) and he refused to wash his hands so I left him to pack away and get ready to go, and then he screamed more, that he wanted to wash his hands, so I turned on the tap and he refused, so I bundled him, bucking and screaming, into the pram and we left, him shrieking, me bright red with a mix of embarrassment and anger. We got about 5mins before the shrieking got too much for me. Got him out, hugged him tight, spoke calmly, told him I understand he's upset, but this behaviour is not acceptable and the consequences of doing this are that we have to go home and he has to go to bed. He stopped screaming. Took him home, put him to bed.

      But to anyone observing the situation, I would be terrible at my job, no matter what I did. For not calming him down quicker, I'm bad. For hugging him instead of hitting him or yelling, I'm bad. For hitting him, I would be Satan.

      No matter what you do, when it comes to kids, people are going to condemn you. Shit, when it comes to anything, people are going to condemn you.

      TL;DR: To answer the OP's question, it's fucking annoying when kids scream in public. But it's the parent/carer who should be taking charge of the situation. And it might not necessarily look like we're doing that, but each situation and child/carer relationship is different.

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      2
      2
        -
      • NeuroNeptunian
        11 years ago

        Kind of that damned if you do, damned if you don't situation going on. I don't disagree that hitting is an ineffective form a discipline, I was just listing an example.

        When I am out in public and doing whatever I am doing, I frequently see a parent with a kid in a stroller that is just... SCREAMING. Honestly, when you're standing in an aisle picking yourself up a product and the parent next to you have a stroller with a screaming and bawling child in it and seemingly no awareness that the child is screaming, I want to flip a cork. This is becoming WAY too common. =/

        Comment Hidden ( show )
        1
        1
          -
        • charli.m
          11 years ago

          Blah badly worded, didn't mean to imply you did.

          I see that kid in pram screaming thing frequently at like...10pm...which raises the question what the fuck are these parents doing walking around with young kids this late? Otherwise, during the day, UmI've been that adult ignoring the screaming...but I've also been rushing to get them the fuck out of there.

          Sometimes it puts me off wanting kids. Then I think MINE would never be like that.

          Then I remember that while some stuff is learnt behaviour, temperament is luck of the draw :/

          Comment Hidden ( show )
          1
          1
  • howaminotmyself
    11 years ago

    I feel the same way about people who drive loud cars. If only a little sugar could solve that problem...

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    3
    3
      -
    • [Old Memory]
      11 years ago

      sugarb here!
      (sorry couldn't resist jumping in!)
      I have the urge to put spikes in the road under cars that show off with fast driving and loud exhaust pipes. They can go anywhere with flat tyres now :)

      Comment Hidden ( show )
      1
      1
  • Ejay
    11 years ago

    I say slap the little shit head

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    2
    2
  • Imsupernormal
    11 years ago

    Stab them with a butcher knife!

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    2
    2
  • sega31098
    11 years ago

    You must be Brian Griffin.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    1
    1
  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    I don't like the screams wither but I think when a kids having a tantrum like that mums are supposed to ignore it...giving the kid any attention would encourage him/her to do it more so they get their own way. (This is why I prefer dogs!)

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    1
    1
  • anonymous_wolf
    11 years ago

    You're not a lone lol. This is just a result of bad parenting.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • Sweets1510
    11 years ago

    its completly normal. But in my opinion, sometimes i just want to slap the lungs out of SOME kids

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • ccjigsaw
    11 years ago

    Hah! I can visualize that. I think it would teach the kid a valuable lesson= Noone want to hear other people scream. STFU

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • WasThatAMoth
    11 years ago

    It's perfectly normal to feel that way about screaming little kids. Just don't actually scream back at them. You could get into some form of trouble. Trust me from past experience...lol

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • anti-hero
    11 years ago

    Yeah if you are a nut job.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • ProseAthlete
    11 years ago

    I'd rather scream at the negligent parents, but yeah, it's entirely normal to be annoyed at screaming children. We are hard-wired to find that an incredibly piercing and distracting sound; evolutionarily speaking, it makes sense that a child's cry is one of the most intolerable sounds in the world because it means we'll do whatever it takes to make that racket stop.

    It's worse in restaurants. I just want to mash some people's faces in their plates of food when they sit there eating calmly as their children raise unholy hell. Just because the stupid sacks of meat and gonads couldn't be arsed to use birth control a while ago doesn't mean I need to have my meal disrupted. If your kid's too young to handle a restaurant meal, order a damned pizza and stay home.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • Terence_the_viking
    11 years ago

    The thing is you can't beat your kids in public hell you can't even beat them in your own house.

    What would you do if you were the parent?

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    0
    0
  • Maybeimamonkey
    10 years ago

    You can't generalize there are different types of babies and parents and screaming at them would be pointless and rude.

    Comment Hidden ( show )
    -1
    -1