16 Parents Who Clearly Missed the Etiquette Class in School

Raising children is undoubtedly challenging and doesn’t show results overnight. Little ones can be tricky, often acting out and causing trouble for those around them. While many parents do their best to teach their children good manners, some might benefit from etiquette lessons themselves.

1. “A woman has just left 3 young kids to run around an adult gym like it’s a play area. It’s been 20 minutes.”

2. She straightforwardly asks her kid not to behave.

“A boy of about 5 years old was brought to a hairdresser’s shop for a haircut, sat down in a special chair in the shape of a car, and he immediately started to break something off. The hairdresser reprimanded him, asking him to behave.

And then his mom jumped up from the bench and started shouting, ‘No, we are not going to behave! Son, do what you want, don’t listen to anyone!’ And then declared to the astonished public that she was raising a leader and allowed her child to do everything.” © Hyrus / Pikabu

3. “Parents keep bringing their kindy aged kids to a skate park, and yell at skaters for being in the way of their kids.”

“Multiple parents do this daily. They have their young kids just running amok and getting in front of skaters/BMXers. Then they start fights with them if their kid has a near miss. The extra infuriating thing about it? There’s a brand-new playground built just 30 seconds down the road!”

4. “A woman and her 2-year-old sat next to me on a flight for 8 hours.”

“A kid poked me repeatedly with their cutlery from the in-flight meal, spilled water on me, screamed and cried the entire flight. The mother made no attempts to settle her child, put her child’s trash on my eating tray (before she tossed it on the ground), demanded that the staff turn the AC off for the plane as the ’AC is harmful to her and her child.’”

5. A morning situation no one ever wishes for.

“A friend called me to visit on a Friday night. I decided to help her, offered to cook dinner, went to the shop, and bought some groceries. We had dinner, talked, and then went to bed.

I woke up at 7 a.m. because the child was banging on my head, and his mom was standing nearby and smiling approvingly, ’He wants to play with you.’ She and I are no longer friends.”
© Trubadurochka1 / Pikabu

6. “People were standing on the train, so her kid could nap across 2 seats and the stroller blocked the third.”

7. Please, don’t take the kids’ food.

“I’m a dad of three young kids, aged 3, 4, and 5. While I have full custody, my ex-wife still lives with us because she can’t or won’t work. I generally don’t object to sharing food with her, but I’ve asked her on several occasions not to eat the treats I buy for the kids because I apportion them equally and plan my grocery shopping accordingly.

Today, I discovered one of the three remaining Zebra cakes was missing. The kids are still not into pilfering food, so I asked my ex if she ate one of them. She just smirked and said, ‘Yeah, sorry.’

I’m already tense from having her in my home while I do approximately 80 to 90 percent of the childcare. This was too much. I snapped and, while I didn’t yell, I very forcefully told her she shouldn’t take their food and that she needed to shop for herself. I’d just picked up a few things for her this morning at Walmart because she rarely has the wherewithal to shop for herself. She responded by telling me she’d be open to a discussion if I didn’t use such an aggressive tone.”
© ReadRightRed99 / Reddit

8. “This kid was running up and down the aisle and using the seats as his personal jungle gym.”

9. One thing that can end a friendship.

“Sometimes I help my neighbor by caring for her 5-year-old while she works from home with a 1-year-old. I genuinely enjoy her kiddo; Jack. I also work from home and have a 3-year-old, Joe; so the boys are little buds.

When he comes over, I watch him for free, provide food, and pay for any activities we do. Most recently, I took Jack with us to an indoor gym. I usually keep him for 3–5 hours. I’ve never asked for money, and she’s never offered. Well, here’s the problem — almost every time Jack comes over he is sick! Coughing, dripping nose...like no possible way Jessica didn’t know. Multiple times, after watching Jack, my whole house has been sick, we’ve missed work, we’ve had to spend money on doctors and medications, and we missed Thanksgiving with my husband’s family. Anyway, I did not say anything until today.

Me: ’Hey girlie, I have to have a conversation with you, and it feels a bit awkward... 4 out of the past 5 times that we have watched Jack, our entire home has gotten sick. I know that that is not your intent, but on more than one occasion, Jack has been over when he is ill... And I just have to ask that if we are to watch him again, that he is either healthy or you are upfront about anything that may be going on.’ My neighbor: ’I honestly find this very offensive and I believe our friendship has ended.’” © ReserveEven684 / Reddit

10. “My cousin and her kid are staying with us for a while, this is what she usually gives her 5-year-old son for breakfast.”

• What’s on the iPad is unhealthier than what’s on the plate! © GaimanitePkat / Reddit

11. She didn’t even thank me.

“A stranger’s child fell asleep while sitting on my lap yesterday. It was cute, but his mom acted in a really weird way. The bus was full, so I offered the child to sit on my lap. It was a long ride, so he dozed off, and it was time for me to get off, and I lost his mom.

It turned out that she was sitting right behind me, but for some reason, she didn’t pick up her son. When I told her I was getting off now, she sniggered, ’I see!’ - and reached for the child. I was shocked. She didn’t thank me, and for some reason snapped at me.” © Ward 6 / VK

12. “The sister-in-law changes her kid on the carpet when a table is just 6 feet away.”

13. When a mother feels entitled:

“A close friend brought me her 5-year-old and asked me to babysit him for an hour. The child is hyperactive, naughty, and very spoiled. So, the friend didn’t arrive after an hour or even two. I rang her to find out when she’d pick him up. And she said that she’d come only tomorrow, because she wanted to sleep and go shopping, and I had to help her and babysit her child. I dressed her son, took him outside, and texted her that if she didn’t come, I would leave him in the street. She immediately picked up her son, but took offense!” © Podsushano / VK

14. No manners.

“My boyfriend and I came to my parents’ country house for a barbecue. My older brother’s family came too. And they took their kid with them. They didn’t even try to help us with cooking or pay their share for the meat. On the other hand, they did their best in giving unwanted advice on how to season meat or how to grill it. But that was nothing compared to what happened later.

When we finally sat down at the table, their kid suddenly yelled, ’I want to go to the toilet.’ There are 2 toilets, one in the house, the other one outside. Instead, my brother took a potty and put his son to poop right in the middle of the room where we were eating. I just couldn’t stand it, packed up and left.” © Rassiel*** / Pikabu

15. “Letting your kid watch a movie on full volume in a restaurant.”

16. Why bother teaching a kid to behave when you can just say, “Kids will be kids”?

“We recently threw my 5-year-old a birthday party. One of my cousins, a single mom, has a very unruly 6-year-old. He is loud, disobedient, and a nightmare in public. When it came time to blow out the candles and cut the birthday cake, he came and stood directly next to my son. I anticipated what was going to happen next and asked my husband to stand behind this kid in case he tried to pull anything.
After we sang, this kid kept trying to blow out the candles. My husband kept blocking him and pulling him back, and we could tell the kid was getting frustrated. Eventually, my son blew out the candles and the kid lost it. He threw a tantrum and slammed his entire arm into the cake, knocking it onto the table.

It was so awkward, that everyone gasped and got quiet. My son looked up at us and I could tell he was about to start crying. In an effort to not cause a bigger scene, my husband picked him up and whispered to him that we had another special cake just for him (we didn’t) and he seemed to calm down.

His mom was nowhere to be seen. I spoke to my cousin after the party about what happened since she wasn’t in the room, and she brushed it off, saying ‘Kids will be kids.’ I suggested she pay for the ruined cake, and she looked at me like I was crazy.” © CardNo4444 / Reddit

And here are a few stories that prove children see the world differently.