Mom Furious As Stranger Asks Her To Take Her 'Shrieking' Son Out Of Restaurant Until He Quiets Down

Oct 06, 2021

Being a parent is definitely no walk in the park, but it’s a role that a lot of people sign up for. It can be incredibly fulfilling and rewarding to raise children and watch them grow into kind-hearted people, but there are certainly many challenges that can come up along the way. One of those challenges is figuring out how to handle kids crying or screaming in a public place.

It’s safe to say that everyone has had an annoying interaction in a similar situation, and for one 23-year-old woman, her experience with this almost ruined her meal. She was out at a nice restaurant with her 24-year-old boyfriend, and although the place was by no means considered fancy, it was definitely nicer than a usual, run-of-the-mill restaurant. She had also spent a good amount of money on her well-prepared meal, and all she wanted to do was enjoy her food with her partner.

Unfortunately, her plans were ruined by the patrons at a table nearby. A set of parents and their three children were seated together, and the youngest son would not stop shrieking. The woman grew more and more annoyed until she eventually asked the mother to take the child out until he could calm down.

This didn’t sit well with the mother at all, leaving the 23-year-old woman to wonder if she overstepped her boundaries. She went to Reddit on Sept. 12, 2021, to explain the situation to users and ask them for their thoughts on how she dealt with the family and their screaming child.

Starting off her Reddit post, the original poster (OP) explained that the restaurant she and her boyfriend went to one night in September 2021 wasn’t a “Michelin star-esque place,” but it still served well-prepared food and had a nice setting, so it was understandable that people who went there wanted to be able to enjoy their meal in peace.

While OP and her boyfriend were there, a family was seated about two tables away from them. The family consisted of two parents and their three children, with the youngest child appearing to be about 2 years old. “While me and my boyfriend were enjoying our meal, the youngest child began SHRIEKING, for a reason that I can’t fathom,” OP explained. “When I say shrieking I’m talking about the ear piercing type that is physically painful.”

The child continued to scream for about 10 minutes. OP was pretty annoyed and just wanted to be able to enjoy the meal she paid for, so she decided to do something about the unpleasant environment. “I walked over to the family’s table, and asked if someone could take the child outside until it calms down, since people are trying to enjoy their food,” OP said. 

This didn’t sit well with the child’s mother, and she told OP that she needed to “show some compassion.” OP continued, “I responded by telling her that I’ve paid to enjoy my meal, and that if she isn’t going to get her child to be quiet, then she needs to do everyone in the restaurant a favor and take the child outside.”

The mother proceeded to call over one of the waiters to tell them that OP was rude and made her uncomfortable, but other patrons stood up for OP and explained that the mother had continued to allow the child to cry while everyone else was trying to eat. “The parents left eventually, but not before shooting me an evil look,” OP explained.

Afterward, OP spoke with one of her friends about the situation and was told that she should have tried being “kinder and more considerate to the family, since being a parent is difficult.” However, OP stood by the fact that people who choose to have kids need to parent them better, and Reddit users agreed. 

One user commented, “While being a parent IS difficult, there are still courtesies that need to be followed. Those courtesies include removing a child from a public place if they are not behaving, crying or screaming.”

Another user agreed, and said, “Parents with shrieking children do not get to keep eating while their children shriek. They take turns eating and take the shrieking child outside until they calm down. It is unspeakably rude to allow your child to make a disturbance in a restaurant and to make no attempt to remove them to a location where they are not disturbing others.”

Although many people were able to sympathize with the fact that kids will be kids, and parents definitely face plenty of hardships on their parenthood journey, it’s not fair to others to not do anything about children who simply won’t stop crying or yelling in public settings.

Do you agree with this woman’s actions, or do you think she should have given the parents a break about their shrieking child? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to any parent you know to find out what they think.