Childfree by choice #6 Sleeping well at night, petition for childfree flights

[Chandler Bing]

We were on a cruise recently, you get talking to a lot of people in the bars etc and loads of people asked if we had kids. Except one woman in her late 60s who just asked "so how old are the kids back home". I was like WTF we haven't got any, that's why we can afford this expensive AF holiday best part is turns out she didn't have any kids either but for some reason thought that question was appropriate!

 

[penny1992]

I live round the corner from an ikea so I can go in the week late at night just before closing. Which is great because there’s usually no kids!

I wish restaurants did adults only times. When I was a kid (90’s/00’s) I was never taken to restaurants. That was something adults did . I went to wacky warehouse on occasion, but that was it.

I went to restaurants as a kid but I had to behave. Of course there was no screen devices then, I remember restaurants would give out a puzzle/drawing for the kids

I was lucky enough to eat out a lot as a child (born to older parents who were not changing their lifestyle for kids!) Although mainly lunch time so as not to impact adults enjoying an evening meal. I also think that kn the 90s kids just weren't accepted in restaurants of an evening??

We would always sit quietly and maybe colour or draw. If we were the only people in our local Indian on a Saturday lunch then we would be allowed to play by the water feature (proper 90s) but if anyone else walked in it was straight to our table.

I distinctly remember being in a Chinese restaurant when the kids from another family were running riot and unwrapping all of the chopsticks. I asked my mum why they were being so naughty (eldest child who always does as she's told!)

I could be silenced by a look from one of my parents. Parents these days don't give a tit.

Bahahha my mum had a "look" too that I knew meant to behave

 

[AshMay]

Even my sponsored ads know

 

[HmmmReally]

Has anyone seen that TikTok about the woman saying that it’s great people don’t want kids but asking us to politely stop talking about it as it’s “Childism” (like ageism)

It causes other people to hate children and they should be protected. I just think it’s the parent’s responsibility to filter what their children do and don’t hear especially on the internet … online is now becoming another place you can talk about how amazing kids are but not how you don’t want them in case little Thomas gets upset scrolling through TikTok.
I’d like to assume their algorithm would be very different

 

[Pebbleybeach]

Has anyone seen that TikTok about the woman saying that it’s great people don’t want kids but asking us to politely stop talking about it as it’s “Childism” (like ageism)

It causes other people to hate children and they should be protected. I just think it’s the parent’s responsibility to filter what their children do and don’t hear especially on the internet … online is now becoming another place you can talk about how amazing kids are but not how you don’t want them in case little Thomas gets upset scrolling through TikTok.
I’d like to assume their algorithm would be very different

How many OAPs has she taken into her home to look after? If it’s not at least one she must be ageist…

 

[judgejohndeed]

 

[pinkmug]

Has anyone seen that TikTok about the woman saying that it’s great people don’t want kids but asking us to politely stop talking about it as it’s “Childism” (like ageism)

It causes other people to hate children and they should be protected. I just think it’s the parent’s responsibility to filter what their children do and don’t hear especially on the internet … online is now becoming another place you can talk about how amazing kids are but not how you don’t want them in case little Thomas gets upset scrolling through TikTok.
I’d like to assume their algorithm would be very different

I don't think anyone can start 'hating' children because they read the comments of a few people online who don't want to be parents. Hate is too strong of a feeling to be ignited by that imo People forget that having children/procreating is still the norm in the society. If that would change with a bunch of posts on a comment section online I'd be delighted, yet here we are. Maybe their dear children shouldn't be staring at a tiktok video if they are too young to understand that people will have different approaches to different life choices.

 

[HmmmReally]

How many OAPs has she taken into her home to look after? If it’s not at least one she must be ageist…

funnily enough she starts going on about how if people were talking about disliking elderly there would be out rage…

 

[paulpercy666]

I don’t really get the childism thing? Like, yeah I don’t want children of my own but equally I don’t want any harm to come to any children that already exist. I feel like that is the general consensus for childfree people? If you do want to see harm done to children it’s got nothing to do with whether you want to have them or not - as we can clearly see from all of the sad cases where children are abused by their parents/family. If anything, I think I have an issue with some parents because at the end of the day it’s not the children’s fault that they are annoying lol, I’d say the vast majority of the time it’s behaviour that their parents allow them to get away with that I find irritating, which again is not the child’s fault. Plus children can’t help having needs that I just wouldn’t be able to meet. I wouldn’t be a good mum, so surely by not having one, I’m doing what’s best for the theoretical child?

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

I don’t want children and I don’t particularly like them being around me when I’m shopping, on holiday or eating out, but I certainly wouldn’t say I hate them.
And I definitely wouldn’t want any harm to come any of them, even the really unruly ones. Child abuse cases literally make me cry & it’s not easy to make me cry! I actually can’t stand hearing about children being mistreated, I think it’s awful.

Personally for me when I’m out and about and there’s a kid driving me nuts, it’s the parents I’m angry at, not the child.

 

[shadowcat5]

I love kids and I love seeing well behaved kids out and about. I loved when I worked in retail and I’d get to chat to a kid that was dressed up like a princess and pretend it was real or ask kids about Santa. I’m concerned about how I’d cope caring for my own.

 

[Pebbleybeach]

I don’t want children and I don’t particularly like them being around me when I’m shopping, on holiday or eating out, but I certainly wouldn’t say I hate them.
And I definitely wouldn’t want any harm to come any of them, even the really unruly ones. Child abuse cases literally make me cry & it’s not easy to make me cry! I actually can’t stand hearing about children being mistreated, I think it’s awful.

Personally for me when I’m out and about and there’s a kid driving me nuts, it’s the parents I’m angry at, not the child.

It’s definitely the parents!

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

It’s definitely the parents!

Yeah 100%! I actually used to work with children and I have a degree in the early years (shocking I know, I wanted to be a social worker once upon a time).

You can always pin point with kids why they’re behaving the way they’re behaving, unless they have additional needs obviously.

Myself and my middle brother were really well behaved kids (aside from a few issues as teens) whereas my eldest brother was a tyrant, violent, aggressive, obsessive, you name it and he was it, but he has Tourette’s, schizophrenia, OCD, ODD, ADHD and APD.

She brought us all up in similar ways more or less (there’s only 13 months between my brothers), but the behaviour couldn’t be more different. You can tell the difference though between a kid with issues and a kid who’s a brat.

 

[judgejohndeed]

I think in general people are less tolerant of kids now because ‘modern’ parents are into all this new age, ‘gentle parenting’ bollocks which essentially means loads of kids are just utter demons with no discipline. I don’t mind kids per se, I do mind shrieking kids, kids running about and treating public places like a playground when it’s not appropriate, etc. Idk if my Mum was just really strict or something but the way a lot of parents allow their kids to act in public these days never would’ve washed with her.

 

[JoeBloggs]

It’s definitely the parents!

Deep down they know this and this is why I think they spout such BS. They don't want childfree people wanting to express how good their life is when theirs isn't, it is their own fault and they want everyone else to wallow in it too.

 

[shadowcat5]

I think in general people are less tolerant of kids now because ‘modern’ parents are into all this new age, ‘gentle parenting’ bollocks which essentially means loads of kids are just utter demons with no discipline. I don’t mind kids per se, I do mind shrieking kids, kids running about and treating public places like a playground when it’s not appropriate, etc. Idk if my Mum was just really strict or something but the way a lot of parents allow their kids to act in public these days never would’ve washed with her.

Yes. The thing that pisses me off about 'gentle parenting' is that people vastly misinterpret it. People take it to mean you can't say no to your kids or have to let them run buck wild and not parenting them at all, when actually it means treating kids with respect and having healthy boundaries, e.g 'I understand you're upset you can't stay at the park but it's time to leave now. If you don't, *insert consequence here*' and not 'we're going now, stop crying. If you don't get in the car, you're going to get a smack'.

 

[Princesst]

I don’t hate children either. I like to think I hold everyone at the same level of public courtesy. I hate the fact I can’t go anywhere without someone else’s child impacting my day or experience. No one should be running around or screaming in a restaurant or doing anything that ruins it for other people. No one should negatively impact anyone in their own house etc with noise. No one should have to endure disrupted flights and ruined holidays. I shouldn’t have to step over anyone lying in the middle of a shopping centre or the supermarket. The problem with children is the “do what you want, wherever you want” is tolerated and encouraged in many areas so it’s just the norm now. Businesses etc are too afraid to say anything. A family having a meal out wouldn’t appreciate me running around their table and screaming at the top of my lungs… so I’d just like that courtesy to be returned

 

[penny1992]

I'll be honest and say I do hate a lot of children...but I think it comes down to their parents being so crappy and inconsiderate. Children are noisy, sticky etc and I can't stand them .
We were at a sports game the other day and a couple sat next to my husband with a baby that can't have been more than a year old. The baby was obviously restless and sitting on one of the parent's knees next to my husband. It kept trying to reach over to my husband with its sticky gross hands , so glad it wasn't next to me! In the second half, the baby was crying but at least the parents were considerate enough to leave. I don't know why you'd take a baby to a sports game...it was noisy, lots of flashing lights etc.

 

[rosemarina]

Yeah, I think I dislike children more than most. I’d never wish them harm, but I don’t want them in the places where I am.

 

[JoeBloggs]

Yeah, I think I dislike children more than most. I’d never wish them harm, but I don’t want them in the places where I am.

I would never wish any harm on a kid but I openly admit I do not like children. The same with hamsters, I do not want one, do not like one but would never harm or wish harm on one.