Brats at Olympic Dressage

Am sure I heard a baby crying during LB's test today - I only watched the Brits as was at work. Couldn't quite believe it - why would anyone take a baby to Olympic dressage?! Unfair on baby, parents and other spectators.
 
You could have expected my late mother to correct bad/poor parenting absolutely anywhere :eek: She was an infants teacher, for many years and would stop any badly behaved child in its tracks, often ignoring the parents :D No child ever continued with the bad behaviour after my mother had spoken :eek: :D :D
 
Nicnac said:
Am sure I heard a baby crying during LB's test today - I only watched the Brits as was at work. Couldn't quite believe it - why would anyone take a baby to Olympic dressage?! Unfair on baby, parents and other spectators.
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The toddler I witnessed crying, started in the middle of a test and was removed as soon as possible. I agree that it was not a great venue for real tiddlers, but provided the parents minimized any disturbance, I don't have an issue. Did see a mother with very young baby as I was leaving and thought I would not have wanted such a young child out in the rain we had today, but maybe they found some shelter.
 
Nicnac, I take a baby to any horsey stuff I have planned to go to because I HAVE TO! Lol I've had no problems watching any dressage or jumping at hartpury with baby and if he did make a noise he'd swiftly have a bottle put in his mouth, or we went out of the gallery for a few minutes. Simple!

I do think it is a real shame a large proportion of parents these days can't (or won't) discipline their children, preferring to blame a 'medical condition' for their behavior, and worse still, going beserk at anyone who dare suggest to said child that they pack in their naughty behaviour ;)

As a kid I threw a major wobbler halfway down a ski slope ad refused to move. A strange man skied down to me, gave me a massive telling off that ended in 'stop being a brat, shut up and ski down to your parents! NOW!'

I was boot-faced for an hour or so but it bloody worked!! :D
 
Can't stand badly behaved children or adults, if one of my children hold a door open for an adult who doesnt bother to say thank you I have no problem saying excuse me I believe thank you were the words you were looking for.
 
Obviously not an excuse for the poor behaviour at the dressage but please don't sit in judgement on all children you see behaving badly.

My lovely son was wild sometimes when he was younger and had some terrible tantrums in public which would often be punctuated by a member of the public tsking us.

What they didn't know was that Autism does lead the sufferer to boil over occasionally in social situations that they find difficult. The tsking and opinions from strangers made a very worried and stressed parent even worse!
 
While, like I said, there are a huge amount of brats at work, there are also a lot of good kids, who're clearly naturally polite/clever and have had a good up bringing.
One such child can't be older than 10, but he speaks better English than most adults I know, always has the correct change and is fabulous at maths.
99% of the time, you can see where the childs behaviour has come from. I've seen a mother/child have the exact same temper tantrum haha! Child was at the mother and the mother was at me.
I do try and let kids know when they've been good!
 
I use my teacher tone for adults and children alike. It works every time!

I do think sometimes that a different person's intervention can make a difference (as in the skiing incident) but it really shouldn't have to come to that.
 
Oberon I work with autistic young men,in their twentys I can totally understand.My son is exceptional with his manners,always saying please,thank you,no thanks etc.I have had many people comment on his good behaviour and how polite he is.No I dont expect him to behave this way everyday as everyond is entitled to an off day,especially a 4 year old,so we do have our odd days but rarely gets away with it.Its normally when hes in pain for instance a headache which I sympathise with to a degree.I always recieved good comments from his nursery and how helpful he was and hes a damm good helper up my yard and always trys his best.I can totally understand what OP is saying as I wouldnt have tolerated the behaviour unless there was a VERY good reason for it,But unfortunately with todays society and they adults behave towards there children is just wrong.Children our a huge responsibility and my simple answer is if you decide to create the little life then you should deal with it as an adult as nine times out of ten we want them to succeed in life and not follow in the wrong foot steps,so give them the best educated start you can.Sorry ive waffled on im on an awake shift at work. :)
 
My son would never misbehave, He has been brought up to know how to respect others, like when you see kids running around in restaurants that's just rude and the parents just ignore it. I said something once to the manager and they said to the parents about kids running around and health and safety and they stopped their kids running about. you just think straightaway chavs!
 
Pearlsasinger, my example was more to point out that even the best behaved children WILL have their moments (I was very well brought up and my mum is a teacher so knows how to handle kids...) - children, like horses, can't be expected to behave exactly as you'd like 100% of the time - but in a way I agree, it shouldn't have to come to stranger intervention as often as I see examples these days. Not the blanket 'one should never observe a child stepping out of line in public' which is highly unrealistic IMO.
 
I think it's pretty clear when a child is being a brat and when there's an issue like autism for instance. I've seen both and don't think I'd get them confused. I'm afraid I think a lot of the issues are down to parents who either can't be bothered to discipline their children or are scared to do so. My daughter would never dream of behaving in the way you describe the brats as behaving, however, even knowing that I wouldn't take her to the dressage because she wouldn't find it very interesting, she's 8 BTW, so it would be asking for trouble. At her school however there are 3 children in her year who are absolute little horrors. Two of them are like this because the mother has no idea what discipline is or how to achieve it and the last one because the parents are simply not interested in her at all and throw her out on the street every waking moment. It's not the fault of the children that they behave this way because they've been taught no better so in a way I feel sorry for them. These 3 in particular are excluded from almost every other child's birthday parties and parents are regularly called into school because of some problem or other. Makes you wonder why they don't do anything about it?

My daughter is polite, friendly and always courteous to others, one look from me or her father instantly stops any semblance of bad behaviour, yet she has never been punished with smacking or shouting so how hard can it be?

I'd have been absolutely livid to have had to put up with anything like that at the Olympics.
 
I was sat in the grandstand by fence 11 on monday, with brat behind. Have to say every time he started up parents stepped in & told him in no uncretain terms to behave & apologised to us.
 
Well said FMM! My children always know how to behave, they are considerate and polite, and have never been 'leathered' once!!!!! agree badly behaved children are awful to endure, as are badly behaved teenagers, adults, elderly etc!! It's a sign of our society today, no consideration.
 
As said adults can behave as badly as kids. However brats also make it especially hard for those of us without bratty kids. At 7, mine understands the logic behind why some public places have different behavior codes. But at 3/4 while she liked being told what a big/good girl she was, its doubly hard when someone else's kids are racing round a restaurant, shop etc. I used to find it funny cos being tall she's often mistaken for being older, so a brat parent would say 'sorry mines only 4, hence doing x'. Only to be suprised mine was the same age or younger. And I don't actually judge on what the child does, all kids have bad days, even without underlying causes. I tend to judge on what the parent does/says about it!
 
I hate the way some parents refuse to tell their brats off and tell them that if they don't stop they'll get someone else to do it. I was on the bus one day and this awful boy was running up and down, physically hitting his brothers and sisters if they were on a seat he wanted to sit on and generally being a pain. All you got out of his mother was: "If you don't sit down I'll get the bus driver to tell you off." FFS. Its YOUR child. YOU Tell it off. Step up to the job, and if you can't control that child why on Earth have you bred four more and expecting another?
 
Oh I just remembered a brat we got in the museum, where I worked.
He was dressed in a batman outfit and had somehow got within the safety rope and was SWINGING off of a statue.
I told him off, got him away from the statue and then got confronted by a woman who told me "I shouldn't reprimand him. He's Batman, he can do what he likes today."

I just gaped open mouthed and walked off. Sadly all my good comebacks always come too late!!!

Right, I'm gonna go to the yard now before I get too worked up about awful children.
 
With the impending arrival of my very own bratto I have been told, while at events, numerous times by people who see my bump "Oooh that'll be you soon".

No it wont, because a) I'll do my best not to have to bring the child if they are that young they'll scream the place down. b) If they scream the place down I wont just stand there and let them, ruining every one elses time and c) if they misbehave they'll be going home - simples :D

I think its hugely unfair those parents who let their child, for whatever excuse, ruin things for other people.
 
Try having dogs where small children are concerned. I swear mine have magnets in their bodies which draws all kids to them! They are utterly determind to get to the dogs to hug them and stick their faces in my dogs faces.

But appreciate that badly behaved children are a nightmare and will ask the parents to make an effort to keep them under control! I don't accept it's impossible as I see lots of parents and children of different ages and they are fine!

BTW, my brother decided not to go the games with his 10 and 12 year old boys as did not think they would cope with the long day..
 
I think if you train them like a dog from a young age they are fine. Obviously you have to be good at training dogs ;) Well that's what I did with my daughter and at 3.5 she is generally lovely. Occasionally she has had a melt down in a public place and I have just removed her.

I don't often like other folks kids. Or dogs actually. :D
 
Nicnac said:
Am sure I heard a baby crying during LB's test today - I only watched the Brits as was at work. Couldn't quite believe it - why would anyone take a baby to Olympic dressage?! Unfair on baby, parents and other spectators.
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lol what are people supposed to do with the baby, stick it in a cupboard for the day? why should people with babies be excluded from going to events which they enjoy:rolleyes: when my kids were little my parents were both still working full time so i didn't have anyone to have them during the day, if i wanted a day out babies came too!.
 
They shouldn't but they shouldn't let their choices, ruin things for other people. It's their responsibility to make sure their offspring isn't making life a misery for other people.
It's the olympics, we had 7 years to book childcare :D
 
Why take kids? - it doesn't make sense. I wouldn't expect any young child to be entertained watching dressage. You can't blame the kids - it's the parents who want to take a reality check and either leave them at home with family or don't attend at all. The XC is different at least the kids can move about and it's more entertaining for them.
 
Ibblebibble said:
lol what are people supposed to do with the baby, stick it in a cupboard for the day? why should people with babies be excluded from going to events which they enjoy:rolleyes: when my kids were little my parents were both still working full time so i didn't have anyone to have them during the day, if i wanted a day out babies came too!.
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I think that people with babies shouldn't take them to events where their crying could ruin other people's day. If you can't find a carer for the day, then either leave as soon as baby starts crying, till it stops, or don't go at all.
 
Ibblebibble said:
lol what are people supposed to do with the baby, stick it in a cupboard for the day? why should people with babies be excluded from going to events which they enjoy:rolleyes: when my kids were little my parents were both still working full time so i didn't have anyone to have them during the day, if i wanted a day out babies came too!.
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But sorry that's selfish if you are spoiling someone elses enjoyment of an event. Having a baby involves making some sacrifices and no you can't take them to everything. If you expect life to simply carry on as before that's unrealistic. You wouldn't take a baby to a fancy restaurant when diners are trying to enjoy a peaceful evening out, but a family restaurant would be different. Surely you must realise that?
 
I took my baby everywhere and I was competiting in dog trials a month after she was born (and we were in hosp for a fortnight) stayed in a pub on my own with her and ran the dogs.

Was bonkers when I look back don't know how I did it.

But any time she cried I just took her elsewhere. She was a good baby generally. I'd rather take a baby places than a toddler :D but they do need socialised occasionally.
 
littlelegs said:
And I don't actually judge on what the child does, all kids have bad days, even without underlying causes. I tend to judge on what the parent does/says about it!
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I agree. It bugs me when parents either do nothing or deliver some half-hearted attempt at chastising their children. Speaking in a meak ineffectual tone: "Darling, please don't do that blah, blah blah". I can tell they don't mean it and I am pretty sure their children can as well.

FfionWinnie said:
I think if you train them like a dog from a young age they are fine. Obviously you have to be good at training dogs ;) Well that's what I did with my daughter and at 3.5 she is generally lovely. Occasionally she has had a melt down in a public place and I have just removed her.
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Do you use a clicker? :D
 
siennamum said:
I think that people with babies shouldn't take them to events where their crying could ruin other people's day. If you can't find a carer for the day, then either leave as soon as baby starts crying, till it stops, or don't go at all.
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YasandCrystal said:
But sorry that's selfish if you are spoiling someone elses enjoyment of an event. Having a baby involves making some sacrifices and no you can't take them to everything. If you expect life to simply carry on as before that's unrealistic. You wouldn't take a baby to a fancy restaurant when diners are trying to enjoy a peaceful evening out, but a family restaurant would be different. Surely you must realise that?
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I wouldn't got to a fancy restaurant full stop, with or without a baby, not my idea of an enjoyable evening;)
would i have taken one of mine to a huge public event (ie olympics) yes i would have, if baby had started getting fractious then i would take them off somewhere to have a break.
i find it sad that in this country babies and children are seen as such a nuisance and the tolerance levels towards them are so low, in the rest of europe they are welcomed and catered for which makes taking them places so much easier.
what about the professional riders with children that take them to events, perhaps those riders should have sacrificed their careers and just stayed home playing mum?!
 
I HATE children but I've no problem with well behaved ones. Intact they'll way they see the world at horse events can be rather humorous at times.

As for professional riders and children- if they can do it anyone can! I remember grooming for a show jumper as a favour once, she walked her SJ Course with baby on her hip giving him a bottle. I was walking her horse about to stretch him off whilst baby was in carrier in the lorry door- she was off doing whatever so and baby got grizzly so out he came onto my hip for a wee walk round with the horse.

H&S would probably have had a heart attack but you have to manage!
 
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