Brats at Olympic Dressage

tallyho! said:
I am allergic to brats. I actually have a medical band which allows me to justify my erratic behaviour when I am within earshot. Do you want one? I can send one first class?
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I wish i had that medical bracelet. lol. my son would have zero interest in dressage, and if i was stupid enough to bring him to a comp, he would drive me and everyone else mad, it's simple really, DONT BRING THEM IF THEY HAVE NO INTEREST!!!! When kids get bored, they act up, but i have zero tolerance for it, as they shouldnt be there. (My daughter, on the other hand, would be happy to sit for the day and watch any horse, doing anything, even if it was grazing in the field!!!)
 
Brilliant response AprilBlossom!!!

Kids who majorly play up abd parents fail to discipline do irritate me. And I am guilty of groaning every time I hear a baby/child start up, but at the same time you do get some genuinely lovely kids who I suprise myself and like lol.

But I'm related to the child from hell, who my poor parents had so much trouble with. I was the angel of course ;)
 
Sorry I disagree. if the child is well behaved no problem whatseover but if they grizzle, fidget and generally irritate those around them then please take them out. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the majority of spectators many who have paid for expensive tickets and I don't think anyone has the right to spoil it for them.
As for those who say they always take them with them then poor kids, why on earth should they be bored just to allow you to do your own thing? I always budgeted for childcare if going to something I knew they would soon get fed up with, it meant they had a fun day too.
No, I can't see any reason to keep a crying child in the stands of an Olympic arena, don't inflict your kids on the rest of us who either find them irritating or plain obnoxious..(oh and yes, I had three children and they were swiftly removed if they misbehaved, trust me, it works you only have to repeat it twice and they pack it in!)
 
I now always attempt to sit in the very back row of a plane, and why? because I got sick of people's children kicking my seat for hours on end. Don't much like having the loo behind my ears but rather that than the thud thud thud of small feet in my back..
 
Oberon said:
Not necessarily. My son never flapped or twitched and he doesn't have a stamp on his forehead saying, "Defective." :D Although there were times when I wish he did so that people wouldn't have been so unkind.

He was freaking out in the street once and I had a woman march up to him and tell him Father Christmas wouldn't come :( Thanks for making things worse, lady :rolleyes:.

When things were at their worst, we didn't want to leave the house with him. It wasn't him - it was how other people would look at us if he did freak out.

He is a very calm and well adjusted teenager now BTW and has a very good shot at a 'normal' life. :)
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Oberon, I also have a son on the autistic spectrum, and I can identify completely with this. I spent a long time not wanting to go out because of the meltdowns from him, and the negative comments from others. Like your boy, he's now s well adjusted young man with a great future.
 
When we had holiday cottages we learned a certain type of Mother always had badly behaved brats. Long dark slightly wild hair, long skirt never jeans, called her kids "darling" all the time and generally had no control over them whatsoever.
We used to mentally groan as we saw a family like that get out of their car, and sure enough, a week later their cottage would always be filthy, curtains ripped off the poles, a real nightmare to clean. The posher they were the worse their kids behaved. One family locked their 6 year old out at breakfast time one morning and as I walked past I heard them shout, "No Louis, until you stop throwing your food at the walls you can't come back in!". Same brat threw stones at the horse's heads and made the cat squeal.
I think nowadays the biggest mistake parents' make is their tone of voice, you hear them speaking to small kids as if they really hate them, or screaming at them. The lowered voice, evil stare and quiet threat works so much better, with their method where do they go next, they have already used nastiness and spite, no wonder their kids grow up just like them..
 
We had granny, mum, mum's sister, mum's sister's 5 yr and mum's 3 month old in front of us on Tuesday.

The baby was grizzly on and off throughout but not noisy noisy and you could see the mum and granny desperately trying to stop her, make her smile, feed her, try to get her to sleep. In the end mum took her for a walk and came back later on with a big look of 'I'm so sorry to everyone around her'. The 5 yr old was fine for about an hour then started the 'I'm bored, shifting seats, when are we going home' stance and granny took her off for a walk and came back later on with some food and a cuddly lion. Then on in, not a peep so whether granny had had a word...

Whilst vaguely irritating at least they were as a family trying to keep the noise and disruption to a minimum. People like that - I don't mind at all because they're polite with it. It's the parents of all backgrounds (like HH has just pointed out, money doesn't equal manners) that just turn a blind eye that annoy the hell of out me.

I do think though in terms of the Olympics, the equestrian sports have the longest sessions that require a set level of quietness. The same way the BBC commentary team were complaining about a child screaming its head off at Wimbledon this afternoon. They openly said try and get the child to quiet down quickly or leave, for the sake of everyone else and the competitors.

Yes we're past the days of a child is seen but not heard but you'd quickly leave the theatre or an opera if a child kicked off, why the difference in attitude at sports venues (for those sports that require a level of quiet - don't think it would matter at the rowing!)?
 
I developed the "look" when my kids were young. As soon as I walked into a room, they would stop playing about and sit quietly. They were never allowed to fidget, annoy people or make a noise if we were somewhere quiet and were always well behaved in peoples houses. On a slightly different topic, even now, if someone doesn't say thank you to me for holding a door open for them, I have found that a fairly loud "that will be a thank you then, will it?" usually has the desired effect. I travelled back from Turkey some years ago with a small brat kicking the back of my seat. Eventually, I leaned over the seat and complained to the parents. They moved the brat onto someone else's lap.
 
Had to LOL @ the power of an older sibling today.....

Was putting nieces in car (see I do, do kiddlywinks sometimes!:eek:). Youngest niece (2 1/2yrs) was messing around and refusing to get in her car seat.

Que me, very quietly "F you have 3 seconds to get in your seat or you won't be coming riding on Sunday".

M (older niece - 5yrs) - 'Do you mean it?'

Me - 'yes....1......'

M - *gulp* 'Get in your seat F, she means it.'

F was in her seat in a flash, before I had even said 2!!

Had to smile as I drove home and wonder how many times my sister had buckled and not followed through with the removal of privileges.
 
piebaldsparkle said:
It was Charlotte's test. Guessing it was either gagged or removed as went quiet part way through.;)
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Both! A child sitting a few rows behind me had his mothers' hand over his mouth at the beginning of the whine (which he didn't seem too perturbed about!) and then he started bleating 'lets' go home mummy' rather loudly.... presume they did, as they soon-after left.
 
Not sure why, but the title of this thread set my teeth on edge. There are only certain days of the Olympics (qualifying rounds) & certain ticket categories where children get 'child priced' tickets. There were quite a few children yesterday. The first 2 days of the dressage / category D seats offered cheap children's tickets. I took my 10yo. She'd never seen high level dressage before. & loved it. I wouldn't have got her a ticket to the finals as she wouldn't appreciate it.

I knew daughter wouldn't manage to sit quietly through 4 sessions of horses performing the same test , so we watched the first session, some of the 2nd session (though we abandoned our seats for this & stood outside the arena by some barriers at a corner so we could see the horses going across the diagonal) & the 3rd session. Daughter had a lovely day & was quiet / engaged while horses were competing. Plenty of other families seemed to be doing something similar.

I would imagine that a lot of families with children who wanted an 'Olympic experience' would have opted to go to Greenwich park rather than Stratford because it is easier to get too / less crowded / Greenwich park itself is interesting / has plenty of places for children to play. I doubt many of them will be there for the GP Special or the Freestyle where ticket prices are much higher & there are no child priced tickets.
 
smokey said:
Oberon, I also have a son on the autistic spectrum, and I can identify completely with this. I spent a long time not wanting to go out because of the meltdowns from him, and the negative comments from others. Like your boy, he's now s well adjusted young man with a great future.
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Glad to hear it :D

He used to have a 'thing' about the colour green. Everything had to be green. Food had to be green.

We used to HAVE to watch, "Ready Steady Cook" at tea-time (the one where the audience would vote who won with red tomatoes and green peppers).

If 'red tomatoes' won - all hell would break loose in the house
scared.gif
:D

If you ask him about it now - he just looks sheepish and pretends he doesn't remember :o
 
lme said:
Not sure why, but the title of this thread set my teeth on edge. There are only certain days of the Olympics (qualifying rounds) & certain ticket categories where children get 'child priced' tickets. There were quite a few children yesterday. The first 2 days of the dressage / category D seats offered cheap children's tickets. I took my 10yo. She'd never seen high level dressage before. & loved it. I wouldn't have got her a ticket to the finals as she wouldn't appreciate it.

I knew daughter wouldn't manage to sit quietly through 4 sessions of horses performing the same test , so we watched the first session, some of the 2nd session (though we abandoned our seats for this & stood outside the arena by some barriers at a corner so we could see the horses going across the diagonal) & the 3rd session. Daughter had a lovely day & was quiet / engaged while horses were competing. Plenty of other families seemed to be doing something similar.

I would imagine that a lot of families with children who wanted an 'Olympic experience' would have opted to go to Greenwich park rather than Stratford because it is easier to get too / less crowded / Greenwich park itself is interesting / has plenty of places for children to play. I doubt many of them will be there for the GP Special or the Freestyle where ticket prices are much higher & there are no child priced tickets.
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Your child is 10 for a start normally a well brought up 10yr old does as they are told and is capable of sitting quietly and understanding what they are being told to do . A baby or toddler age doesn't and won't regardless of how well brought up they are. Most kids would be bored to tears watching dressage so simply don't torture them or the rest of the audience by bringing them.

However you're probably right about the child tickets. I guess if you are non-horsey and just wanted any ticket to the games then perhaps you didn't know what you would be seeing or how tedious it would be for children. It would be a shame if we perpetuated the myth of snobbery in Equestrian sports - I must get more into the inclusive spirit of the games :)

Luckily I'm going on the day of the Kur so if there are any hopefully the music will drown them out! :D
 
sussexbythesea said:
Most kids would be bored to tears watching dressage so simply don't torture them or the rest of the audience by bringing them.

However you're probably right about the child tickets. I guess if you are non-horsey and just wanted any ticket to the games then perhaps you didn't know what you would be seeing or how tedious it would be for children. It would be a shame if we perpetuated the myth of snobbery in Equestrian sports - I must get more into the inclusive spirit of the games :)

Luckily I'm going on the day of the Kur so if there are any hopefully the music will drown them out! :D
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You should be safe @ the Kur as there are no cheap children's tickets. And TBH a lot of families with small children yesterday seemed to be spending most of their day by the park / lake, venturing up to the stands to watch specific tests (or watching from outside the arena).

Oh, and if anyone is interested the 'corner' where you can get a good view from outside the arena is the 'other' corner on the short side where the horses enter & exit. You can stand by the railings & have a good view (not blocked by judges boxes).
 
Dealing with brats is jolly good fun!
A low tone of voice and you whisper in their ear that if they do not behave and sit still then you will make sure that they do.
If they continue to annoy then you quietly take hold of their forearm and dig your fingers into the bone just above the elbow - all this can be done quietly without parents seeing. Get the right spot and you hit nerves that paralyse the lower arm and at the same time you whisper in their ear that if they do not behave you will do the same to their neck so they cannot move.
if the brat screams deny all!

Works well.
 
Foxhunter49 said:
Dealing with brats is jolly good fun!
A low tone of voice and you whisper in their ear that if they do not behave and sit still then you will make sure that they do.
If they continue to annoy then you quietly take hold of their forearm and dig your fingers into the bone just above the elbow - all this can be done quietly without parents seeing. Get the right spot and you hit nerves that paralyse the lower arm and at the same time you whisper in their ear that if they do not behave you will do the same to their neck so they cannot move.
if the brat screams deny all!

Works well.
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Ouch - though the piercing scream that might result from that manoeuvre would probably draw a bit of unwanted attention.
 
Foxhunter49 said:
Dealing with brats is jolly good fun!
A low tone of voice and you whisper in their ear that if they do not behave and sit still then you will make sure that they do.
If they continue to annoy then you quietly take hold of their forearm and dig your fingers into the bone just above the elbow - all this can be done quietly without parents seeing. Get the right spot and you hit nerves that paralyse the lower arm and at the same time you whisper in their ear that if they do not behave you will do the same to their neck so they cannot move.
if the brat screams deny all!

Works well.
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Love it
 
Oberon said:
Glad to hear it :D

He used to have a 'thing' about the colour green. Everything had to be green. Food had to be green.

We used to HAVE to watch, "Ready Steady Cook" at tea-time (the one where the audience would vote who won with red tomatoes and green peppers).

If 'red tomatoes' won - all hell would break loose in the house
scared.gif
:D

If you ask him about it now - he just looks sheepish and pretends he doesn't remember :o
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:D we have a lot of those memories as well. not funny at the time, but hilarious to look back on now. I dont think anyone who hasnt experienced ASD first hand can really understand what its like ;)
 
tallyho! said:
I am allergic to brats. I actually have a medical band which allows me to justify my erratic behaviour when I am within earshot. Do you want one? I can send one first class?
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ha ha so do i its funny cos my dog does aswell i cant take her around brats she really doesnt like them not that i dont have a son but he is 29 now
 
Not yet - but my parents were pretty good at making us 'acquainted to the public'. Mom used to throw us those scary, warning eyes, lol. Even my brother's friends used to quiet down at the sight of her big eyes (which normally means "act up now, and see what happens when you're at home"). My then 3-year-old brother once told his nursery friend: "Don't do that or my mom's eyes are going to grow big. As big as plates."

Cue other kid swallowing when seeing my mom. :)
 
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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Directly behind me on the 2nd day dressage was a VERY new baby whose mother had to constantly offer it the breast to try & keep it quiet, which didn't work I might add. I felt sorry for the child at that age out in that heat, what were the parents thinking of.? It was distracting for those of us who wanted to concentrate on the once in a lifetime experience, wonderful horses, wonderful riders.
 
I don't think there's any excuse for kids totally disrupting someone else's once in a lifetime day. I can't stand it when they're allowed to kick seats etc. Happily where I was on Thursday there weren't too many small kids... one woman I could have strangled who seemed out to impale me in the eye with her umbrella, but hey ho...

My kids went pretty much everywhere with us, and learnt to behave. I remember taking them to Gleneagles to a golf tournament (I won the tickets and in those broke days you took anything you could get) age 5 and 3. We were sitting in the decked seats at the final hole. I had emphasised that when the man held up his paddle they must be absolutely quiet. Along to the green came two very famous golfers to putt out. The paddle went up, the girls were angels, the first golfer bent over and putted his ball which went just past the hole. In a fabulous loud stage whisper my 3 year old turned to me and said "ooh mummy he's missed it. Is he going to try again?" Cue much laughter from all the adults sitting around us. I don't suppose the golfers had any idea what had caused it.
 
horseloaner said:
Once in a lifetime opportunity and not everyone can get babysitters - sorry but I'd be taking my 'brat' with me :D
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If you truly have a brat that is utterly selfish. If you have a well behaved child, who you will ensure does disturb others once in a live time opportunity (by kicking seat or generally acting up), then what a great opportunity for you both.
 
lme said:
I doubt many of them will be there for the GP Special or the Freestyle where ticket prices are much higher & there are no child priced tickets.
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Sadly I was unable to get tickets for those days :(

There were some beautifully behave children sat quiet and completely mesmerized in front of us, sadly I had the brats from hell, with their equally ignorant mother sat beside me.
 
Just remembered a story a former colleague told me about. He grew up in Africa, and when he was like 6 or something, he once swore at a fairly large lady for no other reason but 'he heard other kids say the same word'.

Then, something unexpected happened.

Big momma chased him down the streets, got hold of him, and slapped his face with her slippers. He came back home crying, and told his mom about the events of the day. His mother laughed, and told him he deserved it.

That was the last time he swore in public. :)
 
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