Kids are sometimes called a ball of energy because they can never sit still. They have the tendency to move about and this has always caused problems to parents. How many times have you went out and see a hyperactive child just running around and screaming?
Recently, a mother took her social media to vent about her feelings after getting a complaint at a restaurant for her child’s behaviour. She just wanted an outlet to release her feelings, but netizens strongly criticised her for the post. Eventually, the woman took down her post after receiving a substantial amount of criticisms.
After the post was deleted, someone reposted it onto Media Seri Kembangan (沙登人) and it became a hot topic of discussion among netizens. The woman started off her post with the hashtag, #TurnsOutMalaysiaIsSuchANonChildFriendlyPlace. She then went on to tell her side of the story. “I went out for dinner with my family tonight, I didn’t expect to encounter something so unpleasant.”
When they arrived at the restaurant at around 8pm, her child was already hungry. The child quickly finished up her food when it arrived. Unable to sit still after eating, the mother took her baby girl off the high chair and let her run free while she continuously screamed in the restaurant.
Soon after, a waiter came up to the woman after receiving a complaint from one of the customers about the child being too noisy. She was also advised to not let her child run around the restaurant because she might bumped into a waiter. The family responded to the complaint by bringing the kid out of the restaurant so the mother can finish her food.
During the vent, the woman went on about not being happy with the complaint since her child was not the only one contributing to the noise in the restaurant. The mother even argued that the restaurant was not even busy at the time, so there weren’t many waiters walking around serving customers. Had the situation been busier, then it would make sense to stop her child.
The mother added that this was not their first time eating outside, as they usually eat out about two to three times in a week. She continued, “This is our first time meeting someone with no empathy at all. My daughter is currently 1 year and 5 months old, and she can get out of control at times, but she’s still pretty obedient.”
“I don’t know who was the one who complained about me. Probably you have no family or kids, so you’re unable to empathise how parents feel. So those who have kids shouldn’t be eating out? I hope one day when you have a family and kids, you’ll understand my feelings right now. I wish you luck.” Finally, the woman ended her post with two hashtags, #LearnHowToBeEmphathetic and #ThoseWhoDoGoodWillBeRewarded.
Upon seeing this post, netizens slammed the mother for not doing a better job in taking care of her daughter and respecting other diners, especially in a public setting. Netizens were also concerned about the child’s safety since the mother said that she would only warned the child if the restaurant was busier.
- “This is actually really dangerous! What if the kid was hurt from some boiling hot soup?! It would be useless then no matter how much the restaurant pays! How could you blame the restaurant for kindly reminding you?! This is really dumb!”
- “Don’t use ‘child friendly’ to morally condemn the restaurant staff. The restaurant is not a playground.”
- “When one parent is feeding the child, the other should finish up their food fast so they can take over looking after the child. Whenever parents go out, they are all the same. Don’t just be on your phone all time. I mean, how could you just let a 1.5 years old child run around like that?”
After the wife’s post went viral and drew plenty of negative criticisms, the woman’s husband posted a message addressing it. In defending her, the husband said that he hope this matter will not stress his wife further because she is currently pregnant.
“The post had been deleted. She was just stating what happened and it was not to blame anybody. What happened had already happened. I hope you all can give her a chance and let the matter rest.” He then urged netizens not to worry as the couple will try to do their best to ensure their children don’t get out of control.
Sources: China Press, Facebook
This article is contributed by Amelia Er.
