I'm not sure how everyone feels about this but for me it's a totally pet peeve when someone says "no scribble scrabble" to a young child. I've seen teachers and parents do it and it drives me crazy! Are they immediately supposed to know how to color in the lines or draw a perfect circle? agh! Sorry for the rant, but we went out to dinner and the little boy (I'm guessing just over 2) at the table next to us got reprimanded and his crayons taken away (tears ensued) because he was doing to much "scribble scrabble" and not "coloring right"

What pet peeves do you have?

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As far as things parents say to their children...

I really dislike when a parent immediately tells their child that their shoes are on the wrong feet, instead of celebrating that they put them on by themselves. I would much rather put focus on the fact that they managed to get their shoes on.

I really really hate when parents refer to a child as "your son/daughter" to the other parent.

I really dislike when parents talk about a behavior of a child in a light hearted manner in front of the child. I think it sends a message that the behavior isn't serious, and that the parent finds it funny/cute.

Oh, and as I was talking with ECS about the other day... the phrase "Kids will be kids" is going to give me a heart attack one day. Yes, they will be kids- but that is why we are here - to help them learn and teach them better.

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I was SO thinking of starting this thread today! Not necessarily DC related but pet peeves in general.

I could give a laundry list of pet peeves but I'll name a few:

1) Chewing with your mouth open. It amazes me how many adults do this...
2) "Snapping" gum and chewing like a cow.
3) Making up "baby words" to talk to kids. (My MIL would always say things like "Go get the bally!" Wth? I always the correct words, including body parts, with my boys.)
4) Parents who say, "What is wrong with you?" to their child.
5) People who eat at restaurants with kids and leave the table and surrounding area completely trashed like they are entitled to be slobs just because it's someone else's job to clean up after them.

And this was just today.....

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Helicopter parents and undersocialized kids.

Hands down my biggest two.

I'm not talking run of the mill caution or those with a stay at home parent.....I'm talking parents that never let their children laugh, play in the grass, be loud, get dirty, eat anything that isn't pureed, run to the doctor for every little sniffle, insist on medicating for every little sniffle, break down at the smallest blip in behavior insisting they are completely out of control and must be autistic, ADD, ADHD, sugar intolerant etc.......and kids that look at you like you've got three heads when you make a silly face to get them to laugh, are terrified of playing in the grass, speak only in whispers or allow their parents to speak for them entirely, have a heart attack if they get even the tiniest bit dirty, won't eat anything that isn't pureed and predictable, panic and run to hide when adults talk to them, clam up with fear and anxiety when other kids try to play with them or scream bloody murder when friendly pets even walk past them etc.....


Makes me a whole mess of angry and sad all at the same time. That's no good kind of way for anyone to have to live.

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I can't stand when parents use threats but have no intent on following through.

I hate the 1...2...3... Method! My favorite word is NOW!

Child gets in trouble by parent and the same parent hugs child to stop from crying.

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Also your #3. I always use correct words. I even correct "ya" to "yes". Only real word in my house. I don't want to have to reteach kids how to talk properly. My husband didn't quite agree with me when we had our daughter 18m now but he does. He even corrects his family now.

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One of my favorite DCM, took a parenting class that said "1...2...3..." is the worst thing you can do. They said that if a child can listen on 3, they can listen on 1. And that you are putting the power in their hands, letting them choose when they want to listen to you.

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I've never done the 1,2,3 but I never thought of it that way! Totally true!

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I love scribbles..... not even scribbles it is art-

I don't like lets bang the crayons on the table.

I have so many pet peeves or annoyances I should say.......

baby talk
helicopter parents--- have to admit I have gone here at times..... but I am talking extreme coptering-
Not bringing in what the child needs
lateness
no phone call
no show
this list could go on....... think I want to put more thought into the positives for terrific Thursday.

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I can't think of how many times I have heard 1...2....2 1/2 lol really? 1/2?

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Baby Talk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Especially coming out of a grown man!
Guess what? Come to find out, 3 year olds can understand even if it's not baby talk! Who knew????? LOL Pass it on.....(yes to one of my DCD's).....please!

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This! This, this, this!!!


My other big one is not following through. Empty threats and promises teach a child absolutely nothing except that they're in control.

Third is allowing a child to interrupt an adult conversation constantly.

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I loathe baby talk.

One of my friend stopped me once while I was talking to one of my boys. She said, "I love that you talk to them like adults and don't baby talk them. They are going to be so much better for it."
Aw, thanks.

I want to slap someone silly when I hear a parent call their child a name. Recently at a party,I witnessed a Dad call his 10 year old son an idiot and when he cried he told him he sounded like a girl. Dh and I immediately removed ourselves from the room because we were so disgusted.

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My dh and I never used the 1,2,3 method. When our oldest was around two, he was in a Sunday school class and had climbed on the table. The teacher was asking him to get down, but he wouldn't obey. So she started counting 1....2...he then yelled, "buckle my shoe!"

The teacher still laughs about this 16 years later!

I can't stand when a parent let's a child hit them. I have one 19 month old who smacks his mom in the face every afternoon. It is all I can do to keep from grabbing his hand.

Also, parents who tell me that their child was "a little under the weather yesterday". Never a good sign for my day.

Coming the minute I open and then picking up the minute before I close.

When my DH does laundry, but only washes the clothes that he thinks are important. I guess I should be thankful he does laundry!

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Kids need to get dirty, have fun doing silly things, and know how to play!

It drives me crazy when kids don't know how to play. I want them to be able to use their imagination, go outside and just run or play with a stick, PLAY!

Baby talk makes me want to scream. I can see using a softer or sing-song voice at times, but use words! No goos and coos!

Kids need to get dirty. I have daycare kids that won't do crafts, because glue/paint/glitter might get on their hands. I have one that the parents don't want to play in the sand box, because they get dirty. The only time my daugher has heard "Don't get dirty!" is when we are on the way to get pictures taken.

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Ooooh - are we venting?

I have a parent who tries too hard to be a "good mom." She always asks "Okaaaay?" in a sing-song voice after everything she tells her 2 yo.

"I have to go to work now, Okaaaay?"
"It's time to go home now, Okaaaay?"
"I'm going to count to three and if you don't put your coat on I'm going to hold you down and put it on you, Okaaaay?" (seriously - that was from Monday)

Oy! Don't ask the child if it's OK, just tell him what you expect.

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the sounds of sippy cups being dropped or toys being dropped

kids running in circles.....okay if its a game, not okay if its just random circling for hours on end (aka kids that dont know how to play)

parents that take forever to get their kid in the car. kids running around the lawn and in the street instead of getting in the car and going

kids that are not dressed appropriately

kids that are noticeably delayed or have issues and parents do nothing

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Why are you watching my daycare kids?

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I can't stand when parents cue a child to say thank you by saying "What do you say?" Talk about teaching kids to be automatic and not really think about what they are saying or why they are saying it. Drives me bonkers.

I hate babytalk, too.

I hate excuses. If your kid is in the middle of a tantrum, please don't look at me and say "He was up late" or "Our routine has been off today". I don't give a rat's behind WHY your kid is freaking out. Just deal with it!

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I have a dc friend that I hear telling her kids what color to color things when they are coloring. "Don't color that green, deer are brown." Crimeny, who cares what color it is?

I also hate excuses for behavior. Kids are being bad because they are tired, or hungry, etc.

Also parents that don't encourage their kids to be self-sufficient - putting on shoes, coats, pulling up pants, etc.

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Ahhhhh. My biggest pet peeve and the reason why the kids listen to ME the first time and their parent ... never.

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"You're a brat baby."
"Ima gonna spank your butt."
Any play fighting/wrestling/pretending/speaking that they would rather he NOT MIMIC BACK. (DCB called DCM a brat yesterday and while ordinarily I would have corrected him...I was biting my tongue on telling her "You reap what you sow, dcm", and DCB has recently started trying to hit dcm, and she frequently "pretends" to hit him...)

Also,
~baby talk (MIL does this, it drives me CRAZY and my kids look at her like she's insane)(which she is)(but that's another topic)
~over protectiveness
~yelping because the CRAWLING BABY's toy hit the floor AT HOME (seriously, she chews on her hands after crawling, that toy is probably cleaner than her hands...)
~Ignoring clear signs that something's off about your child (developmentally, behavior, diet, whatever)
~blindly following doctors' advice without doing own research
~not letting kids be kids: let the child learn to climb up the stairs and down the stairs, let them roll in the grass and drive toy cars on the couch, let them learn to work out conflicts on their own, get covered in paint, and enjoy life.

Oh, and poorly written children's books with inconsistent/poor rhyming schemes. <---that one is really annoying me today

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Baby Talk


Kids that wander around...just find something to play with already!!

This one by far is my biggest annoyance!! Adding "E" to words - sockee, cupee, AND especially when I hear parents do it!!
I had a parent once tell me they added Dipee's to their child's cubbie. I said "Sorry, you added what?"
I have one parent now/and child, as well as another child that are always doing this. I just tell the kids I can't understand them.

Kids that get riled up quickly - it wrecks what we are doing all the time.

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Thats why I think it is better for kids under 3 to have just blank paper to free hand, so they can focus on the shapes and their large motor skills more and its not as limiting to the child's imagination (I see it as more open ended).

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Some of my pet peeves:
*When parents give in to their kids tantrums
*When parents don't properly disciple or guide a childs bad behavior
*When parents baby talk to toddlers and older children (Its fine once in a while but when you do it all the time I think it is insulting the child's intellegance)
*When parents come up with lame excuses for their kids behavior (he's tired/hungry/teething)
*When parents talk negatively about the child infront of them
*When parents are afraid of letting their child cry so they hang around longer and just make the behavior worst (had this happen alot with one family I babysat for)
*Parents who are way over protrective
*When kids ask the same questions several times in a row after you gave them an answer
*When older kids try to get up in the faces of babies/toddlers
*When older kids try to pick up younger kids like babies and toddlers

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I'm sorry, but could you please return my husband???

Does he also use the dryer as a "holding tank" for clean clothes until it's time to wear them? He drives me nuts when he does "the important clothes" and then pulls one item at a time out as he needs it!

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I don't allow coloring sheets because I personally hate them. I love their scribbles, its their first experience creating masterpieces! I have one DCG (4) that can not get over that DCB (2) only "scribbles," she's constantly bringing it up even if we didn't color that day "DCB remember how you scribbled? That's not how you color right" or "Look DCB Miss Lyss put our pictures up, too bad you just scribbled yours" ugh! Drives me crazy! I've had to address it with DCPs because she brings it up at pick up, like she's tattling on poor DCB, so she's obviously been told this repeatedly at home.

Holy moly I need to add this to mine!! DH totally does this!!! He'll leave them in there for days and the turn the dryer on before he gets in the shower so they aren't wrinkled!

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At least your husband gets points for trying to get the wrinkles out. Mine just wears them as is... Or worse- he asks me to iron them!!

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He's asked, but learned years ago thats not gonna happen

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I admit I have said that, but for a different reason. I have mostly 4.5 year old boys,who during an art project will scribble a few lines on it and begin announcing "Im finished!". I sometimes will say that at the beginning so they know that they need to take more than 3 minutes with it.

Id never say that to a younger child or tell any child that their work was scribble.

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I have had a few of those DCKs as well (usually my most active boys) and understand using it with them. It really just peeves me in reference to young children who are just beginning to learn to draw.

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One time I asked my 3.5 year old cousin to draw a picture for me (part of a project for a child development class) and I gave him a variety of drawing materials (markers, crayons, pens, pencils) and some computer paper and all he did was take one marker and scribble on it and 5 seconds later said "Done" but he also doesn't sit down for very long for anything, he gets up all the time during meals (even during thanksgiving and christmas dinners).

Another pet peeve:
When people say "I could care less" when they mean they 'couldn't care less'- because if they could care less then they technically do care a little bit.

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I have children in my class that do this. They are usually the ones with no access to art supplies at home. They don't need complete art sets but at least provide crayons markers and blank paper.

On the subject of husband pet peeves, why can't my DH put his socks in the hamper when it is just 6" behind the spot on the FLOOR where he puts them.

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Hahaha.. Is there some sort of secret training that our husbands go through to drive us nuts? My dh does that same thing! Too funny!

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