There’s good ones and there’s bad ones.
If you like to go to baby or mum groups, sometimes you really don’t know what you’re walking into. However, one mum has taken to an online forum to complain about how she feels like she is treated like a child no matter where she goes.
She first explains that she not only attends them for her son, but also for herself so she can socialise with other women.
She wrote:
“I have a DS who’s almost 2 and I work part time so try and get out to ‘mum groups’ in the area on my days off. Not just for him but for my own benefit to see friends and prevent isolation etc. But I often find the attitudes a bit ridiculous, mothers are treated either like idiots or children.
“Last week me and a friend went to one and she was (very quietly) telling me about her husband’s recent health diagnosis. Our babies wanted breastfed so we sat at the side, away from the circle to feed them and chat as she needed support (we were very quiet). One of the co-leaders came up to us and asked us to be quiet because the children are singing wheels on the bus and we should be listening.”
She continued to say that they have not been the worst ones, and went on to tell another story.
“This week I went to a new one and there were posters everywhere with pictures of mobile phones and a big red X over them. FFS you can’t tell grown ups they can’t look at their phone!
“I’ve been to groups with my older children where we were told we ‘had’ to sing at the end, and I went to another where I got told off for eating a Mars bar. AIBU to want to be treated like a human and not some stupid mumbot who needs to be told what to do and ‘told off’ if I misbehave?”
Many mums replied to the post and agreed with the mum and shared their stories too.
One wrote:
“Yes it is a bit silly. I helped out at the school disco every year for about 10 years and on the last time I checked my phone and got told to put it away by a PSFA woman. That’s the last time I helped.”
While another said:
“We used to go to an amazing one. Then for some reason the woman who ran it just suddenly started going crazy. Shouting at ours kids, telling us off for talking, no eating, no unauthorised drinking, one adult per child only, no mobile phones, no first aid when a child fell over.
“Anyway it all came to a head and a huge carry on and she got sacked. Too late by then though and I didn’t go back!”
Have you ever experienced any really bad mum or baby groups?
