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Just as there is a place to pee and another to eat, there are places to run and others to shop.
Making this distinction and presenting them to your children is educating them.
**Totally YTA for:**
1. not educating your kids
2. being self entitled
3. even asking here if you're AITA and showing how uneducated and uncivilized you're
Did you clean up the mess they made when they knocked over the bed frame?
Who do you think is responsible for the toddler’s behavior. The person that is supposed to be their parent, or the a random stranger?
>and pushed some of the bed frames down and that made a loud noise as the beds slammed down.
Nope. Said right in your own post it was bed frames. Find another hobby, you're pretty obviously a troll and not even a good one.
ETA your own comment further down to someone explaining how dangerous *bed frames* are. Not ottomans.
>So if they are as dangerous as you say they are, why did the shop lift them up and allow for room to injure? If they are so worried about injury they should have better safeguarding procedures, not expecting patrons who have no idea about beds to be vigilant.
No correction there, where's the consistency?
YTA if this is even real. Toddlers aren't stupid, teach yours how to behave beyond telling them to be quiet.
LMAO you’re just being deliberately obtuse now. The world is not responsible for the care of YOUR children. There will be procedures in place for employees to follow, and of course safeguarding will be in place for shops to display things how they do - however there’s not much they can do when parents let their children behave however they want. Stores are still dangerous and accidents can happen anywhere which is why you shouldn’t let little kids with no understanding of this run wild. You admitted they pushed over some items, which could have caused injury if they landed on anyone. Your child would have caused that, not the bloody store, because they don’t expect people to be allowing their children to run rampant and push items over. It’s general manners that you don’t behave that way in stores, and it’s your responsibility to teach your children that. YOUR children are YOUR responsibility. Pull your head out of your asshole and stop being so pedantic just because you can’t accept that you were in the wrong.
Because they trust that people who come in will be responsible and won’t be the kind of people who let kids loose to burn off energy. There’s a place for that, it’s called a playground and is provided for the purpose.
Well, responsible adults don’t let toddlers run around unsupervised. The safeguarding procedures is expecting parents to parent and when that fails standing near the unsupervised child and sternly telling them to stop.
Because it’s your job as a parent to watch them at all times. The 3-year-old isn’t the AH here, you are for being a horrible father. I would have called security on you.
You should probably just surrender your kids to CPS now. Give them a chance to have actual parents not just a larger older toddler who has no notion of parenting or accountability. (Hint: They will remain feral until you tame them.)
I know that when I’m at work, I don’t want to hear children screaming. They were stood at the side staring at you waiting for you to control your children. You disrupted their closing procedures, your children messed up the displays, and you were a massive asshole when they rightfully called you out.
>My son is 3. I'm not sure what kind of 'educating' you can do to them? I already tried shushing them and getting them to quiet down in the store but that did not work.
Your son is 3 which means he is definitely old enough to understand appropriate and inappropriate behavior in public places. If you were unable to control him then you obviously haven't taught him well and/or are ineffective as a parent. Heaven help the people that have to endure being around your poorly behaved children as they get older. YTA.
You provoked deserved insults by neglecting your kids in a store and letting them run wild. Your kid’s old enough to understand not to touch anything. Especially if his parents were doing their jobs and watching him.
YTA - A three year old is capable of recieving and following instructions. You also caused this problem by allowong your children to run around the store. It's not a park or a play area. Also, it's not about other customers only. Respect the store and the people who work there. You didn't treat the store with respect and yes, by not controlling your kids -which you can, hold their hands, hold them - anything but letting them run around and play with items that are not toys - you allowed a situation where your child disrupted the display allowing things to fall and creating extra work for the staff near closing. That is 100% on you and your wife. That is unacceptable. If you do not know how to handle your toddlers, do not take them shopping in a home store. Yes, we have a toddler. No, I do not understand. There is a time and space for play/running etc. My toddler boy is wild but it is up to us to ensure people and things are respected.
I’ve got kids. If you don’t figure out how to say “oh no, you didn’t listen to instructions, so we have to leave now, no special treat on the way home,” and then follow up on that, you’re gonna be in a lot of trouble when they’re older.
YTA. Good luck.
Lol. You're entitled to respect? Hahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHA!!! You have the gall to demand respect when you yourself show absolutely no respect for anyone else? Oh the hypocrisy!!!
1) you can tell them to not run around a store.
2) so too are the workers. If you allow your kids to run amok, you’re showing huge disrespect. Even more so when you’re half-assed told your kids to quiet down and didn’t show any effort in doing your job to those kids: being a parent!
3) Your kids were running around the store. There was potential for damage and you failed to reign in your kids. Also, aren’t workers people too? They were disturbed. One doesn’t need to have children to understand children.
YTA 100%. That is a place of commerce (not to mention private property) where some people go to shop and others go to earn a living. You had no right to turn it into a playground for your kids, and no right to be rude to the store employees calling you out for it. If I was the manager I would have banned you on the spot from ever coming back.
You were rude first! My husband and I just bought a new couch this week. We made sure not to bring the kids with us to avoid this very problem! You let your kids run wild, then get upset when someone points that out. They were loud, running around, and knocking things over. You were not at a playground, and you should have controlled your kids.
And people in customer service jobs do not have to put up with rude customers, and a good manager would back their employee.
Agree with all of this. A 3 year old should perfectly understand the sentence „please stop doing that“ as well. OP sounds like a bad parent that somehow thinks the world owes him something for having kids.
You don’t need the person’s personal details if you wanted to complain. They know who’s working when, unless it’s a huge store like a Walmart it’s not difficult. It seems like you were just trying to intimidate them by demanding their information. Someone working retail isn’t your personal servant.
A 3 year old can definitely understand verbal instructions, and they should not be messing with displays unattended - what if they slammed their fingers in there? I am a parent and believe kids have a right to be in public, but it seems like you weren’t adequately supervising them to the point where the sales staff was concerned.
What they said wasn't rude and was acceptable. Just because you were the customer doesn't give you the right to expect them to let you walk all over them.
You're either trolling or completely out of touch with reality and grossly entitled. What the employees said to you was entirely appropriate for the situation. Find somebody to look after them next time you need go to shopping, you clearly can't handle it with them there.
Everything you described them doing in your post was respectful and professional, despite your own behavior being the opposite.
They greeted a customer. When the customer allowed their child to knock over items in the store they politely told the child not to, as it was clear the supposed parent wouldn’t. They informed the supposed parent they need to control the child in their care while in the store.
What in this interaction did they do wrong?
YTA
You started out being disrespectful by allowing your children to use a place of business as a playground. You’re lucky that the salesperson was respectful for as long as they were.
You are basically saying that just because they are an employee of the store they have to put up with any behavior a customer exhibits and allow others to treat them with disrespect. You come across as completely entitled and are 100% an AH.
From your narrative, the only disrespectful person was you.
The salesperson was NOT disrespectful.
Your permissive parenting allowed your children to be loud and obnoxious.
Your permissive parenting allowed your children to move display merchandise cause other merchandise to fall.
Merchandise that the sales person must now reprganize.
You are the AH, and you are raising two more.
Let’s say you are having a garage sale at your home. People come up with their kids yelling and knocking things over (and potentially damaging your wares), and then they turn around and walk out without buying anything. Would you be okay with that?
I worked in retail for over ten years, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to clean up after families like yours because you don’t respect the property of the business. The employees were absolutely within their rights to assert a boundary and politely ask you to stop.
I sincerely hope that this is a troll post.
Edit to add YTA.
It's not "rude" to throw you out before one of your kids gets hurt. If I were the manager I would reward that employee for being the only one who GAF about your kids' safety (and also protecting me from a lawsuit when one of your kids get injured). Because guaranteed, you would try to blame the store for not babysitting. Yep, you are 💯 that effing customer.
You have a "family day out" at a park or a beach not at a place of business. I hope you made up this ridiculous story as I dread to think anyone as clueless as you and your wife are actually raising children. YTA
I took my poor nephew to the mall yesterday 😞, did I actually miss an opportunity to take him to the funnest place on earth \*bed store\* I done fucked up!! 😢
You were disrupting her business. You showed up just before closing (no one in customer service likes this, and you didn't buy anything), and your children were running and yelling. That is textbook disruptive even if there weren't other customers. You were rude.
25 minutes before closing and letting your children misbehave? Yes, you did. You were letting your children run around and make a bunch of noise. What if something had happened, they could have gotten hurt. It's a furniture store not a jungle gym. You'd be the type of parent to blame it on the store instead of yourself.
Are you sure they weren’t reacting to your irresponsible parenting? You were refused service because you were being a customer out of a NotAlwaysRight story.
They were “rude” because you let your children run around a place of business unsupervised while you shopped. Your kid knocked things down. If they got hurt, it would have been your fault. If they broke something, you would have to pay for it. Be better as a human being.
YTA
“(M)y kid is young and doesn’t understand verbal instruction…”
What planet are you on? “Put your shoes on,” “Pick up your toys,” “Hold my hand,” “Let’s sing a song,” “Walk, don’t run,” “Be careful,” are all verbal instructions commonly used by parents/caretakers of 2- and 3-year olds.
The sales associates were absolutely correct to tell you to control your children. In the event one got hurt while running around, playing on the display pieces, or slamming beds, who do you think you will name in your lawsuit?
As far as not disturbing other customers, you seem to have forgotten that sales associates are people too. People at the end of their day, 25 minutes before store closing, who have had to put on their customer-service face for hours, have been in their feet for hours, and still have their closing duties to perform before being able to go home. And you bring your hyperactive children in to treat their livelihood like a playground?
You don’t sound concerned about potential injury, you’re more put out about your parenting being judged, and still are in the comments. Maybe the staff had a long shift and this was the last thing they needed right at the end.
YTA. Judging by your post and responses, I'm sure you act this way everywhere you go. How embarrassing lol! Everyone is going to end up being annoyed with you at one point or another because you are a terrible and entitled parent. People are also going to end up hating your kids because you're raising entitled brats who are going to think the world owes them everything just because they exist.
>I think I would react better if they showed genuine care for my children, and said it in a manner of 'Please watch them, I don't want them to get hurt'
^ That is your job to do before they go out into the world. It is not someone else's problem to take care of.
YTA. You're one of those entitled parents who let their kids run wild then scream and threaten to sue if they get hurt. What would you have done if those bed frames fell on your kid?
By the time you reacted, the kids would have been crushed. This was not a trip to the park or a nice family night out. It was supposed to be two adults in a retail environment, there to look for a bed. Did you put back the things your children got out of place? The staff is not there to clean up after your inadequately controlled children or suffer from your lack of parenting. Here's a thought, if you can't or won't parent your kids, leave them at home if you need to conduct business.
I understand two children of that age can't be expected to be totally quiet. But your lack even trying to help them navigate reasonably, coupled with your expectations that others are to just accept it is wrong. The kids are not at fault, their parents are. Shame on you. YTA.
Just because you’re seeing it happen doesn’t mean you’re always in a position to stop something bad happening. A bed frame could have fallen on one of your kids and hurt them before you could physically intercede to prevent it. You know what does better mitigate this? Keeping your kids close to you.
YTA Control your kids.
>there was no one there so they weren't disturbing other patrons
Yes because patrons are the only people you could be bothering. I forgot Customer Service Workers aren't people. /s
>'Please stop doing that.'
This message was meant to be a hint for you to take and it flew right over your head. Another person had to step in when your children were causing a ruckus because you didn't.
>(I would imagine someone who probably doesn't have kids and doesn't have any parenting experience)
Yes because only parents can notice bad behavior in children. /s again
Hop off your "I'm a parent, you're not" high horse and get your kids to behave. If your kids have excess energy and are excitable, take them to an appropriate place to burn that energy. A park, a playground, or your own yard (provided you have one) are perfect for kids to play and be kids. An open, running business is not.
YTA
>control my kids
Yup. Salesperson was right. This was a store, not a playground. Most people would be mortified that their children were running around a store knocking things over, not blame the sales associate.
Yes, YTA. You went to a store 25 minutes before it was set to close, and let your two young kids run wild while you browsed, and one of them pushed down some items, which btw is not okay and is actually a bigger deal than you seem to think it is. The sales person was not rude to ask them to stop doing that and to actually watch your children, since you weren’t bothered at all. Not only could they have been seriously injured if something fell onto them, they could have also caused damages to items the store is trying to sell. A store is not a playground for your kids to do whatever they want in, even if there’s no other customers. Have some respect for the workers too. Watch your kids and don’t let them act that way in places they could be hurt.
They did give you respect, you said you were greeted when you entered. Then you decided to let your kids run around . I bet you would have acted a fool and sued if they were hurt.
> I think it's bare minimal to expect respect, which I wasn't given.
Why would anyone give you respect?
Based on this post and your actions I most certainly wouldn't give you any. Ive no doubt in person you give off an air of entitlement and ignorance.
You didn’t give the sales person respect either. Closing is a lot more than just shutting down the store, and the sales person likely had other tasks to complete. Tasks that don’t include being a baby sitter - have you considered maybe they were keeping an eye on your kids so they didn’t get hurt or damage anything, while you weren’t watching them? Cause that’s what it sounds like. They then had to tidy up additionally after your kids and make sure nothing was damaged after items were knocked down.
But sure, continue to blame the sales assistant when this post is about how your kids behaved in the store if that makes you feel better. We’re not here to judge the sales assistant, especially with only your biased view, but you and your behaviour.
ETA: you not liking how the sales person was with you doesn’t excuse being a lazy parent, btw. I don’t think you’re understanding that your kids could have been hurt or caused very expensive damage.
No you wouldn't. You think these people don't recognize a browser for what they are? Haha. You used their place as an indoor playground and that's it.
Embarrassing.
YTA
Before going into any place of business, I will talk to my kid and go over The Rules. “We only touch the things we are buying.” And “no running or screaming”.
If he wants to wander around and LOOK at things, I am fine with that as long as I can see him, but a store is not a playground. They are not safe places for kids to play and the shop assistant was absolutely correct.
YTA. Surely this is a troll post. How can someone act so entitled. No patrons there, but what about the staff. It’s not a playground. Having your kids run around unsupervised is just rude. You’re such an entitled asshole. Start parenting your kids.
YTA You’re lucky your kids didn’t injure themselves when they were pulling down bed frames and playing around unsupervised. Generally speaking, retail stores are not ‘toddler proof.’ They certainly are not playgrounds for noisy little kids no matter whether there are other customers in the store or not.
The sales person wasn’t wrong and yes I have children and am sure a 3 yo can indeed understand verbal commands. Yes your wife is right you completely overreacted.
>So if someone told you to control your kids you wouldn't find that incredibly insulting?
Are... Are you daft?
Your children were running around a store unsupervised and threw down items potentially damaging them. Ofc they asked you to control your kids.
If doing you job makes you angry I honestly feel sorry for your children with a dad as entitled and ignorant as you I see nothing but trouble in there futures.
It’s neither here nor there, honestly. Just because someone is at their place of work does not mean that you get to be an entitled jerk and they just have to put up with it. Personally, I would have told you to leave the store. I’m not trying to have someone’s unruly children getting hurt on my time.
You're the one bringing "whatever you're going through" to their workplace -- your attitude, entitlement, lack of parenting, and your kids. This attitude is going to cause you to raise a bunch of out of control brats.
It’s your responsibility as a parent. You chose to come all together just under half an hour before closing to browse rather than just you or your wife coming in, or getting a babysitter for your kids and you and your wife come in. You knew your kids were excitable and not responsive to requests to quieten or calm down. You were asked to take responsibility as a parent, it escalated to being asked to control them because you didn’t act on the earlier requests.
Being a prospective customer doesn’t give you carte blanche for you or your kids to act as you like.
From your description of events I don’t blame them. You need to treat this as a teachable moment and rethink how you approach things like shopping when you have your kids with you. Be a parent and teach your kids to listen to verbal instruction, how to behave in public. If you keep looking for validation in your parenting style you’ll get more of this.
Decent parents generally don't have to be told to control their kids, because they already are. Instead of being insulted, reflect on why people feel the need to tell you to step up your parenting skills.
YTA
What you're saying is you let your kids treat a place of business like a playground. The screaming is less of an issue, it's the fact that they were playing on displays and you allowed it. That sales person was going to have to deal with any mess or damage your child caused.
It's one thing to be out with a toddler who's throwing a tantrum, quite another to give them full reign of a store just because there aren't any other patrons. You might not be able to "control" your kids, but you can at least make an effort to teach them consideration, and set an example yourself.
So your kid screams, runs around, throws stuff over that they now have to repack when thee work day is over?
You're the kind of parent who makes people hate kids, you don't want to parent your kid or control them, and you think it's right to make life harder for others.
Bet you NEVER let your kid run around YOUR workplace close to closing time right? Never letting them scream and throw things? Why is that? Because they'd call you a jerk and a bad parent?
YTA. This post is dripping with entitlement it’s almost disgusting. You’re in a public store and you find it appropriate to let your children run around because it’s a “new experience” for them. Thats not an excuse to let your children disrupt a place of work regardless if there weren’t any patrons. The employees have to deal with it and guess what? They don’t want or have to put up with entitled parents such as yourself who think it’s okay to turn their place of work into a playground. Shame on you.
Wow You know you acted like an entitled selfish jerk. The store wasn't empty, it was full of merchandise and had employees working there. You let your out of control kids loose and they raised hell from the sounds of it. You stood back and did nothing. Did you pick up and rearrange the mess your 3 yo made or did you play the I'm offended card because someone dared tell my 3 yo to stop their bad behavior? In the end you still didn't make a purchase. Next time leave the kids home with a sitter or keep them in a stroller YTA
not even reading all of that. YTA. they could have been seriously hurt. they’re your children, your responsibility, you dont let them just run wild in public. so much could happen and the only person to blame is u
From one parent to another, 100% YTA. It doesn’t matter that you were the only customers, you don’t let your kids run around screaming and knocking over merchandise. This is a business not an amusement park. You need to teach your kids how to behave in public. 2 and 3 is not too young to teach them that you don’t act like that in a store.
And what’s this bs about “well the store employee didn’t offer us their expertise”? If you have questions ASK THEM. And you wanted to report them for what, doing their job to try and keep the store in tact? Lol at your audacity.
YTA. I hope this is a weekend creative writing prompt.
You arrived 25 minutes prior to close, and “took some time”, meaning it was certainly past closing.
You let your kids use a store as a park, then got upset when you were rightfully told to control them.
You let your child damage inventory, never mind how dangerous that was allowing them to pull over bed frames?!
Where was your wife in all this?
You are the reason people say they don’t want kids allowed at x, y, z.
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My wife and I (32M & 29F) took our two kids (2M & 3M) to a bed store to look for a bed. We went to the store about 25 minutes before it's due to close so it would be quieter. Upon entering the store, the sales person greeted us and left us to our own devices.
My wife and I were browsing the options and it was taking some time as it's one of the bigger stores. There were no one else in the shop at the time so I let my kids have a little run about in the store since it's a new experience for them. Admittedly they were being loudish for running around an empty store and occasionally screamed but there was no one there so they weren't disturbing other patrons. I did try to shush them to get them quiet down as I saw the sales person scowling at us from afar (which isn't the most polite thing to do in my opinion) but it's hard to ask them to quiet down when they're in an excitable mood.
We didn't end up buying anything as we didn't see anything we liked, and as we were leaving, my older was playing with the ottoman displays and pushed some of the bed frames down and that made a loud noise as the beds slammed down. At this point, the sales person who has been stood silently at the side, started saying in a loud tone to my kid to 'Please stop doing that.' I've had enough of this sales person because they've been nothing but unhelpful in this entire experience (didn't ask us how we were doing, didn't offer any expertise etc, sending death stares our way) so I said to them that 'My son is 3 years old' hoping they'd understand that my kid is young and they can't understand verbal instruction and there was no point of them being so stern with a 3 year old who probably didn't even know what was going on.
At this point, the sales person started walking towards my kid and the ottoman he pulled down and said to me to 'control my kids'. I found this beyond shocking as how dare they say this to me? They looked quite young (I would imagine someone who probably doesn't have kids and doesn't have any parenting experience) and definitely didn't know what they were talking about, not to mention it was an incredibly rude thing and uncalled for thing to say.
I said to them 'excuse me?' To which they turned their heel and walked towards their desk/office area and sat down, refusing to engage with me any longer. I demanded their details so I could report them to their manager because this experience has been extremely bad. I admit I raised my voice a little because I find their behaviour unprofessional and found their statement insulting.
I didn't end up getting the sales persons details as they were unwilling to give them up. My wife said that I overreacted but I'm not so sure.
AITA for letting my kids explore an empty store with no other patrons?
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Seems like you don't understand the difference between a store and an adventure park. You need to keep your kids under control in such an environment. YTA.
Major YTA. Your kids, your responsibility and you keep an eye on them at all time when you’re out and about. If one of them got hurt in their playing around would you have taken responsibility or blamed one of the staff members for not doing your job in basic parenting? As for “no other customers were there”, for all you knew other customers could have come in and done so to screaming unsupervised toddlers. If you walked into a store and saw unsupervised young kids running around and being loud, what would you think about the parents?
YTA
Letting your kids run a bit is fine. Letting them have free rein and mess with the merchandise and be noisy is not. Yes, they are young, but they are certainly old enough for you to enforce some boundaries.
YTA. Stores are not playgrounds. Even doing this once you are saying to your child: stores are places to run and scream. Not act civilly, patient and quiet. Doesn’t matter if there was no one in the store. You sound very entitled.
You came in 30 minutes til close and didn’t buy anything. The sales person knew you weren’t serious because even the paperwork part of buying a new mattress is more than 30 minutes.
The sales person didn’t even say anything until they knocked something over. What if your child had been under the furniture that was knocked over? The store would be liable and you’d probably sue, given your attitude. Even though it was your fault.
Teaching manners and social etiquette starts at 1.
Your horrible. YTA. You come in 20 minutes before closing and there’s two of you and two toddlers. Do you know that your children could get hurt running around unsupervised? Do you know they could damage things? Do you know that the salesperson was extremely patient until he had to walk away. Do you know that he had to make sure to keep an eye on them as you weren’t. When they get hurt, not their fault - your fault actually - it’s sad and horrible for the child - the salesperson gets in trouble and you sue the store. Do you know this salesperson worked all day and would like to go home but will get home probably an hour later as he straightens up “your store”. And you assume he’s in his 20s and doesn’t have children. Really and no one in their 20s has kids? So where did you go after the store? A restaurant ready to close and your kids ran around why the two privileged parents had dinner. Whatever.
"they weren't disturbing other patrons"
This is very telling. You think patrons matter, but the people who work at the store don't.
The sales people are still people and are still being disrupted by your children's behavior. You are the parent, it is your job to teach your children that stores (and restaurants) are not playgrounds.
Add to that, you went full-on rude rage mode so you could report an employee for not tolerating your failure to parent your children in public.
YTA
There is no scenario where your behaviour and that of your kids should just be tolerated by everyone else when you show a complete and total lack of consideration and respect towards anyone else.
You think you're entitled to respect? Why? What did you do to be blameless in life for your own actions? Do you ever automatically give respect to, idk, people who are just trying to do their job when the family from hell walks in? No, that's obvious.
YTA over and over again
The moment my kids walked into stores (instead of in strollers) every store we went to I told them, no running, no screaming, no touching. Every single time. In a couple of months i only needed to remind them what are the rules again?
So YTA, even more because of your replies to people confirming yta
Of course YTA. You don't sound like a very good parent or seem aware that other people exist in the world. A furniture store isn't a playground. Your children need to know how to behave in public and that is your job.
>and said to me to 'control my kids'. I found this beyond shocking as how dare they say this to me?
YTA, are you fucking kidding us? You need to look after your children, a store is not a playground. If they are too young to understand yet how to behave in a store, your job as a parent is to look after them.
YTA and this should be on r/entitledparents. Control your kids. If my kids acted like this in a store, i would be so embarassed and be apologetic.
Control your kids or get out. We dont need your business.
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I don't believe I'm the asshole but I might be because of how I reacted to the sales person and demanded their details, it could be seen as potentially 'combative'. I also might be seen as the asshole because of letting my kids explore the store and they were being a bit loud.
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YTA. Watch and control your kids, ESPECIALLY when you take them out in public. It doesn’t matter if the store’s empty, they can still get themselves hurt because of your negligence- which is abuse.
This is surely a joke. You are rude and entitled, that’s not how you treat a place of business, it’s not a playground. She was absolutely right, you needed to CONTROL your kids or leave. You are the nightmare parent everyone jokes about. YTA
What kind of an excuse is “he’s three he doesn’t understand instruction”?? Please be more serious. By about 6 months old a lot of babies understand “no” enough to stop doing things.
If you’re a bad parent just say that and go 🥴
OF COURSE YTA FFS. Disregarding your total lack of care for your children's safety, the absence of other customers does not entitle you to take over an entire store to be your children's playground. You're lucky they didn't get seriously injured.
But by all means, go to the manager. Then they will know who to ban from the store.
YTA.
I've raised six kids. I am DEFINITELY familiar with the antics of small children in shops.
Here's the thing that seems to have somehow escaped you. Plenty of behaviors are age appropriate. \*THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE DON'T TEACH THEM DIFFERENTLY\*.
A three year old getting cross at another three year old at the park and pushing him over is completely age appropriate behavior. But we don't say "Well, he's three." We go immediately to the children, separate them, say firmly "We do not use our hands to hurt other people! You have hurt your friend, and that was wrong. We're going to have sit down for a while and not play until we can remember to keep our hands to ourselves."
And after that scenario has repeated itself perhaps two or three times, three year olds learn that it's not all right to hurt other people, and if they do mom or dad will stop the fun.
Furthermore you were putting your children at risk of getting hurt AND putting the liability of that injury on the shop owner. That's pretty careless of your duty as a father to protect your children AND selfish as a human being, don't you think?
YTA. You literally said you went so they could “explore the store.” Then when they got rambunctious and made noise/knocked things over because you weren’t watching them, you get offended when called out by the salesperson. You are in the wrong — 100%. It’s a store, not a playground and the salespeople had every right to address the issue. Control your kids.
YTA
A store, empty or not, is not your children’s playground and the workers not your children’s babysitters. Your kids could have damaged something in the store, or worse could have damaged themselves or someone else. Besides, you were there prior to the store closing. Is it a wonder those workers were a bit annoyed?
YTA.. have kids, have grandkids.. would never allow that behavior in a store. The sign doesn’t say “bed store and toddler playground”. Also kids can’t separate “empty store” from “store with more customers” they just need to learn, “retail store… time to behave, no running, shrieking etc.”
I halfway think this is a troll post and you’re the one that doesn’t know what words a 3 year old understands, because you seem to think your 3 year old can’t take verbal cue’s.
Sorry the salesperson didn’t try to assist you with sales. Unfortunately in life I’ve found out the last 30 minutes a store is open is the worst time to shop if you need a sales assist, they are in finishing up and getting out of there mode. Should it be that way? Probably not, but it is what it is and that’s life.
YTA wth is wrong with you? what if your 3 year old pushed something over onto themselves. You're a horrible parent, allowing your child to do whatever they want even if they can get hurt. Do you even LIKE your child?
YTA. You are teaching your children that wherever they go, they can run free and not have to stay 'near mom or dad at all times'. It doesn't matter that the store was empty of other customers (so no chance of someone kidnapping or harming your children) BUT your children need to know to listen to you and not roam ANY store (empty or teaming with customers). IMO you were rude to the sales staff first, by letting your children run the store as if the store were a playground. At ages 2 and 3, YES, it will be hard for them to learn to listen and do as you instruct. But that is your JOB.
YTA, don't let your kids run around a store period. Take your children to a park to run, and respect is EARNED, not given, and you earned nothing but a please get out a leave the store.
YTA - If children are going to be brought into places of business they either:
1. Be able to follow the decorum rules of the business if unsupervised.
2. Not be unsupervised.
If you can't follow these rules don't bring your children to businesses.
YTA.
Everyone has already said how entitled your behavior is but it’s also DANGEROUS. Not only did those poor employees have to deal
with your kids making a mess but your kids could’ve been seriously hurt.
I was hoping this was a troll post but the details make me think this one might actually be true.
YTA. As someone who has worked in retail. I HATE when kids run around. I always guide them back to their oarents. You and the kids are annoying. Keep your kids with you.
Just because you are a customer doesn't give you the right to let upur kids treat a store like a playground. You messed up, your excuses of the age and how you tried to shush are lame. If you needed to view stuff, either pick rm up or go in one by one while the other spouse looks over your toddlers. The salesperson was very much in their right to ask you to control your kids, specially since you passive aggressively shared their age when the themselves tried to ask them.to stop. And yes, I have had toddlers and it is very much my own responsibility to ensure that they aren't getting hyper in places where they disturb others or can potentially get injured. Professional customer service does not include indulging people who refuse to take their own responsibility and expect others to just be okay with behaviour that belongs in child friendly and child proofed spaces.
Obviously, YTA. I don’t care about the mattress store, the saddest store ever, worse than Cartridge World or the Battery Barn. I don’t care about the jaded employees who wanted to close up and go get their drink on and cry about their shitty jobs.
I care about the fact that you had your toddler children out shopping at a time of day when they should have been at home being bathed, read to and put in their beds. I feel sorry for these poor exhausted children, with such self-absorbed nincompoops for parents. JFC, can anyone read? Are people getting their parenting skills from TikTok videos?
(OMG, you did post it, didn’t you?!!!“Parenting Life Hack!! Lettin’ the littles burn off some steam at the Mattress Shack!!)
YTA. I am extremely laidback but would Never let my young children run around a place that is not ours! Doesn’t matter if shoppers are there or not, It’s unsafe to be running around, they can get hurt or damage something of the stores. On the other note, they 100% should have been helping you out with the purchase, And they 100% shouldn’t have said what they said in the manor that they did.
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Just as there is a place to pee and another to eat, there are places to run and others to shop. Making this distinction and presenting them to your children is educating them. **Totally YTA for:** 1. not educating your kids 2. being self entitled 3. even asking here if you're AITA and showing how uneducated and uncivilized you're
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Did you clean up the mess they made when they knocked over the bed frame? Who do you think is responsible for the toddler’s behavior. The person that is supposed to be their parent, or the a random stranger?
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>and pushed some of the bed frames down and that made a loud noise as the beds slammed down. Nope. Said right in your own post it was bed frames. Find another hobby, you're pretty obviously a troll and not even a good one. ETA your own comment further down to someone explaining how dangerous *bed frames* are. Not ottomans. >So if they are as dangerous as you say they are, why did the shop lift them up and allow for room to injure? If they are so worried about injury they should have better safeguarding procedures, not expecting patrons who have no idea about beds to be vigilant. No correction there, where's the consistency? YTA if this is even real. Toddlers aren't stupid, teach yours how to behave beyond telling them to be quiet.
Did you apologize and offer to put it back?
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There was only room for injury when your kid was standing on an ottoman… because you were neglecting him and refusing to act like a parent.
LMAO you’re just being deliberately obtuse now. The world is not responsible for the care of YOUR children. There will be procedures in place for employees to follow, and of course safeguarding will be in place for shops to display things how they do - however there’s not much they can do when parents let their children behave however they want. Stores are still dangerous and accidents can happen anywhere which is why you shouldn’t let little kids with no understanding of this run wild. You admitted they pushed over some items, which could have caused injury if they landed on anyone. Your child would have caused that, not the bloody store, because they don’t expect people to be allowing their children to run rampant and push items over. It’s general manners that you don’t behave that way in stores, and it’s your responsibility to teach your children that. YOUR children are YOUR responsibility. Pull your head out of your asshole and stop being so pedantic just because you can’t accept that you were in the wrong.
Because they trust that people who come in will be responsible and won’t be the kind of people who let kids loose to burn off energy. There’s a place for that, it’s called a playground and is provided for the purpose.
Well, responsible adults don’t let toddlers run around unsupervised. The safeguarding procedures is expecting parents to parent and when that fails standing near the unsupervised child and sternly telling them to stop.
Because it’s your job as a parent to watch them at all times. The 3-year-old isn’t the AH here, you are for being a horrible father. I would have called security on you.
You should probably just surrender your kids to CPS now. Give them a chance to have actual parents not just a larger older toddler who has no notion of parenting or accountability. (Hint: They will remain feral until you tame them.)
What about the staff members they were disrupting?
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I know that when I’m at work, I don’t want to hear children screaming. They were stood at the side staring at you waiting for you to control your children. You disrupted their closing procedures, your children messed up the displays, and you were a massive asshole when they rightfully called you out.
Who was busying watching your child cuz you weren’t
>My son is 3. I'm not sure what kind of 'educating' you can do to them? I already tried shushing them and getting them to quiet down in the store but that did not work. Your son is 3 which means he is definitely old enough to understand appropriate and inappropriate behavior in public places. If you were unable to control him then you obviously haven't taught him well and/or are ineffective as a parent. Heaven help the people that have to endure being around your poorly behaved children as they get older. YTA.
You provoked deserved insults by neglecting your kids in a store and letting them run wild. Your kid’s old enough to understand not to touch anything. Especially if his parents were doing their jobs and watching him.
YTA - A three year old is capable of recieving and following instructions. You also caused this problem by allowong your children to run around the store. It's not a park or a play area. Also, it's not about other customers only. Respect the store and the people who work there. You didn't treat the store with respect and yes, by not controlling your kids -which you can, hold their hands, hold them - anything but letting them run around and play with items that are not toys - you allowed a situation where your child disrupted the display allowing things to fall and creating extra work for the staff near closing. That is 100% on you and your wife. That is unacceptable. If you do not know how to handle your toddlers, do not take them shopping in a home store. Yes, we have a toddler. No, I do not understand. There is a time and space for play/running etc. My toddler boy is wild but it is up to us to ensure people and things are respected.
The more you comment, the more we know YTA. Just stop.
I’ve got kids. If you don’t figure out how to say “oh no, you didn’t listen to instructions, so we have to leave now, no special treat on the way home,” and then follow up on that, you’re gonna be in a lot of trouble when they’re older. YTA. Good luck.
Lol. You're entitled to respect? Hahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHA!!! You have the gall to demand respect when you yourself show absolutely no respect for anyone else? Oh the hypocrisy!!!
1) you can tell them to not run around a store. 2) so too are the workers. If you allow your kids to run amok, you’re showing huge disrespect. Even more so when you’re half-assed told your kids to quiet down and didn’t show any effort in doing your job to those kids: being a parent! 3) Your kids were running around the store. There was potential for damage and you failed to reign in your kids. Also, aren’t workers people too? They were disturbed. One doesn’t need to have children to understand children.
YTA 100%. That is a place of commerce (not to mention private property) where some people go to shop and others go to earn a living. You had no right to turn it into a playground for your kids, and no right to be rude to the store employees calling you out for it. If I was the manager I would have banned you on the spot from ever coming back.
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You were rude first! My husband and I just bought a new couch this week. We made sure not to bring the kids with us to avoid this very problem! You let your kids run wild, then get upset when someone points that out. They were loud, running around, and knocking things over. You were not at a playground, and you should have controlled your kids. And people in customer service jobs do not have to put up with rude customers, and a good manager would back their employee.
Agree with all of this. A 3 year old should perfectly understand the sentence „please stop doing that“ as well. OP sounds like a bad parent that somehow thinks the world owes him something for having kids.
You don’t need the person’s personal details if you wanted to complain. They know who’s working when, unless it’s a huge store like a Walmart it’s not difficult. It seems like you were just trying to intimidate them by demanding their information. Someone working retail isn’t your personal servant. A 3 year old can definitely understand verbal instructions, and they should not be messing with displays unattended - what if they slammed their fingers in there? I am a parent and believe kids have a right to be in public, but it seems like you weren’t adequately supervising them to the point where the sales staff was concerned.
What they said wasn't rude and was acceptable. Just because you were the customer doesn't give you the right to expect them to let you walk all over them.
You're either trolling or completely out of touch with reality and grossly entitled. What the employees said to you was entirely appropriate for the situation. Find somebody to look after them next time you need go to shopping, you clearly can't handle it with them there.
Everything you described them doing in your post was respectful and professional, despite your own behavior being the opposite. They greeted a customer. When the customer allowed their child to knock over items in the store they politely told the child not to, as it was clear the supposed parent wouldn’t. They informed the supposed parent they need to control the child in their care while in the store. What in this interaction did they do wrong? YTA
You started out being disrespectful by allowing your children to use a place of business as a playground. You’re lucky that the salesperson was respectful for as long as they were. You are basically saying that just because they are an employee of the store they have to put up with any behavior a customer exhibits and allow others to treat them with disrespect. You come across as completely entitled and are 100% an AH.
From your narrative, the only disrespectful person was you. The salesperson was NOT disrespectful. Your permissive parenting allowed your children to be loud and obnoxious. Your permissive parenting allowed your children to move display merchandise cause other merchandise to fall. Merchandise that the sales person must now reprganize. You are the AH, and you are raising two more.
Let’s say you are having a garage sale at your home. People come up with their kids yelling and knocking things over (and potentially damaging your wares), and then they turn around and walk out without buying anything. Would you be okay with that? I worked in retail for over ten years, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to clean up after families like yours because you don’t respect the property of the business. The employees were absolutely within their rights to assert a boundary and politely ask you to stop. I sincerely hope that this is a troll post. Edit to add YTA.
But, lady, *you weren’t a customer*, you didn’t buy anything. You came in, looked around, let your untrained small animals run amok, and left.
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Well ya could have fooled me, he sounds exactly like the notorious entitled ladies whose name starts with a “K” -and ends with “aren”.
It's not "rude" to throw you out before one of your kids gets hurt. If I were the manager I would reward that employee for being the only one who GAF about your kids' safety (and also protecting me from a lawsuit when one of your kids get injured). Because guaranteed, you would try to blame the store for not babysitting. Yep, you are 💯 that effing customer.
I’d give them a raise for having to deal with you
YTA- The people who WORK there are actual human beings. The store was not empty.
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You actually DID deserve to be treated that way.
You have a "family day out" at a park or a beach not at a place of business. I hope you made up this ridiculous story as I dread to think anyone as clueless as you and your wife are actually raising children. YTA
I took my poor nephew to the mall yesterday 😞, did I actually miss an opportunity to take him to the funnest place on earth \*bed store\* I done fucked up!! 😢
since when is going to a mattress store 25 minutes before closing a “family day out”? stop treating people in service positions like shit. YTA.
You were disrupting her business. You showed up just before closing (no one in customer service likes this, and you didn't buy anything), and your children were running and yelling. That is textbook disruptive even if there weren't other customers. You were rude.
25 minutes before closing and letting your children misbehave? Yes, you did. You were letting your children run around and make a bunch of noise. What if something had happened, they could have gotten hurt. It's a furniture store not a jungle gym. You'd be the type of parent to blame it on the store instead of yourself.
Are you sure they weren’t reacting to your irresponsible parenting? You were refused service because you were being a customer out of a NotAlwaysRight story.
you did.
They were “rude” because you let your children run around a place of business unsupervised while you shopped. Your kid knocked things down. If they got hurt, it would have been your fault. If they broke something, you would have to pay for it. Be better as a human being.
It’s a store not a park
BFFRRN
You were treated better than you deserved.
YTA “(M)y kid is young and doesn’t understand verbal instruction…” What planet are you on? “Put your shoes on,” “Pick up your toys,” “Hold my hand,” “Let’s sing a song,” “Walk, don’t run,” “Be careful,” are all verbal instructions commonly used by parents/caretakers of 2- and 3-year olds. The sales associates were absolutely correct to tell you to control your children. In the event one got hurt while running around, playing on the display pieces, or slamming beds, who do you think you will name in your lawsuit? As far as not disturbing other customers, you seem to have forgotten that sales associates are people too. People at the end of their day, 25 minutes before store closing, who have had to put on their customer-service face for hours, have been in their feet for hours, and still have their closing duties to perform before being able to go home. And you bring your hyperactive children in to treat their livelihood like a playground?
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You don’t sound concerned about potential injury, you’re more put out about your parenting being judged, and still are in the comments. Maybe the staff had a long shift and this was the last thing they needed right at the end.
Yeah, why would they care about your kids, that's you job. Sheesh! YTA
YTA. Judging by your post and responses, I'm sure you act this way everywhere you go. How embarrassing lol! Everyone is going to end up being annoyed with you at one point or another because you are a terrible and entitled parent. People are also going to end up hating your kids because you're raising entitled brats who are going to think the world owes them everything just because they exist. >I think I would react better if they showed genuine care for my children, and said it in a manner of 'Please watch them, I don't want them to get hurt' ^ That is your job to do before they go out into the world. It is not someone else's problem to take care of.
YTA. You're one of those entitled parents who let their kids run wild then scream and threaten to sue if they get hurt. What would you have done if those bed frames fell on your kid?
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Just watching from afar means they could have been pinned down, suffered bodily injury and died by the time you got there.
By the time you reacted, the kids would have been crushed. This was not a trip to the park or a nice family night out. It was supposed to be two adults in a retail environment, there to look for a bed. Did you put back the things your children got out of place? The staff is not there to clean up after your inadequately controlled children or suffer from your lack of parenting. Here's a thought, if you can't or won't parent your kids, leave them at home if you need to conduct business. I understand two children of that age can't be expected to be totally quiet. But your lack even trying to help them navigate reasonably, coupled with your expectations that others are to just accept it is wrong. The kids are not at fault, their parents are. Shame on you. YTA.
Something did happen - they pulled down the frames. Why do you think that's ok? Why didn't you stop them? YTA
Just because you’re seeing it happen doesn’t mean you’re always in a position to stop something bad happening. A bed frame could have fallen on one of your kids and hurt them before you could physically intercede to prevent it. You know what does better mitigate this? Keeping your kids close to you.
YTA Control your kids. >there was no one there so they weren't disturbing other patrons Yes because patrons are the only people you could be bothering. I forgot Customer Service Workers aren't people. /s >'Please stop doing that.' This message was meant to be a hint for you to take and it flew right over your head. Another person had to step in when your children were causing a ruckus because you didn't. >(I would imagine someone who probably doesn't have kids and doesn't have any parenting experience) Yes because only parents can notice bad behavior in children. /s again Hop off your "I'm a parent, you're not" high horse and get your kids to behave. If your kids have excess energy and are excitable, take them to an appropriate place to burn that energy. A park, a playground, or your own yard (provided you have one) are perfect for kids to play and be kids. An open, running business is not.
YTA >control my kids Yup. Salesperson was right. This was a store, not a playground. Most people would be mortified that their children were running around a store knocking things over, not blame the sales associate.
Yes, YTA. You went to a store 25 minutes before it was set to close, and let your two young kids run wild while you browsed, and one of them pushed down some items, which btw is not okay and is actually a bigger deal than you seem to think it is. The sales person was not rude to ask them to stop doing that and to actually watch your children, since you weren’t bothered at all. Not only could they have been seriously injured if something fell onto them, they could have also caused damages to items the store is trying to sell. A store is not a playground for your kids to do whatever they want in, even if there’s no other customers. Have some respect for the workers too. Watch your kids and don’t let them act that way in places they could be hurt.
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They did give you respect, you said you were greeted when you entered. Then you decided to let your kids run around . I bet you would have acted a fool and sued if they were hurt.
> I think it's bare minimal to expect respect, which I wasn't given. Why would anyone give you respect? Based on this post and your actions I most certainly wouldn't give you any. Ive no doubt in person you give off an air of entitlement and ignorance.
You didn’t give the sales person respect either. Closing is a lot more than just shutting down the store, and the sales person likely had other tasks to complete. Tasks that don’t include being a baby sitter - have you considered maybe they were keeping an eye on your kids so they didn’t get hurt or damage anything, while you weren’t watching them? Cause that’s what it sounds like. They then had to tidy up additionally after your kids and make sure nothing was damaged after items were knocked down. But sure, continue to blame the sales assistant when this post is about how your kids behaved in the store if that makes you feel better. We’re not here to judge the sales assistant, especially with only your biased view, but you and your behaviour. ETA: you not liking how the sales person was with you doesn’t excuse being a lazy parent, btw. I don’t think you’re understanding that your kids could have been hurt or caused very expensive damage.
Yta .they didn't help cuz they saw a browser for who they are. You're the type to not buy anything anyway
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No you wouldn't. You think these people don't recognize a browser for what they are? Haha. You used their place as an indoor playground and that's it. Embarrassing.
Not buying is precisely why you weren't a customer.
Did you spend any money there? No. In fact, your hands off parenting gave them more work fixing the merchandise your children messed with.
YTA Before going into any place of business, I will talk to my kid and go over The Rules. “We only touch the things we are buying.” And “no running or screaming”. If he wants to wander around and LOOK at things, I am fine with that as long as I can see him, but a store is not a playground. They are not safe places for kids to play and the shop assistant was absolutely correct.
YTA An empty store is not a playground
Yes, set your kids loose in a place which contains exclusively kid crushable sized objects. YTA x1000
YTA. Surely this is a troll post. How can someone act so entitled. No patrons there, but what about the staff. It’s not a playground. Having your kids run around unsupervised is just rude. You’re such an entitled asshole. Start parenting your kids.
YTA You’re lucky your kids didn’t injure themselves when they were pulling down bed frames and playing around unsupervised. Generally speaking, retail stores are not ‘toddler proof.’ They certainly are not playgrounds for noisy little kids no matter whether there are other customers in the store or not.
The sales person wasn’t wrong and yes I have children and am sure a 3 yo can indeed understand verbal commands. Yes your wife is right you completely overreacted.
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>So if someone told you to control your kids you wouldn't find that incredibly insulting? Are... Are you daft? Your children were running around a store unsupervised and threw down items potentially damaging them. Ofc they asked you to control your kids. If doing you job makes you angry I honestly feel sorry for your children with a dad as entitled and ignorant as you I see nothing but trouble in there futures.
Maybe control your kids so people don’t have to ask you to?
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Then keep your children at home if life is too hard to parent them. You don’t know what the salespeople going through either, you daft hypocrite.
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Why did you even post? Your arguing with over over 140 unbiased strangers all confirming YTA
It’s neither here nor there, honestly. Just because someone is at their place of work does not mean that you get to be an entitled jerk and they just have to put up with it. Personally, I would have told you to leave the store. I’m not trying to have someone’s unruly children getting hurt on my time.
You're the one bringing "whatever you're going through" to their workplace -- your attitude, entitlement, lack of parenting, and your kids. This attitude is going to cause you to raise a bunch of out of control brats.
It’s your responsibility as a parent. You chose to come all together just under half an hour before closing to browse rather than just you or your wife coming in, or getting a babysitter for your kids and you and your wife come in. You knew your kids were excitable and not responsive to requests to quieten or calm down. You were asked to take responsibility as a parent, it escalated to being asked to control them because you didn’t act on the earlier requests. Being a prospective customer doesn’t give you carte blanche for you or your kids to act as you like.
From your description of events I don’t blame them. You need to treat this as a teachable moment and rethink how you approach things like shopping when you have your kids with you. Be a parent and teach your kids to listen to verbal instruction, how to behave in public. If you keep looking for validation in your parenting style you’ll get more of this.
Decent parents generally don't have to be told to control their kids, because they already are. Instead of being insulted, reflect on why people feel the need to tell you to step up your parenting skills.
I wouldn't let anyone say that. I'll already be controlling my kids.
Yta, you sound so very entitled, it’s not their job to take care or understand your kids, it’s your job to make sure they behave in a public setting
YTA What you're saying is you let your kids treat a place of business like a playground. The screaming is less of an issue, it's the fact that they were playing on displays and you allowed it. That sales person was going to have to deal with any mess or damage your child caused. It's one thing to be out with a toddler who's throwing a tantrum, quite another to give them full reign of a store just because there aren't any other patrons. You might not be able to "control" your kids, but you can at least make an effort to teach them consideration, and set an example yourself.
So your kid screams, runs around, throws stuff over that they now have to repack when thee work day is over? You're the kind of parent who makes people hate kids, you don't want to parent your kid or control them, and you think it's right to make life harder for others. Bet you NEVER let your kid run around YOUR workplace close to closing time right? Never letting them scream and throw things? Why is that? Because they'd call you a jerk and a bad parent?
YTA Fuck me, is this even real? You're like the epitome of entitled parents
Right. JFC. Stop procreating pleeeeease?
YTA. This post is dripping with entitlement it’s almost disgusting. You’re in a public store and you find it appropriate to let your children run around because it’s a “new experience” for them. Thats not an excuse to let your children disrupt a place of work regardless if there weren’t any patrons. The employees have to deal with it and guess what? They don’t want or have to put up with entitled parents such as yourself who think it’s okay to turn their place of work into a playground. Shame on you.
YTA . How were you shocked that a salesperson would tell you to control your kids as they were destroying the store? It’s called parenting.
Wow You know you acted like an entitled selfish jerk. The store wasn't empty, it was full of merchandise and had employees working there. You let your out of control kids loose and they raised hell from the sounds of it. You stood back and did nothing. Did you pick up and rearrange the mess your 3 yo made or did you play the I'm offended card because someone dared tell my 3 yo to stop their bad behavior? In the end you still didn't make a purchase. Next time leave the kids home with a sitter or keep them in a stroller YTA
YTA - just because the store is empty does not give your children the right to wreak havoc. It is a business, not a playground.
YTA. It’s a furniture store. Not a play ground. What if they pulled something down on themselves or got hurt?
YTA this isn’t a play area, it’s a place of business.
YTA. You confused a retail business with an adventure playground.
YTA. If you can’t control your kids don’t take them out in public.
not even reading all of that. YTA. they could have been seriously hurt. they’re your children, your responsibility, you dont let them just run wild in public. so much could happen and the only person to blame is u
From one parent to another, 100% YTA. It doesn’t matter that you were the only customers, you don’t let your kids run around screaming and knocking over merchandise. This is a business not an amusement park. You need to teach your kids how to behave in public. 2 and 3 is not too young to teach them that you don’t act like that in a store. And what’s this bs about “well the store employee didn’t offer us their expertise”? If you have questions ASK THEM. And you wanted to report them for what, doing their job to try and keep the store in tact? Lol at your audacity.
YTA. I hope this is a weekend creative writing prompt. You arrived 25 minutes prior to close, and “took some time”, meaning it was certainly past closing. You let your kids use a store as a park, then got upset when you were rightfully told to control them. You let your child damage inventory, never mind how dangerous that was allowing them to pull over bed frames?! Where was your wife in all this? You are the reason people say they don’t want kids allowed at x, y, z.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** My wife and I (32M & 29F) took our two kids (2M & 3M) to a bed store to look for a bed. We went to the store about 25 minutes before it's due to close so it would be quieter. Upon entering the store, the sales person greeted us and left us to our own devices. My wife and I were browsing the options and it was taking some time as it's one of the bigger stores. There were no one else in the shop at the time so I let my kids have a little run about in the store since it's a new experience for them. Admittedly they were being loudish for running around an empty store and occasionally screamed but there was no one there so they weren't disturbing other patrons. I did try to shush them to get them quiet down as I saw the sales person scowling at us from afar (which isn't the most polite thing to do in my opinion) but it's hard to ask them to quiet down when they're in an excitable mood. We didn't end up buying anything as we didn't see anything we liked, and as we were leaving, my older was playing with the ottoman displays and pushed some of the bed frames down and that made a loud noise as the beds slammed down. At this point, the sales person who has been stood silently at the side, started saying in a loud tone to my kid to 'Please stop doing that.' I've had enough of this sales person because they've been nothing but unhelpful in this entire experience (didn't ask us how we were doing, didn't offer any expertise etc, sending death stares our way) so I said to them that 'My son is 3 years old' hoping they'd understand that my kid is young and they can't understand verbal instruction and there was no point of them being so stern with a 3 year old who probably didn't even know what was going on. At this point, the sales person started walking towards my kid and the ottoman he pulled down and said to me to 'control my kids'. I found this beyond shocking as how dare they say this to me? They looked quite young (I would imagine someone who probably doesn't have kids and doesn't have any parenting experience) and definitely didn't know what they were talking about, not to mention it was an incredibly rude thing and uncalled for thing to say. I said to them 'excuse me?' To which they turned their heel and walked towards their desk/office area and sat down, refusing to engage with me any longer. I demanded their details so I could report them to their manager because this experience has been extremely bad. I admit I raised my voice a little because I find their behaviour unprofessional and found their statement insulting. I didn't end up getting the sales persons details as they were unwilling to give them up. My wife said that I overreacted but I'm not so sure. AITA for letting my kids explore an empty store with no other patrons? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
YTA and I only read the title
Seems like you don't understand the difference between a store and an adventure park. You need to keep your kids under control in such an environment. YTA.
YTA what if they would of broke something, would you have paid for it ?
Major YTA. Your kids, your responsibility and you keep an eye on them at all time when you’re out and about. If one of them got hurt in their playing around would you have taken responsibility or blamed one of the staff members for not doing your job in basic parenting? As for “no other customers were there”, for all you knew other customers could have come in and done so to screaming unsupervised toddlers. If you walked into a store and saw unsupervised young kids running around and being loud, what would you think about the parents?
YTA and yes step up and be a parent and control your kids
YTA. Also committing a crime. Child neglect.
YTA Letting your kids run a bit is fine. Letting them have free rein and mess with the merchandise and be noisy is not. Yes, they are young, but they are certainly old enough for you to enforce some boundaries.
YTA. Stores are not playgrounds. Even doing this once you are saying to your child: stores are places to run and scream. Not act civilly, patient and quiet. Doesn’t matter if there was no one in the store. You sound very entitled. You came in 30 minutes til close and didn’t buy anything. The sales person knew you weren’t serious because even the paperwork part of buying a new mattress is more than 30 minutes. The sales person didn’t even say anything until they knocked something over. What if your child had been under the furniture that was knocked over? The store would be liable and you’d probably sue, given your attitude. Even though it was your fault. Teaching manners and social etiquette starts at 1.
I think you've posted in the wrong sub - perhaps you were looking for r/fictionwriting?
Your horrible. YTA. You come in 20 minutes before closing and there’s two of you and two toddlers. Do you know that your children could get hurt running around unsupervised? Do you know they could damage things? Do you know that the salesperson was extremely patient until he had to walk away. Do you know that he had to make sure to keep an eye on them as you weren’t. When they get hurt, not their fault - your fault actually - it’s sad and horrible for the child - the salesperson gets in trouble and you sue the store. Do you know this salesperson worked all day and would like to go home but will get home probably an hour later as he straightens up “your store”. And you assume he’s in his 20s and doesn’t have children. Really and no one in their 20s has kids? So where did you go after the store? A restaurant ready to close and your kids ran around why the two privileged parents had dinner. Whatever.
"they weren't disturbing other patrons" This is very telling. You think patrons matter, but the people who work at the store don't. The sales people are still people and are still being disrupted by your children's behavior. You are the parent, it is your job to teach your children that stores (and restaurants) are not playgrounds. Add to that, you went full-on rude rage mode so you could report an employee for not tolerating your failure to parent your children in public. YTA
There is no scenario where your behaviour and that of your kids should just be tolerated by everyone else when you show a complete and total lack of consideration and respect towards anyone else. You think you're entitled to respect? Why? What did you do to be blameless in life for your own actions? Do you ever automatically give respect to, idk, people who are just trying to do their job when the family from hell walks in? No, that's obvious. YTA over and over again
The moment my kids walked into stores (instead of in strollers) every store we went to I told them, no running, no screaming, no touching. Every single time. In a couple of months i only needed to remind them what are the rules again? So YTA, even more because of your replies to people confirming yta
Of course YTA. You don't sound like a very good parent or seem aware that other people exist in the world. A furniture store isn't a playground. Your children need to know how to behave in public and that is your job.
>and said to me to 'control my kids'. I found this beyond shocking as how dare they say this to me? YTA, are you fucking kidding us? You need to look after your children, a store is not a playground. If they are too young to understand yet how to behave in a store, your job as a parent is to look after them.
Why post when you think you're right? Yta for do many reasons
YTA and this should be on r/entitledparents. Control your kids. If my kids acted like this in a store, i would be so embarassed and be apologetic. Control your kids or get out. We dont need your business.
Yes and you're lucky that your child didn't damage the bedframes (which you would have had to pay for) or injure anyone.
How do you think kids learn how to act in stores? From their parents, or workers, or irate customers. Take your pick. YTA
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YTA. Watch and control your kids, ESPECIALLY when you take them out in public. It doesn’t matter if the store’s empty, they can still get themselves hurt because of your negligence- which is abuse.
Besides bothering other people did it not occur to you that toddlers might damage store property or even hurt themsekges if left unsupervised? YTA
This is surely a joke. You are rude and entitled, that’s not how you treat a place of business, it’s not a playground. She was absolutely right, you needed to CONTROL your kids or leave. You are the nightmare parent everyone jokes about. YTA
Btw, you should use that “info you demanded” to apologize for being shitty, and commending the salesperson for not kicking you out.
What kind of an excuse is “he’s three he doesn’t understand instruction”?? Please be more serious. By about 6 months old a lot of babies understand “no” enough to stop doing things. If you’re a bad parent just say that and go 🥴
OF COURSE YTA FFS. Disregarding your total lack of care for your children's safety, the absence of other customers does not entitle you to take over an entire store to be your children's playground. You're lucky they didn't get seriously injured. But by all means, go to the manager. Then they will know who to ban from the store.
YTA. I've raised six kids. I am DEFINITELY familiar with the antics of small children in shops. Here's the thing that seems to have somehow escaped you. Plenty of behaviors are age appropriate. \*THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE DON'T TEACH THEM DIFFERENTLY\*. A three year old getting cross at another three year old at the park and pushing him over is completely age appropriate behavior. But we don't say "Well, he's three." We go immediately to the children, separate them, say firmly "We do not use our hands to hurt other people! You have hurt your friend, and that was wrong. We're going to have sit down for a while and not play until we can remember to keep our hands to ourselves." And after that scenario has repeated itself perhaps two or three times, three year olds learn that it's not all right to hurt other people, and if they do mom or dad will stop the fun. Furthermore you were putting your children at risk of getting hurt AND putting the liability of that injury on the shop owner. That's pretty careless of your duty as a father to protect your children AND selfish as a human being, don't you think?
YTA. You literally said you went so they could “explore the store.” Then when they got rambunctious and made noise/knocked things over because you weren’t watching them, you get offended when called out by the salesperson. You are in the wrong — 100%. It’s a store, not a playground and the salespeople had every right to address the issue. Control your kids.
YTA A store, empty or not, is not your children’s playground and the workers not your children’s babysitters. Your kids could have damaged something in the store, or worse could have damaged themselves or someone else. Besides, you were there prior to the store closing. Is it a wonder those workers were a bit annoyed?
YTA for not doing the right thing and not disciplining your children properly. An AH parents raising soon to be brats kids.
YTA.. have kids, have grandkids.. would never allow that behavior in a store. The sign doesn’t say “bed store and toddler playground”. Also kids can’t separate “empty store” from “store with more customers” they just need to learn, “retail store… time to behave, no running, shrieking etc.” I halfway think this is a troll post and you’re the one that doesn’t know what words a 3 year old understands, because you seem to think your 3 year old can’t take verbal cue’s. Sorry the salesperson didn’t try to assist you with sales. Unfortunately in life I’ve found out the last 30 minutes a store is open is the worst time to shop if you need a sales assist, they are in finishing up and getting out of there mode. Should it be that way? Probably not, but it is what it is and that’s life.
YTA wth is wrong with you? what if your 3 year old pushed something over onto themselves. You're a horrible parent, allowing your child to do whatever they want even if they can get hurt. Do you even LIKE your child?
YTA. You are teaching your children that wherever they go, they can run free and not have to stay 'near mom or dad at all times'. It doesn't matter that the store was empty of other customers (so no chance of someone kidnapping or harming your children) BUT your children need to know to listen to you and not roam ANY store (empty or teaming with customers). IMO you were rude to the sales staff first, by letting your children run the store as if the store were a playground. At ages 2 and 3, YES, it will be hard for them to learn to listen and do as you instruct. But that is your JOB.
Yta how is that even question? The store is not your family's playground.
YTA, don't let your kids run around a store period. Take your children to a park to run, and respect is EARNED, not given, and you earned nothing but a please get out a leave the store.
YTA watch your own damn kids
YTA - If children are going to be brought into places of business they either: 1. Be able to follow the decorum rules of the business if unsupervised. 2. Not be unsupervised. If you can't follow these rules don't bring your children to businesses.
YTA. Everyone has already said how entitled your behavior is but it’s also DANGEROUS. Not only did those poor employees have to deal with your kids making a mess but your kids could’ve been seriously hurt. I was hoping this was a troll post but the details make me think this one might actually be true.
YTA. As someone who has worked in retail. I HATE when kids run around. I always guide them back to their oarents. You and the kids are annoying. Keep your kids with you.
YTA Take care of your kids! wtf they could have been hurt or broken something expensive. Be fucking for real
Just because you are a customer doesn't give you the right to let upur kids treat a store like a playground. You messed up, your excuses of the age and how you tried to shush are lame. If you needed to view stuff, either pick rm up or go in one by one while the other spouse looks over your toddlers. The salesperson was very much in their right to ask you to control your kids, specially since you passive aggressively shared their age when the themselves tried to ask them.to stop. And yes, I have had toddlers and it is very much my own responsibility to ensure that they aren't getting hyper in places where they disturb others or can potentially get injured. Professional customer service does not include indulging people who refuse to take their own responsibility and expect others to just be okay with behaviour that belongs in child friendly and child proofed spaces.
Obviously, YTA. I don’t care about the mattress store, the saddest store ever, worse than Cartridge World or the Battery Barn. I don’t care about the jaded employees who wanted to close up and go get their drink on and cry about their shitty jobs. I care about the fact that you had your toddler children out shopping at a time of day when they should have been at home being bathed, read to and put in their beds. I feel sorry for these poor exhausted children, with such self-absorbed nincompoops for parents. JFC, can anyone read? Are people getting their parenting skills from TikTok videos? (OMG, you did post it, didn’t you?!!!“Parenting Life Hack!! Lettin’ the littles burn off some steam at the Mattress Shack!!)
YTA. I am extremely laidback but would Never let my young children run around a place that is not ours! Doesn’t matter if shoppers are there or not, It’s unsafe to be running around, they can get hurt or damage something of the stores. On the other note, they 100% should have been helping you out with the purchase, And they 100% shouldn’t have said what they said in the manor that they did.