My friend let her child scream and cry during a movie – is that enough to stop her?

Cinema etiquette is pretty straightforward.

We’re talking unspoken rules like don’t talk, don’t grip the armrest, and definitely don’t use the phone.

But one mum is now questioning whether her friend’s poor behavior at the cinema is enough to make time for their friendship.

“I was crying”

After arranging a trip to see Moana 2, she was left frustrated when her friend refused to take the crying 4-year-old out of the theater.

“For 20 minutes, halfway through the movie, he was crying,” she recalls.

She even tried to defuse the situation.

“After a few minutes, I suggested, ‘Why don’t you take her to the lobby?’ There are seats, and it’s quieter there. But she just kept saying, ‘We can’t leave,’ and shutting her up,” she said. .

Taking part in an online parenting forum, she revealed her shock at her friend’s behaviour.

She couldn’t help but feel annoyed as the rest of the cinema began to watch.

“I was cringing so hard,” she said.

“Sitting next to a crying child was deadly.”

Eventually, the child’s father intervened, taking the boy out of the theater to calm him down, but only after a 20-minute intermission.

“I didn’t realize my friend would be the type to sit there with a crying baby and not leave. Totally ruined the trip!” she explained.

“Complacent parenting is not good”

The forum was divided on the cinematic drama.

Some thought her expectations were unfair:

“I feel like cutting your friends off because their 4 year old misbehaved on a busy Christmas day is a bit dramatic,” one person commented.

“You better hope and pray your kid never plays, or you’ll look ridiculous. Complacent parenting is not good, warned another.

“I think this was a poorly planned outing by everyone,” noted a third.

She was sympathetic to the child’s reasoning for being restless during the movie.

“He looked tired. He was an overworked child and his parents should have been considerate of him and considerate of others,” she said bluntly.

Now, she’s debating whether to limit the friendship or keep it to casual dating.

“We only see these friends for our kids, so I think we’ll stick to more low-key gatherings like playdates,” she said.