Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The child is FOUR. You had to have an idea of his energy level before inviting him/his family to your home.

Yes, wait a few years OP and you’ll be experiencing similar energy levels with your child. The real nightmare here is all of the adults. Your ILs should have controlled their child and brought toys. You and your husband should have put the pets out of harm’s way and spoken up. You should have locked the door when you were nursing. Some children become overstimulated in a new environments and act in ways they wouldn’t normally behave. It also sounds as if you don’t really like other people’s children. You need to be a little more flexible. We were in a similar situation with some friends recently with our two and four year olds, but they have tons of toys, so our children enjoyed themselves and had fun with their pets. We also kept an eye on them.

This is how brats are raised.

If you can’t keep your 4 year old from acting like a terror at people’s houses then DONT bring them out. If your kids won’t behave without toys then it’s your responsibility to bring the toys. You don’t just shrug and say “boys will be boys” as they jump all over furniture and harass the pets.

I say this as a parent of 4 and 2 year old boys.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The child is FOUR. You had to have an idea of his energy level before inviting him/his family to your home.

Yes, wait a few years OP and you’ll be experiencing similar energy levels with your child. The real nightmare here is all of the adults. Your ILs should have controlled their child and brought toys. You and your husband should have put the pets out of harm’s way and spoken up. You should have locked the door when you were nursing. Some children become overstimulated in a new environments and act in ways they wouldn’t normally behave. It also sounds as if you don’t really like other people’s children. You need to be a little more flexible. We were in a similar situation with some friends recently with our two and four year olds, but they have tons of toys, so our children enjoyed themselves and had fun with their pets. We also kept an eye on them.

This is how brats are raised.

If you can’t keep your 4 year old from acting like a terror at people’s houses then DONT bring them out. If your kids won’t behave without toys then it’s your responsibility to bring the toys. You don’t just shrug and say “boys will be boys” as they jump all over furniture and harass the pets.

I say this as a parent of 4 and 2 year old boys.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The child is FOUR. You had to have an idea of his energy level before inviting him/his family to your home.

Yes, wait a few years OP and you’ll be experiencing similar energy levels with your child. The real nightmare here is all of the adults. Your ILs should have controlled their child and brought toys. You and your husband should have put the pets out of harm’s way and spoken up. You should have locked the door when you were nursing. Some children become overstimulated in a new environments and act in ways they wouldn’t normally behave. It also sounds as if you don’t really like other people’s children. You need to be a little more flexible. We were in a similar situation with some friends recently with our two and four year olds, but they have tons of toys, so our children enjoyed themselves and had fun with their pets. We also kept an eye on them.

Anonymous wrote:I 100% get it’s annoying and with a newborn your protection instincts are in sicko mode so this all seemed way worse than it was. A 4 year old boy is a rowdy creature as you’ll discover when your newborn is this age. He was bored in a not kid friendly apartment and has no idea sticking his hands in a baby’s face isn’t okay. Yes your SIL should’ve corralled him better but he doesn’t sound THAT bad or abnormal.

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry...you simply do not bring a rambunctious, out of control 4 year old to visit a new mother and her newborn baby.

When he started to act up, one of those parents should have taken him outside to run off some energy. Bouncing on Op's furniture, chasing her pets, being wild around the new baby and busting into rooms uninvited was pretty bad.

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that your newborn will be a 4 year-old eventually. You have no experience being in he parent of a 4 year-old, so be careful not to be too self righteous. Your turn is coming.

Anonymous wrote:The child is FOUR. You had to have an idea of his energy level before inviting him/his family to your home.

Anonymous wrote:Your husband blew it and didn’t put a stop to it. Yes, 4 year olds can be a little crazy but they are old enough to understand the word no. Tell your husband that if the next time they visit he does it again it is up to him to put a stop to it and if he doesn’t you will and he will suffer the consequences. It’s quite likely that the little monster gets little discipline at home.