Wedding guest asks if they are wrong for telling mom to turn kid's iPad volume down during speeches

We are at a point where not a day goes by without using smartphones and smart devices. While even adults are glued to their screens, the children automatically pick up the habit and spend hours on their phones or iPads. However, this can be annoying for others sometimes, especially in public spaces. That was the case with wedding guest u/Far_Switch4003, who shared a bitter experience they had at a wedding reception sitting near a toddler who was watching a loud video on their smart device. Their suggestion to turn the volume down backfired, so they asked the internet if they were in the wrong.

The wedding guest who was keen on listening to the reception speeches was quite annoyed by the toddler watching a video on their mobile device on high volume. "I looked over a handful of times because it was distracting, hoping they would get the hint to turn the volume down," they mentioned. Though they didn't say a word complaining about the loud noise, they tried to give a subtle hint. But this did not sit well with the toddler's parent. They took it as a personal attack instead. "The mother eventually made a comment about it and said, 'My kid didn’t get a nap today,'" the wedding guest added.

With no intention of blaming the parents or criticizing the kid, the wedding guest only wanted the volume to be low. "I totally understand the importance of a kid’s nap schedule and that they can become tiny beasts if they don’t get enough sleep," they pointed out. However, what they got in return for their frequent stares was blatant nitpicking from the little one's mom. "After the speeches were done, the mother confronted me in a very aggressive manner and thought I was questioning her parenting skills and screen-time choices," the wedding guest wrote.

Not only did the mom misunderstand the wedding guest's concerns but also blasted them unnecessarily. "I hadn’t said, 'boo,' to her and wasn’t questioning her abilities as a mother at all. In general, I thought it was common courtesy not to have the volume of electronics up high in a public place or at an event when someone is speaking," the guest explained. They resorted to the internet's help asking if they were wrong to hint about the toddler's device volume. The post garnered over 4700 upvotes and hundreds of users rallied around in the guest's support.

"This is why child-free weddings are becoming more popular. Mothers think the world revolves around them. They think they get a pass for imposing their offspring on the rest of us. Right now I am at a high-end restaurant where children are screaming and running around and babies are crying. It so adds to my experience," said u/feminist1946. "If the kid can't be quiet or be entertained quietly during a speech in the nearest thing to a formal event most people will ever be at, the correct thing to do is to take them out of the room," pointed out u/Emotional-Ebb8321. "Headphones exist! My kid is pretty well-regulated and we use screens as a last resort. If I needed him to be quiet I would put headphones on him or let him draw on the Sketchbook app on my phone silently," added u/SmoochyBooch.