A mum feels "torn" after being asked to clean up after her baby in a café.
The mum was visiting a café with a group of friends when she was handed a dustpan and brush to clean up the food under her baby's high chair. She told her mother, who thought she should leave a 'negative review' about the establishment online.
Taking to Mumsnet's popular Am I Being Unreasonable? (AIBU) thread, the mum asked for advice. In a post titled 'Having to clean up after myself in a cafe?', she wrote: "I go with a group of friends and our babies to a café each week.
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"Apparently the week before last the café manager had a go at one of the mums because she said that her baby made a mess under his high chair and she didn't clean it up before she left. This week, as I was packing up to leave (with a screaming overtired baby who is refusing to nap because of teething!), she gave me a dustpan and brush and pointed at the few bits of food under her high chair and asked me to clean up after myself.
"It's advertised as a very family friendly café. To make it clear, if she had made an unreasonable mess I would of course have cleaned it up (or tried, it's a bit difficult when you don't have any cleaning materials).
"But it was a few bits on the floor. I've offered to clean up in other cafés and they've said: 'don't be silly, we'll do it!'
"I guess I'm going to be way more conscious about allowing my baby to make a mess in future (good luck!). But after I told my mum, she said I should leave a negative review about it on their café page and seemed to think it was unreasonable.
"Is it unreasonable to ask a parent to clean the floor after their baby? I'm torn because on the one side, I can see how it would be annoying for the staff. On the other hand, I don't bring cleaning materials with me and it's advertised as family friendly...which I think would mean they're aware that babies make mess!"
The woman's post was met with a flurry of comments from fellow Mumset users, many of whom thought she was being unreasonable. One wrote: "Well they are clearly fed up of you and your mum friends making a mess for them to clear up. Why do you think it's beneath you to clean your own child's mess?"
Another added: "You should have cleared up after your babies. I'm shocked at how often I see people walking out leaving mess all over the floor. If an adult dropped food they'd pick it up. So you should do that for your baby too."
Someone else commented: "Good grief, just how much mess do you make every week for the café owner to do this? It really must be a mess.
"You should leave a café in a similar position as to how you would leave a friend's house. Pots left on the table but any food on floor or table is cleaned up. Don't leave a bad review for this. Don't be that person."
Another Mumsnet user wrote: "It sounds like they've got a bit of an attitude about it and I'd be taking my business elsewhere." Someone else added: "I don't think you should have to but I always look under where DD (dear daughter) has been sat in case she's dropped anything and clear up accordingly. Doesn't sound like a very welcoming café though, maybe give it a wide berth in future."
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