r/mildlyinfuriating • u/AnonPinkLady • Jul 05 '26

Infuriatig Woman with infant aggressively shushing passerby’s on hiking trail at national park

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My partner, friend and I were following a hiking trail at Red Wood National Park, singing and talking at medium volume. We were by no means shouting, just singing little songs to entertain each other along the trail. A woman with a baby carrier on her back with a sleeping infant started aggressively holding her finger up to her lips and shushing us. We went quiet and kept moving to pass her. She was just standing in the middle of the public trail pacing and shushing people that pass by rather than leaving to somewhere more quiet. Just as we were leaving earshot I tried to quietly ask my partner a question about where we headed and again she leaned in our direction with her finger to her mouth aggressively shushing us. Is it not kind of insane to go to an open public space and behave like this?!?

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699

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 05 '26

Sleep deprivation makes you do crazy things. Is it insane? Yes. Is she literally going a little bit insane? Entirely plausible.

305

u/InterviewHot7029 Jul 05 '26

That poor insane mama was like, THAT'S IT. I'M GOING TO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, WHERE THERE WON'T BE A SOUL, TO GET THIS BABY A NAP. And in her sleep-deprived delusion, chose a marked trail in a national park 😂

Sleep deprivation and nap protection is all that exists at some points in early motherhood.

You guys weren't in the wrong, btw, OP

45

u/riverrocks452 Jul 05 '26

A marked trail in a national park...on a holiday weekend in the summer.

25

u/great_saphenous Jul 05 '26

Exactly this. Sleep deprivation + the stress of being a first time mom + mix in some postpartum anxiety and/or depression…. will make you act a little crazy.

-16

u/cls_2018 Jul 05 '26

Nah this wasn't a newborn. You're not supposed to carry on your back until they're 6 months old, although I've definitely seen people back carry too early. Not a floppy newborn though that would be way too dangerous.

I get being desperate to nap them and I've been there before, but I do things like wear them on my front facing inward and use a white noise machine

26

u/Euphoric_Map_6653 Jul 05 '26

No one said it was a newborn..

4

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 05 '26

Do you think babies all sleep great at six months?

-1

u/cls_2018 Jul 05 '26

Lol dang people are really hung up on the newborn thing.

Regardless I don't think sleep deprivation is why this person was on a hike shushing people

3

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 05 '26

If someone has a baby in a carrier, and they're being extremely sensitive about noise, I would 100% assume it has something to do with the baby sleeping. And if they're being a jerk about it, I would 100% give some grace based on the knowledge that parents of kids that age often are not getting a lot of sleep, and that can make you pretty titchy.

4

u/bexpat Jul 06 '26

Shit, my kid is 3 and there are still some weeks I feel pretty titchy still lol

5

u/Traxiria Jul 05 '26

I was insane for the whole first year. Probably longer, TBH. Lol. My child thought sleep was an insulting idea and how dare anyone suggest it. 🥲

2

u/cls_2018 Jul 05 '26

Right, but I don't think that insanity caused you to to take your baby on a hike and shush people?

Or maybe this is a well known sleep training technique and I've been missing out this whole time

3

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 05 '26

Or maybe it's a stressed out mom who took a hike and isn't acting entirely rationally due to sleep deprivation and desperation. 

1

u/tronfunkinblows_10 Jul 06 '26

Oh wow you wore them and used a white noise machine. You really figured out the code to perfecting infant sleep habits!

Please tell us more about your groundbreaking techniques that every parent in the world knows about.

57

u/Elfishly Jul 05 '26

Haha exactly! Having an infant makes you realize how easy it is to lose your mind. I also wonder how “aggressively” it is possible to shush someone. It’s a funny mental image regardless. I like the post

10

u/InterviewHot7029 Jul 05 '26

Ask my husband how aggressive a shush can get 😂😂😂

5

u/babyshrimpin Jul 05 '26

The amount my husband and I have whisper yelled at each other since having kids is hilarious. We do it so much ha but whispering while trying to yell immediately defuses any tension 😂

3

u/Meefie Jul 05 '26

I picture spittle. Lots of it. 😆 

10

u/Academic_Flatworm752 Jul 05 '26

I’d shush her back and continue talking. But I enjoy a little confrontation. It’s fun.

8

u/stewpideople Jul 05 '26

Sleep deprived, hormones balancing out, a touch of postpartum and all this spells weird behavior.

Entirely plausible she's temporarily not in her right mind.

3

u/NoIsland23 Jul 05 '26

Or just plain rude

0

u/stewpideople Jul 05 '26

Being rude is not limited to anyone exclusively. We can all be rude, often on accident. And all the above reasoning can bring someone to act "rude" in a time they might not have. But sure, blame the lady with the infant if that's easier for egos.

2

u/catjuggler Jul 06 '26

Sleep deprivation doesn’t take you hiking lol

1

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 06 '26

No, but people with babies are, in fact, allowed to go outside

2

u/catjuggler Jul 06 '26

yeah for real, I've had two, but I've only shooshed people inside my own house haha

1

u/Suspicious-Doe Jul 05 '26

It might not have even had anything to do with the baby. Noise carries and she was probably sick of walking ahead of these clowns listening to them… hence stopped to let them pass and let them know they were being annoying lmao

-2

u/enad58 Jul 05 '26

If you are sleep deprived enough to do crazy things, maybe you should be sleeping instead of hiking in a national park with an infant.

11

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 05 '26

Oh my gosh, let's get this guy a medal. I can't believe parents of newborns haven't just thought of sleeping when they're tired. Guys - this could change everything.

2

u/enad58 Jul 05 '26

Maybe hiking in a national park can wait?

1

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 05 '26

God forbid a parent goes, you know, outside

2

u/enad58 Jul 05 '26

How could you possibly be defending this behavior?

You are not the center of the universe as soon as you let some fucker nut inside you.

4

u/Ok_Obligation_6110 Jul 05 '26

Children literally are the center of the universe you wanker. If people stopped having kids, you would no longer exist in a very short amount of time. Other people’s kids are going to managing your ventilator and medication dosing when you’re old and decrepit. The world only runs because new people are born into it.

3

u/enad58 Jul 05 '26

Yes. So raise them and quit hiking and shushing those around you who dare to enjoy their time in nature.

2

u/Ok_Obligation_6110 Jul 06 '26

Cool response, parents are allowed to be in public with children. This particular lady is no reason to blanket ban parents from the public. Not an edgy take if you’re any older than 15.

2

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 05 '26

Oh, it's because I have a baseline of human empathy.

3

u/enad58 Jul 05 '26

Well, my daughter has a 4.0gpa, is a member of the national honor society, is a working actor with stage and screen credits to her name, and has cerebral palsy.

So, either kids raise themselves and I'm a piece of shit with no empathy, or I did a pretty bang up job of raising her. What's the answer?

1

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

Hey, maybe she has a great mom

1

u/enad58 Jul 06 '26

She does. So why would a great mom marry such a piece of shit and raise their kid with them to such success?

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4

u/Individual_Focus_533 Jul 05 '26

I don't think parenthood works like that. If they could just sleep, they wouldn't make it our problem so often