I just know I'm going to get a lot of grief for this week's gripe, but I believe a lot of people feel the same way, even if they don't admit it it's the whiny, crying baby.For us old fogeys, having a public holiday like the one we just had, is a day when the children and grandkids pay us a visit. They usually stay longer than I'd like them to, but at least they come by. My deadbeat son has this habit of coming into the house, heads towards the fridge to grab a beer, and without stopping passes me their crying kid, saying “Say hello to your grandchild pops”.So, I'm left holding this child, at arm's length, and as I look into its face with its eyes closed, mouth open, feet kicking and with a screwed up face, omitting a noise that even my hearing aid wonders what the hell is going on, and it suddenly hits me, “Hey, I'm looking at the face of my old ball and chain”. It's amazing isn't it? How we go in a complete circle; we start out looking like this and end up looking the way we started.So now it's time to start playing baby tag. I pass the screaming bundle of joy to the wife, who in turn passed it to its mother while I say, “It's broken, fix it”, and the mother replies “Oh, he just need its diaper changed”. So let me get this right, you bring the baby into my house to change it. The last time she did that she thought she left the diaper for us to get rid of. Not a chance, I picked it up and threw it in the back of their car when they weren't looking. I heard later it got wedged between the seats and it took them a week to find out where the funny smell was coming from.Here's a tidbit of information for you, if you take the word “diaper” and spell it backward, you get the word “repaid”. Coincidence? I think not!To have a screaming grandchild in your house is one thing, but screaming children at a restaurant or a movie theatre is quite another. Don't get me wrong, there are considerate parents and there are many of them who know the drill when it comes to eating out with children. They stick to family friendly restaurants; they know the signs of an oncoming outburst and won't hesitate to scoop up their children at the first wail or tantrum.Now the Yanks have got his down to a fine art some restaurants have added a footnote to their menus asking parents to please take crying children outside, so as not to disturb the other patrons. Indeed, some chains have “family friendly” built into their brand. For example, some parents go to The Cheesecake Factory because they know that children who require high chairs will be greeted with the complimentary “baby plate” consisting of a sliced banana, freshly baked bread and an orange as soon as they are seated, 'cause an occupied baby is a quiet, happy baby'.Then there are the parents who say “We ignore him to show that we won't give into his demands”. I've heard that too many times. Well, that's just damn-right inconsiderate and selfish on the part of that parents. You're the one that needs a good slap upside de head! You can adhere to that philosophy when you're home as a paying customer, I don't think I should have to put up with it!I bet if I could communicate with my grandson and make him realise that at this point in his life, this is as good as it gets; he has no financial worries, no worries about having to work, not having to worry about idiots in his family (ie your meathead father) and for that matter idiots at work, no worries about paying taxes, and believe me, he hasn't been around long enough to have done something so embarrassing that it's going to haunt him for the rest of his life. I'm sure if I could only make him understand all that, we would have a baby that would be grinning from ear to ear and, even better, look nothing like his Grandmother. Ah, to be young again!* What annoys you most, tell Grumpy. Email grumpyoldman@royalgazette.bm