Auckland mum shocked after neighbours call police because of children's dinnertime tantrum

The mum says it was a normal situation for a family with children - then police knocked. Photo / File / 123rf

An Auckland mum was shocked to have two police cars on her driveway after an anonymous neighbour called police about the screams of her children.

The North Shore mother-of-three says she was working late and her husband was dealing with a dinnertime tantrum from the couple's children, on what had already been a stressful day, when police knocked on their door on Wednesday evening.

She says her six-year-old was fighting with her sibling at dinnertime but nothing could make them expect police to show up.

"We were all in shock of what had happened. If you have children at home you will understand that sometimes kids just don't stop over their own tantrum. If you could not deal with kid's cry, feel free to come knock at the door and talk to us. Totally waste of police power," she posted on her local Facebook group.

She told the Herald the siblings' argument was "nothing out of the ordinary" and something she believes any family with multiple children can relate to.

"It was just another day. I finished work (I'm working in the events industry, so it's busy during Christmas), so I went home at 7.30pm."

Her husband, who now stays at home with the children, had served the children dinner and the three of them were all eating at their kids' table. When her husband had to go to the toilet, he heard the kids fighting and shouting at each other. He came out to check what was happening.

"My six-year-old and four-year-old were fighting for each other's territory," she said. Her husband told them to stop and apologise to each other but the six-year-old refused and kept on screaming.

Twenty minutes later, the family had the police on their doorstep.

"Everyone was surprised," she said. "My six-year-old stopped crying, so the police need to take details and checked if the children got any injuries and asked why she cried and spoke to our children," she added.

"Half an hour later, everything finished, they suggested we give the kids ice cream and iPad to play to stop the tantrum."

She says the couple's extended family all live overseas so they don't have a very large support network.

"It wasn't a good day. We'd just found out my husband's father's cancer got worse on the same day," she told the Herald.

"But this is parenthood. You don't even have time to go to the toilet."

The busy mum says she has no idea who called the police and is worried the same thing might happen again next time her children throw another tantrum.

"This is just a normal story of many families. When you don't have children, you don't understand. If you have children, you can tell it's the normal cry."

She says she understands and even appreciates people's concerns over children's welfare but thinks a better understanding of "how to identify domestic violence" would avoid situations like this.

Contacted by the Herald, NZ Police said for privacy reasons it cannot confirm "whether or not an individual has made a complaint to Police, or whether an individual has been or is under investigation".