I do not see Elinor as disliking children in general but disliking the chaos that LM lets her children cause. From personal experience I feel lively children do not have to be badly behaved children which the Middleton children certainly are. Of course this is not their fault, it is their parents who spoil them and allow them to act this way but unfortunately it makes them no more pleasant to be around. I do not blame Elinor or Marianne for not wishing to have their hankies thrown out the window; their fingers pinched, their sashes untied or put up with screaming tantrums which go on longer than necessary because their parents do not know how to calm them down. Little Annamaria’s tantrum continues because her mother and her new friends encourage it by giving her good things, rewards—as JA points out the child has learned this lesson well. Did I miss something in the text which says Elinor dislikes Annamaria in particular.