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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To have shouted at this mum in the park today?

34 replies

Cakepop940 · 12/04/2024 19:51

I was in the park today , weather was warm so it was really busy. The children 4 and 8 were playing on the climbing frame and I was sat on a bench adjacent with a friend and a coffee watching them play. There was a little girl around 3/4 years old , she was in the park playing and I noticed she had run infront of the swings a couple of times. I quickly checked around for siblings/parents but couldn't see but as I was watching my own children I didn't take much more notice. A few minutes later I saw this little girl go flying through the air past where I was sat on the bench. She'd come down the small steep hill and landed funny, her neck had bent and her legs had flown back over her head. She was quiet then started screaming in pain. I looked around momentarily and didnt see anyone, then i instinctively and scooped her up and comforted her. I asked where her mummy or daddy was and she pointed to the other side of the park, i walked over searching carrying this poor child and couldn't find anyone. Then the said she was over there. Her mother was absolutely miles away on her phone head down. I had to leave the gate and walk across part of the field to meet this girls mum. She asked me what had happened and I said she's run down the hill and gone flying and she'd run infront of the swings a few times too. She didnt thank me for helping her child . And shouted at her little girl "what have you done now". I said it wasn't the little girls fault and she wasn't being supervised. And maybe if she had been watching her child then she wouldn't have gotten so hurt. It got a bit more animated and i ended up walking away .Am I being unreasonable to think parents need to stay off their phones and supervise their children in public.i see it a lot in soft plays. People so engrossed in their phones and not taking a slight bit of notice of their surroundings.

OP posts:
SummerFeverVenice · 12/04/2024 20:14

Really worrying.
Sounds like the girl is a neglected and abused child and her mum is spoiling to punish her child for attracting the concern of a stranger in the park.

Next time, I’d be calling the police, the child needs to be known to social services.

KidsandKindness · 12/04/2024 20:14

I really don't understand why parents who want to spend their lives looking at phones bother to have children. If the phone takes all your concentration you're not only risking your child coming to harm, but also missing those valuable moments of your child's life, that won't come again.

ChampagneGold · 12/04/2024 20:12

There was a thread similar to this the other day! I wonder if it's the same shit parent?!

ConcernedOfClapham · 12/04/2024 20:12

Goodness, this is worrying. By the sounds of things ANYONE could have scooped up this poor child and taken her God knows where. The mother should be utterly ashamed of herself.

Dancingontheedge · 12/04/2024 20:10

Yes, it’s an addiction.
In the same way you see no interaction between a parent and a child in a buggy, because they’re interacting with their phone. Or small children wandering along pavements by traffic with a techno zombie following. Or no eye contact or conversation when collecting a child from school.

DragonCatcher · 12/04/2024 20:10

Well done you. Hopefully she will act better next time they're at a park. Completely negligent of her child's care!

Eloraa · 12/04/2024 20:08

You were not U.

I’ve previously been very firm with a mum who was oblivious while a tiny one (18 months?) walked in front of swings.

Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong · 12/04/2024 20:08

That's a sad story OP, poor kid. I'm glad you were there to comfort her. It's bad enough to ignore the child but not caring when she is hurt is truly horrible.

Soubriquet · 12/04/2024 19:56

That’s worrying. Don’t get me wrong, I would have been on my phone too, but I would have also sat closer, and regularly looked up to make sure she was ok. If I thought she was doing something that could have gotten her hurt, I would have been there to stop it. I also would have immediately comforted my child

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