To not make my son share?

Did they do songs at the end?

I hated 'wind the bobbin up'

Probably because it’s subjective what’s a fair share? Especially amongst teenage boys.

That's equally weird. Why haven't you just taught them to think for themselves & not be greedy?

We absolutely teach our children to share, but our rule is that if they're still actively playing with something, they can finish their turn first

a turn for the entire session, isn't a turn and isn't sharing.The other parent came back 10 to 15 minutes later nay your own account and still you refused to ensure your chid shared the toys that were not theirs

...Because he had more than his fair share, and for longer than is reasonable.

"We absolutely teach our children to share, but our rule is that if they're still actively playing with something, they can finish their turn first. Once they're done, sharing is expected"

This is not what is called sharing, lol. So, if your child takes hours to finish playing with something, the other child never gets their turn from being tired of waiting?

He should have been encouraged to share. Isn't that what these kids groupdls are all about? To teach them to be sociable and learn skills such as sharing. Yes it's a pain but got to be learnt

I can imagine this - kid crying because all the toys are taken - one little boy has a huge pile of them including two of the same thing. Mum refuses to hand one over after having them the entire time.

op maybe go on amazon and buy yourself some plastic toys like this? A session like this is for sharing.

It's really good for kids to learn to share (I know modern parents often say it isn't) - it's just about learning life sucks sometimes !

LOL! That's what I noted!

lol only on MN could a woman being so utterly selfish, rude and lacking in any discernible social or parenting skills be a weapon with which to beat men 🙄

Yes, I’ve seen a boy that grows into one of these men.
We once had a beach birthday party for DD with food including BBQ drumsticks that were a big hit. One 9 yr boy ploughed through about 8 pieces of chicken while his mum stood by and said nothing.
There was a lot of food but we were surprised that his mum didn’t stop to consider how much he was consuming or how this may have impacted anyone else.

@30mins are you serious? Of course a typical 3 year old can say ‘no thank you, Im playing with that’. My 2 year old can easily say that and hold full complex conversations.
My 3 year old can say anything and is due to start school in September. He clearly even understands social situations and social etiquette better than the OP because he would have happily shared if he was playing with that many toys, or asked me why the lady was being rude if he overheard the scenario.
That’s not the weird part of the story that her 3 year old can say that.

Exactly. The OP clearly misunderstands what sharing is. When he goes to school, he will be expected to share, properly.

Because he was hogging all the toys and none were available to other families, perhaps?

After an hour, you should have demonstrated a more gracious response to these people than your child's "NO!" which is reinforcing bratty behavior.

"Come along little jimmy, you've had a good go with these toys, now its someone else's turn"

See? Not difficult.

Not really a boat is it? More of a funny story. Most children can speak at that age. I’m just amazed that people think it’s normal for a 3.5 year old to not be able to speak. That OP is lying because her child can say a coherent sentence. If your child can’t speak pretty well by that age there is some kind of delay, and you should be seeing a health care practitioner to find out if there is something wrong. Yes children develop at different stages, but also acquiring fluent speech by three is absolutely standard. It amazes me that people just ignore developmental delays in their children.

"Sharing" doesn't mean giving something up when you no longer want it. It means giving it up while you still want it.

And we wonder why people are as they are?
There are parents who actively and intentionally parent in this way.

Bring your own toys if you want your child to have everything exactly as he likes it!

We teaching sharing - but if still actively playing they can continue - that’s not sharing

I at first thought they were your own toys but reading comments realised you literally took all the toys at shared play session and guarded them like a hawk while your child played for nearly an hour by himself.
So many things are wrong here. At these kind of sessions, its usually one toy per child - maybe two, if there are not enough kids. I doubt toddler sessions are one hour long, they are shorter, so you were hogging toys for more than one session. You did not share toys even when another child wanted one, what a mean person.

You are teaching your son to be entitled and selfish.

Yes. These boys and men aren't thinking, "I'm going to take all of this so no one else can have any." It's pure thoughtlessness. It just doesn't even occur to them that everyone else might like a couple of chicken thighs.

As a mother of boys, when I bring the food to the table I always announce how much each person can have!

This.

Exactly. Why would he need two buckets? And why go to a shared environment if he does not interact with anyone, and you hog toys for an hour? You're doing your child no favours with this kind of upbringing. You yourself are probably self-centred and unaware of the needs of others.

I think you would have complained if you had got there and there were no toys for your child to play with. I don't imagine for one minute that you would have told your child that he couldn't have a toy while others were hogging them all.

The general idea is you select 1-2 toys max, play with them for a bit and then return them to the side and select a different toy, not hog 5 + toys for the duration of the session. It's selfish and unnecessary. He could not have played with the toys all of the time.

When I took my kids swimming you were lucky to get one toy....