Rude old man shouted at 4 year old DS

Astonished at some of the replies here. If people can no longer be patient and gentle with bloody children, there's no hope.

Funnily, even before COVID (when the needs of children were sacrificed for the rest of us), it was on Mumsnet when I first came across this general attitude. Someone commented 'why do people put 'baby on board' signs on the back of their car?'. Granted, those signs are not to my taste, but their response was 'it's not my child, so why should I give a shit?'.

It depressed me, and stuck with me!'

Also. What’s his age got to do with the price of fish?

and you were rude as well.

What was your child doing? Without knowing it’s hard to judge.

It sounds as if the man was rude, however saying your son is 4 is not a good reply to someone stating that u need to control him.

You should have had eyes on your 4 year old and then you would’ve known what happened. Sorry.

Sorry is he now an "old man" at 65?

If your child was that far behind you have no idea what he was doing/how he was blocking the man's path etc or if he was safe.

Obviously he should not have shouted but maybe he asked quietly and your son didn't move?

The heat is making people very grouchy but I don't think you covered yourself in glory here.
You were no better than he was to be honest.

He was probably very hot too, but some adults seem tp expect kids to grow up and be courteous while showing no manners themselves. I guess this could be a trait associated with older generations who were brought up in a more kids seen but not heard/ deferentual vibe.

I think in general there is a really unpleasant negative attitude towards children in this country. Maybe because we are all becoming more insular and self-focussed, I don't know. But it's definitely not pleasant.

Yanbu being old is not an excuse to be a arsehole. All these perfect parents on here who hold there 4 yo hand and don't let them step behind are also being unreasonable. I've seen plenty of mums walking ahead when their child is having a tantrum and kids being slow. Plenty on the school run who are walking ahead with older kids and little ones dithering, very normal. I've never seen a 4 year old run into the road for unknown reason, they'd only do that if their mum actually crossed over without them.

Four really isn’t a toddler. Four is school age!

Fgs

Older people are so wary and unsteady in their feet. A unsupervised toddler is so unpredictable.

A fall is statistically likely to hasten ab elderly person's death.

Yes he reacted harshly but it's completely understandable.

Stay close to your child - for everyone's sake especially your child. 10 metres is massively distant

I agree with PP, I wouldn’t have a four year old trailing that far behind me without my eyes on him.

Being old is not an excuse to be a bullying ill mannered git. Ever.

Good for you OP, I bet he wouldn’t have shouted at your son if he’d been with his dad

You're being judged a bit harshly here on something irrelevant imo - he probably would have shouted anyway if you'd been walking 3 abreast and had your 4yo next to you. Op's post isnt about where her child was it was abkit whether this man was rude or not ( he was). YANBU.

Your 4 year old kid should not be 10 meters behind you. You are being irresponsible.

When I looked back, he was on the phone. Who to, I have no idea.

What's that got to do with the price of fish?

We need a diagram

If you could see your son, you’d know exactly what happened wouldn’t you. So here lies the problem and no one can comment properly based on not having the full story.

Personally I would be annoyed if someone shouted at my 4YO but I also wouldn’t be as abrasive as you sound. Maybe he had mobility issues and your kid was hovering in his way making him loose momentum? Just because he’s your little darling doesn’t mean everyone else will find him delightful. Maybe he had said excuse me and your kid was in his own world?

The vote is completely biased as you’reboth unreasonable.

Plenty of 4 year olds could make a mistake and run into a road. The fact that she had a buggy with her suggests he could be fairly young for his age

Yeah your 4 year old was 10m behind you on a public street. Even if your 4 year old is the most sensible kid ever, that's called completely irresponsible parenting.

I wouldn't let a 4yo walk behind, that was a silly idea.

Why did you have an empty pushchair?

You should have had your 4 year old in sight in front of you or immediately behind you. What was the buggy for? He was rude but you engaged in an argument in front of your kids with him. Neither of you look amazing but he was ruder

Why is how old he is relevant?

He shouldn't have shouted but to be honest you should keep a closer eye on him, if he’s behind you, you can’t see what he’s doing🤷🏻‍♀️