Playgrounds..........

[Anordinarymum]

OK so this is lighthearted because in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really mean much but at the same time some parents of their precious children really get my goat.

I went for a walk with my grandson (3) and the dog today to a local park/woods .
As we moved near to the children's playground he said he wanted to go in there and he did. I couldn't go in because we had the dog with us, so I walked around the fence and got as near to where he was playing as possible.
We were only a few yards apart. I could speak to him and he could hear me, and answer back. It was the best I could do.
He went to go on the slide. It is mounted onto a hill and you have to climb up to get to it.
There were three older children already there .I saw them all standing around him and he moved away from the slide. The oldest one was saying something to him but I could not hear.
He walked over to a circular thing on a pole which went round and round.
The children moved across and the girl pushed him off it and started playing on it.
I watched. I asked him if he was OK and the girl, realising he was not by himself got off and he got back on.
Then she stood really close to the thing and kept putting her hand across to make him get off.
The mother came over and told him to take turns and asked him to stand back which he did. She looked across at me, rolled her eyes and smiled.
I wanted to punch her lights out.
I watched the girl playing on it and my grandson waiting to go back on.
When she got off the mother brought another child over to have a go putting her hand across to stop him from going back on the thing and told him to wait.
He waited and then he got back on and played for two minutes and we left.

Yes I could have caused a fuss but what good would it have done?
Later I thought about it and decided it was a lesson in life for him. Still feel a bit miffed even now though

You need to cultivate a decent death stare accompanied by the words "No thank you" when a child pushes. Works a treat. Nobody can accuse you of being harsh either.

I used to observe from the railings with the dog when mine were small, if I tie him up where he can still see me he barks.

But your grandson can get mugged off, yeah?

😂

That was in response to the dog never gets tied up comment ^

If you can't adequately supervise the dog and grandson, you should not be taking both out. The other adult was probably pissed that she had become the default turn overseer, and so had a responsibility for a child she doesn't know dumped onto her.

@PaddyPadster

3 year old wasn’t on his own though was he, he was being supervised the whole time. You can’t leave dogs tied up anymore because they are being stolen left right and centre. As OP said, it was a dog walk not a trip to the park. I agree with you OP but I would certainly have said something to the other child and then the mother.

So the 3 year old was being adequately supervised from outside the playground, but the dog would not have been adequately supervised if tied up outside with the OP in the playground?

OP has not said if the 3 year old was actually bothered by the incident. Many children would have just shrugged and moved on to something else.

@WalkersAreNotTheOnlyCrisps

I think OP is getting a bit of a hard time here, at my local playground a few parents stand at the railings watching their child if they have a dog with them, some even sit on the benches...

I’d have probably tied the dog up though OP and marched over if the mother kept stopping my child getting on it 🤷🏼‍♀️

I sit on the bench sure but am available to run to their aid if anything happens. Like the other day when my 3yo fell off the structure. Luckily the ground is soft and she was left with just a massive bruise on her bum but I was there to make sure she was ok and moving.

That's why I said OP should be more closely supervising a young child. Slightly older children have much more awareness. DD just stepped back and fell off the platform and through the wide rungs of the ladder