to expect 5 yr old to not hit/punch????

[ciyoa]

birthday party soft play, boys all boisterous, ds not usually ;prone to aggressive behaviour, seen hitting other kids, in scuffle.
AIBU to have been disgusted with his behaviour and taken home immediately, thereby missing rest of party?

You absolutely did the right thing by removing him.

Are you sure it was his fault? He may have been reacting to an incident you didn't see?

YANBU to expect him to know not to hit/punch, but because they were at a soft play party I would have probably just given him a talking to and left him to the rest of the party.

I'm no soft touch, but they all go a bit OTT at parties don't they?

YABU if all the other children were behaving the same way and he was just trying to join in and be like his peers.

Boys and girls often play rough at that age (boys usually more than girls), but if his behaviour was rougher than the others, then taking him out of the situation is probably the best move.

YANBU to take him home, it's your child so your rules, but small children do get very excited at birthday parties and soft play so don't start worrying that he needs counseling for his 'violent streak'. Simple case of over excitement and not at all unusual.

Hard to call. My ds same age and playfights. But some of his pals are very rough and do go over the top. Sadly their parents are the ones that smile weakly and say ' oh don't do that x' in a wet voice. Good for you for acting. Maybe a bit extreme but at least he will remember and learn.

cheers guys, he did say others were hitting him too, maybe am expecting a lot for 5 but i keep telling him not to copy other peoples behaviour, feel i'll be repeating this for next 10 yrs!
cos it has just started, (all seems to have gone a bit mad in yr 1 for a lot of them), want to completely nip it in bud!
maybe he'll remember this?!

If others were hitting him maybe he was defending himself? To remove him and tell him it was wrong was prob the right thing to do though.
Don't be too hard on him, he's only wee and it is easy for them to get overexcited.

I'm sure he will remember but the good thing is he is not a teenager so he won't hate you forever because of it :) Maybe some ice cream and a cuddle this evening would be nice.

Exactly what I have done with my 5yr boy who is prone to aggressive behaviour in a play centre party. So no YANBU.

Did you give him a warning before taking him home?

Torn on this - parties are notorious for over-exciting children into behaviour they usually know better than to do XYZ.

I'd probably have taken him outside to somewhere quiet, and only released him back once I was sure he was calm and had taken in the "no hitting" message. Each parent knows what gets the best results from their child.

It's hard, because you are sometimes struggle against a tide of "boys will be boys" mentality, whereby other parents don't back you up in chastising their DSs for hitting.

struggling, not struggle

Hmm DC do go crazy in soft play sometimes, the horror the horror......

I would prob have given him a stern warning somewhere away from the other DC first, but if he did it again then absolutely I would have dragged taken him home.

It's really tough though if there are other parents there who just leave them to get on with it and see who emerges still standing at the end.......