Random stranger in the park, can I borrow your car and drive it round the block?

[SoThisisMe]

Does this sound like an odd request? Yes?

Then why get snippy when my DS wants his scooter back? He is two, not three. Asking him in a cross "why aren't you sharing" tone how old he is (are you three?!) will not make him share, nor will it make him less upset that your child is on his scooter.

Should I have made him share? DS spends all week sharing toys at his CM's house, at playgroups, then at home with his sister. WHY should he have to share his scooter, that we took to the park for him to play with, with a random child that he has never met? Why do adults expect children to share every possession they have when most of would not dream of sharing our own stuff?

I never let my DC pick up other DCs bikes, balls ect at the park, unless it is clear they are willing to play. And I didn't mind the little boy having a go, but why was his Mum so unwilling to give it back when DS asked for it?

I was for DS.

If you would like a child to share willingly you don't take their possessions without their permission in the first place.

If the parent had asked politely if she could let her little one have a go I probably would have encouraged my DC to give permission whilst also saying something like "It's OK. He'll just have one little go up and down the path too the tree." That way there is a recognised limit to the sharing and no issue about getting it back once the 'go' is over.

I wouldn't describe asking for your property back when someone has taken it without permission refusing to share. Sharing is bound by unwritten rules and this mother broke them when she picked it up.

YANBU and that other mother was very rude. Yes, children need to share. But her child also needs to learn that you don't take things without asking and, when the owner wants something back, you give it back.

YANBU at all.

The mother should not have let her child use someone else's toy without asking first.
And she should have returned it as soon as the owner showed signs of wanting to have it back, with an apology for not having asked.

It would have been fun to tell her that you forgave her for a) not asking, b) not returning immediately and c) not apologising.