Playground etiquette, who was rude her or me?

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHopeful]

Not really sure who was being unreasonable here.

Took dd to the park today (dd is 2.4 park was very busy). One of the swings became available, the one on the end of the row, so I put dd in it and started to push her.

After about 5 minutes a woman and her daughter (would guess 4 year old) came and stood right next to me. Woman started talking to her dd "you can have a go on the swing soon" "this little girl will be finished soon" "it looks like you might have to wait awhile."

Dd did not want to leave the swing so I kept pushing her for another 5 minutes. Eventually the hinting got to me and we abandoned the swing.

So was she being unreasonable or was I taking too long on the swing and should have shifted sooner?

YANBU to be annoyed by her, that's sounds pretty PA.

However at a busy park on a Saturday I'd say 10 mins on one swing is pretty unreasonable. Kids need to learn to share and take turns. A few minutes on one thing, see other people are waiting, get off and go on something else etc.

I think 5 minutes on a swing when there are others waiting is probably long enough. YABU.

In this situation, if I was the waiting parent I would (as this woman did) use the opportunity to teach DD about waiting her turn; if we were using something somebody was waiting for, I'd use it to teach DD about taking turns.

You sound really petty, OP.

Sounds like she might have just been parenting her child

I often have to manage my DC's expectations around sharing/turns etc. and when waiting for a go on a swing at the park I would have had to explain to DS1 that he would have to wait because it was the other child's turn repeatedly until his go
Even DD, who is 4, can get impatient and I sometimes have to remind her too.

10 minutes on a swing is fucking ages when someone else is waiting. Sounds like the little girl had the patience of a saint

Oops forgot to say YABU especially as you said in your OP that the park was very busy. 10 minutes is way too long when it's busy IMO.

The quite a while comment is a bit off but I'd have said the rest to my dc to make them know they have to wait nicely and if they go off they lose their turn. So I'm on the fence for this one.

I hated pushing my kids on swings
,So I would have been glad of an excuse to stop and let the other little girl have a go.

She was P.A but you sound like a selfish swing hogger, do you were both BU

10 minutes is a lifetime to a 2 year old. YABU.

I think your turn was too long in a busy park I'm afraid. She probably stayed there to make sure her dd got the next turn. If you don't, someone always gets in there first.
If the park is busy, 10 mins is hoggy.

YANBU to stay on the swing as long as your DD actually wanted to swing, though it's nice to encourage your DCs to take turns. I tell my DCs they will have to wait when there is someone on the swing, but I am trying to emphasise to them that they have to wait their turn, not hint to the swinger (or the pusher) that they have to get off.

I'll say it again the other woman's 4 year old didn't seem remotely bothered. She was playing her own game while the mother made her many many comments.

I think I was being unreasonable, but it was because she wandered straight over to me (I saw them walk through the playground door thing). And plonked herself right next to me. After 5 minutes of comments supposedly directed at her daughter, who was playing with the side of the swing and ignoring her mother I took my daughter off the swing.

So basically I was unreasonable keeping dd on for another 5 minutes but it was in reaction to this woman plonking herself virtually on top of me (I hate having my space invaded).

pictish I wouldn't have minded her at a reasonable distance to save a space (if she had been a meter away I would have get dd off the swing after about 1 minute). It was the fact she was stood that close to me I was finding it hard to push the swing without touching her.

No-one likes having their space invaded, but surely if you hate it that much you distance yourself as much as possible rather than staying put?

*sirch

sirchenjin well that would have been the mature thing to do. I chose stand your ground and seeth silently

you should have finished quicker, it is rude to hog the swings. she might have been pa, or might just have been explaining how lonb they would have to wait to her dd.

Always the best (and most satisfying!) course of action I find

Why do people keep saying she was explaining things to her dd. I am absolutely 100% certain this woman was not doing this as her daughter was not paying her the slightest bit of attention.

Fully accept I did not handle this in a mature manner but honestly this woman's comments were not an attempt to parent her 4 year old.

Yabu if someone is waiting you shorten your time. You were the rude one (spent a long time in fab local but v popular park)

YABU personally I would usually be moving DS on to something else after 2 mins if there were other children waiting.

And you have no idea what the other child is like. Maybe she had been talking all morning about how she wanted to go on the swings and was just quiet because you were there. 4yo DS would certainly be like that. I would be talking to him about waiting to help him manage himself.

We live in London, pretty much everything for kids is busy most of the time, queuing is normal and yet I am still amazed sometimes that other parents make no efforts to limit their child's turn when other children are waiting. The lack of consideration is unbelievable.

OP, while the other mother's behaviour was a bit odd, yours was plain mean-spirited. Set your DC a better example next time please.

Well I think that if there is a queue then 5 minutes is plenty long enough. But she was a bit pa with the comments to her child.

Maybe the daughter was playing her own game nicely because her mother was explaining that they just had to wait?

Argh adults who make comments to other adults via loud conversations with children.

I'd have stayed there till the moon came up for that reason alone.