My Dd is not yet 4 so i don't know whether the following is odd or normal
Took DD today and she ran to sit with a girl who was on her own. So i sat with her, assuming that the woman standing behind the girl was her mum. It then became clear she wasn't. The girl was chatting away and as time went by i thought "she doesn't seem to be with anyone". So nudged the conversation in the direction of her school, how old she was etc. she was 7, thinking that i may end up having to do something. We had been there about 35 minutes with no sign of an adult when a suitable opportunity to ask "are you waiting to be picked up" arose.
To which she pointed at a man with a baby and said "my dad's over there". 
he was right over the other side of the restaurant with his back towards us, separated by a partition. He had not realised she was talking to me until she went over and he came to apologise for her bothering me. She wasn't with any friends when we went in where, just sitting sadly on her own in the middle of the restaurant.
Is it just me or is this a very odd thing to do with a 7 year old child ?
AIBU?
Or is this an odd thing to do in Mcdonalds ?
OhDearNigel · 25/09/2013 19:09
But OP if you didn't know who her parent was in the middle of a packed McDs, how would you know he wasn't constantly turning and looking over? 
He's probably got himself and the baby a seat and she wanted to sit on the high seat. He was probably stuck then, as he couldn't leave the baby alone and check on her, and he couldn't take the baby to check on her because he didn't want to lose his own table.
If she was 7 that would be Y3. Although I wouldn't let mine I've seen some Y3s walking to school alone. I think this is the age that parents start to differ in opinion over how much independence to give their children, and wouldn't judge someone for having different views than mine.
Classic MN on here. Perhaps come post on the bullying thread Nigel? 
Seriously people, read the fucking OP.
OP, yes a bit unusual, but to be fair you don't know that the Dad hadn't 'clocked' you and been observing regularly because he wasn't on your radar.
But as well as acknowledging that older kids enjoy a bit of independence, especially the glamour of sitting on a high bench, that parents of older children are also sensitive to the fact that you gaily engaged her in the kind of conversation that we are all trying to teach our kids to avoid with strangers. Anything that identifies them or makes them easy to find, like name of school. So many people are viewing your eager conversation with the child with some 
.
that's exactly why I put 'crime' in speech marks because I used the word 'odd' as well.
Mine preferred the breakfast bar style tables. Horrid things. I've done the same in the past and left them to sit there on their own. In the situation you describe though I'd probably have nipped over, said 'its ok, she's with me, I can't sit on these things and I'm just over there' and left them to it.
I wouldn't have left them to it without saying something for 35 minutes though.
I had a McChicken Nugget happy meal last night AND a strawberry milkshake. I'm 39. A special place in hell awaits me. I enjoyed it 
Jesus - Yes, I think that might have been exactly what she should have done.
Oh good, I was worried I'd just killed the thread Unless people are just rallying to tell me how vvvv U I A B.
"But as well as acknowledging that older kids enjoy a bit of independence, especially the glamour of sitting on a high bench, that parents of older children are also sensitive to the fact that you gaily engaged her in the kind of conversation that we are all trying to teach our kids to avoid with strangers. Anything that identifies them or makes them easy to find, like name of school. So many people are viewing your eager conversation with the child with some ."
Really, are you serious? Wouldn't really be concerned with someone chatting to my child in these circumstances, if I did she wouldn't be sitting alone. Stop making out that there was something wrong with the OP's behaviour.
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I can totally imagine my DS8 wanting to do something like this - although in his case he'd be popping back every 5 minutes to say 'look mummy, I'm sitting on my own!'
OP you did nothing wrong. If parents don't want their children to observe the social conventions - and chatting with a stranger in a communal seating area is perfectly conventional - then they shouldn't let their kids sit by themselves.
That said, you don't know the dad hadn't clocked you, no?
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