Other family on day out

[Cheekychops82]

Went to a family day out theme park type place yesterday with the kids DS9 and DD4.
Whilst in the huge indoor soft play (have to go in as DD not tall enough unaccompanied) I was waiting at the bottom of a slide with my DS when a lad about 9-11yr? Come over and shouts “WHAT WHAT” at us.

I replied pardon? You ok? He shouts “MAKE ME MAKE ME MAKE ME”

So I said oh my mistake sorry 🤷🏻‍♀️ At this point I assumed the lad possibly had additional needs or that I was the target of some ridiculous game??

He puts on a posh accent and walks off saying “oh pardon me I am mistaken so sorry I am mistaken”. At this point me and DS do laugh, only because I am from Manchester originally and would love to have a posh accent!!

Anyway DD comes off slide and we move on. I’m then below a net bridge type thing watching DD balance and this kid appears again. “DONT EVER SPEAK TO ME AGAIN. DONT EVER SPEAK TO ME. MY FRIENDS MUM IS IN THE POLICE AND IV RANG HER”.

Ah ok mate 👍🏻

After that I didn’t see the kid again and all was done.

Around 45mins later I’m approached by a woman with 5 young lads, one of whom was the shouty lad from earlier.
So the woman is his mum and she asks me what my problem is. I reply that I’m not really sure? I explain the above.

“My son wouldn’t say that unprovoked”

Oh. Well he did.

“You’ve shouted at my son, scared him, he’s been crying his heart out to me”

I was slightly bemused and explained that I certainly did not raise my voice at him and he wasn’t crying when he was shouting random stuff at me!

“It doesn’t matter what he did or said. You are an adult and he is a child”

Yes but as the adult I haven’t acted out of line? I didn’t shout!? I barely said two words never mind shouted!?
Woman kept repeating then that I was an adult and he was a child. I think we had established that.

I said I didn’t know if there was any issues with her child but I could assure her I have not shouted at him.
She responded by saying her child did not have any issues and then proceeded to shout “STAY AWAY FROM MY SON”

FFS your child and you have on 3 separate occasions approached me!! How about you stay away from me!

It was really busy, loads of people stared at us. Totally mortified! My son was scared and said he wanted to go home, which we did. DD asked all the way home why the angry lady shouted at mummy.

DS is still upset this morning. We have annual passes for this attraction and he’s saying he never wants to go again!

Aibu to tell DS they were a batshit crazy family and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree?

I would think the DS has some additional needs too, and avoid them if you come across them again sounds like too much hassle.

Beyond batshit, they walk amongst us

this is why i avoid soft play everytime i go some twatty kid whose parents are no where to be seen pisses me off. germ hell holes!!

I think he got you mixed up with someone else, and that person told him off

I hate softplay, sadly my DC absolutely adore it. I’ve only ventured into them three or four times, the rest of the time they go with Nan .

Anyway, they sound absolutely batshit. I’m almost certain they won’t be in there the next time you go in and hopefully you never have to see them again. Sounds like a few screws are loose.

I hated soft play but if you like it and have annual passes I certainly wouldn’t let yesterday’s bizarre interaction stop you from going.

I think he got you mixed up with someone else, and that person told him off

I was just thinking the same thing. Maybe there was someone else there in the same outfit.

batshit, they walk amongst us

^^ This.

Sounds like he mixed you up with someone else who perhaps had shouted at him. Don't let this spoil your enjoyment of the place, let your son know that there are some odd people in the world but the chances of bumping into these particular ones again is very low.

Ugh, I have found from my experience that soft play centres have a disproportionate ration of assholes to anywhere else. Ignore. Reminds me of some woman who sat watching her child punching my (at the time) baby. Then got all high and mighty when I told him to pack it in after moving her numerous times only to be followed. Apparently 'noone tells my kid off but me'. Which is all well and good however, that kind of relies on you parenting in the first place rather than watch your little bruiser hitting a baby repeatdely

Even if he had mixed the OP up with someone else it's still an utterly bizarre way for a child that age (well, any age actually) to behave. Likewise the mother sounds deluded to the point of insanity "my child wouldn't make something up" haha yeah right.

Pity the pair of them, he is likely to have a miserable life.

Experiences like this are just awful - sorry it happened to you. It is all too common at these places and I think they often they are used as a kind of dont-have-to-interact-with-my-child centres which is such a shame for parents who want to enjoy them with their children.

If I were in your shoes, I would contact the place and ask them for a refund - minus the session you had - of the annual pass and explain why.

“I have no idea what you’re referring to, please leave me alone.” Repeat until they bugger off. There’s really no point in engaging further with people like that.

Yeah my first thought it someone else shouted at him and he thought it was you. Or maybe he does have issues and it all played out in his head. The mother sounds like a horror. What's she going to be like when the kid gets older and starts getting into real trouble?

Ah, one of those. Said kid will be suspended before he's a teenager because he'll be told he doesn't have to listen to teachers, police, any other adult basically. "I have no idea what you're on about,* is the best response, then ignore them.

I also think he made up that you shouted because he thinks his mum giving you shit is funny!

I'd think child has some additionaneeds, he nce the shouting at you.

He's done it to a few people.

One of them has shouted at him.

He's cried and gone to Mom.

Mom has asked who the horrid lady is.

He's looked around, remembered your face but upset /can't see other person/ maybe both roughly same age /hair colour etc and he's pointed to you.

Yeah, I definitely think someone had told him off before he saw you, and he mistook that person for you.

That's the only thing that explains what he shouted at you.

I dont know about the shouty kid maybe he does have additional needs maybe he doesn't, maybe he lied to his mum or maybe he mistook you for someone else.

As for your own 9 year old I would explain to them some children may act differently to how we would expect which may be down to additional needs or sometimes they're just naughty and likewise adults sometimes dont all react to situations the same way but the possibility of you encountering them again is small so he should give the attraction another go.

Yeah she definitely thought you were someone else.

Just as adults some kids are twats. No additional needs. They're just really unpleasant people.

I was once at a soft play with a friend and her DCs and some woman came and shouted at me like in your OP.
My friend said "No, that was me. I told him off because he was kicking a smaller child"
Ranty mum stood there with her mouth open.
Then turned back to me and continued yelling at me.
Soft play does seem to attract these people.
I think you'd be fine to go back. She's probably been all over social media talking about some horrible woman upset her little lamb and how she's never going there again.

@Contraceptionismyfriend Agreed! Those teenage lads roaming the streets in packs yelling "Whatchoo lookin' at!" and some of the dickhead OHs we read about on here were 9 once.

There’s no arguing with this level of batshit. Don’t let it put you off going though. It’s unlikely you’ll encounter this charming shower again ( & if you do, you can point them out to management!)