To think any parent would do the same? Or am I bonkers

[Doritosandsourcream]

On holiday in the buffet eating dinner all I could hear was my son crying walking from the bar with his juice in his hand. I thought oh maybe he fell over so DH went over to him. Turns out that this little girl that has been picking on him for the past 2 days her dad has grabbed DS and twisted arm so tight he broke his skin and dug his nails into him. (German family)

DS has been coming to me about her saying she keeps pushing him and sticking her fingers up since they arrived. DS finally got annoyed and pushed her back earlier on in the day and she told her dad. So dad got his own back on DS.

I ran over to DH as he was shouting at the dad and the dad was just smirking and something just came over me and I punched him in the face.

Never in my life have I punched anyone and I didn’t think about the consequences at the time I just kept looking at my son he was in flood of tears.

It was the weirdest feeling I have never felt adrenaline like it.

aibu? How would you have handled it? The hotel did absolutely nothing.

OP should not have punched the man no matter how high emotions were running. Potentially violent situations should not be escalated as once violence is introduced things can quickly become out of control.

She could have seriously injured the man, he could have punched her back seriously injuring her or worse. One punch deaths happen all too often.

It will also have been very traumatising for her son, who was probably already very upset, to see his mum lose control like that. When a child is in a scary situation they look to their parents for reassurance everything is ok.

The OP should have removed herself and her son from the situation and reported the man to the hotel.

Good on you OP.

cannot believe how anyone could think it’s any way acceptable for a strange man to injure a kid!

I cannot believe how anyone could think that the only way to signal how unacceptable it is to injure a child, is to thump the perpetrator!

There would be lawless anarchy if everyone felt justified in following that approach to life. Thankfully most people can control their actions despite feeling protective outrage and anger.

Acceptable response:
Comfort son and make sure he's OK. Take photo of arm for evidence.
Report man to hotel and potentially police for assaulting my son. Ensure he is excorted off premises immediately.

Unacceptable response:
Punch unknown man in face in front of my child.

Nope violence isn't good.

Only, sometimes there's no other option if you want justice. And sometimes it's the only language people understand. This guy deliberately hurt a child. Then smirked about it and was patronising to the kid's mother (sssh).

I'd have been shocked at OP if I was there, but I'd have then been clapping, even if only inside.

I think in this situation it wasn't uncalled for.

I also think it was risky though as some men like this wouldn't think twice about hitting a woman back. And unless you're a pro boxer, he's going to do far more damage to you than you ever could to him.

I was so shocked reading your post about the girl and then her dad. I absolutely don't blame you. Well done.

Don't be silly. The OP is obviously not the "grassing" type, they prefer the ABH approach.

Looks like the dad is as much of a bully as his dd. Wtf gets so involved in children squabbles they assault a child? Bet you felt good doing that. I certainly would have and applauded you.👊👏

@CorylusAgain Err yeah exactly
in a emergency situation where an adult assaults a kid I think it’s completely reasonable for said child to see that their parents will do that for the child’s protection !!!

a grown man attacking a 6 year old! The bloody rule book has been flung so far out the window already that it’s on Mars

Sums up what is wrong with Britain today, especially Brits abroad. What an appalling role model you are to your kids, OP - smack some stranger in the face before trying to find out exactly what your unsupervised kid was actually up to.

Oh behave this happened at 18:30 airport transfer arrived at 19:30 we all had work and school this morning. As guest relations said police can take 2 hours they had no cctv anyway so no evidence.

DS perfectly demonstrated what the man done to his arm no more than 30 seconds later. The man never denied it either

randomly picked one of the bonkers answers.

There is no evidence that an annoying child is a bully. There is a chance that having been told to "shove back" the OPs child pushed a little enthusiastically, and possibly was clocked by the dad at that moment.

And yes, if my child told me someone had hurt them i would believe them unless there was evidence to the contrary.

Is this thread really still here?

As I say, thankfully most people don't agree with your attitude.

If the child was in current danger from another person most parents would physically intervene to rescue their child. That was not the case here.

Aggression fuels aggression. You see it in playgrounds and on the street.

OK, in answer to the question in your title.
No - I don't think every parent would do the same; and yes - I think you were bonkers for punching a man.

I don't agree with what he did to your son, but I think you are incredibly lucky not to have been punched back, or to not have been arrested.
The hotel 'didn't do anything', maybe because it was kids annoying each other (they'd need a full time person, just to deal with that); and as soon as it escalated, you took it to the next level.

If you're happy you resolved it by punching a man, well, I think you probably have a bit of soul searching to do.... I would feel I'd betrayed my own moral compass by doing that, as you threw the first blow. It will now be difficult to instill in your kids, that violence is wrong, and not a way to solve such issues. I think you have a long way to go, throughout your children's lives, to really consider if this is how you will resolve every incident they are involved in.
Maybe consider some therapy to talk through how you feel about your actions, and how you should resolve conflict in the future.

If a grown man assaulted my child they'd find themself in an ambulance if they were lucky.

The police or hotel would have still contacted you to update you though.

And the hotel would have told them what happened and showed them the photos etc as well as say he didn’t deny it.

Oh I hope so much that this is genuine. You are my hero. I hope I would react like this. I would certainly be fuming and would judge myself if I didn't hit the person who hurt my child.

Difference is, I probably would be there before my husband in the first place. I'm the hothead.

Don't care how rough I seem, you manhandle my child and I would wish pain and death upon you.

They probably pulled this on other people and have repeatedly got away with it. They are creating a very troubled daughter who is going to grow up and act just like her dad. It’s easy to say never use violence but, when your child was assaulted by a grown man- I can see why you saw red. Tbh I probably would have done the same thing.

I would have done the same. Well done.

Yes, because punching a child in the face would absolutely be a proportionate response to the situation OP has described.

I can't say that in the moment I wouldn't have done similar, but it's still unreasonable.
I would have called the police, if they took two hours to turn up and I'd already left then I probably would have calmed down a bit.
I'd like to think I'd set an example to my children of how I'd want them to behave.

What I wouldn't have done is tell my child to shove them back - you can see how that escalated the situation. The Dad deserved more than he got, but if you'd taught your child to manage the situation differently then it wouldn't have happened.

I really hope for your sake he doesnt take this further. I may feel like punching someone but would have personally reported it to the hotel, asked for camera footage and if that is not available then go to the police and tell them what your son said so they could attain it. Then sued the hell out of him.

If no evidence i still would have waited for police and paid the extra money for missed flights etc (insurance) and then you could have obtained at least his personal information to persue it further

Many years ago on holiday a man pushed my toddler over onto the ground and while I told him what I thought of him, I did not punch him which I deeply regret. grown male bullies deserve and need stopping in their tracks. Well done OP for having more balls than I did.

I would hope that I would have the balls to do the same, OP. Good for you! Of course it's not the best thing to do, but in the heat of the moment, someone hurts my child, I am unleashing my rage on them.