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.

@Mikimoto

still none of your business

Well, from everything we've read here, it does give you a good idea of the sort of people who unlawfully remove their children from state eduction during term time.

Gillian Keegan, is that you?

Taking one week out of school across a year has very limited impact at primary school age, and is the only way many families can afford to go on holiday together.
Ignoring the particular events of the OPs post, family holidays and memories are important.

@Doritosandsourcream
I was probably presumptuous about Germans but they all just seem so hard faced and shouty.

I'm sure you gave them a great impression of Brits too.

I totally understand, but you really shouldn't have done that.

It's an extremely poor example and it will be imprinted on your DS.

You don't know it now, but when your DS is older, it's likely he will use aggression instead of effective communication to sort out issues.

@Warum quite

I would probably use the time you have left in the country to report what happened to the police, and let them know you are no longer at the hotel?
I would want the details reported in case something came of it later.
Obviously everyone can call you out for punching someone, but… I think in the long run you’d have regretted not doing anything more.
I hope the piece of shit has a broken nose tbh and I’m glad it didn’t escalate further, as that was quite a dangerous move on your part. I think your husband was quite restrained as my partner would have probably punched him already.
Hope everything goes ok from here and the kids are ok. 💐

People have so much trust in the police, they would have done fuck all.

At least this way the twat recieved some punishment. OP still has the moral high ground, he assaulted a tiny child FFS.

Is it not accurate that some older Germans, especially ones from the DDR, maybe didn't learn so much English as younger Germans or those from 'the West'? This is what I've been told by a few folk.

yes, @Warum some older Germans, especially in the Eastern parts where Russian was the foreign language of "choice" in schools often don't speak English. Or don't speak it well.

But ask anyone who has been to Germany or who has contact with Germans (it is a cliché that many TikTokers use for laughs) the standard is

other person: do you speak English
German: not very well - proceeds to speak perfectly enunciated and gramatically perfect English using a very wide vocabulary

There are cultural differences yes.
However corporal punishment of minors is illegal in Germany.

In 2000, the Civil Code was amended so that article 1631 states: “Children have the right to a non- violent upbringing.

Are you certain he was German?

Well both of you sound like scumbags!!

Couldn’t have put it better myself.

They all seem hard faced and shouty? What an unpleasant ignorant person you are.

A certain very talented but unidentifed (by me) German actor started one video with 'excuse my bad English, I'm from East Berlin' and then went on to speak very, very good English, albeit with a clear accent.

If my German ever gets that good I'll be soooooo happpppy!

Anyway, maybe we digress from the OPs original aim.

You did the right thing!

Oh come on, this is Mumsnet. That's specifically why I mentioned normal people and the real world.

Again, try assaulting a few kids in a cross-section of locations across the country, and report back on what proportion of the parents respond by meekly alerting the authorities through the proper channels.

I 10000000% know my husband would have went for him, but had i got there first i would have absolutely done the same.

There is zero excuse to hit someone elses child and that man needed taught a lesson.

You're trusting OPs story 100% even after she's started being quite openly nasty to a whole nation of people?

well of course he was telling you to "shh" he was already in discussion with your DH. There really was no need for you to come in swinging and shouting.

Don't get me wrong, nobody should lay hands on anyone's child with the exception of having to physically remove them from danger, or if it's the only way to stop them hurting another child.

But you were in the wrong to get physical. And you should have told your son to come over and be with you when he said the other kid wouldn't stop annoying him.

(and it's not that I'm opposed to violence when necessary: I have punched a man on more than one occasion for groping me)

(as there seems to be a bit of a derail can i advertise that we did start a chat for MNetters in Germany

Page 7 | Anyone in Germany care to chat? | Mumsnet

if anyone is interested?)

I assume the police are involved?

Obviously their police will have to talk to our police and everything will take longer but he definitely needs to be arrested and charged.

If he wants to press charges against you then that’s his choice but I would not let it drop that he had assaulted my child.

What I don’t understand is how your DS is saying that this girl has been bullying him for 2 days and no one noticed?
Where were you and DH?
Were they in a holiday club?

Whoever was responsible for looking after them also needs to be held accountable.

if a adult man had assaulted my child ( any age) I would too have punched them- I would then have got them to the ground , sat on them and shouted for the police to be called as he had attacked my child. ( I would be shouting very loudly to say he attacked my child go others to join in to hold him until police arrive) quite frankly I would even use a chair as a weapon if they tried to escape. I am not playing around if someone has committed child abuse ( I am generally a very peaceful person btw!)

Anyone saying they wouldn’t have protected their child from an adult attacking needs their head looking at.

Feel so sorry for you OP. You still need to contact police

He didn't hit her child, her child said he had twisted his arm and it made him bleed. I'm not sure it's even possible to twist an arm so that the skin breaks. I have a feeling OP is exaggerating somewhat. Nobody saw it, it was just her sons version of events. The man was trying to have a conversation about the situation but OP escalated it and became physically violent straight away. It baffles me that grown ups act in such a way in front of other families.