Pay attention to your kids at the park!

[BananaAmoxicillin]

Was standing in the play area today watching a group of 4 children including mine play on the slide. Don’t know any of the kids but DD was playing with them. One child, looks to be about 2, takes his shoes off and wanders around - mum on phone with back turned at a table. I get him to put his shoes on in case of glass or anything you wouldn’t want to step on. Goes back to playing.

I walk over to the other side of the play area as DD has now moved. 5 minutes later I see a woman running past me, out the gate as said child has now run out of the play area and all the way down the length of the park, which leads to a main road.

Turns out that the woman was too engrossed in her phone the entire time to notice he was running out. She had 3 kids all looking to be under 7 with her and didn’t bother to watch any of them.

Now I’m not completely innocent myself as I do sit down and go on my phone when DD is playing but I always look up frequently to make sure she is okay, and she is nearly 5. But when she was that young I never sat down or faced away from her - I followed her around. Please pay attention to your kids! He could’ve been hit by a car, abducted or worse.

YANBU.

I feel so sorry for all those kids whose parents find their phones more interesting.

I agree. Sure, a moment's inattention every so often is normal, and most times shit doesn't happen. But when you have your phone out, and it's so easy to get engrossed in it, and to lose track of time, let alone the kids. . .

Basically, if you'd give your husband or nanny shit for doing it, because it places your kids at risk, then you shouldn't be doing it either.

When we spend so much time angsting about how to keep our kids safe, this one kind of seems a no-brainer.

YANBU. Don’t get me wrong, I would love love love to be one of those parents who can just grab a coffee, have a scroll and let the kids entertain themselves, but I accept that with a 4.5 and 3yo I have a while before I can become one of those women. Plus my 3yo has been on a lifelong kamikaze mission since he could crawl, so there’s every chance I’ll still need to do it when he’s 8 😂

Dh managed to lose dd2 and ds (aged 6 and 3yo) in the park (n, he wasn't playing on his phone, as it only had "Snake" on it ). He then walked home (10 minutes) to tell me.

Not his finest parenting moment.
When I suggested phoning me to see if they'd arrived home and him staying in the park would have been more sensible, he said he forgot he had a phone.

Meanwhile Dd2 and ds (who were in the playhouse) saw him leave and decided they better go home. They were found halfway home, having been distracted by blackberry picking and were very pleased with themselves for getting there.

Oh I remember being in parks and playground with mine
Somehow I winded up watching all the children every time because so many mums/child minders were just not paying attention. Don't know how many children I stopped from exiting/eating 🚬 butts/stones/discarded food on the ground to not mention falling backwards from high, conforting after falls because no bloody adult showed up. I might have been a helicopter parent but too many just did not care at all.