A classic soft play AIBU

[DinoNuggetsRUs]

So at soft play today, there was a football box section with two goals on either side.
probably about five or six 3-4 year olds in there and a couple of older kids around 6 or 7.
the older kids were absolutely belting the ball about really hard. Mums were stood on the side telling them to keep the ball low and the kids were just pretty much ignoring them. After the 3rd time one of my two 4 year olds got belted on the side of the head with the ball I said to the mum ‘can you take him out?’ as it was the same boy who was doing it and he wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying when she was asking him to be more careful. It was a knee jerk thing for me to say cause I was pissed off but in my head I was thinking, he’s not doing as he’s told, if that was my child I would have removed them from the situation or at least got them apologise. He definitely wasn’t doing it on purpose he was just kicking the ball too hard.
My kids were taking shelter in one of the goals at one end as the balls we’re just coming from everywhere at high speeds and she said the kids were unable to play football because mine were sat in the goal, there was a goal the other side but I kinda see her point but they were scared to come out as they kept being twatted by the ball.
Anyway, me and the other mum ended up having a chat which turned quite heated, I kept saying to her I’m not trying to have an argument, it’s just mine was on the floor crying and her child was STILL booting the ball around at high speed. I ended up just getting mine out of there, which I probably should have just done in the first place tbh without mentioning anything.

Looking back, I genuinely don’t know whether I was being unreasonable or whether the other mum was for not taking her child out when he was ignoring what she was saying.

That's how softplays work.

You have little ones, you follow them everywhere because that's literally your job.

They are the oldest and can no longer get hurt, you sit down and let them get on with it, keeping an eye on them from far.

When I used to take mine to a local softplay the footballs were soft so nobody would get hurt if they hit a child. I would have told a member of staff.

Soft play on a rainy bank holiday Monday is a recipe for disaster in my experience.

YABU sounds like the older kids were actually trying to play football in the football area and yours were in the way in the goal! You should have got yours out and taken them to a more suitable area.
It’s definitely not ok when older kids are in the toddler areas messing around but it works both ways, you can’t expect older kids not to have fun because smaller ones are around

This is the point I would have removed my child.

Having said that, I know I’ve said things in the heat of the moment too - hopefully she’ll think about it (although I doubt it).

This. Its football area for playing football.

Yeah we have yet to use a football section at a soft play for this reason (and my son is now 7)- the play in there is quite rough and I don't think he's aged into it just yet- maybe soon. I kind of always think of those spaces as unofficially for the 7-10 group, unless really quiet on a weekday. I also would have removed mine at just 4, probably as soon as I saw the older kids coming into the space, the rest was inevitable really...

Should have just taken your kids out. They older kids were using it for what it should be used for. Take your kids to a gentler part where they won't get hurt. It's not that hard.

OP I think you now know that you were being unreasonable so just take it as a lesson. In future, if you feel your kids are in danger just remove them, teach them that a goal is where balls are kicked (often at high speed) and avoid the football pitch. In a few years, yours will be the older ones trying (but so desperately failing) to keep a ball controlled because of some younger children. They all need to be able to play, hopefully there’s enough space elsewhere in the soft play so that everyone can be happy.

You would have told a member of staff that kids were playing football in the football area? To what end?

I would have taken your kids out and let the bigger ones play. There’s usually plenty of designated areas for smaller children to play away from bigger ones in a soft play. The football bit is one of the few bits where the older ones can let loose and play. I only let mine play in there at that age when we were there during term time so no bigger kids.

YWBVU to question someone else’s parenting when her child was using the area appropriately and yours were blocking the goal!

told a member of staff what?

That little ones were left by their parents in the football section disrupting the football?

The older ones were playing in a way that was appropriate for their age and the area they were in. If your children are scared of the balls or not able to play appropriately in that area then they shouldn’t be in there. You’ve said yourself that the older children weren’t doing anything wrong.
I would have told you to piss off if you had tried to tell me to remove my 7 year old who was doing nothing wrong.

This reminds me of the time we were at a splash park and a woman complained that my son accidentally splashed her a little whike she was sat right at the edge of the water with her feet in and he was playing in the water.

No I would have removed them from the goal and told them that’s there was a child in there being a bit rough not listening spoiling it for other children and hurting them. Basically being a little shit why should the children who are behaving get removed? Should be the kids who are being little shits with a wet lettuce parent doing nothing about their bratty kid.

Maybe its a good life lesson, that if you sit in a goal then you're liable to be hit by a ball

Sorry OP, I think YABU. Acted defensively which is understandable but right when you said you should have just removed yours

Or they could have waited until the younger ones had finished playing in there then it wouldn’t have been a problem.

But the OP literally said these kids weren’t doing anything wrong or being ‘little shits’, they were playing football in the football area. In fact it was the children of the OP who were getting in the way of the appropriate by being in the goal of the football area.

Older kids are playing football in the football section. You will cringe so much when yours get older 😂.
It's the ones standing in the middle blocking the game while mummy smugly smiles at her little darlings who are spoiling the game.

"being a little shy" doesn't cover someone who is too young and who doesn't belong in that section, that's not why shyness means. The only brats are the entitled ones you seem to be raising

The younger children could have stayed in there, nobody was kicking them out. The older ones were just coming in to play football in the football area. If they younger ones don’t like that then they are the ones who leave because the area is being used for its intended purpose,
I’m going to guess you have very young children from your posts on here. Kids playing football in a football area are not little shits.

3 and 4 year olds shouldn't be in the football section. It isn't sensible. Put them in a section designed for their age group.

Mine are grown up now so I’m long past putting up with other people’s bratty kids at soft play. Mine have severe autism so I used to have to go in with mine or they would get bullied. So yeah I’ve come accross more than my fair share of bratty kids with feckless parents.

If the older kids were mine I'd have told them to calm it while little ones were around. If they'd hit a little one with the ball to the point they were crying then they'd have been made to come out.

The goal thing is such a red herring, they were in there for a matter of minutes while I spoke to the mum. Maybe not even that. I’ve accepted the majority of answers, I’m not sure why some people are so needlessly antagonistic.🤣 I wasn’t rude to the mum, I didn’t get heated, I repeated over and over again I’m not after a row and removed my children. She wasn’t aggressive either but I could see she wanted to bite more but as I was calm she couldn’t have really. And also - I came here for an opinion, I’ve got that opinion and accepted it, I’m not arguing it, but what’s the need in being rude about it? I’m glad I got the answer I was after as I’m always willing to accept when I’m wrong, but I kinda wish I’d posted on Reddit now instead. 🥲