AIBU to let my grandson stay on the swing

[GrannyMW50]

While I'm looking after my grandson (2 &1/2), it's my job to keep him safe and happy. I do want to teach him social skills (sharing etc)...but also that he's important & he shouldn't necessarily put other people ahead of himself (especially strangers).
So, when at the park, I allow him to stay on the swing even when there are people nearby waiting for a turn.

At a park today, there was a very vocal mother with 2 children. She came along about 1 minute after gs had got on the swing. One of her children got on the other swing while her 2nd child had to wait. She kept saying, very loudly, that other child had to wait until we finished. Until he complained enough that she removed her daughter from the swing to let him on (making her daughter cry). Why would she think it's ok for my gs...a stranger...to be upset by being removed for her children?
There was another (I assume) grandparent that had taken child from her pram to sit & wait right next to the swing for a turn. Why not go on a different activity while waiting? It just feels pushy!

My grandson had waited ages for a turn...but from other areas of the park..& went running over once the swings were free. What rules do other people go by...& do these change with children's ages?

In that case, if it's busy and people want the swings and you've had them 3-4 mins: "ok, ten more pushes and then it's time to get off so other people can have their turn. The park is for everyone".

Not eating all the toast/cereal/milk if I know someone else in the house also needs breakfast

Driving every day, giving way to pedestrians/other cars

Public transport - letting people get off before you get on, sharing your seat,

Not barging in front of other people in queues for tickets, coffee, the post office, etc.

I haven’t even gotten to the office yet & I’ve already used my sharing skills multiple times.

All the examples you’ve given are irrelevant.

I don’t give money to charity because I don’t want other people to piss my money up the wall. I donate items to baby banks instead. That is not ‘sharing’ though is it.

Adults may share in the context of equipment at work for example when there isn’t enough of something. Or may share a table at a cafe where there is no other space left.

This mentality wrecks all the nice things because it creates such a bad feeling that then unnecessary policies are brought in because ordinary people don’t want to suffer your selfishness

My son refuses to go on anything at the park until he’s been on the swing. It’s infuriating to me, but it’s also not worth the argument trying to get him to play elsewhere, so we would be the people waiting by the swings.
We don’t expect people to get off for us though. So you will also hear me repeatedly reminding him he has to wait his turn. And that’s very much what I mean, not a backwards way of trying to get the other people to get off. Maybe that’s what happened in your case.

Sorry OP I think you were taking the piss a bit here! I agree he shouldn’t have got off immediately but 7 minutes is too long when there are other children waiting.

Yes he should be taught that he is entitled to his time, and yes other children do need to learn to wait as some of them expect you to get off as soon you’ve sat down, but in this instance, you were allowing your grandson to hog the swings!

You sound like the woman who took her kid to the swimming pool and decided to take all the communal toys and hog them for over 45 minutes and then got upset when another parent took some. Is she your daughter by any chance?

😂😂 I just made reference to that thread as well! Definitely cut from the same cloth these two!!

So the woman had x2 kids and x1 swing but wanted the OP's grandson to get off his swing so she could have x2 swings?

Yeah fuck that, I'd have let my grandson stay on out of principal.

If the park was busy / no swings were available I'd have hurried my grandson along so the two kids could share one swing but no way would I give up the swing when she already had one, she was a CF to expect you to do so.

Absolutely depends how long he was on the swing. But I get a feeling that you wouldn't care if he'd been on it for half an hour. Like that op on here who let her son choose 10 toys from a swimming pool and then told her son not to share when other kids arrived.

*just seen the update "5-7 minutes". That's a long time for a swing.

Yes! I just referred to this. First thing it reminded me of!