Should I have said anything?

[ThatCoralKoala]

I took my child to a summer party and was sat talking to her with my little one on my shoulder (no raised voices and no crying or anything). I was telling her to pass me her sweet before she ran off dancing or to eat it first because they’d asked the children not to eat sweets while dancing. A volunteer (a woman in her 60s) came up behind me and grabbed my daughter’s arm and said “come dance with me”. I explained I had the situation under control and she just wanted to play while eating. She said “give the sweet to mummy” but when I again explained I have it under control myself she took her to the dance floor and began waving her arms around. My daughter is 2 for reference. In the end I had to go over and take my daughter away and ignore the woman until she left. The party overall was lovey but I couldn’t stop thinking about it and how upset I was that she’d grabbed my daughter without her or my consent. I don’t doubt that she meant well but it didn’t make it right and I don’t want other parents feeling uncomfortable too. I sent the venue a message and asked could they speak to the volunteer and let her know that touching children without parent consent is too far. They’ve replied to say she is mortified, won’t volunteer again and because she’s a key part of organising that they won’t do events again. I feel awful now that the children’s events won’t be run again and my intention was only to ensure the volunteer didn’t overstep boundaries in future unintentionally

Exactly this! So I don’t understand the post at all, the OP already got what she wanted, what more is there to gain?

‘Been a bit more assertive in the moment’ gets to the heart of the matter, rather than being a keyboard warrior after the event.

i feel so sorry for the volunteer.

I didn't mean the volunteer was unprofessional. She has no obligation to continue to give her time. I meant the organisation's response was unprofessional. It's inappropriate to guilt-trip your customer/clients like that.

I think the OP was unreasonable but she is not the reason the woman left her role and she's certainly not the reason all future events have been called off. The response to her feedback shouldn't make her feel like she is.

I meant the organisation were unprofessional for suggesting OP was responsible the volunteer quitting and all future events being cancelled. Whether or not the info was relayed to the volunteer and how that was done is nothing to do with OP and neither is the volunteer's response.

Volunteers may not be paid but that doesn't mean they don't have responsibilities and contracts. It's rarely as simple as just not turning up for shifts. So I'd say the volunteer absolutely does have to remain professional - if only to protect the reputation of herself and the organisation. But in this instance, the professionalism of the volunteer was never in question.