S/O - Have you ever got into an argument with another parent at the playground?

[Magpie]

Well - my issue was that my kid wasn't being particularly careless. It was a public area and their kid just ended up with a bump into an object that happens to all kids. If something similar had happened to my kid at about the same age I certainly wouldn't have snapped at another parent. I'm pretty sure I would have said something like "don't worry about it" and I would have attended to my kid.

If anything, those parents looked like they were really stressed out about something. They were really young too. Still - I've never really been anyone to try to blame someone else if something happened to my kid short of something intentionally malicious, and I have a difficult time understanding why someone else is so quick to point fingers.

I think I'm more in your camp, too. And, in my neck of the woods, situations like this usually end with everyone apologizing. My daughter laughs about how "Canadian" it is, that she finds herself apologizing to people who bumped into her, and also to inanimate objects that she's walked into herself.

As you said, they were probably stressed over something that had nothing to do with you. Sometimes people just get snappish.

 

[bcla]

I think I'm more in your camp, too. And, in my neck of the woods, situations like this usually end with everyone apologizing. My daughter laughs about how "Canadian" it is, that she finds herself apologizing to people who bumped into her, and also to inanimate objects that she's walked into herself.

As you said, they were probably stressed over something that had nothing to do with you. Sometimes people just get snappish.

I didn't really respond to them, but did try to finish up and avoid them.

I suspected that they were possibly just out of high school (with a young child) and possibly homeless.

 

[Magpie]

I didn't really respond to them, but did try to finish up and avoid them.

I suspected that they were possibly just out of high school (with a young child) and possibly homeless.

How do you figure that?

I mean, I was regularly mistaken for a high school student well into my twenties, but I guarantee you I was a properly married woman of 24 when my first was born. And unless you overheard a fair bit of their conversation, how would you know if they were homeless? Versus just stressed over anything else? (An ill parent, job troubles, marital issues, etc.)

I've had friends who've been homeless, including one who couch surfed for a brief time with his two children. You can't tell just by looking at people whether they have a home or not.

 

[bcla]

How do you figure that?

I mean, I was regularly mistaken for a high school student well into my twenties, but I guarantee you I was a properly married woman of 24 when my first was born. And unless you overheard a fair bit of their conversation, how would you know if they were homeless? Versus just stressed over anything else? (An ill parent, job troubles, marital issues, etc.)

I've had friends who've been homeless, including one who couch surfed for a brief time with his two children. You can't tell just by looking at people whether they have a home or not.

Just a suspicion. We were on vacation but this area was fairly well know for having a lot of young homeless families. It was late at night and they seemed to me like they had nowhere else to go. I don't know if you've ever seen someone young who just has the look of feeling defeated by life. We had a hotel room nearby, but later when we headed back they were just kind of wandering. I tried to avoid them though, but they were headed in the same general vicinity.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Not at a playground but at a local amusement park my husband got into it with another father.

This family was walking in the opposite direction of us and the dad just plowed over my daughter, knocking her over, she even got bloody scraped knees. I'm not being dramatic, it was a hard hit. He laughed and they just kept walking, they even had the nerve to look back at her! No apologies... Nothing.

My husband yelled to him and they stopped. He kind of started to argue with DH but eventually ended up mumbling an apology. I still get mad thinking about it. All he had to do was say sorry, or anything like that and it would have been okay(we wouldn't have been happy, but things happen).

 

[dzorn]

I did once have a parent get in my face for telling her DD to "get off the playground". Mom was at the sports fields across the park. The child was vomiting on the slide repeatably and I told the older child (who was paying no attention to the litter one) to find her parent as the child was vomiting. When I told the Mom her reply was the child was 'obviously not sick they had just eaten." I told the mom nothing was obvious about it and other children did not want to play in her kids vomit.