What kind of a playground Mom are you?

Riley playing by himself at the corner

It’s another weekend, and it’s another playground visit. We try to go during off-peak hours so there are less children fighting… err… playing on the grounds. As much as I want Riley to have the social interaction with kids his age (who is not a relative), it is hard to control the environment when there are too many children running around. Call me over-protective. How can you stand it when you see your own flesh and blood being pushed out of the slide or being hit by misbehaving kids?

Last Sunday, after having lunch, Riley stayed at the play area while there were only a handful of children inside. I am always on the lookout for children who might be a threat to my son and I will try to keep a wide distance from that kid. I spotted this 4-5 year old boy who was dismantling the wheels of the toy trucks and throwing them outside the fence. I was looking around for his guardian but no one was telling this kid to stop especially when he might hit unsuspecting people with those things. I walked over to him and told him sternly that what he is doing is not nice and he should stop immediately. This boy frowned, gave me an evil stare and just continued staring at me for like 10 seconds! I guess my job (dealing with headache-inducing clients) prepared me for this because I also stared back and gave him a scary stare of my own. Then he slowly let go of the truck, placed the wheels inside the container, and ran quickly away from me. It worked! I felt guilty for an instant but it quickly vanished when I saw him doing the same thing at another area! Roar!!! I caught his eye and widened my eyes at him so he can see that I am watching him. After that, he stopped dismembering the trucks and played on the ball pool instead.

Where in the world are his parents or his guardian? And why are they not stepping in and stopping their kid from hurting other people? I saw his grandfather sitting at the corner reading a newspaper and neglecting his naughty grandchild. I am mentally stopping myself from going over and confronting the old man. Maybe he is intentionally ignoring the kid since he knows he misbehaves a lot and he is letting other people handle it.

If you are this type of parent/guardian, please do not get upset when another parent/guardian will step in and try to stop your kid from wreaking havoc. It is better that you stay at home and your kid will not influence my kid to become naughty. We all know how children are like sponges; they can soak up a lot of things, good and bad. I don’t want my kid to soak up your child’s bad behavior. 

I am Riley's mom and I am a protective parent who is not afraid to talk to you or your kid if his/her actions will directly harm my child.