That time I punched an eight year old…WTF!

[valsa]

Yeah, no doubt. My parents taught me the same thing; aggressive adult means get out. No one should have to put up with verbal and possibly physical abuse from an adult, no matter how young or old they are.

When I was about 9 years old, I got into an arguement with an 8 year old girl who lived in my apartment (arguement, nothing physical) Later that day, as I was walking home with some of my other friends, the other girls mother and aunt drove up to us, got out of their car, and started getting in my face and screaming at me (including blocking my path to be able to run home) This happened almost two decades ago and I still get anxious just thinking about it. When I was finally able to get home (in tears) my mom went to talk to the girl's grandmother (who had custody of the girl, big surprise) and the grandmother wanted to fight my mom over it, leading me to believe the mom and aunt were probably dysfunctional enough to have hurt me if our altercation had gone on much longer than it had.

[Deleted03]

An already shy 8 year old (or any other 8 year old for that matter) might not be able to physically say it when Mrs. Iwannapunchyoulook is glaring at him.

he can be both shy and impolite. It's not one or the other.

Yes go away and find your parent if someone yells at you, but if you land on someone at least try to apologize on the moment. I think as a parent you can understand why the other one is losing it, tell your kids s/he has to apologize as soon as something happens and once the apology is out, just go get you, and you can deal with the yelling.

I received snow balls made with rocks before, I wish someone had been there to tell those kids to knock it off or treat me like a human being and apologize, but there were no adult in sight.

[CanadianHippie]

he can be both shy and impolite. It's not one or the other.

*I'm going to assume you meant "shy and polite"*

As someone who spend most of her childhood cripplingly shy, I can attest to the fact that they can very much be mutually exclusive. If I were in the boys situation and had some pissed of adult glaring at me and berating me, all I would been able to do is stare at the ground and shake. Saying "I'm sorry" even to a toddler would have been physically impossible with the mom staring at me.

[pixydust]

*I'm going to assume you meant "shy and polite"*

As someone who spend most of her childhood cripplingly shy, I can attest to the fact that they can very much be mutually exclusive. If I were in the boys situation and had some pissed of adult glaring at me and berating me, all I would been able to do is stare at the ground and shake. Saying "I'm sorry" even to a toddler would have been physically impossible with the mom staring at me.

This. When I was a kid I was very shy, and this would have had me in tears. My youngest is shyer than I was (I didn't think it was possible!) and this would have had him wailing and running to find me. Shy kids may seem rude to people without much experience with them, but they really can't control it. Believe me, they hate it, and it embarrasses them to be so shy.

[patsymae]

Don't most playgrounds have areas designated for children of different areas? Our all do, and there are also a couple of small "tot lot" parks for little kids that have absolutely nothing older kids would be interested in.

When older kids and younger kids are around, somebody is going to get knocked down/whacked accidentally, whatever. You try to teach the older kids to be careful when little ones are around, but stuff happens.

Some parents are just insane. I watch my 3-year-old granddaughters and we go to an indoor playspace--have a very nice group of members that are quite relaxed (probably not accidentally mostly grandmas, nannies and a couple of dads) and the kids play great and we all get together outside that facility. Then there are the helicopter moms (it's a university town) who follow the kids around (this is indoors, you have to pay to get in,it is designed for young children, enclosed and about as safe as you can get without keeping the kids tied up). They get on the play equipment, harass the other kids ("I think your turn is over") and generally are a pain in the butt. And their kids never look like they are having fun.

There was one collision when two three-year-olds just collided. The nanny of the one kid made him apologize, while acknowledging it was an accident, and then took the kid for a quiet few minutes and then took him to play with something else. But the mother of the kid that got knocked kept following the nanny, screaming at her, and later, we found out, called her employer to complain (luckily employer was not a complete jerk).

Also we have an eight-year-old boy, and guess what? He and his friends play differently from the 3-year-old girls. Their dad has told him that when the girls are, for example, on the trampoline, he and his friends have to play differently than they do when they are alone. But that's what you do in a private home.

When in a park, either take the little kids to the playspaces for little kids, or expect some bumps and bruises.

I'm talking about accidents, of course, and not outright nastiness or bullying, but really, what's the point of taking the children out to play if they can't play? When those of us in our little group leave our kids alone most of the time, we've found that they play really well together, settle the few disputes that come up, and need us less and less to handle the minutia. But perhaps that's the opposite of what these parents want?

[Wolfie]

Hmmm, am I becoming paranoid or was her comment about her sons "ivory skin" odd? Two of my kids are redonkulously pale, but I don't make comments about them like that. It makes me wonder if the kid who knocked her little guy over was darker skinned and she was trying to make that point without saying it?

I have a friend who makes comments about her child's skin tone, but it's mainly because she's half Hispanic, and has dark skin, along with her older son, so it's usually under the context of "How do those of you with fair skin deal with preventing sunburns." or "How did I end up with a child whose skin I am not sure how to care for?"

[emmiedahl]

I have a friend who makes comments about her child's skin tone, but it's mainly because she's half Hispanic, and has dark skin, along with her older son, so it's usually under the context of "How do those of you with fair skin deal with preventing sunburns." or "How did I end up with a child whose skin I am not sure how to care for?"

I comment on my children's skin tones because I have a few with tan skin and a few with my fair skin. In the summer, the difference is glaring, and amusing considering they have the same parents.

I don't think that is what this lady was hinting at, though.

[pixydust]

I comment on my children's skin tones because I have a few with tan skin and a few with my fair skin. In the summer, the difference is glaring, and amusing considering they have the same parents.

I don't think that is what this lady was hinting at, though.

I get saying things like that. Two of my kids have my very Irish looking skin, the youngest is olive, like my mom. I guess it's the context, talking about preventing sunburn or chatting about the differances in the kids appearances I think is normal....I just thought it was odd, but I live in the south so I may be jumping to conclusions because of my area.

[MrsKay]

To me, the ivory skin description sounds like a mother obsessed with everything that's perfect about her speshul little snowflake. Like an attempt at a poetic description, in case the post didn't make it clear how flawless and perfect her child is.

At least she admitted to overreacting, in the comments. Still, lame title. I will admit, there have been times when I've wanted to dropkick kids for making my kids cry, but I sure as hell don't go around telling everyone that. Way to give yourself a reputation as a violent nutcase.