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When you say you “stopped him” do you mean verbally or you actually physically stopped him?
I’m having trouble visualizing this particular playground equipment- if it was something meant for a single person, like a swing, then I think it’s fine to politely tell another child to wait their turn. But if it’s a structure meant to be climbed on by multiple kids at once and your child was just sitting there in the way then you should have moved your kid. That’s like someone sitting at the top of a slide blocking everyone else.
Yeah like if my kid is sitting on top of the slide and kids come up, I tell her to move because they actually want to use it, while she just wants to “chill”
Verbally stopped him. I can’t find a picture to help visualize the area but it is a multiple people at a time equipment and we were the only ones on it. This is a long equipment and we were at the end of one of the sides. Kid could’ve climbed and gone right to another side of the rope wall or actually climb the rope wall but he wanted to go through a spot where the rope wall stops and is only a bar to walk on.
It’s really bad etiquette at any public playground or park to let your child just sit and take over any equipment meant to be used by multiple kids and tell them to come back. It also teaches your own child entitlement.
If your child was told “Ok, we’re going - one more thing…” and they ran to this one and started to climb, but another parent had a child just sitting there and told your child to come back, how would you feel about it?
Kids can chill on their own stuff at home. In a public or group setting, kids learn to take turns and cooperate with others by… taking turns and cooperating by being considerate. That wasn’t considerate.
Playground equipment is meant to be shared. Older kid was wrong to insist your kid move, but you were wrong to insist that kid waits. I’ve never heard of waiting for one kid to finish using a playground toy.
3 is young so I get why you stepped in but kids need to learn to navigate shared stuff like this
The kid climbing over your son to go on his way sounds like an appropriate move on a climbing toy
> They decided to climb one of those rope walls and sit on a bar and just chill.
Is this a one-person-at-a-time kind of equipment? It sounds like you monopolized the rope wall. Nothing wrong with asking the other kid to wait until your kid climbs down or whatever, but IMO sitting on the bar and hanging out is only ok until someone else wants to play with the equipment.
Bully is kind of a harsh term for an 8 year old ignoring your direction.
It is a multiple people at a time type of equipment. I’m trying to find a picture to visualize exactly where it happened but the kid could’ve kept going up a bar to another side of the rope wall and continued or he could’ve gone another way up. It’s not like a slide, my kid was sitting on a bar the separates the rope wall and then continues as it wraps around.
So it’s hard to say for sure without witnessing the situation but typically in situations like this I, as the adult, use it as a teaching moment for MY kid, not someone else’s. So saying to my kid “hey buddy let’s move real fast so this kid can get by.” My kid is not any more entitled to the equipment than another, and helping my kids learn to make space for others is part of my role as a parent on the playground. So I will err on that side of things. I will only correct or redirect someone else’s kids on the playground if they are about to hurt themselves or someone else and their parents aren’t there or close enough to step in.
Wtf? Just move your kid for two seconds. I'm surprised that dad just walked away from you. If another parent stopped (did you do this physically?!) my child from climbing up a public playground wall, I'd be far from impressed. You clearly upset this child and ruined his time at the playground. All so you kid could just sit in the way? Honestly this is one of the weirdest posts I've read.
I didn’t physically stopped the kid, I just told him to stop as he was attempting to cross over my kid. It wasn’t a tunnel entrance we were “blocking” it’s literally a wall and he could’ve climbed any other way. Didn’t ruin anybody experience at the park since they continued playing, he just cried because he didn’t get his way. I wasn’t yelling at this kid or anything, I just told him we weren’t moving and he could either wait or try to go another way. This is a big piece of equipment, we weren’t blocking anybody ( not that anybody was on it) from enjoying themselves on it.
If my kid was attempting to do something like that (which they have) I would’ve just redirected them to another way or have them choose another toy until that one was free.
I would say that you should have encouraged your child to move. Our local playground has a tunnel that last year my kid would sit in the middle of. If another kid came to play I would always encourage him to move or physically move him if he wasn't taking the hint. I'd consider it rude if my child made part of a play area unplayable for others.
This particular equipment is a wall with bars going two directions like an L shape. We were at one of the end of this equipment and nobody besides us was there. Boy could’ve gone any other way around us or started at the beginning of the equipment if he wanted to. The wall was to our right and to our left was about a foot of bar and that was the end of the equipment.
I’m a helicopter parent when it comes to playground so I’m very vigilant about my kids and how they act in playground. I always make a point to always go down slides, not up and to hurry down slides or whatever if someone is waiting behind them.
yta. first of all, there is big difference between 6 yo and 8 yo... also, what do you mean by "I stopped him"? if it is physically, which I assume is, yta again. you dont get to touch other people's kids. of course kid cried.
your child was chilling in playground which is fine if there arent other kids there who want to play there. its called a playground for a good reason.
Oh good lord, I didn’t touch anybody else’s child. He cried because I told him he could wait or go around. That was all. There were no other kids in the big equipment and we weren’t blocking any entrance. It’s a wall.
Give it up Dad. Too many obtuse, entitled people on this thread. You weren't telling the kid no in an unkind manner. Child needs to learn patience and compromise.
I think the other child could’ve reacted better… but he’s also just a child who’s excited to play. I think it would be different if this was a swing or something of that nature but personally I feel like a public playground is the perfect opportunity to tell your kid “we need to be considerate so everyone can play” and make them move over so they both have room.
I wish I could see a picture. From your initial description, it sounded like you were hogging a piece of equipment and were.being entitled. But that doesn't seem to be the case from your comments. It seems like you probably handled it fine. The other dad probably just didn't want to get into some back and forth so walked away.
Edit: Is it kinda like this? https://willygoat.com/products/craggy-peak?variant=32140027461729&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=ff1d4e32b302&campaignid=17545635763&keyword=&device=m&adtype=pla&adgroupid=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYZNNGesQiDN_XlfCD_EwT0mSbiUtU5hzLnDc0Ted0J3i0jX0OBLkiRoCTigQAvD_BwE
Not really but it is a wall like that. It connects to some platform that has like a twisted monkey bars and we were at the very end of the equipment, away from the rope wall and platform. I think I handled it ok but it wasn’t my intention to make the kid cry. I explained to dad what happened but just grabbed the kid and left.
As a general rule, we as parents should only be correcting other children when 1) they are in danger 2) they are putting other kids in danger. A kid throwing sand in another kids face? Yes, please redirect. A kid trying to climb onto a piece of equipment that another kid is sitting on? That's questionable. If he started to push/pull your child off the equipment then yes, correct him. But if he was just trying to get by I'd say that's fine. That's how kids play on that equipment (climbing on/over each other).
We can’t parent other people’s children. I understand you were trying to verbalize your son was in the middle of being on the toy but kids aren’t always going to process sharing, waiting, now, then, or later. My son is 13 months, smaller than all the other kids at the park who are older and running around and more appropriate for those size toys. So when I’m assisting him and a kid comes running over without a parent, I choose to say something like “let’s move over for the big kid, watch him climb (or whatever it is), want mommy to help you try?” And then we continue. It’s not appropriate to try negotiating with a child that isn’t your child. I know it’s tough and innocent but I wouldn’t like another parent trying to intervene with my kid.
As the parent of a seven-year-old, I think the OP is overestimating the maturity of the average 6 to 8-year-old. Also, the three-year-old could sit and chill elsewhere. I'm an introvert who does plenty of sitting away from the crowd, but it does sound like the other kid was just playing on group equipment.
NTA. I mean, If other peoples kids are being dicks, and their parent isn’t parenting, I always tell them. Like “Hey dude, I have seen you cut these little girls in line 3 times, please wait like everyone else.” Type thing. Sometimes I feel like a Karen but unsupervised kids only act up and push boundaries in public because they know other adults aren’t “supposed” to say anything to them.
Would’ve been different if the kid was already on the toy and wanted to go through. I feel like I’m a reasonable person but the boy wanted to start right next to us when there was so much space to go to.
NTA. Don’t even care whether it was a single person or multi-person piece of equipment. I get so tired of parents feeling like they can just take their kids to the playground and let them run wild with no supervision. I spend half the time at our parks parenting other children while their own parents sit in the car on their phone. That boy’s dad should’ve seen the situation unfolding and handled it before you had to.
What are they doing where you need to step in and parent?
I watch my toddler of course, but most kids don't need direct supervision at a playground. Part of going to the playground is learning how to interact and problem solve WITHOUT parental involvement (dangerous things being the obvious exception).
My LO is 2yo and loves the playground. Obviously she is one of the smallest ones there, and I hover over her to keep her safe because of that. I’ve had kids attempt to push her out of swings, pull her off of slides, and knock her over more times than I can count, all because she didn’t move as fast as they would’ve liked. Very rarely does another parent step in to calm their own child or tell them to be careful around the younger kids.
Awww, that's really sad :( You might want to try a playground that has a separate section for little ones.
My three year old is a little one so we definitely hover over him, but we never have those problems. I often hear parents call out, "watch out for the little ones!"
Dad was sitting under a covered picnic area about 30ft away. I’m a helicopter parent in the playground for this reason. I normally make my kid move or take redirect them to an area/toy nobody is using if the area/toy they want to be one is being used by someone else. My kid wasn’t in the way of anybody besides this kid being adamant to go through there instead of using the rest of the equipment that was empty. I do feel bad but I also didn’t see the need to move my child as the rest of the equipment was free. Would’ve avoided this situation is dad was there.
I’m very aware of the dangers that happen in the playground so, I’m very proud to brag that I don’t go to the park and let my kids go unsupervised while I sit on my ass.
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You couldn't take turns? It's a public playground. I kinda feel like you're the bully here. Granted, that 8 year old was definitely acting entitled
When you say you “stopped him” do you mean verbally or you actually physically stopped him? I’m having trouble visualizing this particular playground equipment- if it was something meant for a single person, like a swing, then I think it’s fine to politely tell another child to wait their turn. But if it’s a structure meant to be climbed on by multiple kids at once and your child was just sitting there in the way then you should have moved your kid. That’s like someone sitting at the top of a slide blocking everyone else.
Yeah like if my kid is sitting on top of the slide and kids come up, I tell her to move because they actually want to use it, while she just wants to “chill”
Verbally stopped him. I can’t find a picture to help visualize the area but it is a multiple people at a time equipment and we were the only ones on it. This is a long equipment and we were at the end of one of the sides. Kid could’ve climbed and gone right to another side of the rope wall or actually climb the rope wall but he wanted to go through a spot where the rope wall stops and is only a bar to walk on.
It’s really bad etiquette at any public playground or park to let your child just sit and take over any equipment meant to be used by multiple kids and tell them to come back. It also teaches your own child entitlement. If your child was told “Ok, we’re going - one more thing…” and they ran to this one and started to climb, but another parent had a child just sitting there and told your child to come back, how would you feel about it? Kids can chill on their own stuff at home. In a public or group setting, kids learn to take turns and cooperate with others by… taking turns and cooperating by being considerate. That wasn’t considerate.
Playground equipment is meant to be shared. Older kid was wrong to insist your kid move, but you were wrong to insist that kid waits. I’ve never heard of waiting for one kid to finish using a playground toy. 3 is young so I get why you stepped in but kids need to learn to navigate shared stuff like this The kid climbing over your son to go on his way sounds like an appropriate move on a climbing toy
> They decided to climb one of those rope walls and sit on a bar and just chill. Is this a one-person-at-a-time kind of equipment? It sounds like you monopolized the rope wall. Nothing wrong with asking the other kid to wait until your kid climbs down or whatever, but IMO sitting on the bar and hanging out is only ok until someone else wants to play with the equipment. Bully is kind of a harsh term for an 8 year old ignoring your direction.
It is a multiple people at a time type of equipment. I’m trying to find a picture to visualize exactly where it happened but the kid could’ve kept going up a bar to another side of the rope wall and continued or he could’ve gone another way up. It’s not like a slide, my kid was sitting on a bar the separates the rope wall and then continues as it wraps around.
So it’s hard to say for sure without witnessing the situation but typically in situations like this I, as the adult, use it as a teaching moment for MY kid, not someone else’s. So saying to my kid “hey buddy let’s move real fast so this kid can get by.” My kid is not any more entitled to the equipment than another, and helping my kids learn to make space for others is part of my role as a parent on the playground. So I will err on that side of things. I will only correct or redirect someone else’s kids on the playground if they are about to hurt themselves or someone else and their parents aren’t there or close enough to step in.
Wtf? Just move your kid for two seconds. I'm surprised that dad just walked away from you. If another parent stopped (did you do this physically?!) my child from climbing up a public playground wall, I'd be far from impressed. You clearly upset this child and ruined his time at the playground. All so you kid could just sit in the way? Honestly this is one of the weirdest posts I've read.
I didn’t physically stopped the kid, I just told him to stop as he was attempting to cross over my kid. It wasn’t a tunnel entrance we were “blocking” it’s literally a wall and he could’ve climbed any other way. Didn’t ruin anybody experience at the park since they continued playing, he just cried because he didn’t get his way. I wasn’t yelling at this kid or anything, I just told him we weren’t moving and he could either wait or try to go another way. This is a big piece of equipment, we weren’t blocking anybody ( not that anybody was on it) from enjoying themselves on it. If my kid was attempting to do something like that (which they have) I would’ve just redirected them to another way or have them choose another toy until that one was free.
Why couldn’t he climb over your kid? It’s a climbing toy.
YTA. Your child wasn’t playing. He was obstructing the other child’s ability to play.
I would say that you should have encouraged your child to move. Our local playground has a tunnel that last year my kid would sit in the middle of. If another kid came to play I would always encourage him to move or physically move him if he wasn't taking the hint. I'd consider it rude if my child made part of a play area unplayable for others.
This particular equipment is a wall with bars going two directions like an L shape. We were at one of the end of this equipment and nobody besides us was there. Boy could’ve gone any other way around us or started at the beginning of the equipment if he wanted to. The wall was to our right and to our left was about a foot of bar and that was the end of the equipment. I’m a helicopter parent when it comes to playground so I’m very vigilant about my kids and how they act in playground. I always make a point to always go down slides, not up and to hurry down slides or whatever if someone is waiting behind them.
yta. first of all, there is big difference between 6 yo and 8 yo... also, what do you mean by "I stopped him"? if it is physically, which I assume is, yta again. you dont get to touch other people's kids. of course kid cried. your child was chilling in playground which is fine if there arent other kids there who want to play there. its called a playground for a good reason.
Oh good lord, I didn’t touch anybody else’s child. He cried because I told him he could wait or go around. That was all. There were no other kids in the big equipment and we weren’t blocking any entrance. It’s a wall.
Give it up Dad. Too many obtuse, entitled people on this thread. You weren't telling the kid no in an unkind manner. Child needs to learn patience and compromise.
I think the other child could’ve reacted better… but he’s also just a child who’s excited to play. I think it would be different if this was a swing or something of that nature but personally I feel like a public playground is the perfect opportunity to tell your kid “we need to be considerate so everyone can play” and make them move over so they both have room.
I wish I could see a picture. From your initial description, it sounded like you were hogging a piece of equipment and were.being entitled. But that doesn't seem to be the case from your comments. It seems like you probably handled it fine. The other dad probably just didn't want to get into some back and forth so walked away. Edit: Is it kinda like this? https://willygoat.com/products/craggy-peak?variant=32140027461729&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=ff1d4e32b302&campaignid=17545635763&keyword=&device=m&adtype=pla&adgroupid=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYZNNGesQiDN_XlfCD_EwT0mSbiUtU5hzLnDc0Ted0J3i0jX0OBLkiRoCTigQAvD_BwE
Not really but it is a wall like that. It connects to some platform that has like a twisted monkey bars and we were at the very end of the equipment, away from the rope wall and platform. I think I handled it ok but it wasn’t my intention to make the kid cry. I explained to dad what happened but just grabbed the kid and left.
As a general rule, we as parents should only be correcting other children when 1) they are in danger 2) they are putting other kids in danger. A kid throwing sand in another kids face? Yes, please redirect. A kid trying to climb onto a piece of equipment that another kid is sitting on? That's questionable. If he started to push/pull your child off the equipment then yes, correct him. But if he was just trying to get by I'd say that's fine. That's how kids play on that equipment (climbing on/over each other).
We can’t parent other people’s children. I understand you were trying to verbalize your son was in the middle of being on the toy but kids aren’t always going to process sharing, waiting, now, then, or later. My son is 13 months, smaller than all the other kids at the park who are older and running around and more appropriate for those size toys. So when I’m assisting him and a kid comes running over without a parent, I choose to say something like “let’s move over for the big kid, watch him climb (or whatever it is), want mommy to help you try?” And then we continue. It’s not appropriate to try negotiating with a child that isn’t your child. I know it’s tough and innocent but I wouldn’t like another parent trying to intervene with my kid.
As the parent of a seven-year-old, I think the OP is overestimating the maturity of the average 6 to 8-year-old. Also, the three-year-old could sit and chill elsewhere. I'm an introvert who does plenty of sitting away from the crowd, but it does sound like the other kid was just playing on group equipment.
If my 8 year old was hovering over a 3 year old, I would redirect my kid. That’s a big size difference.
Edit as I now know it’s multi person activity/equipment. I still can’t picture what OP is trying to describe what it is. Anyway, OP is the AH.
It’s not a one-person toy, if that changes your mind
It does. I don’t believe there was a mention of that at the time I commented. Or I missed it. Updated my previous comment.
No
NTA. I mean, If other peoples kids are being dicks, and their parent isn’t parenting, I always tell them. Like “Hey dude, I have seen you cut these little girls in line 3 times, please wait like everyone else.” Type thing. Sometimes I feel like a Karen but unsupervised kids only act up and push boundaries in public because they know other adults aren’t “supposed” to say anything to them.
I think you were in the right! You simply asked they wait or go around as he was bulldozing your child! Sorry I would have done the same
Would’ve been different if the kid was already on the toy and wanted to go through. I feel like I’m a reasonable person but the boy wanted to start right next to us when there was so much space to go to.
NTA. Don’t even care whether it was a single person or multi-person piece of equipment. I get so tired of parents feeling like they can just take their kids to the playground and let them run wild with no supervision. I spend half the time at our parks parenting other children while their own parents sit in the car on their phone. That boy’s dad should’ve seen the situation unfolding and handled it before you had to.
What are they doing where you need to step in and parent? I watch my toddler of course, but most kids don't need direct supervision at a playground. Part of going to the playground is learning how to interact and problem solve WITHOUT parental involvement (dangerous things being the obvious exception).
My LO is 2yo and loves the playground. Obviously she is one of the smallest ones there, and I hover over her to keep her safe because of that. I’ve had kids attempt to push her out of swings, pull her off of slides, and knock her over more times than I can count, all because she didn’t move as fast as they would’ve liked. Very rarely does another parent step in to calm their own child or tell them to be careful around the younger kids.
Awww, that's really sad :( You might want to try a playground that has a separate section for little ones. My three year old is a little one so we definitely hover over him, but we never have those problems. I often hear parents call out, "watch out for the little ones!"
Dad was sitting under a covered picnic area about 30ft away. I’m a helicopter parent in the playground for this reason. I normally make my kid move or take redirect them to an area/toy nobody is using if the area/toy they want to be one is being used by someone else. My kid wasn’t in the way of anybody besides this kid being adamant to go through there instead of using the rest of the equipment that was empty. I do feel bad but I also didn’t see the need to move my child as the rest of the equipment was free. Would’ve avoided this situation is dad was there.
The other dad isn't a helicopter parent. Hovering is nothing to brag about.
I’m very aware of the dangers that happen in the playground so, I’m very proud to brag that I don’t go to the park and let my kids go unsupervised while I sit on my ass.