I often find myself observing other parents at the playground, not in a creepy manner, but driven by my journalistic curiosity whenever I’m surrounded by fellow parents in the wild. I seek to learn tricks from them, understand how they communicate with their children, observe different parenting styles, and discern who adopts a hands-on or hands-off approach.
While my primary focus at the park is tending to my own children, a recent incident left me perturbed by the parenting behavior of another individual. During a playdate with my three-year-old son, his friend, and our two babies, two children aged two and four approached us instead of engaging in playground activities. Despite not locating their parents, we engaged in conversation with them as our kids played.
These children displayed an unusual interest in our belongings, peeking into our handbags and inquiring about snacks. Juggling the needs of my one-year-old, I found myself bombarded with questions about food and preferences for my baby. Attempting to ascertain if they had a caregiver nearby, I realized I had underestimated the snack requirements and made a mental note to pack extra next time.
As the older child sought her mother’s assistance, the parent finally emerged from her phone, seated a few meters away. To my surprise, she seemed oblivious to her children’s actions, including the younger one bothering my baby. Despite the common tendency to be engrossed in our phones, her lack of intervention placed me in a dilemma of whether to step in to manage her child’s behavior.
Although I believe in children resolving disputes independently, this situation was unprecedented for me. After enduring the ordeal for about 20 minutes, it occurred to me that perhaps these children craved adult attention. Eventually, their mother intervened, signaling the end of the episode.
Leaving the park without confrontation, I couldn’t shake off my frustration towards the mother’s neglectful behavior, disregarding the disturbance caused by her children. While seeking a moment of respite at the park is understandable, imposing one’s children on other exhausted parents is not ideal.