What would you do in this situation?

dSTAR

slipss wrote:

Just a few things. Firstly dSTAR, like has been pointed out to you by a few people I didn't pull the ribbon out of the kids hair myself or come anywhere within four feet of the kid, I just flicked it under a shelf from the ground.

Fair enough. It sounded as though the whole situation was getting out of hand and given the situation I think the natural reaction for most parents would be a protective one.

slipss wrote:

Secondly, again to dSTAR, I said I was on bail, not that I commited a crime. You are granted bail when accused of a crime before you are tried and found innocent or guilty, just thought I'd point that out.

Alright fair go mate. You are right. As I said maybe I was being a little bit over reactive. I'll give you this - at least you have the balls to stand up for something you thought was right. You are a decent bloke. RESPECT.

Tar.Aldarion

Took something from her handbag?
Bitch.

iguana

dSTAR wrote:

Bet ya half the hand wringers here who took my post completely wrong don't even have kids preferring to spout their self righteous opinions on how to look after kids.

In fairness you don't have to have kids to have a right to an opinion. Some people who don't have kids (yet or ever) would make much better parents than some parents.

My childless opinion is that without knowing the facts of the situation my guess is that the child was testing her boundaries. The mother put the ribbon there and the child wanted it off. Whether there was a practical reason for the ribbon being in her hair or not is irrelevant, a child that young does need to know who is boss. And the boss is the parent not the child. Letting a child get away with everything they want will lead to the child growing up thinking they should get everything they want because they want it.

super_furry

I would have minded my own business in the first place and never got into that row.

Tar.Aldarion

Well, I guess you are not a hero.

JustCoz

I would have stayed out of it tbh. Little kids will cry over anything, the ribbon probably wasn't hurting her if she could take it out.
If you really want to p*ss a parent off, that was the way to do it, but you probably know that now anyway

dSTAR

iguana wrote:

(A) child that young does need to know who is boss. And the boss is the parent not the child. Letting a child get away with everything they want will lead to the child growing up thinking they should get everything they want because they want it.

I agree.

Although some parents will relinquish purely because they don't want to be perceived (by the public or random do-gooders) as mistreating their children usually when the kid is having a major dummy spit.

I have this scene played in supermarkets with two different outcomes.

Scene 1 - Kid throws a tantrum and parent sticks lolly pop in their gob to placate them. A major scene is headed off but kid soon learns that tantrums are rewarded. This scene is played out right up to adulthood in various situations such as office dramas, battles between the sexes and so on.

Scene 2 - Kid throws a tantrum and mother (or father) ignores the screeching child up until the point that some well intentioned but misguided member of the public intervenes and explicitly or implicitly implies they are a bad parent. Parent advises member of public to piss off and an argument ensues. Paradoxically the child grows up to be a fairly balanced individual with respect for parents and authority.

Take home lesson - It is probably best to leave parenting to parents and if it is clear that the mother or father is not fit to parent a child let the authorities decide that and deal with it through the proper channels.