Toddler Drama

What do you do if someone else's toddler is smacking, snatching and pushing your toddler and the mother of this child stands there and does nothing. Is it your responsibility as a responsible adult to discipline this other child? I always believed that you should only discipline your own child unless your a teacher in a school of course! Or do you simply take your child away from the situation therefore instilling to your own child that the behaviour of the other child was ok and it is her that needs to move away. 

We come across there situations all the times as parents and it's incredibly frustrating! I always discipline Mia if I see her doing something she shouldn't. Rarely will Mia snatch toys and Mia has never hit or pushed another child. I guess that stage is yet to come or perhaps we have avoided that stage altogether! It makes me really mad when other parent stand there and watch their children pushing and hitting others and do nothing. No wonder your child continues to behave in this way when there are no consequences. 

The thing that made me think about writing this post was that I took Mia to mummy and toddler play place the other day and there was a boy there. Probably around 18 months - 2 years old who continuously pushed, hit and snatched toys from Mia the whole time we were there. I saw his mum watching on at least  2 occasions and allowed the situation to happen where I had to step in and remove Mia before she got battered by this boy. I understand as much as anyone that you can't always watch your child all of the time and that on occasion your child may snatch or push and you didn't see. But this was ridiculous. I'm sure it wasn't only Mia that was getting the brunt of this toddlers frustrations either that day and I did think maybe his mother has given up disciplining him because he's just like a bull in a china shop and maybe she is so stressed she is just ignoring the problem. Either way I feel Mia was taught a bad lesson because of it. I feel that she was taught that to hit and push and snatch gave that boy rewards like having the toy he wanted while Mia had to give it up and come away. 

It also makes me think about the lessons we teach our children when they are at school. 'If someone hits you tell the teacher' well I went to school and followed this rule and if we are being honest this never worked. 

Maybe the lesson should be 'if someone hits you, hit them back twice as hard and then they won't do it again' 

Or maybe if the parents of these children who go around hitting other children were stricter and didn't allow their children to behave in such ways we wouldn't have as many bullying issues at school. I mean it seems harsh saying that getting away with hitting as a toddler may turn you into a child who hits children at school but hey, it all starts somewhere right?! 

Have you ever come across these issues as a parent? What are your opinions?