What are the most popular and reasonable rules that many people still recklessly forget? It’s necessary to use turn signals while driving? Possibly. Vote in elections with your mind, not your heart? Well, probably. Always supervise and be responsible for your toddlers? Bingo!
Well, the author of the story we’re going to tell you today, the user AnnaSunshine, recently found herself in a very unpleasant and ambiguous situation. On the one hand, some man yelled at her little son, on the other hand, the kid really did behave inappropriately in one of the oldest botanical gardens on our planet. Okay, let’s just cut to the chase…
More info: Mumsnet
The author of the post has some kids, the youngest of them is 18 months old and sometimes he can be unruly
Image credits: Maxim Tolchinskiy / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Recently the family went to Kew Gardens in London, where they have a full membership, just to walk and relax
Image credits: Blazergirl420
Image credits: Ray Wyman Jr / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
The toddler ran into a no-walking territory somewhere in the Japanese Gardens, and the dad had to step in there too, in order to catch him
Image credits: Blazergirl420
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Some random guy saw this pursuit and lashed out both at the boy and his parents, accusing them of vandalizing everything there
Image credits: Blazergirl420
The mom tried to explain that the kid just didn't understand the signs, so the man cursed him out loudly
According to the Original Poster (OP), her youngest child is one and a half years old, and he, like many children of this age, loves to explore this beautiful and vast world, while still completely unaware of the prohibitions, dangers and all the conditions that limit adults and older kids. Long story short, he can be unruly, as many toddlers are.
The family lives in the UK, and recently they went to Kew Gardens, where they have a full membership. It's not that cheap, the author admits, but the beauty of this place, one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in all of Britain, is really worth it. But let's get back to our story.
At one point, the toddler ran into a no-walking area, located in the Japanese Gardens, with some gravel sections where the stones are raked. The father tried to intercept the boy, but he slipped away from him, and the man had to step into the prohibited territory too in order to catch him there.
A guy in his thirties watched the chase with indignation, angrily pointing to the prohibition sign, accusing the OP and her husband of being terrible parents. When our heroine tried to explain that a toddler at that age doesn’t yet understand the prohibitions, the man simply yelled at the kid so that he wouldn’t disturb those stones anymore.
Well, the author didn’t escalate the conflict, answering that when the man calmed down, they would definitely forgive him. But the child still suffered from stress from being yelled at, and the mom decided to vent online, in order to enlist the support of netizens.
Image credits: Philippe Gras / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Let's recall right away that the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, in southwest London, were founded back in 1759, and today are not only a park for walks and recreation, but also a world-famous botanical research center, which has one of the largest collections of living plants in the whole world.
Some of these plants are incredibly rare, so it’s not surprising that, since they grow in a natural environment, there are restrictive and prohibitory signs throughout the park. This is completely reasonable - after all, for example, if we’re talking about the world-famous bonsai collection, the smallest of them is only 4 inches high. That is, even a little kid can easily harm them.
This is exactly what those commenters meant when they tried to draw the mother's attention to the importance of supervising small children in such places. Yes, toddlers may indeed not understand what others want from them, and why they can't just run off somewhere and, for example, pick that pretty flower - but that's what parents are for, to stop them in time.
No, people in no way justified that random dude who attacked an innocent child with brutal insults, but parents should also be understanding of where exactly they are. "The Royal Botanical Gardens are not a playground for your boisterous toddler no matter how much you've paid,” someone reasonably wrote. So please let us know what do you think about this situation?
People's opinions were divided, and many commenters just urged the mom to be more attentive while walking with the toddler in the places like this
