In one of the films of the French comedy franchise "Taxi" (if you haven't seen it, watch at least the first two parts, it's worth it!) there is a moment where one of the main characters, a hapless cop and overprotective dad, dresses up his little son in full baseball catcher's armor just to play soccer.
Well, parents are often overly concerned about the life and health of their children - but on the other hand, history since the time of Charles Lindbergh and his son, and even earlier, teaches us that it's always better to keep vigil. And the story that we'll tell you today, from the user u/MotherRelationship46, is about just this.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post is a mom of a 6-month-old baby and they were walking in the park recently
Image credits: Aditya Bose (not the actual photo)
That day, a random lady approached the mom and started some casual talk
Image credits: MotherRelationship46
At first everything was fine but then the lady started asking more and more about the baby
Image credits: Maxim Tolchinskiy (not the actual photo)
Image credits: MotherRelationship46
At one moment the woman simply grabbed the kid from the stroller and started cooing and making faces at her
Image credits: Kelly Sikkema (not the actual photo)
Image credits: MotherRelationship46
The mom snatched the baby from the woman's hands, pushed her away and even punched her nose
So, the Original Poster (OP) is a mom of a 6-month-old girl and recently she was walking with her daughter in the park. The baby was in a stroller, as usual, and mom sat down on a bench to rest. And then, at that fine moment, a random lady sat down next to her and immediately started casual small talk.
At first, as the mother herself recalls, everything was just fine, but then the woman started asking various questions about the baby, her age, eating habits, and so on. Who knows, perhaps this lady was simply reminiscing about her own motherhood - but we cannot say for sure.
Moreover, then the woman leaned over the stroller, grabbed the baby in her arms, without even asking the mom’s permission, and started cooing and making faces at her. Our heroine could no longer bear this - she demanded that she return the kid immediately, but the lady didn't react to this. Not at all.
And at that moment, the OP’s maternal instincts kicked in - she rushed forward, snatched the baby from the woman's hands, pushed her away - and even slapped her in the face in the heat of the moment. Apparently, this woman got it hard, because she started bleeding from her nose.
A terrible scandal broke out - the woman with a bloody nose shouted that she would call the police (for some reason she still didn’t, limiting herself to threats), and our heroine was indignant that she dared to take her baby without asking. A crowd quickly formed and some people claimed that the lady was out of line. Others, however, looked at the author as if she was crazy - and she's now hesitating as to whether she did the right thing in this situation.
Image credits: Liza Summer (not the actual photo)
“To be honest, I personally don’t see anything reprehensible in the behavior of this mother - especially since in the first months after the birth of a child, many women really experience increased feelings related to the safety of their baby,” says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, with whom Bored Panda got in touch for a comment here. "It doesn't even work on a mental level - on a hormonal, biochemical level."
“But even if we exclude this factor, then if a stranger takes your baby without asking and doesn't respond to demands to give them back, this is just one big red flag. It's quite possible that this woman didn't intend to do anything dangerous, but just wanted to play with the child. But, firstly, no one will check this, since you cannot get into another person’s head. And secondly, in any case, you need to ask permission from the parent. Period,” Irina concludes.
People in the comments also massively supported the original poster, claiming that she was simply protecting her baby - and doing exactly the right thing. "You're joking, right? You're literally asking if you're [wrong] for protecting your kid?" one of the commenters wondered. "You don't know this lady! She just grabbed your daughter! You'd be [a jerk] if you didn't react this way."
As for the injured lady’s threat to call the police, people in the comments are almost sure that this would not have ended well for herself - after all, in this case, the original poster simply could have filed for kidnapping attempt. "She can go to the police. But you can get out of this with 100% truth," another person wrote. "Momma mode: activated," someone aptly summarized.
And, of course, some of the commenters also shared similar stories from their own experiences, or situations that happened to their relatives and friends. By the way, if you have ever witnessed something similar too, please feel free to share your own story in the comments below this post.
However, people in the comments stood up for the mom, claiming that she was just defending her baby
