Dear Dr. Laura,
The other day I took my 4-year-old son to the mall to get in some play time in their play area. It was a rainy day and I figured this would be a great way for us to get out of the house and get some exercise. Many other parents thought the same as the place was packed with happy kids running around and finding new friends to play with.
As I was watching my son play with one of his new found "friends" in the play area we both looked up to hear a mom screaming "Hey!" to another mom. She continued to scream at the other mother who apparently hadn't been watching her child in the play boat as the screaming mother's child had gotten hurt. Might I add there were several kids in this play boat and the screaming mom had not been watching her own child, but rather scrolling through her phone. The two mothers continued to get into a confrontation, yelling in each other's face all the while the kids were fine physically. The play area got really quite as the others looked upon these two mothers fighting and getting out of control over a minor disagreement while their innocent young children looked at them with fear in their eyes. How do these moms not understand they set the example?
And we wonder why our children have such a problem with bullying.
Thank you for all you do, I am my kids' mom.
Starr
