what would you have done?

TheBub

I was at Target that other day without the kids.  A lady with an infant in her full cart was chasing a preschool aged kid around...up and down aisles, pretty much the whole length of the store.  He would wait until she got close to him and then take off running.  You could tell she was frazzled and trying not to make a scene.  The kid ran past me several times and I thought about stopping him for her, but decided not to. At one point, I gave her the sympathy eyes and asked her if she needed any help. She laughed a little and said no thank you. 

What would you have done? Would you have stopped the boy for her or just let her be?  I guess I was afraid that she would be angry at me for touching her child.  I remember standing there thinking..."what would the bump ladies do?"

Runaway22

That's tough. Maybe the 3rd or so time, I'd stop him... but maybe not. That's an awkward situation. 

KJmashup

No, I wouldn't have gotten involved. Sympathy eyes, maybe, but not any more than that.

Kitiara5512

I would have said hi to the kid and tried talking to him to keep him distracted while mom got closer and got him. I have done that before. And in instances when it was C doing the running around, asking if I need help is not helpful in the least, all it is is a distraction from catching my kid. If you wanna help, step in and attract my kids attention so he doesn't see me sneak up on him.

gnomemom

I would never touch a stranger's child unless they were in danger of hurting themself or others. If he ran past me several times, I might have said hi to him and try to keep him talking to me until his mom could get over to us (assuming we were visible to her to begin with). But that's the extent of what I would think is okay to do.

ETA: ha ha, I guess I should read the responses before I type. At least I feel some validation in my opinion.

klondikebar

I would have done nothing. I'll only get involved to stop a child from getting hurt. Obviously I'm not going to stand by while a kid falls off of a shelf he climbed or dives out of a cart.

Luckie519

KJmashup:

No, I wouldn't have gotten involved. Sympathy eyes, maybe, but not any more than that.

I agree with this.  I think the only time I would get involved if it was like a kid about to run into a roadway or about to get physically hurt and by me stopping them, it would avoid that.  Nice of you to ask if there was anything you could do!

Tbd143

That's a tough one. I probably would have tried to talk to the boy or distract him and see if that worked. I would never have touched him either.

Had you asked this question a year ago I would have said I would have completely avoided her, thinking at least she'd feel better without spectators, now that I have a 2.5yo I definitely have changed my thinking somewhat. I would agree with you and not touched her child though.

suv75

I would never touch another kid unless he was about to fall or get hurt or needed help and his parent or caretaker wasn't around. I would say to him something along the lines of "honey, don't run wait for your mom". That usually does the trick.

Whenigrowup

The most I would have done is talk to the kid to distract him long enough for Mom to catch up.  I did this once with a kid that was running away from teachers.  I had a catalog in my hand and said, "Hey, do you want to look at this?" He stopped and grabbed it and they caught him.  

 

They only time I would grab a kid, and have, is when they are in immediate danger.  I grabbed a kid once who was about to step out into the street in front of a car.   

LaceFace14

I wouldn't have stopped it but they being said, if it was me in that situation, which it often is, I would have appreciated the help. As long as the person didn't grab him super hard or anything. But you just never know how other people will react.

ASmallWonder

You offered and she said declined the help so I would have left it at that.  When I was hugely pregnant I took DS to a bday party and only knew the birthday girl's mother.   When DS was hauling butt around the stables and needed to be put on/taken off the pony ride, I gratefully accepted the help being offered by the other parents so I feel like she would have accepted if she really needed it.  One time at a kid's museum I saw a child trying to jump off a climbing structure because he didn't know how to get down and his mother was NOWHERE to be found.  I helped him down because I was afraid he'd hurt himself and man oh man did I get the freaking stink eye from mom when she decided to come back in the room.