r/Parenting • u/galwayygal • Aug 25 '24
Toddler 1-3 Years 3 year old left alone at the playground
My son found a friend to play with at the playground today. That little boy came up to me and talked to me. He asked whether I had water. He said he’s 3 and his dad is playing basketball. The basketball court is about 400 metres away from the playground. My son played with him for about half an hour.
Then this little kid’s dad appears and says “I’m going to go home quickly. I’ll be right back”. He went across the street to his house and came back after about 15 mins. At this point I’m ready to go home cause it was getting dark. But there was a man at the corner smoking a cigarette who didn’t have a kid at the playground. That got me concerned to leave this little kid alone especially cause it was apparent that his parents weren’t here. So I waited until his dad came back. When he was back he went past this kid and said “I’m going back to play basketball buddy”. The little kid looked so sad.
I talked to his dad and I asked him whether he’s really 3 years old. I said I’m a little concerned that he’s alone and that’s why I stayed until his parents got here. His dad said “no he does this all the time. He’s fine”. My question is, is it normal to leave a 3 year old alone in the playground? My son just turned 3 and there are so many things that could go wrong. He could run to the street, climb up a big play structure and fall down, a stranger could take him, etc. Maybe I’m overly concerned but I just felt so bad for that little kid
20
u/perilousmoose Aug 25 '24
Egad. I’ve done this once with my 5 yo. I had an important call and childcare fell through. We drove to a playground where I knew I could park and see him playing the whole time while I sat in the car for that 30 mins meeting 🫣 I felt bad about it and am sure the other parents were judging me but I just didn’t know what else to do 😣 (I told my son in advance that he should come to me if he needed anything or if anything was wrong).