Public play places are meant to be fun, but they don’t always bring out the best behavior in kids.

What would you do if another child was trying to push your daughter around and upsetting her? Would you let them figure it out on their own? Or would you step in and make it stop?

In the following story, one father finds himself in this exact scenario and wonders if he handled it wrong.

Here’s how it all went down.

AITA for not letting other children bother my child

We have a monthly plan for a national pizzeria chain where children go in and play games while eating pizza. My children love it here, especially the youngest, and we go often.

I’ve noticed that my youngest has been asking me to spend the entire time with her lately, and so I have, going to each game and riding with her, not knowing why but just being supportive (FYI, I don’t leave her by herself, she’s either with her mom or her siblings).

Well, about a month ago, during one of our visits, I walked away for a minute, and when I turned around, I noticed she was upset and wouldn’t tell me why.

I spent more time with her, and everything seemed fine.

I walked away but this time I kept an eye on her.

He realized a little boy was being pushy with his daughter.

A little boy came up, pushed my child aside, and started playing the game.

I stopped and told the boy that she was playing and to wait.

My daughter is upset, so we walk away.

He comes back and does it again, upsetting my daughter.

My daughter gets upset and tries to walk away, but I stop her and tell the little boy he needs to leave and he’s not allowed to play with her.

A few visits later, it happens again with another child, so I tell them no and that she doesn’t want to play.

This time, it was a little girl.

Yesterday, we got 1 game in before being interrupted.

The little girl comes up and tries to push her out of the truck game.

I tell her no and that she needs to leave, but she refuses.

The game ends, and she grunts.

I tell her no, and she needs to move.

She full force tries to push my daughter out, and I prevent my daughter from falling out.

The little girl cries and leaves.

We played one last game of air hockey. Same little girl comes over, I stop and tell her she needs to leave us alone.

She cries, and her mom begins yelling at me.

The mother started yelling, and another parent jumped in.

She is mad because I refuse to let her daughter play with us and when I tell her that her daughter was not trying to play with us but instead tried to take over the games we were playing and that it upset my daughter.

She said I upset her daughter by not letting her play and that I was bad because of it and the fact I was preventing my child from learning how to share and “dealing with difficult and uncomfortable situations.”

Another parent says that this is something I do all the time and that I am mean to children because I won’t let her kids play with my daughter. She said, “Children are children,” and that if my daughter is uncomfortable in these situations, then I shouldn’t be bringing her around other children.

Speaking with an employee, I asked if I was wrong, and they said no.

AITA?

Wow! This is quite a predicament, but yelling may be a little out of line.

Let’s see how the readers over at Reddit feel about how the father handled it.

This person suggests taking a polite route.

Exactly! Some parents use places like this as an excuse to not watch their kids.

This person had a similar experience at a kids’ arcade.

Here’s a great point.

He’s not in the wrong at all.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.