Sometimes walking away feels kinder than staying and making things worse.

So, what would you do if your nonverbal three-year-old was happily playing at a quiet playground, and an older child suddenly began growling and melting down near him? Would you stay and let them work it out? Or would you take your son to a different part of the park?

In the following story, one mother finds herself in this exact situation and opts for the latter. Here’s what happened next.

AITA for removing your son from the playground?

I have a 3-year-old, nonverbal son. We live in the countryside, so there’s no daycare available in my area. So, my son isn’t in contact with many kids.

That being said, there’s a beautiful playground near my house. I often take my son there during school hours to avoid overwhelming him with the big kids.

So, we went, and there were little kiddos like him playing. It was nice, but they all left rapidly when a mother with her 8-year-old son arrived. I didn’t question it (they could have left for many reasons unrelated to the boy).

The other parents left when the child arrived.

The moment the 8-year-old arrived, he started growling at the kids, mine included. The mother was explaining to him slowly that it’s not the way to talk to friends.

At that moment, I assumed the boy might have a neurodivergence, but I didn’t mind it, as my son is nonverbal. The boy seemed to want to play alone, and since the playground is big, I took my son somewhere else. But the boy was following us, so I assumed he wanted to play (?).

Until my son was playing with the slide, and the boy followed him.

At this point, the mother and the boy seemed overwhelmed.

His mom asked him to wait for his turn, and the boy started screaming, “GO AWAY” repeatedly.

He was flapping, screaming, and having a meltdown. The mom seemed truly overwhelmed, so I took my son off the playground and walked to the orchard instead.

My intention was not to escalate the situation even more. But I heard the mother told her son, “Why are you always scaring your friends?” And I felt so sad for them, but I left anyway.

Now, her family thinks she was wrong for leaving.

I felt bad, so I called my MIL to ask for her opinion on the matter, and she told me that I should have let the kids deal with their issues. My son is 3 and nonverbal, I reminded her.

But she said that by ostracizing the boy, I had taught my son to do the same. It wasn’t my intention, seriously.

I asked my cousin, and she thought the same, as her daughter is autistic. She told me that it’s common for neurodivergent kids to be rejected, and that’s exactly what I was doing (her words).

AITA?

Yikes! It’s easy to see why she left, but her family may be on to something.

Let’s check out how the folks over at Reddit think she should’ve handled it.

According to this comment, she has to look out for her kid.

For this reader, the kids are not going to work it out.

Here’s someone who thinks her son is a lot smaller.

Yet another reader who thinks she needs to look out for her son.

That was the best move, because the kids are too far apart in age to solve anything on their own.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.