Mum 'left in tears' after stranger 'exploded' at her child over accident

A mum has shared how she was left in tears after a stranger "exploded" at her son following an accident in a cafe. Posting on Mumsnet, the upset parent explained she's experiencing a difficult time due to illness in the family.

She wrote: "As background, my dad has been in the hospital for a month. He's improving but slowly, and I go every day since my mum isn't up to being able to follow what the doctors are saying. On Friday he was having a hard day, and my son (5) came with me because he was off school. My husband’s job has also been doing layoffs recently and there was going to be another round that day."

She then explained how she'd taken her son for lunch in a nearby cafe. "We left the hospital at 1pm - both of us were hungry and my son was restless. We went to a place right by the hospital since the hospital cafeteria area was very busy.

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"Soon after we sat down, my husband called with the news he’s not being laid off but his hours are being cut and was trying to explain it to me. As I was talking to him, but son was up from his chair and playing around the table. By the time I got off the phone, he was running around."

She continued: "I know this was a total mum fail, and I should’ve intercepted him sooner. But by the time I got up to do so, he’d tripped and knocked a woman’s pasta into her lap. She was probably 25ish, alone and having a glass of wine with lunch while she was reading. My son started crying immediately, and she exploded at him - her immediate reaction to it was to say 'what the f***'."

Unfortunately, the situation only went from bad to worse, and everyone involved was upset. The parent recalled: "When he started to cry she told him to get away from her and to go sit down like he should have been in the first place; he just stood there frozen and she said he was a brat who was acting like an animal.

"I rushed over and said I was so sorry but I didn't appreciate her cussing at and insulting my son, and she said she didn’t appreciate having her lunch dumped in her lap because I’m 'too lazy to watch my kid', and she said something like she wouldn’t have had to say a word to him if I was doing my job."

The exchange left the mum in tears, and the moment stayed with her after she left the cafe. She explained: "I was starting to quietly cry too and the manager came up and said she was having our food packed and ushered me away. The staff was quite cold to me as I was paying for my takeaway, and I could see they were apologising to the lady.

"I keep having flashbacks to this and feel ashamed at how my son acted, but also about how he saw I didn’t stand up for him in the moment as someone insulted him. Just having a rough time and feeling like a bad mum."

In response, commenters were quick to share their thoughts. Sharing their take on the situation, one commenter wrote: "Chalk it up to experience. The lady was right to be irritated. You are not the 'worst mum in the world' and I'm so sorry you are having an awful time. But it could have been a hot tea/coffee that scalded your son instead."

Another reply read: "Yes you should have been watching him better but no way does that justify the way that woman spoke to a child. Of course it would have been a shock for her and she’d be angry but she sounds like an awful person.

"Things happen sometimes. If she’d have been reasonable, I would have paid for her meal and apologised - because she spoke to your child like that, I would have done none of that. Don’t feel bad, you accept you should have watched him better but you have a lot on your plate and parenting is tough at the best of times."