Playground Etiquette
The social rules of the playground can be as intricate as those at any cocktail party. For parents, that is. The difference between the playground and the adult world is that here you not only have to navigate social interactions with other adults, but with toddlers as well. Many treat the playground as an opportunity to teach their kids about socializing and indeed human interaction at its most unvarnished is often displayed there. If the articles below are to be believed, kids steal toys, parents steal wallets and everyone freely passes judgment on the parenting styles of others. Some say to teach your kid not to hog a slide or a swing and consensus is to leave well enough alone when it comes to misbehavior in others. That is, unless people endanger their kids, or hand out foods containing refined sugar, in which case all bets are off. Another point on which all connoisseurs of playground behavior agree is to not share food without asking the permission of the parents. Not only might one parent's snack be another parent's poison, you also don't want to be the cause of an acute allergic reaction. Any way you slice it, there's a fine line between looking out for your toddler and finding yourself in a in a fist-fight with somebody else's four-year-old.
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