Mother of 2

There is nothing more fun than having to take advantage of the holidays to party, socialize, relax, let your hair down and allowing your kids to stay up way past their bedtime. The holiday season and its endless scheduled family gatherings, community get-togethers and block parties creates the perfect atmosphere for this kind of free spirited celebration.

But there are times that too much of a free spirit can be a concern especially if this free spirit happens to brandish two alarmingly sharp barbecue sticks at your little kids. Yes, you read right.

My sons and I were attending a small community holiday party when I saw a small boy (I am guessing to be about 7 or running after some of the other kids (mostly the girls) and poking them with the barbecue sticks. And its not the cutesy type of poking either. Its the - I am going to poke you until it hurts type of poking. In all the chaos with the kids running away from him, I was afraid he was going to accidentally bump into my sons (who were playing quietly in a corner) and poke them instead.

I looked around to see if anyone was there who had responsibility for him, but no one seemed to be watching him. At least no one cared enough to tell him to stop. I mean, where’s your mother kid (or guardian, yaya at least?)

I’m such a coward but I don’t like reprimanding someone else’s kid because they choose to misbehave. But I also do not want my kids to think that poking other kids with barbecue sticks is a game they can play, so I chose to leave the gathering with my kids in tow. Thankfully they did not do a lot of sulking since they had already had time to play earlier.

My friends would have said I was being overly protective and that I should just let the little boys play. But I cant just sit and watch while someone else pokes at my kids. Will you? Am I being such a mother hen?