'I was horrified by what this dad did to his 3yo son at the playground'

"I don't know if I'm overreacting, but now people are telling me to call the police."

"My son found a friend to play with at the playground today," a mum begins the start of her advice post on a parenting forum.

"That little boy came up to me and talked to me. He asked whether I had water. He said he’s three, and his dad is playing basketball."

The mum recalls that the basketball court was about "400 metres away from the playground."

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"Am I overly concerned about this?"

My son played with him for about half an hour before the other boy's dad appeared and said to him, "I'm going home quickly. I’ll be right back."

"He went across the street to his house and returned after about 15 minutes. At this point, I’m ready to go home 'cause it was getting dark," the mum continued.

"But there was a man at the corner smoking a cigarette who didn’t have a kid at the playground. That got me concerned to leave this little kid alone, especially cause it was apparent that his parents weren’t here."

So she waited until his dad came back, but when he arrived at the playground, he went past his kid and said, "I’m going back to play basketball, buddy."

"The little kid looked so sad," the mum noted, before saying she went to talk to the boy's dad to express her concerns.

"I said I was a little concerned that he was alone, so I stayed until he got here. His dad said, 'No he does this all the time. He’s fine'," she wrote. 

"My question is, is it normal to leave a three-year-old alone in the playground? My son just turned three and so many things could go wrong. He could run to the street, climb up a big play structure and fall down, a stranger could take him, etc. Maybe I’m overly concerned, but I just felt so bad for that little kid."

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"You need to tell authorities"

Immediately, people reassured the mother that this situation was not okay.

"What in the ever loving f**k? This is totally not okay. He didn't know you. He didn't know if you could be trusted. If you can get a hold of the mother somehow, I would be having words," the top comment with 3.7k likes read.

"If mum is in the picture, I’d be super-duper curious to know if she’s aware of this. Imagine mum finding out her toddler is just hanging out at the park alone. I would be so pissed," someone replied.

And a third wrote: "WTF girl, that poor baby isn't being taken care of his basic needs! Scumbag dad isn't even concerned whether he is thirsty! Honestly, you have to inform authorities about this. I REALLY hope you do something about this and don't leave that poor child to an ill fate."

"For real - no snacks or water! And he went home - this is beyond just being alone at the park!!" someone else noted.

"The dad probably went home to use the bathroom, get a drink, get a snack… and didn’t think AT ALL that the kid might need the same thing?!" a different forum user noted.

Then the OP responded: "This is what got me. He didn’t even stop to ask whether the little kid needed anything. After reading all the comments, I think I should’ve called the police right then and there.

"But I’m from a different cultural background where we shadow our kids all the time, so I thought that I was a helicopter parent. I’m absolutely going back today to find out his address and report him."

Originally published as 'I was horrified by what this dad did to his 3yo son at the playground'