Hey Dad! Watch out for me...

I was at the park yesterday evening with my children. It has been a long time since we've been to the park on account of the H1N1 in Malaysia, and all over the world. It was a lovely, sunny evening here in Ipoh and having had their mandatory nap, I relented to their requests for a trip to the playground.

It was surprisingly easy to find a parking bay and it wasn't that crowded. I then remembered that it was Ramadhan, so many of those fasting would not be at the park so close to the hour of breaking fast. The kids had their romp about and the last thing on their agenda was the swings.

Now, any parent would know not to let their younger kids walk or run too close to the other kids sitting on swings as they could be kicked if they were too near to the swingers. And you can't expect a kid midway in the upward momentum of his swing to stop.
So....there was this toddler no more than 2 years old, who twice walked into the path of my kids' swings. The first time I called out to the toddler to stop and her father belatedly grabbed hold of her. The second time, I had to grab her out of the way. This child's father looked completely bored, disinterested and uninterested in his child's wellbeing. In fact after the second close shave he berated his child for walking towards the swings. Honestly, the toddler doesn't have a sense of danger yet - it should be the father who gets reprimanded. And his wife? She was sitting on a park bench nearby, rooted in inaction and looking just as bored. What's going on?

I didn't say anything to the father of the toddler, but now wish that I had. Such irresponsible behaviour.