I just had a friend update her facebook status which made me think of this thread. She complained that some mom just "let" her kid fall off the slide while she was standing right there... I guess random park-goers just can't win 
I think this is a very insightful viewpoint.
OP: I totally get what you are saying and I mostly share your perspective.
However I found the overall tone of your blog post to be unnecessarily defensive and angry. Like the above poster said, most likely the mama who removed your son from the bottom of the slide wasn't thinking about you and your parenting at all. She saw a potential situation where a child could get hurt (the fact is, most children under 2 would not move) and she took action to prevent it. I know it's a fine line between truly preventing accidents and letting kids get a few scrapes and bruises and learn their own boundaries. And I don't think anyone wants strangers getting all touchy-feely with their child. But the attitude I've seen in this thread of woe-to-anyone-who-lays-a-finger-on-my-child-for-any-reason-whatsoever is exaggerated IMO. I personally would've said something to the child at the bottom of the slide (and indeed I have done) and if they then didn't move would've tried to lead them away by the hand. But to expect that all parents know that your child can manage to jump out of the way of the sliding child right before getting kicked in the face is unrealistic.
I think the difference comes from the fact that OP has two issues: moving her child from perceived danger, and the continued interest in keeping him in "bounds".
The first is perfectly valid, even if the boy was not in fact in danger, better safe than sorry IMO. Maybe her kid was a tub, or wearing super slidey pants and hard shoes. The second could seem like she was judging and feeling like she had to keep track of a random stranger because his mama wasn't making good choices. Or she could have just been trying to reach out and help a stranger, or maybe make a friend? No way to know unless you talked to her.
I am a total playground wussy. 
I've had two back injuries from playground equipment that give me great pain almost thirty years later. So I would probably be "that mom" who stepped in too soon, and I've done it--but I try not to. I've also "caught" a few two year olds after they were trying to do the six-foot-drop fire-pole when their parents were distracted--and we all look away for a few seconds and sometimes that's all it takes. But I've always taken the kid over to the parent and apologized and explained.
When my own kids climb our trees at home, I have to shut the blinds and leave the windows open so that I can hear when they get hurt. My BFF's kids (over 5) would do insane things on playground equipment and I literally couldn't be in the park with them. I finally asked her how she could be so calm, and she said "Oh, I am freaking the F out but I want them to find their own limits". It takes a lot of strength to let kids do their things, and it's a good thing to be able to share your reasoning rationally instead of defensively. Maybe next time you could apologize for the confusion and let her know why you weren't worried about your son moving?
If your kid is that physical now, you'll have a whole other set of playground issues in a few years!I've had the super physical and yet also small for his age child already. And we're gearing up to do it again! Get ready
Fair enough but of course how could she have let you know in the few milliseconds before her child was going to slide down and she had to help yours out of the way? If she had taken the time to locate you (and how would she even have known you were that child's mama? Sometimes at the playground it's unclear) and ask you about your son's abilities or your preferences, her child would have already been down the slide and possibly kicked your child in the face.
I think I'm in the minority here but I don't see anything wrong with this situation. Why was it "wrong" for that mom to do what she thought was best for the situation.... might not have been how you handled it, but maybe you were wrong in her eyes not stepping in. And, if so, then who is "right?" Neither or both, but not one or the other.
Why, because it's not what you wanted to hear?
Personally I would be really peeved, but I have no idea what what I would say! My son is 2.5 and very capable on his little blaence bike and I get comments and looks all the time! Drives me crazy. My son is OVERLY cautious, so he rarely get hurt actually doing anything. But ramdom strangers feel the need to but in and say things like "Hes way too little for 2 wheels" and "Where are his knee pads?"
Good luck mama!
Maybe this thread can help you out too!
I was just at a playgroup watching my nearly 2 year old walk out of the main room. It was important to me to watch, obviously because she was wandering around outside of the toddler space, but also because I wanted to see how far she would go. A parent (or I think it may have been a nanny) ran from WAY across the room to rescue my child. I was kind of in a daze watching her that I didn't realize what was going on. One one hand I thought it was a bit dramatic to run like that. On the other hand, if I hadn't been watching her attention would have been greatly appreciated. So, I explained to her that I didn't realize why she was running at first and that I had been watching. I told her that I was watching to see how far my toddler would go. And, I thaanked her for her help.
I sometimes, probably like many of you, prefer to watch so I can get a better feel for what my young child will get into, how high and how far she will go. I think just watching is a great way to go for a lot of children. I also don't help on the playground the way some parents do. I'm a fan of the theory that if they can get up on something they can probably get down. I also think that if a child can't get up on something by themselves they shouldn't really be up there without adult supervision. I usually just make my kids wait to play on something until they are ready to do it by themselves.
I've been happily watching my child on the playground when a parent would help her get up on something, which is a tiny pet-peeve of mine because that's not what I would do and then I also have to parent differently once my child is on a structure they didn't climb themeselves.
I ALSO think that kids tend to live up to expectations. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a kid fall, just as a parent is telling them to watch out. There's something weird about that...and I don't like to get all hippie, metaphysical but that's how I feel and what I've observed. But it's not just that, when I'm close to my DC there is a implied agreement that she can rely on me to help her. She is less cautious and only her dad, sister and I know her well enough to have that sort of dynamic. We know when she is going to jump into our arms, or when she's going to let go of something and fall on us. Other people don't know that and it's not safe, IMO, for someone who doesn't know my DC to hover. Not that you can say all of this on the playground...
All of that said...I think other important lessons are learned on the playground and some of them are accepting different parents, theories, values and etc. What to say has a lot to do with what you're trying to accomplish.
One tip I've learned is that you can sometimes talk to parents though your child, which feels really non-confrontational, IMO. So, you could say something like, "Peter, would you mind playing over there for a while because you are making that mom and her young child nervous?" Then you can look to the mom and explain that he plays here all the time and loves to climb up the side or whatever.
In the case of a parent helping my child get up higher than she could go on her own, I may step in and teach her to get down but I may say something like, "Let me help you because it's hard to get down from something by yourself when you've had so much good help getting up here."
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