So I was out with my nephew (age 3) at the local playground when a mom with her kids showed up. She let the kids loose and started to rearrange something in her bags. While her attention was elsewhere her daughter (age 2 maybe) started eating the freshly fallen snow. I said to her something along the lines of “you shouldn’t eat the snow” and I wagged my finger but she ignored me and kept at it. I didn’t feel confident in physically stopping her so I let her continue.
After a while the mom’s attention turned back to her children at which point the kid had already stopped. I don’t think she noticed the snow eating. Should I have mentioned it to her, or would it have been considered rude? I didn’t know the woman, nor do I have kids of my own.
If someone informed me that my nephew was doing something wrong, while under my care, I’d probably be grateful, but I’m not a parent so what do I know. Parents of the dope how do you feel when strangers remark on something “bad” your kids are doing?
If you are at risk of hypothermia eating snow can be dangerous by lowering your core temperature. Otherwise, stay away from the yellow snow and you’ll be fine.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with eating fresh snow but it’s a bad habit for kids to get into. Otherwise they’ll start eating old dirty snow as the winter progresses. Here in Finland it’s a big no no.
Some sites recommend against eating even fresh snow since it can contain pollutants. Snow crystallizes around particulate “seeds” so it can capture particles of pollution in the air. However, I am not aware of any studies that document just how much pollution snow contains. Obviously it’s going to differ between urban and rural areas. IMO, unless you’re in a very heavily polluted area it’s probably not a very serious concern.
I tried to get my 3-year-old nephew to stop eating large amounts of six-week-old snow. I mean, it was gray with black spots. His parents didn’t care. He didn’t even get a stomachache. Of course, he’s not too bright but he’ll probably outlive us all.
Hey, guys, I saw a small child frolicking in the sunshine, rolling in the grass, and laughing. Should I have tackled her to the ground and held her in a chokehold until she stopped? Just wondering.
You’re being a bit unfair. All I’m asking is what should a unrelated grownup do when a kid does something minor. Obviously if she’d been eating dog poop, or worse, I would have reacted more strongly.
To actually answer the OP (as opposed to beating on him/her or threadshitting): If you see a child doing something minor that might or might not upset its parent, it’s good to say pardon me, did you know your child was eating snow? Or something to that effect. Then they know but you haven’t told them how they should feel about it.
And people are telling you that you should just let the kid go. It was fresh snow, not muddy and/or yellow. God knows, I ate my fair share of snow when I was a kid.
You could replace snow with dirt or bugs. Eating snow doesn’t have the same negative connotations in the states as it has here, which is fair enough. All I’m wondering is that on the playground do you just mind your own kids or do you share the burden, so to speak, with the other parents/guardians?
I realise this probably varies from culture to culture. I was just curious what people’s thoughts were on the issue.
