# What should I have done about the kid eating snow at the park? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019 "2014-11-07T21:55:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/21 "2014-11-08T01:37:11Z")
Thais never eat snow. For obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/22 "2014-11-08T03:45:42Z")
I would have put the kid into a figure four arm bar and announced “_You’re Done_”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/23 "2014-11-08T03:51:13Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > 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. Ignore it. You’d be right to let the parent know if the kid was eating dog poop or picked up a hypodermic needle, but eating fresh snow…even if you wouldn’t want your kid doing it, it’s such a minor thing that it would be rude to say something. Think of something that your kid does and imagine how you’d feel if another random person told you that you shouldn’t let your kid do it. I’m going to take a WAG that you don’t have kids because people do it ALL THE TIME. When you have kids you get random parenting advice for no effin reason. I mean, I was in line at the store one day and the lady behind me told me I shouldn’t feed my kid baby food. I should grind up fresh fruits and veggies instead. Ya know what lady…MYOB. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/24 "2014-11-08T04:04:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > 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. Can I have your autograph!? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/25 "2014-11-08T04:09:37Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Thais never eat snow. For some reason, I parsed this as the Massenet title character talking like Tarzan. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/26 "2014-11-08T04:23:52Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > I remember adding sugar, a little milk and vanilla to a bowl of fresh dog poop , so my kids would think they were eating ice cream. This made me laugh out loud. . ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/27 "2014-11-08T04:32:27Z")
I ate snow when I was a kid. A mouthful of snow on the playground isn’t going to cause hypothermia. I’m in the MYOB camp. BFD. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/28 "2014-11-08T04:43:13Z")
Speaking as the parent of a little kid, if you were really concerned, you could have said something fairly neutral, but in a way that I would have my attention called to the behavior, something like “wow, she couldn’t wait to start eating that snow, eh?” And then I would say “yep, she’s pretty into it” and then you could rest assured that I knew, and wasn’t concerned about it. ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/29 "2014-11-08T05:19:41Z")
Why in the world would you feel the need to say anything at all? What is the danger here? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/30 "2014-11-08T05:40:34Z")
> [@keturah](#): > > Why in the world would you feel the need to say anything at all? What is the danger here? Damn it man, can’t you read? It’s\* snow\*!!! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/31 "2014-11-08T05:53:59Z")
You know nothing, Jon Snow. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/32 "2014-11-08T06:21:08Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > I would have put the kid into a figure four arm bar and announced “_You’re Done_”. For extra laughs, you could shout “Finish!”. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/33 "2014-11-08T08:53:12Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > I remember adding sugar, a little milk and vanilla to a bowl of fresh dog poop , so my kids would think they were eating ice cream. We did this when we were kids, we called it snow custard. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/34 "2014-11-08T11:26:14Z")
> [@keturah](#): > > Why in the world would you feel the need to say anything at all? What is the danger here? If we could somehow automate this as the default response to every “what should I do?” thread on this board, it would save a lot of time. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/35 "2014-11-08T11:32:07Z")
> [@penfeather](#): > > for extra laughs, you could shout “finish!”. babality! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/36 "2014-11-08T16:23:14Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > For extra laughs, you could shout “Finish!”. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/37 "2014-11-10T16:10:48Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Speaking as the parent of a little kid, if you were really concerned, you could have said something fairly neutral, but in a way that I would have my attention called to the behavior, something like “wow, she couldn’t wait to start eating that snow, eh?” > > And then I would say “yep, she’s pretty into it” and then you could rest assured that I knew, and wasn’t concerned about it. And after that you could all leave the kids outside on the sidewalk in their strollers while you get to know her over a drink in the pub. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/38 "2014-11-10T16:16:16Z")
Nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/39 "2014-11-10T16:16:40Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > For extra laughs, you could shout “Finish!”. > [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Here in Finland it’s a big no no. Finnish? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019/40 "2014-11-10T17:16:06Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Parents of the dope how do you feel when strangers remark on something “bad” your kids are doing? Cultures differ so dramatically that it’s difficult to generalize. Given that the US Dopers don’t even get the “don’t eat the snow vibe” in Finland, our opinions about Finnish childrearing is probably useless. Some cultures are very “it takes a village” and if your rugrat needs a scolding, any nearby adult will do. US culture has lately acquired this weird phobia about adults interacting with other people’s children (especially males) and there’s some general touchiness about critiquing other people’s childrearing skills as well. (If you have a convenient nephew handy, you probably have a bit more latitude than if you’re a single adult.) So, if you were in the US, you pretty much did all that you were expected to do and a bit more, given that the kid wasn’t in any actual danger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-done-about-the-kid-eating-snow-at-the-park/704019.md?page=3)