Neglectful or insightful?

Heat indices have been well over 100F the last couple of days, so the children and I have been escaping to air conditioned places. Yesterday, it was the mall. Since the older kids' climbing tree was removed, there have been a lot of much bigger kids in the tot playyard, and that has led to my being "neglectful".

You see, Girl is crawling, climbing, and learning to use her body in all kinds of ways. I believe this is very important and encourage her by putting her down in places where she has room to crawl and climb...such as the tot playyard at the mall. I sit on the bench or on the floor and watch, often outside of arm's-reach distance as Girl discovers she can crawl through the hollow log or into the car with the steering wheel or struggle to conquer the bridge. I love to see her look around for me and give me the "Look at ME" grin when she spies me.

Yesterday was no different. I was watching from the sidelines as she figured out how to brace her feet and actually climb the bridge. Mind you, the bridge is slippery and steep enough that kids in socks generally can't manage this. She would clamour her way up then flop on her belly and slide down, repeat. I thought this was fantastic!

There were much bigger kids...8-9-10 years old, running and rough-housing in the area. One boy in particular was upset there was a baby in his way, but I just shrugged and told him she had a right to play too. I held my tongue about him being too big for the area's restrictions (I think it's 36" since Boy is just under the kangaroo's arm).

When a toddler ran past, knocking Girl over and startling her to cry, I simply sat quietly, called to Girl. She was perfectly fine, just upset and frustrated. But another woman swooped in, angrily saying I was neglecting and ignoring my child, who, at this point had stopped crying and was back to climbing. Pointing to Girl's dirty knees, this woman scolded me about exposing my child to such dirt, don't I know that she will put her hands in her mouth? I was endangering my child by letting her play alone in a dangerous place with these older kids.

What?!

First, she wasn't "alone" - I was watching the whole time.
Second, the area is MADE for the little ones.
Third, Kids are supposed to get dirty. That's how their immune system develops.
Fourth, it wasn't the bigger kids that were a problem.
Fifth, Girl was obviously okay.
Sixth, who the hell is she to make accusations?

Oh, right...she's the one with the child strapped in the stroller who is drinking milk and looking a touch over the "fat baby" look. *sigh* I feel sorry for the child, really. She's probably never been sick, never bruised a knee, never played in the mud. She's probably up-to-date on all the vaccines, has cushy foam on every surface in the house, and is strapped in the stroller because she doesn't yet know how to walk without falling on the dirty floor.

There are viewpoints, pros and cons to both sides, but I really believe my insight into old fashioned parenting is better for my kids in the long run.