Laura Mazza, a mother from the UK and a blogger at Mum on the Run [1], posted an important reminder to Facebook [2] for parents who take their kiddos to the playground [3]: make sure you're watching them.

She explained that although our children are our world, they can definitely be "snotty," "possessive," and "demanding" at their worst. And unfortunately, they're usually at their worst on the playground:

When we are at play centers I am a little hellicopterish. Not full helicopter, but one eye is on my mum friend and my latte and the other is on my child. I like to make sure they're safe, that they play nice, that they don't snatch, or sock a child in the face. Because that shit isn't cool. I am definitely not overly helicopter. I let them go and learn, and I'm not a parent who will not let any other kid go in the vicinity of mine. I want them to socialize and have a good time and all play nice. I am responsible for my own child when it comes to this.

If we are on public property, nothing is my child's. It's everyone's . . . so just because my son wants a go and drive in a little toy car that little Tommy is in, it's a case of too bad Son, you are not entitled, you wait your turn. When little Tommy gets off, then you can play. This is the concept of share. It is amazing how many adults are yet to grasp this.

However, if it's my sons car, it's his, and if my son wants Tommy to play, then Tommy can play.

I've never told another child off in my life. I don't like it. It's not my responsibility. My responsibility, like I said, is to my child. If my son snatches, I correct him, if my daughter smacks, I correct her, if my kids are assholes, I step in. This behavior is not okay at any age.

But one especially bad day at the park made Laura go back on her rule of not disciplining other people's kids [4]: "Today I found myself saying the words 'Hey, that's not nice . . . please stop' to two little kids. Kids that weren't mine," she wrote.

And her reasoning that "no one else was gonna do it" was spot on:

I watched two 5-year-olds ram one of those mini driveable cars into my daughter and laugh while she fell over while I was helping my son into the ball pit. I watched a little boy climb on top of a jungle gym where his mum had no idea that he was about to come falling down and I caught him. She came over when she saw a stranger carrying her kid and gave me a dirty look while she snatched him [from] me.

Although she admits telling other parents' little ones to knock it off isn't high on her list of favorite things to do, she's going to keep at it. On the flip side, when it comes to correcting her son, the door's wide open:

"I'm polite and I'm not in the business of raising assholes. I've been up all night too, I am desperate for social time too, I'm lonely, I'm tired, my neck hurts, and everything else . . . but I also don't believe that my kid is entitled to pull your kids hair because I want a hot coffee. And if you see my kid be a jerk, you tell him off too, or tell me and I'll correct him ASAP. This is the sense of a community . . . Watch ya damn kid."