As a mother, I know where you are coming from. I've brought my son to play areas where he was hurt (not bad) and seen that parents not done anything to correct their children. It gets me fuming but since my son isn't badly hurt, I just keep it to myself, or at least I let the fumes out with the hubby. lol.  You can't react to things that hasn't happend. If the table was switched, you wouldn't want a mother accosting you for something that could have happened (barring dangerous things of course).  I think your MIL stepped in at the right time though to diffuse the situation..though if MIL wasn't there and something did happen, I'm sure you would have reacted accordingly too.

Your mother in law made the right move in my opinion.

I have seen first hand a 9 year old have a go at a parent on school grounds because this child though he was tough and didnt like a comment made by this parent about his actions..

I have found that manners and common courtesy are not being taught in far too many households these days so some of the younger generation dont know any different and because they dont have these skills, they dont care. 

  I completely understand you being angry, what mother wouldn't be!

But I think your Mother-in-law handled the situation right.....I don't think saying anything to this 10 year old would have done any good at all and you would have been wasting your time. 

If his mother would have been there, it might have been a different ....it is sad hearing young boys acting this way but the mind boggles, where do they learn how to act like this in the first place???

I think i wold have said something with the othe child being 10 he should know better than to shove toddlers . If it was my toddler i would have made the boy apologize x

 I would of been fuming too..my now 10 year old got punched in the head at the school disco last year, I went & abused the kid who did it, might make me a bad parent but i couldnt stop myself.

I would have done the exact same as your mother in law. Getting angry isn't going to solve the situation. It's up the other kids parents to say something, if you had you would've been wasting your time and precious energy. Calmly walking your child away and saying something positive such as "We'll just play over here because we don't play like that, only naughty kids play like that" would have been much more efficient. You can only control how your child behaves.

I'd like to say that I would tell the ten-year-old off, but I guess it would depend on my bravery level on the day.  If he shoved my son initially, I would have spoken up there and then.  If I didn't have the guts to stand up to him (I'm a bit of a wuss, and usually avoid controversy), I absolutely would have moved very close to the group so that they knew I was watching them.  I think that parents are responsible for their children's behaviour in public, and if they are not going to police their own kids, then it's okay to tell a badly behaved child off.  I wouldn't lay hands on someone else's child, unless they were actually hurting my child, but I'd have no problem telling them off.

My husband has told off a few kids in the past.  He has only done it when the parent has not stepped in, and then he will go to the parent and tell them what he did and why.  I wish I was like that.  I also have a friend who had a go at a boy who dropped rubbish on the ground, right next to the bin.

When my parents were young, it was common for them to be told off and even smacked by any adult who happened to be present when they were misbehaving.  If they were not with their parents, then they would be dragged home, where their parents would be told, and they would cop another punishment from their parents.  This would probably not go down so well these days, but I wonder sometimes if kids are not controlled enough when they are still quite young.

I'm with you,. A 10 y/o should definetely know how to act in that situation and he certainly didn't act the way he should of! If I was his parent and saw that he would of got a good hiding and a very long lecture!!!!

Yep I'm with you hun !

Would have given that 10 year old a big serve and if he had a parent nearby would have given them a serve too !

Your ittle fella is a baby ! Any 10 year old in my book who treats a baby like that deserves to be put in stocks in the main street ! Says alot for what sort of bullying adult he'll turn out to be !