Raising Children: It Takes A Village?

Recently I had a mommy moment at the grocery store where I swatted a small child's hand away from messing with a display of produce for fear that the items would topple over onto him. While I don't love that I put hands on him in any way since he's not my kid, I don't necessarily regret my decision to step in. His parents seemed nowhere to be found, and I just didn't want him getting hurt or causing a mess that could lead to bigger issues.

Having spoken about this on air, I received a tongue lashing from the mother, but also a lot of support from listeners understanding my side of things. My intentions weren't malicious, rather I was trying to stop a situation from turning into a disaster in the wake of this kid being without supervision. But it did make me wonder if I would have been upset if the shoe were on the other foot.

Kids are tricky. They don't always listen and they love to dart away. I know that first hand. And that's exactly why it wouldn't upset me if another mom took action to protect my kid or simply show him he wasn't doing right if for some reason he were out of my sight.

Am I wrong to feel like on some level this mom should be thankful that I was there to stop her son from hurting himself and possibly others? Not to mention there's a pandemic and he shouldn't be touching all the things anyway. Better we all rally together to guide and protect children than not, right? What are your thoughts?