Would This Offend You?

[Scurvy]

Well, More than likely the parents are with another child somewhere else. The average family is 4 people.

We all know that some people use strollers even when kids are a bit big for them. Point is that if the kid is old enough to request it she should be able to hold it. If they are younger you strap it to the stroller and move on. What OP did was nice and honestly a balloon isn't really going to ruin a trip.

You're making an awful lot of assumptions about these people, and many posters have provided reasons why giving the child a balloon without permission would probably result in the child being more unhappy than she was before getting the balloon. I'd say the grandmother knows better than a random stranger or someone on a message board about what will or won't ruin the trip. A safe rule of thumb is, if you aren't the child's parent (or other caretaker) you don't get to make the decisions. Respect the caretaker's decisions for the child and don't presume you know better than they do what is best for their child.

 

[nblake05]

Lol, and go home to brag about her good deed. Why else bring it up here?

That isn't a very nice thing to say. I brought it up NOT because I wanted some sort of recognition, but because if we did make an error in judgement I don't want to make the same mistake again. I asked for people's opinions and while I find some of them harsh, I understand what people are saying and am taking their opinions in stride. To attack me personally and imply I'm a braggart or some sort of attention hog is just mean. I try to look for the best in people and not assume the worst. I am sorry you are so cynical.

 

[RMAMom]

Haven't read all the responses but wanted to add that a few years ago we ordered the necklaces and bracelets that glow in bulk. My 2 DDs put on several necklaces and bracelets all the way up their arms and headed off to MK EMH. They spent their first hour or two handing out those necklaces and bracelets and made as much magic for them as for the recipients. It was a lot of fun and something we plan to do again.

 

[Purple Nightshade]

Yes I would have been upset. What if that was going to be a special moment for Grandma at the end of the day? I don't understand why the need was felt to butt in.

 

[Andrew78]

The reason why I feel we should cut the original poster some slack is because she does not have children. If she did, then then she would realize that you should not intervene in another familys business. The other thing is because she was not wealthy growing up, she made an assumption that this poor child was suffering by not having a balloon-so it begs the question did she do this for the child or for herself, and her insecurities she had about that.

I remember groing up my mother would only stay with us at the Grand Floridian. When we would meet other families there and they we began speaking my mother told us it was so sad that the families that were staying at the Carribbean Beach or All Star were missing out, and she would always try to convince the parents to upgrade to the Contemporary at a minimum. Little did she know that maybe that's all the families may be able to afford, or maybe the hotel they stay at was their favorite, or better yet, maybe they are wealthy as can be and just like being reasonable with their money!! Either way, the point is these kids probably had as great a time as any other child in Disney and it's not anyone elses place to pass judgment on decisions they make. Imagine she said hey, let me buy you a room at the Grand Floridian though your mom said you should stay at the Port Orleans?

I also like when my babies are crying in the crib to sleep, And someone steps in and picks him up and the baby smiles, and they say I just cant let a poor baby cry. Then I explain my son cries himself for a few minutes to sleep everyday, and now you have messed that up

It's just undermines parents authority. The best thing is when the poster has her own children, she can buy them as many balloons as she wants

 

[WicketsMom]

I think that was a very sweet gesture, and we would accept it gratefully. However, I would not want to be the one to have to keep up with the balloon all day. That is one reason we don't usually buy any sort of overpriced souvenirs on our trips. Instead, we spend our money on experiences (or the trip itself) and take lots of photos. The photos and our memories last much longer than most of the cheap plastic toys do.

As far as the pixie dust goes, again that was a nice gesture. But, I would be annoyed at that, especially since glitter in an eye can cause damage, not to mention the mess it make on everything.

 

[Andrew78]

duplicate

 

[mdsoccermom]

The reason why I feel we should cut the original poster some slack is because she does not have children. If she did, then then she would realize that you should not intervene in another familys business. The other thing is because she was not wealthy growing up, she made an assumption that this poor child was suffering by not having a balloon-so it begs the question did she do this for the child or for herself, and her insecurities she had about that.

I remember groing up my mother would only stay with us at the Grand Floridian. When we would meet other families there and they we began speaking my mother told us it was so sad that the families that were staying at the Carribbean Beach or All Star were missing out, and she would always try to convince the parents to upgrade to the Contemporary at a minimum. Little did she know that maybe that's all the families may be able to afford, or maybe the hotel they stay at was their favorite, or better yet, maybe they are wealthy as can be and just like being reasonable with their money!! Either way, the point is these kids probably had as great a time as any other child in Disney and it's not anyone elses place to pass judgment on decisions they make. Imagine she said hey, let me buy you a room at the Grand Floridian though your mom said you should stay at the Port Orleans?

I also like when my babies are crying in the crib to sleep, And someone steps in and picks him up and the baby smiles, and they say I just cant let a poor baby cry. Then I explain my son cries himself for a few minutes to sleep everyday, and now you have messed that up

It's just undermines parents authority. The best thing is when the poster has her own children, she can buy them as many balloons as she wants

Oh please. Give me a break. You don't need kids to have common sense.

 

[GinnyEmma]

I think that was a very sweet gesture, and we would accept it gratefully. However, I would not want to be the one to have to keep up with the balloon all day. That is one reason we don't usually buy any sort of overpriced souvenirs on our trips. Instead, we spend our money on experiences (or the trip itself) and take lots of photos. The photos and our memories last much longer than most of the cheap plastic toys do.

As far as the pixie dust goes, again that was a nice gesture. But, I would be annoyed at that, especially since glitter in an eye can cause damage, not to mention the mess it make on everything.

It lasts forever! My kids were around some for a play and I swear, months later I am still seeing it.

 

[Metsfan520]

The reason why I feel we should cut the original poster some slack is because she does not have children. If she did, then then she would realize that you should not intervene in another familys business. The other thing is because she was not wealthy growing up, she made an assumption that this poor child was suffering by not having a balloon-so it begs the question did she do this for the child or for herself, and her insecurities she had about that.

I remember groing up my mother would only stay with us at the Grand Floridian. When we would meet other families there and they we began speaking my mother told us it was so sad that the families that were staying at the Carribbean Beach or All Star were missing out, and she would always try to convince the parents to upgrade to the Contemporary at a minimum. Little did she know that maybe that's all the families may be able to afford, or maybe the hotel they stay at was their favorite, or better yet, maybe they are wealthy as can be and just like being reasonable with their money!! Either way, the point is these kids probably had as great a time as any other child in Disney and it's not anyone elses place to pass judgment on decisions they make. Imagine she said hey, let me buy you a room at the Grand Floridian though your mom said you should stay at the Port Orleans?

I also like when my babies are crying in the crib to sleep, And someone steps in and picks him up and the baby smiles, and they say I just cant let a poor baby cry. Then I explain my son cries himself for a few minutes to sleep everyday, and now you have messed that up

It's just undermines parents authority. The best thing is when the poster has her own children, she can buy them as many balloons as she wants

Oh please. Give me a break. You don't need kids to have common sense.

Exactly. I don't have kids & I would never do that.

 

[Andrew78]

Oh please. Give me a break. You don't need kids to have common sense.

When you have your own kids, you realize real quick how you don't want anyone elses opinions or actions interfering. So I don't think it's out of the ordinary at all for a woman without children to hand a child a balloon even though it would annoy the hell out of me. If a parent interferes, then I can say just go give this to your own child.

Commons Sense? Not sure, but how many times have you been out to eat and the waiter leaves a hot plate by the kids, happens al the time to me. DO I think the waiter/wautress hsould have common sense, yes but more often than not it's just a person who because they don't have kids doesnt think let me put this in a place the child won't get burned.

 

[mdsoccermom]

When you have your own kids, you realize real quick how you don't want anyone elses opinions or actions interfering. So I don't think it's out of the ordinary at all for a woman without children to hand a child a balloon even though it would annoy the hell out of me. If a parent interferes, then I can say just go give this to your own child.

Commons Sense? Not sure, but how many times have you been out to eat and the waiter leaves a hot plate by the kids, happens al the time to me. DO I think the waiter/wautress hsould have common sense, yes but more often than not it's just a person who because they don't have kids doesnt think let me put this in a place the child won't get burned.

Ok. I guess common sense does not prevail and I need to clarify. You don't need kids to understand that when you hear a parent say no, then you don't interfere. You don't need kids to understand that unless there is danger involved, you don't interfere with another family. You don't need kids to understand about minding your own business.

 

[Andrew78]

Exactly. I don't have kids & I would never do that.

Good for you, you have a good attitude. On the other hand since you have no children you don't know how you would feel if it hapened to you. Maybe you would have been fine. In this case the kid was fine and grandma didn;t have a heart attack so there was no issue.

 

[crisi]

I'm not sure if I see the difference between glitter, balloons and glow bracelets. In all cases, its best to ask the adult with the child before gifting the child. Many kids are not supposed to take things from strangers. Parents may have issues with any of these things.

(Glitter can be very annoying - I hate glitter in my kids hair and our daycare ended up banning it due to parent complaints. I'm not sure I could be gracious if my kids got "glittered" without me granting consent, I think you'd get a dirty look before I could stop myself.)

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

Well OP, I'll be down in October feel free to give my dd a balloon. it would make her day and I won't complain about it.

It seems to me like a lot of people are blowing this out of portion. Its a balloon fro goodness sake. She didn't buy the child a princess dress of 10 piece doll collection. If the grandmother really didn't want the child to have it she would have said thanks but no thanks.

 

[MissLiz]

I haven't read all of the responses, but I don't know if offended would be the right word for my feelings on this.

I think asking the adult with the child first would be the best option in any situation like this. We stay at AKL all the time and I'd be pretty peeved if someone gave my child a balloon that we would have to take away from them, either to keep at bell services or to get rid of. That's just asking for a meltdown!

Overhearing a conversation doesn't give you all the facts. Yes, you are trying to do something nice, but the adult in charge of that child needs to make the decisions.

 

[Metsfan520]

Good for you, you have a good attitude. On the other hand since you have no children you don't know how you would feel if it hapened to you. Maybe you would have been fine. In this case the kid was fine and grandma didn;t have a heart attack so there was no issue.

But I can know that to undermine an authority figure isn't a good thing.

 

[disykat]

Sometimes the word "no" is the best thing a child can hear. I think many times now-a-days there is way too much yes, and we've all seen the snowflake factory that parenting style creates. I'm not going to believe because I say no to my kid getting a balloon after I've paid 4000 for a vacation that they are going to be in therapy talking about what a bad parent I was.

This post needs repeating IMo.

That poor deprived child with no balloon - at DISNEY WORLD!

 

[declansdad]

Well OP, I'll be down in October feel free to give my dd a balloon. it would make her day and I won't complain about it.

It seems to me like a lot of people are blowing this out of portion. Its a balloon fro goodness sake. She didn't buy the child a princess dress of 10 piece doll collection. If the grandmother really didn't want the child to have it she would have said thanks but no thanks.

It doesn't matter what it was. The OP heard the grandmother say no yet purchased the balloon for the child anyway. In doing so, it undermines the grandmother's authority.

 

[Poohforyou]

Well OP, I'll be down in October feel free to give my dd a balloon. it would make her day and I won't complain about it.

It seems to me like a lot of people are blowing this out of portion. Its a balloon fro goodness sake. She didn't buy the child a princess dress of 10 piece doll collection. If the grandmother really didn't want the child to have it she would have said thanks but no thanks.

So because someone butted into my family's business I have to be the bad guy? I'd be ticked off if someone gave my child something I just said she couldn't have and especially if I gave a perfectly logic reason for doing so. I sure as heck don't want to worry about a stupid balloon the entire time I'm in a crowded park.