Pushy neighbor

mosseater wrote:
The last thing on my mind after driving 7 hours to a campground I didn't particularly want to go to, in a place I never wanted to visit, on a day I'd rather be doing something else, somewhere else, was to baby-sit a complete stranger who may or may not cause damage or injury to himself or others if I don't watch his every move (and all before I had my first proper meal of the day, or had a chance to know the kid for more than literally 1 minute). Gee, can't imagine why I would be hesitant to engage the little urchin and help to bring him up right. That is, after all, what we hapless humanitarians were put here on the planet for: child care for the masses. Takes a village, and all that rot? What must I have been thinking?

Now see the original post did not contain all of this information. I think this really tells the story as to what the problem really was. I also think you have answered your own question as to what you must have been thinking!

I still stand by my own post that I while I might have initially been a little irritated by the kid I don't think I would have let the situation bother me to the extent that it obviously did you.

Seeing as to how you just wanted to know if others have encountered the same or similar situations. Not while camping but yes I have. On occasion I have been a little irritated however I have never let it get to me to the point that I would have the expectation that the kid is going to ruin my day. It has taken me many years to finally realize that I don't have to let such encounters ruin my day. It would have bothered me more had this been an adult, an experience I have also had. Still I would not have let it ruin my stay.

As far as finding fault with the parents as some have done. There simply is not enough information here to come to that conclusion. Just as we did not initially know that the OP was irritated to begin with, we also do not really know anything about the parents.