“You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.”

As you can see with my 'Silent Sunday' photos yesterday Leah (and me and my lovely friends that came along) had a great time at the first Daffodil Sunday at Auckland's Cornwall Park.

We saw dogs and flowers and beautiful looming trees. We moved along with the throng of people through our beautiful surroundings taking in all that the coming season had to offer. Frolicking lambs and bleating sheep mothers, grazing cows and their new little calves and a stunning barrage of new spring daffodils.

At least... we were having a good time. Until...

...someone's horrible child decided to enjoy the daffodils a little bit too much. Or at least this is what happened in some people's eyes.

I didn't have a problem with Leah walking through the daffodils. She was enjoying them, sniffing them and running through them with a look of pure ecstasy on her face. Enjoying a nice sunny day after a week of wet ones. She wasn't trampling them or ripping them out of the ground. She was simply fostering her appreciation for nature, as a two year old should be.

Mummy was enjoying our time too. Leah is such a happy child and she was having so much fun running and dancing around the flowers. Like a little fairy. Of course I was spending most of my time taking photos and telling her to be careful and be gentle with the flowers. Smiles all round.

Then the miserable grey steam train arrived. An elderly couple walking along with expressions on their face like half sucked throaties. They called out to Leah "get off the flowers, you're hurting them" and "the flowers are here for everyone to enjoy, you shouldn't be near them". Leah stared at them with a bemused face - 'who are these old people interrupting my dancing and what are they saying to me?' Exasperated that a two year old wouldn't obediently obey the two elderly strangers began to stalk off in my direction (I was ahead of Leah taking photos, of course!). As they passed me they gave me a death stare and muttered 'useless parent'.

I was gobsmacked! How unbelievably rude.

What sad lives you must lead to speak to a 2 year old about this in such a horrible manner and not address your problem face to face with the parent of the child. And let me give you a little piece of my mind - if you think 'useless parenting' is giving your child an opportunity to appreciate the nature around them, allowing them to be happy running rather than carry them and let them passively observe what is going on or monitoring your child's behaviour and guiding them along this journey rather than steam rolling them at every turn and sternly growling at them then you are sorely mistaken. Not only am I not a useless parent, I am one of the very best. My Leah will grow up to do great things, you just watch her, and hopefully when she is elderly and watching a small child exuding pure happiness she will appreciate what she sees, not deny it. Up yours!