Does this boy sound suspicious?

[Anonymous]

She will keep going until she gets everyone to agree with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m realizing this is a futile exercise. It’s impossible to know what you would have done in the same situation because as clearly as I try to describe it, you were not there. So I’m asking you to just assume you felt what I felt, and ask what you have done given that. But again, you’re getting stuck on the fact that you think you wouldn’t have felt what I felt. I get it- I could be some quack who is suspicious of every stranger, you don’t know me. You don’t know my DH. Or I could be a normal mom who has always had pretty good instincts, and decided to follow her gut in this case. Point is, you guys don’t know either way, so you are just getting stuck on that instead of offering feedback that I can actually use.

I do appreciate some of the earlier responses which were actually helpful. So thank you to those Pp’s.

Oh my goodness OP. It's not that we don't understand the scenario. It's that the nearly unanimous decision is that we all would have GONE WITH ALL THREE KIDS. The first time. The second time. The third time. If we thought it was suspicious - go with the kids. If we didn't think it was suspicious - still go with the kids. It's not complicated. Stay with the kids, go see the new things. And kept going with the kids unless it was time to leave or the big kid tried to take your kids to a waiting van or a busy highway or something.

[Anonymous]

Ever had something really cool (or really not all that interesting) to share? He is too young to take a picture and post to social media. He works in the low tech way "Come see!" People post pictures of their coffees, meals, etc. We live in a come see! look! look! look! world.

[Anonymous]

OP: One thing I can't tell from your posts is whether the older boy could see you/were aware that you were following? If so, I would think the kid was a bit weird/socially immature/a geek or younger than I thought, but nothing more. If not, then I think there is some chance he really was up to something (maybe just seeing how many times he could get kids to follow him or whatever), but I would have just made myself known to him and ostentatiously started following them wherever they went. You could tell your kids the lesson you wanted to teach them (never leave your sight w/o asking you) later.

[Anonymous]

OP, always go with your gut. You did the right thing, don't post about it here on DCUM because people here are crazy.

[Anonymous]

‘ stranger danger’ is misleading because most children and parents know the abuser as the abuser has garnered their trust. This is an abusers goal . Shockingly a place out of sight, like a restroom or cave, is the exact place abuse happens. This scenario can happen to young children and can be perpetrated by peers. The best thing you can do is teach your child and for you to be aware of situations or behaviors that just don’t feel right. It’s learning the right way to see a situation through education, that is the only way to see correctly that danger could be present.

[Anonymous]

My kids wouldn't be going anywhere with that kid, and I would ask him immediately where his parents are. That would be the end of that, I don't care to see what he thinks is cool.

[Anonymous]

Pp - perfect response