I'll tell you a story that still makes me shudder when i think about it.
My hubby is in the forces and so we move around a fair bit. A few years ago we got friendly with a couple that had a boy aged about 3 and a girl aged about 8. One evening we had this couple round for drinks along with our neighbours. We were all sitting in my kitchen drinking. Her daughter would not leave my Heidi alone..basically she was treating her like a toy kept picking her up and carrying her around, at one point i went upstairs to check on the kids and this girl had Heidi held under the duvet on my sons bed with just her little head poking out like she was trying to put her to bed like a doll!!!
I told her off and took Heidi downstairs with me. Her parents were to busy talking and drinking to watch their kids and it was a total nightmare for me as i was constantly running up and down to keep my eye on them all, i was alot younger then..and was too embarassed to say anything..i wouldn't be so backward now i can tell you!
Later in the evening my son who was aged only about 4 at the time came running in upset saying..'Heidi fell down the stairs'!! I ran out to find my Heidi lying at the bottom of the stairs..i picked her up and her eyes were rolling to the back of her head and a few minutes later she was sick..we called the vet out and she took her and kept her overnight to keep an eye on her..thankfully she was fine and we were able to collect her the next day.
This little girl had been trying to carry her down the stairs and Heidi had wriggled free from her arms and gone all the way down the stairs...
Her parents just did not supervise their children the whole time they were at mine while i ran around like an idiot.
after the accident the mother of the girl says to me..'That's why we don't have pets...we had a Budgie and she squeezed it to death'!!!!
I was so angry..they said they would pay the vet bill too which cost £120..but when we gave them the bill they became very argumentative..and we ended up paying half each. A week or so later the mother sees me out throwing a ball for my Heidi and she comes up to me and says..'oh..there's nothing wrong with her now is there'!..can you believe the woman???
Needless to say they were NEVER invited round to my house again.
Everytime i think about it it makes me feel sick and i blame myself in some ways for letting it happen...thankfully she wasn't seriously hurt.
When my son was very young, if we were visiting friends/family i ALWAYS made sure he behaved himself and was supervised properly..i never had any problems taking him anywhere.