Today I was called "bloody snotty" at work

[Sundae]

We get the same, Limey. Especially being a nursery store - there are often older brothers and sisters in tow when parents come in to buy things for the baby.

Unless it involves actual damage I turn a blind eye because it's not my shop and I hate confrontation. We've had a child ram a £60 ride-on toy into the legs of a £600 cot while the mother said weakly, "Oh Noah, don't..." Yes, it's a display model, but we sell our ex-display stock afterwards and that's one that's going to be heavily discounted now. Some parents think that shop items are public property and can be mauled with impunity (right up until it's their time to buy, when they want one from the back, wrapped in plastic, rather than the one that's on the shelf).

My 60yo co-worker is the best in these situations as she will barrel out from behind the counter blaring, "NO! Don't touch that! Not safe for little ones!" She'll literally follow the child around the shop if the parents don't start adressing the behaviour. She's a pretty tough rock chick in reality, but being of an older generation she can come across as a Grandma figure and so she doesn't get the back chat.

Don't worry - your reaction was fine, the mother is the one in the wrong. You never know, she might actually go home and think about how her child was behaving once the first defensive reaction has passed. Hmmm, maybe not!