I see this situation two ways. First, I think the mother of the girl was rather lax in this situation. Surely she saw that her daughter was blocking part of the equipment and that it was causing the other children problems. It was inconsiderate on the part of the mother.

Second, in regards to the manager, I understand there are signs that state play is at your own risk, and yes, it should be up to the parents to monitor their own children's behavior. However, management is not absolved completely of responsibility because they have an obligation to ensure their property is being used appropriately. I feel the manager should've done more in this situation.

If we're going to tell the OP that she should've handled the situation herself then we should go back to the Panera letter to the left and tell that OP the same thing. I know many will say this letter is different, but to me it's not. To me, this is still about lax parenting forcing staff to intervene. Yes, the OP could've talked to the other parent herself, but I think she did the right thing. The manager unfortunately didn't.

And, just a general question, and I don't mean to be snarky, would this letter garner a different reaction had the girl in this case not been handicapped?