Parenting etiquette question.

[rivka]

After story hour at the library, the librarian brings out a bunch of toys and the kids have free play. They're almost all of them under two years old (this is, officially, "story hour for non-walkers," although probably half the group can walk), so there's a fair amount of toy-grabbing that goes on. It's developmentally expected, but parents do tend to intervene if they're trying to work on sharing or if it seems like the robbed kid cares. (Often, at this age, they're just as happy to pick up something else.)

This morning, Alex got hold of a cool toy - a long clear plastic tube with a bunch of jingle bells inside. As she played with it intently, a 17-month-old grabbed it out of her hands. She started to cry.

The other kid's mother and I were both sitting less than two feet away. I waited a minute to see if she would respond, and then I said to the kid, in a friendly and conversational voice, "I think the baby was still playing with that toy. See, she looks sad. Can you give it back to her, please?" I put my hand on the toy and he relinquished it without any kind of struggle or negative reaction. (I wouldn't have taken it from him by force.) I gave it back to Alex, who immediately stopped crying, and the kid wandered off to play with something else.

But his mother seemed offended. "He's just a few months older than she is, you know," she said in an abrupt tone of voice. "He doesn't know not to take things."

"Oh, of course not," I said. "Alex takes other kids' toys all the time. Sometimes kids don't even mind, but if they're upset..."

"Is she your first?" she asked, in what seemed like a wow-are-you-inexperienced tone. I said that she was. She asked how old Alex was, and then said, "so he's... eight months older than she is." That was the end of our conversation. (So much for "only a few months older," anyway.)

My question is, was I wrong to speak directly to her kid about returning the toy? I would never discipline someone else's child, but this seemed more like saying for Alex what she's too young to say for herself. I just kind of expect that, in a group of very young kids, adults will step in to help negotiate social mishaps. I don't expect kids of that age to spontaneously refrain from taking toys from each other. But maybe she felt criticized as a parent? Should I have asked her to intervene, instead?