Baby playing with tree branch

[Mungibeddu]

The other day I was playing with my 10-month old son on the condominium lawn, just like we have been doing almost every day for the past two months. At some point my son found a small tree branch on the ground and he picked it up. My wife saw what was happening and went ballistic on me. She said that the baby shouldn't do that because he might put the branch in his mouth. I told her that I was right there by our son supervising him, and that if he would have attempted to put the branch in his mouth I would have taken it away from him, but up to today she still holds a grudge on me because of this incident.
Would you let your baby play with a small branch that he finds on the ground?

 

[Kiwiberry]

With my first child, I probably would have reacted the same way as your wife. Not because I was wrong or right in my opinion of the situation but because of my inexperience as a first time parent and overwhelming need to protect my child. However, after having three children, I'm much more relaxed when it comes to situations such as this. How I would react now compared to how I would have reacted with my first child is completely different. What I would do now if I was faced with a situation like this is interact with my child along with the stick, explaining to them what it is, where it comes from, how very interesting branches can be, along with telling him/her that it's not food if they tried to stick it in their mouth. The difficulty lies in the fact that children - especially at a very young age learn by sticking objects in their mouth, it becomes our part to tell them what is safe to nom on and what isn't. I wouldn't take the object and in this case the branch away, children are very curious and love learning especially about new things. This of course would only apply to situations where the object in question is relatively safe for them to have & satisfy their curiosity (of course while being monitored).

Maybe you can sit down and have a chat with your wife, acknowledge her concerns but also explain from your point of view & that you weren't intentionally or otherwise doing anything that would harm your child.

 

[Bevziibubble]

I don't think it would have bothered me too much. I would have been more concerned with the baby possibly poking himself in the eye with it though. Baby is just curious and you were with him and supervising. I understand from your wife's point of view too but obviously you know baby was safe.

 

[Mungibeddu]

Thank you both for your reply.
The story is actually a lot more complicated than that. The question that I asked is about just the last leg of the guilt trip that my wife has been taking me through in the last few days.
The full story goes like this:
while I was playing with my son, he started crawling around until he almost reached the edge of the condominium pond (about 2-3 feet from the bank). Once he reached there he stopped and started pulling up grass. Eventually he found the stick and he grabbed it. Throughout the whole time I was with him, supervising him very closely.
My wife saw the whole scene from the balcony and she took a video of us by the pond. Then she came down on the lawn hysterically, and she started yelling and shouting at me, then she grabbed the baby and took him away, making a scene in front of a neighbor who was fishing nearby.
I went upstairs and confronted her. She accused me of being a reckless parent, behaving like a teenager, and making poor decisions on behalf of the baby just because she thought that there is bacteria close to the bank of the pond, specifically bacteria which causes blindness. She even threatened me to go to court to get her point validated.
I went online and found out that the bacteria she was talking about occurs only in fast moving water. Then she shared the video with her best friend who validated her point and started providing her even more reasons why my wife should be upset with me.
In strict chronological order, her friend said that there is Covid-19 in the water (I went online and found out that it's not true), that the baby could develop a habit to crawl towards the pond when left unsupervised (I never leave my son unsupervised), and finally that there are alligators in the pond (never seen one in our small, shallow pond in the five and a half years that we live in our condominium.
Finally my wife came up with a brand new reason, and to date she's sticking to it and bugging me continuously about it, which is the small wooden stick.
I'm attaching the video about me and the baby by the pond that my wife took, and I would appreciate if you could watch it and tell me whether you see any wrongdoing on my part.
Am I a bad father or my wife is over reacting?
Any opinion is appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[HLx]

I think one day your wife will realise that kids put stuff in their mouths, whether its a teething toy, a branch of even a worm they've found outside, I'm a health freak, but even I know the odd bit of dirt won't hurt your child, good for the immune system as my mum would say

 

[Babybump87]

I don't think it would have bothered me too much. I would have been more concerned with the baby possibly poking himself in the eye with it though. Baby is just curious and you were with him and supervising. I understand from your wife's point of view too but obviously you know baby was safe.

This for me too !!