Uncanniness in the park

I had a classic uncanny experience today.

I took my boys to the park to chuck a boomerang around. The only other people there were four girls who were about 11. They were playing with a baby doll, taking it out of its pram, laying it on the grass, talking to it. They took turns putting the doll onto their laps while they shot down the zip-wire with it. They were laughing and having a great time. And then one of the girls stood the doll up on its feet. It wobbled for a moment and then rolled back into the dirt. And it was then that I realised it was a real baby.

I felt like I should say something, like, ‘hey, careful, their heads come off easy at that age,’ but maybe this was normal and they’d think I was a weirdo. Is it normal for a mother to let her 11 year old daughter take her 10-month old baby to the park alone? So I said nothing. I span my kids round on the roundabout. I decided it was the baby’s mother’s responsibility. But I couldn’t help thinking the whole time, and still now, that this was a tragic local news story in the making. What do you do in a situation like that?