Really?

I read the following post in my local mommy list serve a few days ago, and it's still got me worked up:

***
Today, after I picked my 3-year-old up from preschool, he was playing outside with other kids as parents and caregivers talked on the sidewalk. My little guy came over the threw a handful of gravel right at my face and that of the woman standing next to me (I have not met her before). I immediately asked her if she was OK, and she said yes. I said my son's name, and he giggled and ran away. I chased him down, got on his level and told him that he cannot throw rocks, and it is not OK to throw rocks at people. I told him that he has to say sorry and that we are leaving. (The other mom did not hear this b/c we were a ways away.) When we got back to the sidewalk, I told my son that he needs to say sorry. The other mom took a step back and said "NO. NO. We don't do that in our family! No apologizing unless it is genuine. We don't do that in our family. I know a lot about child development and he's too young to understand. And rocks can be fun." I didn't know what to say, so I just said 'OK' and put my son in the car and left.
***




When I read this, I think I was just as dumbfounded. A mom told another mom that making her child apologize is NOT Ok. And throwing rocks IS ok because it's fun. The posting mom then goes on for a few more paragraphs to describe the shock and conflict that I still feel.  


There is just so much wrong with this whole story. But this doesn't surprise me. Parenting in Boston is weird. There are so many really educated people who can just be so... dumb? Crazy? A mom in my neighborhood called the situation "whackadoodle". Yeah. It's just so OUT THERE!


Is this happening anywhere else?