AITA for "parenting" someone else's kid by saying "I'm a mammal."
I (36 F) was at a children's birthday party this past weekend. My best friend's daughter turned 6 and invited her whole class to a public park for games and cake. I showed up wearing a long-sleeved, knee-length dress, which is relevant. I've been really busy at work for the past week--3-4 hours of sleep busy--so I had the energy to shower before the event, but I didn't bother shaving my legs. I'm not growing a national forest or anything, but the hair is visible if you look closely. Personally, I don't care, my husband doesn't care, and I didn't think any of the children/parents would either.
At one point, I was sitting on a folding chair by the snacks table with my legs crossed, and a little boy wandered over. He was more interested in the snacks than me, so I didn't pay it any mind, but eventually he approached, pointed at my legs, and asked, "Why do you have hair there?"
I wasn't prepared for questions, and honestly I had no interest in discussing this with a kindergartener. So I settled on, "Because I'm a mammal," and left it at that. The little boy looked kinda confused for a second but then said, "Okay," and zoomed off. I don't really know what happened from there, but my guess is he asked his parent(s) what a mammal is and then explained where he heard that word, because the next thing I knew, his mom stomped over. And I know it was his mom because her only introduction was, "What the hell are you trying to teach my son?" To which I replied, "Nothing. What? Sorry."
She said, "You should be sorry, because it was really inappropriate for you to try to parent my kid." I immediately said, "I wasn't trying to do anything of the sort," but she replied, "It's not your place to tell him right from wrong. And for the record, I have three kids and still manage to shave my legs every single day. What's your excuse?" Which I guess was a dig at the fact that I don't have children? I was the only person there who wasn't a parent to one of the kids, so I guess I stood out.
I probably shouldn't have replied the way I did, but I said, "Congrats on your dolphin smoothness. It's genuinely impressive you have that kind of energy." Then I got up and left without really listening to what she said next. I found my best friend and told her what happened. She was 50-50 on if I should have just kept the peace or not and asked me to avoid that lady/her children for the rest of the party, which I did.
I don't know what I think about all this, so I'm asking you. AITA?