So I take Sam to Chic-Fil-A this morning. It's raining and the kid needs to get out of the house. We also went to Chic-Fil-A last week. I love it. Good food, and a safe indoor playground for days like this when it's raining.
I'm sitting so I can see what's going on inside the play area. There is one Mom in there who is apparently comatose, because when three boys, including my son, start shoving at each other, she says nothing to them. I get up and go in there and say "No pushing." She just looks at them with a blank stare. (What I think is happening here is the other kids are 4-year-olds and Sam is the same size and the kids and parents expect him to hold his own, not knowing he's ONLY TWO!)
Later a kid comes running out to me and says "Sam needs help" and I go in there and Sam is crying (he was wedged between the slide and a wall where I couldn't see him from my seat). I ask him what's wrong and he won't answer. Meanwhile, another mother has come in and both these mothers had to witness what happened and no one says anthing! Finally I ask them if they saw anything and they said another kid pushed him (big surprise).
Now, if it were me in there and I saw kids who were not mine beating up on another kid who's not mine I WOULD STILL SAY SOMETHING. I'm not asking these parents to supervise my kid for me. I'm keeping an eye on him and I will go in there if I see him doing something he shouldn't or someone else doing something to him that they shouldn't. But why were these mothers doing absolutely nothing?! I was kind of pissed that they wouldn't rescue a child in need until his mother could get to him.
It didn't help that then Sam threw a HUGE temper tantrum when I told him it was time to go. I told him five minutes, and then he decided he "couldn't" play anymore, so when I try to get his shoes on him he completely flips out on me.
One nice thing about the Chic-Fil-A playground is that it's encased in glass and you can't hear much from outside of it. So imagine a quiet restaraunt when suddenly the playground door swings open and a screaming toddler is hauled out of there by his mother. Not a single person DIDN'T look at us as I dragged him out to the car. Yeah! If I'd had a free hand I should have done a princess wave.
Maybe I get too involved in other people's business, but I will take care of ANY child I think is in trouble or behaving badly. Am I wrong?
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5 comments:
No, dear, I don't think you're wrong. What you're experiencing is the difference in a mother and women who have children. There's a world of difference and kids, though all of them scuffle with other kids, shouldn't get away with thinking fighting is OK. Mrs. A.
NOPE - NOT WRONG A BIT!
I have never gone to that Chik-fil-a and NOT had a problem in that playplace. For some reason it attracts turdy little kids with even turdier moms.
You're not wrong, SOMEONE's gotta lay down the law!
I was standing in line at Busch Gardens for a new ride that was completley packed. Everyone just watched and quietly complained to themselves when a huge group of pre-teens kept cutting everyone. No one said anything to them. I watched this for a good 20 minutes before they made it to me. Two of them raced by me and stood in a corner waiting for the others to catch up. I'm talking a good 15 kids at least. When the next group tryed to get by, I stuck my finger out and yelled "NO!" They looked at me like I was crazy. Then I pointed to the two that were up ahead and told them to stay exactly where they were. The larger group started complaining and actually asked me why they couldn't get by. I told them thats what lines are for and ignored them after that. I still can't believe that all those adults were there and no one said anything. What are we so afraid of?
You are definitely not wrong. I would have done the exact same thing. And I have no qualms about using my teacher voice when some parent is obviously not supervising their child in a public place. I get dirty looks but hey, at least I am speaking up, right? And that was before I even had a kid! :)
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