I hate parents sometimes.....

dragon_chica

I took DD to the mall today to let her use their kiddie play area.  I needed something to break up the day and was free!  It was our first time there and I figured if she enjoyed it we would make it a weekly trip.  We get there and it's already filled with kids, which was to be expected.  So of course DH and I watched DD like a hawk.  We were only there for 30 minutes and already saw kids who were clearly not under the height limit playing here and two kids running around knocking over a smaller girl and then proceed to run outside the play area and run around the perimeter of it without any parent calling for them to come back.  Ugh, parents.  Then the fun part begins.  I watch as another kid who looked to be about 7 y/o bounce a ball against any inanimate object he could throw it against.  This started to annoy me since my 1 y/o was closeby.  The moment that ball hit DD on the leg DH picked it up and gave it to me.  The kid looks at me and says something like "hey" or "give it" and I say in a calm and somewhat nice voice, "You hit my child.  Could you please not throw the ball around it's not safe."  The kid looks at me and says, "I'm telling my mom."  So I look at him with my pissed off teacher look and say, "Go ahead."  He repeats it again and once again I call his bluff.  So he runs out of the play area, which indicates mom wasn't even in the frickin' play area to supervise her bratty kid and it takes him a whole 3 minutes to find her.  She comes over talking on the phone and says, "Oh that's my son's ball."  DH proceeds to say, "Your son hit my child with this."  And she says, "Oh sorry" and takes the ball and walks away while she continues her phone conversation.  UN-FRICKIN-BELIEVABLE!

Payne2B2008

Oh wow sometimes I think people use that area as a "baby sitter" well they go shopping it's nuts 

MrsBatty

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at this.

What did you want her to do, write you a check?

 

dragon_chica

MrsBatty:

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at this.

What did you want her to do, write you a check?

 

For what?  I was hoping for a more genuine apology than a hasty one.  And the thing was if he didn't respond the way he did and just said, "Ok" I would've given the ball back. 

mrsmcdonald

I find it amusing you were calling a 7 year old's bluff. Really? You're going to get into a power struggle with a kid? What did you expect the mom to do? You don't know who she was on the phone with or what was going on with her.

It stinks when our kids get hit/hurt by someone else. But honestly, if you're worried about your daughter getting hit by anything, be it a ball, another kid, whatever, you probably shouldn't bring her to the mall kiddie area. It's notorious for badly behaved kids and even more badly behaved parents.

AngelaEsq

I am so sorry to hear that happened!  I have had horrible experiences myself.  I was thinking of calling security next time parents are violating the rules:)

eas15905

oh my gosh, that's so annoying!  This is the exact reason we hate going to the play area in our mall.  LO always looks like she's about to get trampled by 5 year olds who are clearly shouldn't be there.

dragon_chica

mrsmcdonald:

I find it amusing you were calling a 7 year old's bluff. Really? You're going to get into a power struggle with a kid? What did you expect the mom to do? You don't know who she was on the phone with or what was going on with her.

It stinks when our kids get hit/hurt by someone else. But honestly, if you're worried about your daughter getting hit by anything, be it a ball, another kid, whatever, you probably shouldn't bring her to the mall kiddie area. It's notorious for badly behaved kids and even more badly behaved parents.

Ok, so bluff wasn't the best word to use but I guess I'm used to children hearing what an adult says and comply with it even if for only a minute.  And being that this was my first time there and even though I know there will always be inattentive parents wherever you go it still didn't take away from the fact that it was a bad experience.  You go into a situation hoping for the best unless of course you're a pessimist.

cmrand4

Why wasn't he in school? 7 year olds are usually in first or second grade?

shellybell15

I totally get what you're frustrated about. Of course there is going to be "that kid" at the playground everyonce in a while. But the mom could have given you a more genuine apology. I hate when people don't have the common courtesy to pause their phone call for 2 seconds to speak to you. You can tell where the son got his manners. Not to mention...watch your child!

dragon_chica

cmrand4:

Why wasn't he in school? 7 year olds are usually in first or second grade?

That's what I was thinking too!  It was only about 1:15 and the only thing I could think of was maybe he's home schooled.

JenShea

dragon_chica:

cmrand4:

Why wasn't he in school? 7 year olds are usually in first or second grade?

That's what I was thinking too!  It was only about 1:15 and the only thing I could think of was maybe he's home schooled.

Or maybe year-round school?

Echowysp

JenShea:

dragon_chica:

cmrand4:

Why wasn't he in school? 7 year olds are usually in first or second grade?

That's what I was thinking too!  It was only about 1:15 and the only thing I could think of was maybe he's home schooled.

Or maybe year-round school?

yeah, my friend is on vacation from school right now.  or it could have been a 1/2 day for teacher conferences.