Indoor play gyms - interesting

Littlejen22

We are going to England in a few months so I am trying to find indoor things to do in case it rains.  Well, apparently there are tons of indoor play areas in pubs!  Like full-blown play areas with climbing nets and ball pits.  They even tell you that you can watch your kid while having a drink or eating.  Man, I find it annoying enough when people  eat outside the play area in Chik-fil-A when their kids are inside playing, and I find it even more annoying when going to an indoor play gym and Moms are so busy tallking that they are not watching their child being too rough with smaller kids.  I cannot imagine having some beers while my kids is off in a play area.

I did not think about the fact that there is likely someone working in the play area that hopefully would make sure the kids do not wander off but not sure, I never read about that.  I just cannot imagine something like that in the US.

So what are play gyms/play areas like where you live?

Rebekah1021

I wish there was a bar in our indoor bounce house. That is genius!! Although, I just let DD run around on those things.

I am an annoying mom too. 

shopgirl78

Littlejen22:

Man, I find it annoying enough when people  eat outside the play area in Chik-fil-A when their kids are inside playing, and I find it even more annoying when going to an indoor play gym and Moms are so busy tallking that they are not watching their child being too rough with smaller kids. 

So what are play gyms/play areas like where you live? 

Hmmm....I do these all the time, guess I am annoying.  I only trail my 2 year old at these place and if he is safe and happy, then I talk to my friends.  I mostly trust my older kids to play nice and stay in the open where they can see me. We had an incident last month at fast food place with N and another boy--N took his sock but I dont know why. He told me he didn't know either.  I talked to him about his behavior and how it wasn't nice to take the boys sock (and how socks are dirty : ) How do kids learn how to interact if they are always trailed by their parents?  

We have two bounce houses, Chuck E Cheese, and a handful of fast food playgrounds.  Of course regular parks too.   There is no drinking alcoholic beverages at either. 

Littlejen22

I don't trail my kids but I do stay where I can see them.  And don't get me wrong, I expect if you are with friends that you will have a conversation, I know I do it, but I don't stay where I have no idea what is going on.  I have been to a play place that is shaped like an L and has benches on both sides, there was this 4yo (I heard his Mom say his age) who was way bigger than the kids he was playing with and he was really pushing them around and his Mom was around the corner talking to another woman and had no clue her kid was pushing other kids.  Later on the little kids started burying her son in a circle and he could not get out, when he got out he was crying hysterically and again his Mom was totally out of sight and had no clue.  I realize this could all happen if she was there but if she was at least keeping a loose eye on him she could have intervened.

Mrs Manners

Rebekah1021:

I wish there was a bar in our indoor bounce house. That is genius!! Although, I just let DD run around on those things.

I am an annoying mom too. 

Me too! 

REOM

LOL if you don't already know this, you are in for a big surprise...parents in Europe (huge generalization her) are much more lax about, well, everything, than parents in the US.

My family in the US laughs at me for putting my kids in carseats, and truthfully does not understand holding back fish, strawberries, peanuts until after a year. After all, they have fish and peanuts in their jarred baby food!

Totally not surprised at a ball pit at a bar. Totally love it and wish so many parents that I know would chill out.

Yodajo

Rebekah1021:

I wish there was a bar in our indoor bounce house. That is genius!! Although, I just let DD run around on those things.

I am an annoying mom too. 

Ditto.  

I hope that someone brings that type of establishment to the U.S.!! 

Littlejen22

REOM:

LOL if you don't already know this, you are in for a big surprise...parents in Europe (huge generalization her) are much more lax about, well, everything, than parents in the US.

My family in the US laughs at me for putting my kids in carseats, and truthfully does not understand holding back fish, strawberries, peanuts until after a year. After all, they have fish and peanuts in their jarred baby food!

Totally not surprised at a ball pit at a bar. Totally love it and wish so many parents that I know would chill out.

Yeah, when we went to visit DH's family in England when I was PG DH bought me a pregnancy magazine and it said something along the lines of, "while you might know that drinking while PG is bad for the baby, what you probably do not know is that smoking is also bad for the baby."  Um, thanks for that NEW insight.

But most parents I know IRL are very very lax compared to people on here, especially about things like rear-facing and extended car seat usage.

JENandJEH

When we were living in Germany, there was an awesome indoor play area called Mega Play that we took DS to on a rainy afternoon (he was about 15 months).  They had a great little toddler area that was partitioned off with a half wall and then the rest of the building was a giant play structure.  There were NO parents in the play area, they were all sitting at tables in the adjacent snack area.  There were a few parents in the toddler area but they mostly sat around the edge and chatted amongst themselves.

 

Where we live now (TN), it's totally the norm for parents to sit outside of the Chick Fil A play area and chat with their friends.  For the most part, people do a good job of keeping their eye on the play area and listening out for any issues.  I think a PP mentioned something to this effect, but I kind of feel like DS is learning to navigate areas like that without me and it's not a bad thing IMO.  On the playground, I always make sure that I can see him, but I am rarely ever right there next to him unless he calls me over.  At our local indoor play area, I try to make sure he's in my line of sight but unless I want to climb up into the giant play structure myself, it's next to impossible. 

Rebekah1021

Littlejen22:

I don't trail my kids but I do stay where I can see them.  And don't get me wrong, I expect if you are with friends that you will have a conversation, I know I do it, but I don't stay where I have no idea what is going on.  I have been to a play place that is shaped like an L and has benches on both sides, there was this 4yo (I heard his Mom say his age) who was way bigger than the kids he was playing with and he was really pushing them around and his Mom was around the corner talking to another woman and had no clue her kid was pushing other kids.  Later on the little kids started burying her son in a circle and he could not get out, when he got out he was crying hysterically and again his Mom was totally out of sight and had no clue.  I realize this could all happen if she was there but if she was at least keeping a loose eye on him she could have intervened.

               here are my thoughts on this. i think dd needs to learn on who to avoid and handle certain situations. she is more likely to think for herself if i am not hovering her the whole time. she knows to go to a different toy or whatnot if there are farthole kids in one. she is not afraid to defend herself if need be. that is a whole different post altogether though. i am on my phone, sorry for the typos

rebs

England is far more relaxed about childraising than here.  I mean they have a kids area in a PUB- that alone has to tell you something. You will see alot of kids as young as 4 running up and down the streets on their own- especially in the smaller towns.

Usually there are places to sit in the pub where you can see the kid area and go in if needed.  A parent hanging out there with the kids would get the side-eye for sure!

I so wish we had those pubs here...

Mata Hari

We hear pub and think Irish drinking songs and cigarette smoke. Many UK pubs are just restaurants that have a bar. Think TGI Friday. Frankly, I'd love a play yard at family restaurants. Kids get so bored and it beats them getting underfoot and tripping a waitress!

phd_y2k

lurker here...but you don't have something like these?

https://www.cool-de-sac.com/

We have this and another franchise of which I forgot the name. 

Britnseth2006

Where i live in CO there's a restaurant that has a nice area upstairs for adults with a bar and down stairs is another restaurant with a second bar and of course seating but is seperated by a glass wall with a play area for kids. IT.WAS.AWESOME. DH and I got to enjoy ourselves and watch LO play while we got to eat (LO ate as well) a hot meal instead of trying to convince and tame LO.