Comments on: Playgrounds: Ruining The Fun One Child At A Time

By: Marie

Marie — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:59:12 +0000

I so agree with you on this! Sometimes I will not go to a specific park (which is the closest to my house) and drive away, when I see a certain mother who is litterally there I am positive everyday with her three kids. Her little boy is down right weird, mean, and stalky! He even spit in my son's face one day. All while the mother is pushing her youngest child around the outside of the park in a stroller, and never comes into the park area where her older kids are playing. So I end up driving around to scope out our favorite park to see if they are there, and if so I will leave and drive a farther distance to another park. Especially if the park is pretty empty, and I know this little boy will seek out my son to play with. If it is busy then I will stay and hope for the best. So you are not alone in feeling like kids are mean, and parents don't pay attention to their kids. I also end up playing with my son as well, because for some reason he is a very social child and will run up to any kid his age or older and want to play with them. So we get let down alot too. I guess that is our punishment for having happy social kids who want to play with everyone!

By: BlueAmbition

BlueAmbition — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:10:59 +0000

That's why I prefer Bird Park over any playground. I can let me kids run free and "be kids". As a mother of 5, playgrounds are just too much work. I guess I'm just one of those "slack parents". One thing I've learned by having alot of children, sometimes parents can make a big deal out of things that really aren't. I guess it's just instinct.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:53:01 +0000

Awesome, and even guys get this. I take my kids to park, or those insufferable parties at Chucky Cheezy, or bounce yer ass off, and I end up policing/ playing with all the kids. Most parents abandon their kids at these things and "let kids, be kids", which means act like Lord of the Flies! I like your Children of the Corn reference. As a Dad it is maybe more unsettling because if I get those moments of needing to or feeling compelled to parent some slack parents kid for 'em I am EVIL in the mother/mothers eyes or perhaps just a "type A" ass. I am not… come on you know me! The problem is at school there are teachers on the playground, at organized events coaches/ volunteers. At these things and even amusement parks (where the amusement is actually in the thought that these idiots actually breed and their spawns cannot take all the blame, if thats actually amusement) parents just let their kids go left to the shortage of instruction they have been equipped with, and not surprisingly that is exactly why it appears as Lord of the Flies. So now, if I feel compelled to say/ interfere I do, because I do so for no one else but me! I could care less what anyone thinks of me and when you take yourself out of the parent pool, then I am the lifeguard! I have never had a parent come over to me after correcting their kid, and it has happened a lot. I am prepared for that. I did however approach a 30 something adult who's kid boy shoved in the back my daughter, I told the kid that was unacceptable behavior and also wrong to hit a girl. he put that "oh yeah, I'm gonna tell my Dad" face on… So I beat him to it. I told the Dad what happened, and he looked surprised/ pissed…I anxiously awaited the result thinking he was gonna be a dick. He scolded his kid and said thanks for telling me, later had his boy come apologize! Love the Blog, just realized I rambled…

By: Walt

Walt — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:44:28 +0000

A little over-reactive here..just saying. I'd draw the line at "sticks" and let the rest go. This is normal kid to kid interaction until they're 12 or 13 when they discover drugs and sex.