The Mitts

I’m not one to publicly bitch about TOO many things… only those that really just drive me insane. The thing this week…. kids doing things they’re TOO BIG for.

Example one: I take Ada to the playground at the mall pretty often (the one with a clear “you must be this tall or UNDER to play” sign as you walk in). Still I occasionally see six and seven year old boys running around like wild animals, nearly trampling the toddlers and new walkers trying to play in what the moms thought was a baby-safe zone. UGH. I hate that!!! I sort of get it if a mom is there with her little two year old and also has a five or six year old… they can’t just leave the big kid at home or tell them to go walk around the mall while the little one plays. I get that. But at least tell that huge kid to either sit with you or at least play nicely and carefully if they insist on playing on the playground (even though it’s baby-ish and clearly not meant for them in the first place). The running around uncontrollably and jumping from the tops of the toys there is just unacceptable.

The other day Julie and I took Ada and Jake to play, and this one kid in there was seriously 7 or 8 years old. He was tall enough to be 12, though. He was running and jumping all over the place, getting WAY too close to kicking these one and two year olds in the heads. He even got up in a couple of their faces to try to scare them. What the hell!!?? Where is this kid’s mom!!?? Oh wait…. there was no mom. Yeah, that’s right, the kid was totally unsupervised IN A BIG MALL FULL OF STRANGERS. Not sure if his mom or dad worked at the mall, or if they were walking the mall or what… but this giant kid wasn’t just annoying the crap out of me and the other moms… he was UNSUPERVISED. UGGGGGHHHH! I wish his mom or dad HAD been there, because I think I was annoyed enough this time to actually say something. I would have AT LEAST given them a really mean, disapproving mommy glare. Since the glare works so well and all.

Example two: (A whole lot like example one) We took Ada to the pool again last night. We spent almost the entire time in the “big pool,” but right before we left, Ada was pointing at the “baby pool,” and since it was empty… we figured it wouldn’t hurt to play for a few minutes. So we take her in there and let her walk around in the tiny pool, playing with a few toys, having a nice (and safe) time by herself. Then enters a seven year old boy (we know his age, because we asked). He was, of course, without a parent. Awesome. He wasn’t really being all that wild in the pool with Ada, but he was clearly too big to be in there in the first place, and he was kind of obnoxious too with his random splashing, fake falling, and fake drowning (which of course splashed Ada in the face… luckily she didn’t mind). Clearly the kid was just bored because it was “adult swim” time, so he’d wandered over there to pass the time. Whatever… I can get over that. It’s the other kids that decided to join him that put me over the edge. Three more kids come along… two of them are probably seven as well, the other a little younger.  Now there’s FOUR big kids in the baby pool, splashing, yelling and running around. All without parents. ARE  YOU SERIOUS!!? Usually parents at our pool are really good about watching their kids like a hawk, but I guess it was just a group of parents who didn’t give a crap what their kids did last night. The kids were just too rowdy, so luckily it was already time for us to head out any way. I know they didn’t HURT any one, but still. They could have. And it’s not our job to keep an eye on these big kids that shouldn’t be in the baby pool to begin with. So that’s my bitching for this week. I feel a little better now. The end.

Next time I may cover my thoughts on child leashes (also sparked by a recent trip to the mall). But I’ve got too many other things to do right now than get fired up over that one. Maybe another day….