Nathan

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Daniel

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Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Playground Rules

I took Nathan to our local tot lot the other day. He loves this place. I love it too because it's only 4 blocks from our house and it's soft-surface. This is great because apparently 16 month old boys have NO FEAR!

Anyway, I've detailed before the "playground moms" and their um, etiquette. I guess you could call it that. This summer, since Nathan is playing on the playground equipment, I've noticed the different cultures of the little kids at the park. In particular, there were these two girls, I'm pretty sure they were sisters. My guess is that they were 3 and 4. They absolutely would not let Nathan climb on the equipment. They implored me "TAKE HIM OFF! WE'RE PLAYING!" Because my kid is little enough to not care, I just removed him. But then, oh Nathan, then he returned. "IT'S OUR TURN TO PLAY!"

Where was their mom or dad? Once again, I diverted Nathan and was (fortunately) successful. It wasn't that big of a deal - really - but, the culture of the park, where parents just don't pay any attention to their kids? I don't get it. But, check with me in 3 years and maybe I will.

3 comments:

AJU5's Mom said...

I guess I have chosen (mostly) good times to go to our park. Since i get to stay home, I think it is easier :) The moms (and other care givers) during the day are a lot more attentive. We have gone once at night and once on a weekend and it was more chaotic. The parents (in general) we not paying as much attention. Hopefully all of your summer visits won't be that "challenging."

Ree said...

I would have told the girls that it was Share Time and that Nathan WAS going to play.

Good Luck honey. I hope not all outings involve selfish little girls.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Ree.

I have told other children in similar situations that it was now my daughter's turn. I don't ever do that if the parents are near by, but if the children are unsupervised and appeal to me to remove my child, I side with my child every time.