Trouble at the Park

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My father would take me to the playground,
and put me on mood swings.

~ Jay London

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I'm not sure if it's my need to be a good parent, raise my children well, teach them to be polite and kind, or simply my path to mom of the year, but a harmless trip to the park today really set me off.  And to think it all started with a slide. 

Aaron is away at a conference so I took the girls out today for some fun.  This included going to Bandshell Park to play.  I chose this park because I didn't think there would be many people there so the girls could adequately play without it being too crowded.  Malea started with the small slides but it didn't take her long to warm up and she was going for the giant tornado slide.  She has no fear!  This is all fine, but she is only 19 months old and very small for her age, so the other, bigger kids could trample her in no time.  She did love the slide.  She climbed those stairs many times with a big smile each time. 

As Malea is trying to go down the slide, there are two other girls playing who insist on climbing up the slide.  No big deal, but by the 10th time my child is trying to slide down, I'm growing fearful she will take the other, bigger kid's legs out from under them and they will fall on her.  Yep, that's where my mommy mind goes and a trip the ER was not in my plans today. 

Now, what I'm about to say I'm sure will make some people gasp or think, wow, she's cranky, but I'm saying it anyway.  COME ON PARENTS - PARENT!!!  Even when your kids get older, you need to pay attention!  Maddie is 7 and I still keep an eye on her to make sure she is behaving.  I don't really scold other people's children let alone complete strangers.  But this mother was not paying attention AT ALL!  After the 9th time I had yelled at Malea to wait because other people were on the slide, I wasn't necessarily saying it in a nice tone.  I kept looking at this mother expecting her to ask her girls (one of them more so than the other) not to go up the slide anymore.  Nothing.  Not a thing.  On her cell phone texting the entire time.  AAAAAhhhhhhhhh!!!!! 

That's when it happened.  I couldn't take it anymore.  I wasn't mean.  I wasn't scary.  In fact, while stern, I thought I had a kindness about me (seriously, I did).  Since I couldn't get mom's attention, I walked right up to one of the little girls and said, "Can you please get off the slide so other people can come down?" 

See, parenting is easy, was the look I shot her mother.  I could see she cared less.  I'm pretty sure I rolled my eyes so she could see.  We finally went down the slide one last time and called it a day at the park.  After all, mommies should not grow as annoyed as I was at fun places.

As I gathered up the girls to go, the inattentive mommy got up to leave as well.  She left with one of the slide culprits, but not the habitual one.  What?  Was she leaving her at the park?  As they walked away, another women I'd seen sitting at a picnic table chatting with another woman came over and gathered the remaining child as her own.  Ah ha - this all made sense now!  That woman texting was not even her mother.  Perhaps the reason she cared less about my nasty stares and snarled glances.  

Perhaps the reason I still have not obtained mom of the year status!  But, I still watch my kids at the park. 

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