mom2kandj
08-21-2004, 02:19 AM
This totally ruined my evening!
Our small family of four went out for a family friendly dinner tonight about 6pm. DH had thought that we would go swimming after dinner, but it was about 7pm and getting chilly when we were ready to leave. So as not to disappoint my munchkins, I suggested that we go to a local park just around the corner from the shopping center to get the kids good and tired for bed. Well, we played with the kids and two other families for about 15 minutes when 5-6 teenage girls (about 15 yo) came into the gated play area. One family was already leaving and we were still enjoying the remaining sunshine. The girls proceeded to climb up on the jungle gym and a few were muttering that they weren't sure *IT* would hold their weight. Not a big deal right?
Well, they weren't talking about the jungle gym. Instead, they were talking about the shade structure above the jungle gym. Out here in SoCal, a lot of cities are putting in permanent shade structures above our playgrounds. FWIW, they are usually big nylon awnings that are stretched like giant sails and attached to large steel posts that are set in concrete in the ground. Let's just say that my tax dollars and those of every homeowner in that city just spent at least $4000 per structure at 20+ parks in the city to cover all the play areas. Also, DH and I had commented on that particular structure because there were silver dollar sized holes that we thought were cause by fireworks fallout from the 4th of July.
Back to the story! The ringleader of the group promptly climbed up on the top of the jungle gym and then hoisted herself up on the first sail. I called out to her, "Hey you better be careful. I wouldn't be climbing up there with those holes that could rip." Her response was, "Oh, it's okay. I've done this before." Of course this was followed by laughter and bravado. Then, she moved to the next sail which was directly over my children. Of course this Mama Bear was going to get PO'ed! I said, "There will be hell to pay if it breaks and you fall on my children!" Once again, laughter and bravado from the only girl who would climb up there while we were still there. I quickly turned to DH and said, "We are leaving NOW! If these girls can't be good role models, I don't want my children exposed to them."
DH got really quiet and I thought that he was upset that I was being confrontational with them. (We kind of have a No Confrontation rule as you never know when someone might pull a gun on you or go into road rage, etc.) It turns out that he was trying so hard to hold his tongue and not create a scene that involved harsh language and intimidation in front of our kids.
Well, DH scooped up the little one while I hurried my 3yo along. She kept asking why they were climbing up on top of the shade and why didn't they understand they could fall. She kept calling them bad girls (pretty loudly to my delight) for not listening to her mommy. We finally got her shoes on and walked to the car. Once inside, DH said, "Here's my phone. You are going to call the police, right?" We called the police and left. We will be following up with the mayor, who is a friend of the family, to get his thoughts on the situation
DH talked about it when we got home. I think I handled it as well as I could.
I really wanted to yell at her and tell her that my tax dollars had paid for that shade structure and that if she broke it, her mommy and daddy would be forking over big bucks to fix it and then she wouldn't get a brand new car for her 16th birthday.
I like to be optimistic about the future of our youth, but things like this make me so mad and eventually sad. I made three separate comments to the girl and IMO three separate warnings. Not once did she think about stopping. Was I overreacting? What would you have done? Thanks for reading if you got this far. It helped to get it out.
Rose
mom 2 Katie 12/02/00
& Jack 04/16/02
Our small family of four went out for a family friendly dinner tonight about 6pm. DH had thought that we would go swimming after dinner, but it was about 7pm and getting chilly when we were ready to leave. So as not to disappoint my munchkins, I suggested that we go to a local park just around the corner from the shopping center to get the kids good and tired for bed. Well, we played with the kids and two other families for about 15 minutes when 5-6 teenage girls (about 15 yo) came into the gated play area. One family was already leaving and we were still enjoying the remaining sunshine. The girls proceeded to climb up on the jungle gym and a few were muttering that they weren't sure *IT* would hold their weight. Not a big deal right?
Well, they weren't talking about the jungle gym. Instead, they were talking about the shade structure above the jungle gym. Out here in SoCal, a lot of cities are putting in permanent shade structures above our playgrounds. FWIW, they are usually big nylon awnings that are stretched like giant sails and attached to large steel posts that are set in concrete in the ground. Let's just say that my tax dollars and those of every homeowner in that city just spent at least $4000 per structure at 20+ parks in the city to cover all the play areas. Also, DH and I had commented on that particular structure because there were silver dollar sized holes that we thought were cause by fireworks fallout from the 4th of July.
Back to the story! The ringleader of the group promptly climbed up on the top of the jungle gym and then hoisted herself up on the first sail. I called out to her, "Hey you better be careful. I wouldn't be climbing up there with those holes that could rip." Her response was, "Oh, it's okay. I've done this before." Of course this was followed by laughter and bravado. Then, she moved to the next sail which was directly over my children. Of course this Mama Bear was going to get PO'ed! I said, "There will be hell to pay if it breaks and you fall on my children!" Once again, laughter and bravado from the only girl who would climb up there while we were still there. I quickly turned to DH and said, "We are leaving NOW! If these girls can't be good role models, I don't want my children exposed to them."
DH got really quiet and I thought that he was upset that I was being confrontational with them. (We kind of have a No Confrontation rule as you never know when someone might pull a gun on you or go into road rage, etc.) It turns out that he was trying so hard to hold his tongue and not create a scene that involved harsh language and intimidation in front of our kids.
Well, DH scooped up the little one while I hurried my 3yo along. She kept asking why they were climbing up on top of the shade and why didn't they understand they could fall. She kept calling them bad girls (pretty loudly to my delight) for not listening to her mommy. We finally got her shoes on and walked to the car. Once inside, DH said, "Here's my phone. You are going to call the police, right?" We called the police and left. We will be following up with the mayor, who is a friend of the family, to get his thoughts on the situation
DH talked about it when we got home. I think I handled it as well as I could.
I really wanted to yell at her and tell her that my tax dollars had paid for that shade structure and that if she broke it, her mommy and daddy would be forking over big bucks to fix it and then she wouldn't get a brand new car for her 16th birthday.
I like to be optimistic about the future of our youth, but things like this make me so mad and eventually sad. I made three separate comments to the girl and IMO three separate warnings. Not once did she think about stopping. Was I overreacting? What would you have done? Thanks for reading if you got this far. It helped to get it out.
Rose
mom 2 Katie 12/02/00
& Jack 04/16/02