Please watch your children

[3blackcats]

DH and I were at the car dealership last night purchasing our new car (awesome) and had to put up with this family and their three kids. Now, keep in mind this car dealership has a room for children to play. It has toys, dvd player, tons of stuff to keep kids occupied. So why did the parents let there children play in the new cars? They were honking the horns in the building, slamming the doors as hard as the could, jumping on all the seats, climbing across backs on the seats, etc. Oh and let's not forget the fact that they would fight loudly over whose turn it was to 'drive'. This wasn't the car they were purchasing, this was just a car that was on display for everyone to see. The thing is, it wasn't very busy in the dealership last night so they could have easily moved the whole signing papers production beside the kids room where the parents could have easily sat and kept an eye on the kids while they were playing. Both parents were there...

It took all my self control to not go over and say something. I don't blame the kids, I blame the parents :D Maybe I'm the one whose wrong and didn't notice the playground sign next to the dealers name.

[KrisM]

It took all my self control to not go over and say something. I don't blame the kids, I blame the parents :D Maybe I'm the one whose wrong and didn't notice the playground sign next to the dealers name.

Even so, and even if there wasn't a playground, it sure sounds like unacceptable behaivor to me.

I've been looking at cars and take all 3 kids with me and not DH. My kids don't sit perfectly, and I do let them play a bit, but right where I am and only with the toy they brought in with them. We did look at the display cars, but didn't get in and I was there. I can not imagine letting them do what you've described.

[hillview]

BTDT
Sounds a lot like me at the dealer a few months ago. 2 kids 3.75 and 18 months. I couldn't keep BOTH of them under control while signing paperwork -- DH was off dealing with the financing folks. There wasn't a kid area. It is very hard to take kids car shopping. I couldn't get a sitter (tried). SIGH. I do appreciate it isn't ideal :)
/hillary

[happymomma]

When we bought our car, we actually just had someone watch our kids. they were sleeping at home so that we could actually read what we were signing. It was so much better than having the kids with us. I find it so distracting. My kids would not sit still.

The great thing was recently we refinanced our house and our mortgage broker came to our house at 9pm after the kids were sleeping. It was so nice to read everything and to do it at home. The broker was great about explaining everything.

I think it's just too hard with kids. If I was just looking to buy, we would take the kids but not when we were signing the papers.

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

My first thought was maybe they were trying to get a better deal. Haha, you know, have their kids run amok and have the dealer do ANYTHING in their power to get them to leave quickly? Maybe it's a really good negotiating tactic! :ROTFLMAO:

[SnuggleBuggles]

The "kid" area at my dealership (where we get the car serviced) is crap. So, i do, in fact let ds1 play in the cars. It's great fun. However, I don't let him slam doors, honk horns, get fingerprints on the glass... Some degree of supervision is important, imo, but I also don't think it is a huge deal to let the kids play in the cars if the staff is ok with it.

ETA- if I had a choice I wouldn't take the kids with me but those things don't always work out. Like that day at the dealer- we should have been out in 45 minutes but we were there 3 hours. We had to find something to do to keep everyone from going nuts.

Beth

[HIU8]

Ditto. We bought our car before we had DD. DS stayed home with my father watching him and we could go about our purchasing/signing so that we understood and could read everything. We are very lucky that my father lives close by and is willing/and wants to help out whenever he can and we need it.

[niccig]

We deliberately took DS when we were looking. We were not buying that day, and used DS as our excuse to leave. The salesman was trying to get DH and I inside to talk about things, and DS timed a melt down PERFECTLY.

When we signed, we got a babysitter, so we could concentrate. But I know that's not always possible. I'm glad we did though, as it meant we could concentrate on the deal. DS would have distracted us too much.

[KBecks]

I have taken my two toddlers to the dealership, I have even dragged in carseats to see how they would fit into cars.

This is a contrary opinion, but since the cars in the dealership are not yours either, it's not your job to worry about them getting ruined by kids. It would be up to a dealership manager to request that the family control their kids and the dealership probably is not concerned over having kids in the showroom.

I am sorry you were bothered by the commotion.

[Indianamom2]

Wow, I'm actually surprised by some of the responses from people who seem to understand this kind of behavior.

I have a very active, very loud by nature, very talkative 4.5 year old and I absolutely, without a doubt, would not let her act the way that the OP described.

Yes, it is extremely hard to keep a preschooler busy, let alone 3, and I TOTALLY understand having to take the kids. I almost never get to go anywhere alone. However, it is not an excuse to let your kids do whatever they want. Someone has to teach them appropriate behavior, and that someone is the parents...not the store manager.

I'm not trying to start a fight here, I just have a very different opinion on how children need to behave. Not every situation is child-friendly and it is equally important to teach children to behave in those situations as it is anywhere else.

Christina

[3blackcats]

I felt bad for the kids in the fact you could tell that they were bored and at 8:30pm wanted to go to bed. Heck, I was bored and I was buying a car.

To me it would have be a teachable moment of "even though this stuff does not belong to us, we should still treat it with respect."

I remember going to the dealers with my parents when we were younger. We needed to see how we all fit into the vehicle.

JMHO

[niccig]

I agree that the kids were out of control, and that the parents needed to step in. But I also know that when we bought our car, we were there for 3 hours - and we were just signing the papers. That's a dang long time for a young child.

We've gone to a few things that were totally inappropriate for a child - a family wedding where I did not want DS at the reception dinner. He was 2 yo and of course interrupted the dinner. I quickly made my exit with him. I told every family member it was not a good idea, but the bride insisted on ALL family being there. Thanks for the thought, but there are some events that are not appropriate for a young child - and you will get meltdowns.