Park Etiquette

Let's talk about the park. A place that I, like many of you, frequent often. A place that costs no money and brings hours of enjoyment to our little ones. A place that is carefree, close to home, and encourages all kinds of imaginative play. My friend Courtney and I have been meeting at the park for lunch and play time quite frequently. The kids love eating their lunch on a blanket under a shady tree. They love looking in the cooler bag to see what snacks and treats I have stowed away. Carly will lay on a blanket in the shade all day watching the trees move. So relaxing. Courtney and I can watch our older ones play while our two babes stare at each other and scootch around on blankets. Ahh--motherhood at its finest.

Not so much. Two days ago Courtney and I were at our favorite park having our relaxing mommy moments. The ones we believe we rightfully deserve. Our kids decided to put sand on one of the slides so they could drive their little cars and trucks down it. Mind you, there are two slides side by side. We told them not to put it on the other slide so if anyone wanted to actually slide on the slide they could. We were surprised at a father that was "lecturing" our boys on not putting sand on the slide. He told them they had to leave one side open for sliding. As I made my way over to their location, I interjected that I had already told them this. There was only sand on one side still, as we discussed. One of his children was standing there saying that the boys were being mean to her and wouldn't let her slide. Both boys said this was not the case. I gave everyone a gentle reminder and hand them apologize (as a good measure)and went back to my mommyhood bliss under the shady tree.

Would be nice if the story stopped here, right? Not so much. Dylan and his buddy wanted to make a mud pit for the monster trucks and put water on the slide. Now, we all agree this was not a good choice and quickly rectified the situation. Okay, not as quickly as we should have. A little boy did go down that side of the slide and got his pants soaked. Yes, we felt bad. Of course. The mom was so fine with it. She changed his clothes and brought him back to play. The father we spoke to earlier (not the father of the boy with wet pants)was not as kind about it. As we were cleaning it up, Courtney said we better clean this up before someone gets wet. His response? "Too late for that." Thanks. We know. We are trying here. The kids apologized for putting water on the slide. Geesh! Emma walked over to help with the clean up of wet sand and left a few fruit snacks in the sand on her way. The father was quick to point this out, "Oh, someone left candy everywhere. We really need to clean this up." Trying here mister. Seriously?

The end? No. Maybe we should have been watching the boys a little more closely so this didn't happen. We were watching pretty well, but look away from time to time to tend to the other babies. I know--what were we thinking? Said father is now sitting on the bench talking to pretty young lady. His two children, ages 4 and 3 and now running around the park on their own. We hear words being spoken between the children at the slide AGAIN. I head over. The little girl is now putting sand on both sides of the slide. Seriously? Me: "Remember we discussed with all the kids not to put sand on both sides so other friends can slide too?" Little girl--looks at me, picks up a bucket of sand, and pours it on the other side. Seriously. Me: "Why did you put sand on that side too?" Girl: "Because I wanted to." Mind you, I am having this discussion quite loudly and definitely in earshot of the father. However, he was too busy talking to the pretty woman sitting next to him, remember?

A little baffled I walk back to my still somewhat blissful spot under the still somewhat shady tree. We all go over to the swings. I notice the little girl and her brother going towards our blanket area, and now looking through our food bags. Oh yes. I head back over. She wants fruit snacks. I tell her they are not mine but Courtney's. She would need to go and ask her at the swings. Her reply? " I already did." Okay--yeah right. "You need to ask her again then." She eventually makes her way back over there to ask Courtney and we all arrive back at the blanket. The whole time their father is still talking to the pretty lady and texting on his phone now as well. Courtney looks and we don't have any fruit snacks left. They see my goldfish crackers. Actually, truth be told, the little girl walks over to my cooler bag to open it and look in it. I cut her off by opening it first. I was kinda starting to lose my patience at this point. Can you blame me? We give her and her brother a big bowl of fish crackers. The father sees all of this, but continues with his in depth conversation with the same pretty lady on the bench. Seriously. Now the kids are eating, he moves farther away, up on the hill, and starts talking on the phone.

The little girl asks for more fish. Seriously? "No honey, we need to get going." She spots a bag of open fruit snacks on our blanket. "Can I have those fruit snacks?" Courtney gives her some. Thank goodness because then she finally went on her way. As we pack up to leave~the father makes his way towards us. Him, " Oh, did they eat all your food, because they already ate all mine?" Seriously?

A few side notes:
*We did tell the kids to ask their father first if they could have a snack.
*The pretty lady was definitely NOT his wife.
*We watched another boy take down his pants and undies and pee in the sand. Nice.
*We will be trying a different park for our next playtime.

Seriously.