Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The Unsuccessful Play Date

Last week Ains was asking why we hadn't been to the park in a while and was begging to go play in the water at a nearby park. We have only been over to play in the water once all summer so I told her we would call some friends and make a play date out of it. I'm sure there were some moments of fun...

but mostly, there were moments of not fun. Owen spent most of his time on my leg. And there was lots of whining from the kids (mostly mine). It was hot and muggy and for some reason the kids wanted to play on the playground equipment and not in the water. This would have been okay, except that I was so hot I wanted to be getting misted by the water, not sweating it out on the toys.
I must admit that there were tears shed when I forced my son to play in the water. What kind of a mother am I?

Needless to say, the fun day at the park didn't last long. And to top it all off I gave quite the lecture to a child that was not my own. I just couldn't take Ainsley's friend bullying her anymore and so I made it quite clear to her little friend that I knew what she was doing, that it was unacceptable, and that it needed to stop. I've had a week of standing up for myself and I just can't stop....it feels great! Too bad I didn't have the guts to give my lecture in front of the child's mother. Although she did start to cry when her mother came up to us and was wondering what was going on. (I told her mom what had happened and that I had had words with her daughter and that her daughter had apologized and everything was taken care of). (And in case you're wondering...yes this is the same little girl that Ains has always had trouble with, in fact it's the only child, that's not family, that she has ever fought with...I had to throw that last line in to justify my actions :)

I still can't decide if this little encounter was good or bad. Maybe I've made Ainsley a true enemy now? What have I done? Seriously, what kind of a mother am I???
And FYI : I didn't set Ains up for failure, there were several kids her age invited on our outing, it just somehow turned out to be a bad combination of girls that showed up...not that the girls were bad, just the combination.

6 comments:

Dinger said...

I love that park!! My only complaint is that it is very easy to lose your child there because it is so spread out. I was constantly on child watch!! It seems like we haven't seen much of Ains this summer, we should get together soon.

Anonymous said...

Yeaaaaaaa, Jess!!!!! It seems to me that little girl already acts like an enemy and you can't make it much worse. And it's probably good that she realizes someone knows what she's up to.

The Marshall Family said...

I've been wanting to take Hayden there. Sorry it wasn't fun.

SD and EJ said...

It might be a little awkward when someone else gets mad at your kid, but if Ains was acting like that and you didn't know it, wouldn't you want someone to say something to her? I would if it was my kid.

Melanie said...

Jessica, you ABSOLUTELY did the right thing. I think it's important for this little girl to know that adults (or one adult at least) is aware of what she's doing. It will make her think twice before she bullies anyone again. I also think it's good for Ainsley to see you sticking up for her. And as for the girl's mom... hopefully this little incident will make her more aware of what her daughter is doing. Good for you!

Natalie Ball said...

Yikes! I had no idea things got that bad at the park! I'm so sorry. We will have to try another day at the park when it is cooler . . . and the kids are less whiny. It was sooooo hot!