At the playground....(rant and a question)

[AspenRose]

O my gosh, I had a "Hummer commercial" moment at the playground today!

Except someone didn't cut in front of us; her two kids hogged up the only two toddler swings in the park. After waiting for about 15 minutes my son started running towards the swings...we had been in the sandbox and on the slide.

As I chased him down to turn him back to the sandbox, I said in a loud voice so the other mother could hear, "no, sweetheart, we have to WAIT OUR TURN for the swings."

Do you know that (expletive deleted) kept her two little brats on the swings for about 10 more minutes? And when she finally packed up to leave, she said to us as we headed for the swings, "oh, I'm sorry, were you waiting for the swings?" :nuke:

I even overheard her saying to another parent that she isn't from the neighborhood! That there were plenty of parks in HER neighborhood but she decided to drive out of her way to THIS one! I was prepared to wait AS LONG AS IT TOOK to get my son a chance on the swing....she wasn't going to get rid of me in MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD PARK that easily.

Here's my question:
One of the other kids at the playground was WHINING today. "Mooooom, I want my Juuuuuuice Booooooox." :banghead:

I have low tolerance for whining, and my son is only a year and a half old....do ALL kids go through a whining phase in their development, or is that something that comes out of parenting skills (or lack thereof)? I don't remember whining as a kid....

(Praying my son doesn't become a whiner....)

[knowbody0]

1. grrrrrrrrrr...........

I sure do know what you mean!

as for whining, NEVER respond to the tone of whining. Explain you cannot understand the words when they whine. Kids are totally products of their environment, if they get what they want when they whine, they whine to get what they want.

You will be glad you nip the crap in the early stages and you can do it lovingly-just tell him the truth about your tolerances.

[wildeyed]

2. Maybe she really didn't know you were waiting?

Sometimes when you are dealing with multiple kids, you are not aware of other things that are going on. I dunno, at best I would call that moderately insensitive, but not in the same league as cutting.

I go to many different playgrounds. There is one, a neighborhood playground, that has a really good play set for toddlers. I don't live in that neighborhood, but I went there a lot when my kids were younger. Another has a duck pond. Some have shade for hot days, or sun for cooler times. Just depends on our mood and the day. As long as it is a public playground, anyone has a right to be there.

[AspenRose]

3. I never said she didn't have the right to be there

HOWEVER it is frustrating for those of us who live nearby and pay the taxes, etc. etc. to suffer the inconsiderateness at best and downright rudeness at worst, of the parents who don't live nearby and choose to frequent our neighborhood park.

I have as much a right to rant about her being inconsiderate and/or rude as she has the right to be at the park. THAT's what I'm exercising HERE and I don't need to be lectured to or made to feel guilty or sympathetic about a RANT.

[wildeyed]

5. You have a right to rant and I have a right to reply.

I am not *making* you feel anything, simply stating my opinion that the other lady's kids have a right to be on the play equipment if they were there first. :shrug:

[mopinko]

4. i have to say

that it sounds like there is a predisposition to whining in your family. this is a pretty petty rant.

[progmom]

6. honestly, I don't understand the issue with the swing

But I am glad your kid got a turn on there eventually. Was he aware that you were so angry about it? It might be good for him in the long run to understand that he isn't entitled to what he wants at the exact moment that he wants it.

As for whining, you teach the best by example. And yeah, most kids I know have whine periods, but you can mitigate that by trying to anticipate hunger or tiredness.