I have a confession.
We did nothing this summer.
Nothing.
Princess Pumpernickel went swimming twice, both times w/ other people. We didn't take a vacation, haven't made it to the amusement park, and barely left the house. It was just Too Hot. Suddenly, school was back in session and I felt terrible.
So, last week, while the Princess was hold court over the playground, I started looking at our options. I discovered a few fun, and free/cheap things to do for the next few weekends, and decreed we would make up for our bummer summer.
Saturday was a Family Fun Day at the sprawling, overpriced altar to capitalism across from The World's Most Expensive Concert Venue, aka the Sprint Center. (Turns out "If you build it, they will come" isn't the best city planning outlook.) We'd been to one of these last year, and had a good time, so I thought "Why not?" The theme was Bubbles..and who couldn't use more bubbles, amiright?
We took the bus downtown to save gas/parking money/the environment, and I brought along Harry Potter to read to keep us occupied. (Yes, middle-aged bus riders, I saw you listening along.) We arrive, and didn't have a lot of time left, so we wandered to work out a system of triage for the activities. And that's when things got hairy....
More and more, society seems filled with rude little children who have no concept of anything/one but themselves. They cut in line, they shove, they don't share, and MY child...having been raised with manners, gets the short end of the stick. And to make matters worse, while I'm wondering aloud where their parents are, and reminding myself mentally that the law frowns on spanking other people's children even when they would benefit from it, the errant parent appears....and is just as bad as the kid.
While I might be above yelling at your child for cutting in front of my kid in line, I am NOT above saying something when you shove them forward loudly proclaiming there's no one else in line, while looking at me out of the corner of your eye. As evidenced when I told a mother "You do realize simply stating it so doesn't make it the case?"
"Oh, I didn't see you there..." was her stammering reply. I shot back that perhaps that's because she was more concerned with her kids being FIRST!!!!! than making sure everyone got a fair chance to play. I managed to bite back my smile when the person running the game had to physically remove her son when his turn was over, as he kicked and screamed "But I'm not done yet!!!!"
We wandered and wove through the crowds constantly, always trying to get away from That Family, and always finding one just as bad, or worse at the next activity. While I was ready to snap (actually texting a friend of mine who is a bail bondsman to find out how much I might need if I did), Princess P reacted in a slightly different way.
She was good as gold. Seriously, the best I've ever seen her. She'd do an activity once, quickly, and pass it to someone else. She listened to the people in charge, she waited patiently in line, and she was just an angel in general. I've never been more proud of her.
Eventually, I took my lesson from her and calmed down, reasoning that as long as she was having fun, that's what mattered.
Next time though, I'm bringing a stun gun.