FOR the rules at fast food place kid areas?????????????????
WARNING- this is gonna be a RANT and if you're guilty, so sorry, but you're getting called out-
it's not personal, I've just had enough and need to vent. after an afternoon lunch with darling daughter at a certain fast food place that starts with the letter M (not here in town, but in the bigger suburb, where you thing people would KNOW better), you'll be able to guess from the sign.....
There is a reason- BARE feet spread those little things called GERMS all OVER the play equipment. Think for a minute of a 7yr old boy with a minor case of athlete's foot going barefoot up the ramp before your 4 yr old daughter, and where she has JUST placed her HANDS (which we all know will be in her mouth sometime in the next 15 minutes) on the spots where he stopped in his bare feet. Can I get an ewwwww?????
NOT to mention, the little thing called Swine flu....SIGH...........
I'm not a germa-phobe, but really, some common sense people, ok???
It's really simple, LEAVE a spare set of socks or slipper socks, in the car at all times for the kiddos. That way if you go to a fast food place, the kids can throw them on when they take off their sandals/crocs, etc, when they are in bare feet.
I watched at least 12 kids, all over the age of 6, go barefoot, in the space of 45 minutes. That was the SOLE (pun intended) reason those of us with kids 4 and under (there were 6 of them), let them keep their shoes on (yeah, I know against the rules, but when faced with a 12 yr old who looked like he hadn't bathed in months and who kept walking out into the MAIN restaurant in his bare feet (can I get another ewwww/???) and into the men's bathroom out there and back (another ewwww????) and his 6 yr old sister who kept vomiting all over the equipment, and a daughter who'd been promised for 2 days she could go play on the equipment....I didn't have much choice. I just swabbed her down with anti-bacteria gel when she got done (which I woulda done anyways, just made sure I hit all exposed spots).
AND on that topic- when your kid gets sick not once, but THREE times, PULL them off the equipment! They are DONE, especially when you don't alert any employee so the equipment can be cleaned with more than a paper towel (another ewwwww????)! If they are soaking wet from being cleaned up, they don;t need to be on the quipment either (another ewwww???)
Again people, try to leave a spare set of clothes in the car when you have young kids. You never know when you will need it! I learned it the hard way, kids and wet icky clothes do NOT mix in a car with a 40 minute ride home...I keep an older full jogging type set with underwear and socks and jacket, that way I change them top to bottom if I have to and I don't miss them being in my child's closet.
So when my almost 3 yr old GIRL slugs your 8 yr old BOY, after he pushes a 2 yr old girl out of the way and onto the floor, so he can get ahead of her on the toddler slide, I'm not gonna say ANYTHING to her, just give her a high five, tell your 8 yr old to get to his area and leave the toddlers alone, and check on the 2 yr old who is crying on the floor with a sore knee. I don't care if he's crying. WUSS, you just got slugged by a 3yr old. Get over it- YOU are at fault. Live with it. Girl power dude.
You can't drop them off there and go back to the farthest area of the main dining room and pretend your childless and don't know who they ARE (or even worse- LEAVE in your car, telling them you'll be back in 20 minutes- hello, THAT's called child abandonment by the State of Louisiana, as NONE of the parents agreed to watch YOUR child, nor did any of the employees! Live with it, you just commited a serious crime!)
Come on people, keep an eye on your kids and when they misbehave, REPRIMAND them, or make them apologize to the victim
FYI, daughter DID apologize to 8 yr old on her own, but it was that "sorry" accompanied by the non-verbal "you better move your butt outa hear, cause if you don't you're gonna get slugged again" version.....it was really cute and funny in a teenager to be sorta way, thankfully I was tending to 2 yr old, or I woulda been laughing MY butt off!.
This is called MANNERS, which you should already have/be teaching your child (apparently my daughter took that little "injustice lesson" too much to heart, which was why she stuck up for a kid who she didn't even know, but hey she understood and could apply it-success! LOL).
OK< I feel SO much better now. Saturday was just like the epitome of the WORST day I've ever had with daughter at a fast food play area, and I felt the need to share. I'm pretty sure most of my readers aren't gonna fall into the above categories, and will understand where I'm coming from. If not, deal with it, I wasn't the only Mom there today having ewwww issues, judging by the about of hand sanitizer being dispensed by the handfuls!
WARNING- this is gonna be a RANT and if you're guilty, so sorry, but you're getting called out-
it's not personal, I've just had enough and need to vent. after an afternoon lunch with darling daughter at a certain fast food place that starts with the letter M (not here in town, but in the bigger suburb, where you thing people would KNOW better), you'll be able to guess from the sign.....
1. The stupid signs SAY- SOCKS required.
There is a reason- BARE feet spread those little things called GERMS all OVER the play equipment. Think for a minute of a 7yr old boy with a minor case of athlete's foot going barefoot up the ramp before your 4 yr old daughter, and where she has JUST placed her HANDS (which we all know will be in her mouth sometime in the next 15 minutes) on the spots where he stopped in his bare feet. Can I get an ewwwww?????
NOT to mention, the little thing called Swine flu....SIGH...........
I'm not a germa-phobe, but really, some common sense people, ok???
It's really simple, LEAVE a spare set of socks or slipper socks, in the car at all times for the kiddos. That way if you go to a fast food place, the kids can throw them on when they take off their sandals/crocs, etc, when they are in bare feet.
I watched at least 12 kids, all over the age of 6, go barefoot, in the space of 45 minutes. That was the SOLE (pun intended) reason those of us with kids 4 and under (there were 6 of them), let them keep their shoes on (yeah, I know against the rules, but when faced with a 12 yr old who looked like he hadn't bathed in months and who kept walking out into the MAIN restaurant in his bare feet (can I get another ewwww/???) and into the men's bathroom out there and back (another ewwww????) and his 6 yr old sister who kept vomiting all over the equipment, and a daughter who'd been promised for 2 days she could go play on the equipment....I didn't have much choice. I just swabbed her down with anti-bacteria gel when she got done (which I woulda done anyways, just made sure I hit all exposed spots).
AND on that topic- when your kid gets sick not once, but THREE times, PULL them off the equipment! They are DONE, especially when you don't alert any employee so the equipment can be cleaned with more than a paper towel (another ewwwww????)! If they are soaking wet from being cleaned up, they don;t need to be on the quipment either (another ewwww???)
Again people, try to leave a spare set of clothes in the car when you have young kids. You never know when you will need it! I learned it the hard way, kids and wet icky clothes do NOT mix in a car with a 40 minute ride home...I keep an older full jogging type set with underwear and socks and jacket, that way I change them top to bottom if I have to and I don't miss them being in my child's closet.
2. If you have an older child, teach them that the TODDLER area is for TODDLERS, not 8 yr olds!
So when my almost 3 yr old GIRL slugs your 8 yr old BOY, after he pushes a 2 yr old girl out of the way and onto the floor, so he can get ahead of her on the toddler slide, I'm not gonna say ANYTHING to her, just give her a high five, tell your 8 yr old to get to his area and leave the toddlers alone, and check on the 2 yr old who is crying on the floor with a sore knee. I don't care if he's crying. WUSS, you just got slugged by a 3yr old. Get over it- YOU are at fault. Live with it. Girl power dude.
3. I know parents see the play area as a baby-sitting service, but guess what folks, YOU are still responsible for what your child DOES, not the fast food place.
You can't drop them off there and go back to the farthest area of the main dining room and pretend your childless and don't know who they ARE (or even worse- LEAVE in your car, telling them you'll be back in 20 minutes- hello, THAT's called child abandonment by the State of Louisiana, as NONE of the parents agreed to watch YOUR child, nor did any of the employees! Live with it, you just commited a serious crime!)
Come on people, keep an eye on your kids and when they misbehave, REPRIMAND them, or make them apologize to the victim
FYI, daughter DID apologize to 8 yr old on her own, but it was that "sorry" accompanied by the non-verbal "you better move your butt outa hear, cause if you don't you're gonna get slugged again" version.....it was really cute and funny in a teenager to be sorta way, thankfully I was tending to 2 yr old, or I woulda been laughing MY butt off!.
This is called MANNERS, which you should already have/be teaching your child (apparently my daughter took that little "injustice lesson" too much to heart, which was why she stuck up for a kid who she didn't even know, but hey she understood and could apply it-success! LOL).
***************************************************************************
OK< I feel SO much better now. Saturday was just like the epitome of the WORST day I've ever had with daughter at a fast food play area, and I felt the need to share. I'm pretty sure most of my readers aren't gonna fall into the above categories, and will understand where I'm coming from. If not, deal with it, I wasn't the only Mom there today having ewwww issues, judging by the about of hand sanitizer being dispensed by the handfuls!
Amen! We won't even let our children play on those things. We've told them that they are full of nasty germs.
ReplyDeleteAnd, we've seen awful debri in those climbers and slides.
I'm so thankful for the day I had to climb up to get my stubborn toddler. The nastiness I say first hand, well, changed me.
I know it sounds mean, but we'll climb elsewhere.
I hear you! My husband was a health inspector for two years. He refuses to let our kids play in the playground because he used to inspect them, and they are never cleaned properly. It also drives me crazy when we go somewhere for the kids to play and bigger kids are running over my little ones. As for vomiting on the equipment, I would have had to leave. The idea of all four of my kids possibly coming down with a stomach virus would be enough to make me burn rubber out of the Mcparking lot.
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely. I hate seeing the older kids (sometimes as old as 12) in the M play area, disregarding signs that say "must be under this height to play".
ReplyDeleteOur whole family got vaccinated against H1N1 despite the controversy, and part of the reason is that we go out in public and so many in public do not seem to care about rules or hygiene!
Great rant!! I TOTALLY AGREE with everything you said. It's totally ridiculous how some people let their children behave..
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I totally agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI always make my son wear his shoes, he is 10.
I allow my son to play in the toddler section, because he is not mean, and helps the littles out.
Why can toddlers go up and down the "big" kid area, they do get in the way sometimes and accidently get hurt. But that goes back to unsupervised children too.
I do agree about the bare feet-YUCK!!
I do agree about the McGerm.
I do agree we/employees/others are not there to watch others kids.
But I just think that it depends on how people raise their kids, your daughter, my son and the other four commenters wouldn't let our children go within 100 ft without their feet protected, but the parents at McGerm that day didn't care, and we all parent differently.
Thanks for bringing awareness to this subject, maybe there are some of those bare footed, parents out there who need to know exactly what you said, pack extras, and remind your kids to treat everyone how they would want to be treated;}