Sunday, January 4, 2015

PlayDate Part Deux: w/Socks

So, an hour and a half into our PlayDate excursion, I learned I could buy socks thus breaking my "no enter" spell and letting me go play with the boys.  For the low cost of $2.25, I was IN and when I got to climb, slide, swing, and try to squeeze through foam structures built for the under 8 crowd, PlayDate turned a lot more fun.  It was packed, still, a side effect of Seattle's rain driving people who want to play indoors, and the center sitting area was filled with parents hanging out while their kids climbed and some cried.  But when I got to get in on the play-party, it become way more fun.  And, PlayDate turned out to be a great workout - by the end of the afternoon after jumping through hoops and running up tilted mats, I was sweating, smiling, and playing dragon with the boys.  I also got to learn a lot about "kids these days".  While Wilson and I tried to shimmy down a slide, two "older" (maybe 8) girls, were going up the slide talking about boys.  Heart stopped - I'm not ready for boyfriend/girlfriend talk on the playground.  The other kids, though, bantered more on the layout of the structure, the yummy ($6) hot dogs, and the line for water.

Parent cheats

Today I feel like I did the ultimate parent cheat and it was so yucky!  I took the boys to PlayDate Seattle, a giant indoor play center with climbing equipment, slides, and food - even wifi, coffee, wine and beer for parents.  The place was teaming with dad's slugging beer watching football games, kids screaming and running around on the play equipment (surely swapping germs as they went), and moms chirping with high voices "high sweetheart" while they turned their heads when their little one threw a kid down the slide and clapped when their kid followed directions and shared and "played nice."  All in, not impressed and not coming back.

Some highlights:
Two moms were standing at the bottom of a fast slide watching for thier 3 year old tots.  While watching, a group of 5-6 year old boys started wrestling on the floor - one boy locked another in a chokehold and the moms did nothing.  The boys were 6in from their feet.  I jumped up and asked "are you OK" to the chokeheld kid and he immediately started crying and ran away.  Not cool.

A group of three moms brought their kids to play.  The moms got food and wine and sat to chat while the kids ran around wild ignoring the rules and the other kids around them.

A pair of dirty girl's underpants were found at the bottom of one of the slides and no-one seemed to do a thing.

All in, so gross, terrible, not cool.  I'm disappointed in myself for taking an easy route and bringing the kids to play at this indoor circus, and moreover I'm bummed there are so many checked out parents.  Boo.