Playground Dos and Please Don’ts.

Some of you know this already, but I was a preschool teacher, elementary school aid, elementary school after school teacher and a nanny for many years before I became a mother myself. As a matter of fact, I have been dealing with children in a supervisory type situation for more than half my life. Scary, right?


Anyway, needless to say, I have seen my fair share of playgrounds in my time. Along with that time, I have seen many playground follies and bullies as well. Some parents don't seem to ever read the playground rules signs. Even if there isn't one, there is a list of unsaid rules that kids should follow. These are basic facts of life and safety that should be common sense. However, some parents don't seem to be aware of these, so I thought I would put the top 5 out there.

1. Feet first down the slide, one at a time. So many kids need to hear this rule. If they are going up the slide, they face one of two outcomes. First, they will get kicked in the face by my kid coming down the right way. Second, they will keep the kid at the top from coming down at all. Now, which of these would you like to happen to your kid? Neither? Okay then. 
2. No Pushing. Seriously, no pushing. Even if my kid pushed your kid first it is not okay for your kid to push mine down the stairs. I will deal with my child on the pushing issue, your 3 year old needs to back off.
3. If the height limit is 40" and your kid is 5' 10", please for the love of all things Holy, don't let your kids play on that playground. 
4. Watch your children. That seems like a big fat duh, right? Well, unfortunately some mothers seem to feel that if there are other mothers standing around, that they have it handled. I have seen so many kids get hurt because they were doing something dangerous while mommy had her face glued to her phone or a magazine. Sometimes the parents aren't even in sight. They go for a walk and leave their 5 year old alone on the playground. Kids need supervision. That is kind of the point of being a kid.
5. No throwing mulch/ wood chips/ shredded tire material/ whatever the ground it covered in. Balls or other actual toys are just a hazard of being around playing kids and those are fine. Ground covering = not toys. It is there to protect the kids who are clumsy (like mine) or are doing dangerous things while not being watched. Not for throwing. Plus, for some reason, I always manage to get things in my eye that have been thrown by some one else's (probably unsupervised) little darling. Once, I got a wood particle under my contact lens. Not cool.

So, lets see if we can all abide by these okay? Simple enough, and keeps people from getting hurt, right?


Do you have any to add? 

Mommy Confessions

Ok, so we all have them. I have decided its time to stop keeping them to myself in hopes that other mommies will realize that none of us are perfect. Here are my dirty little secrets for the week in hopes it will encourage me to be better. What are yours?

~ I ate the kid's Halloween candy. Now, that may sound like kind of a big duh but let me tell you guys.. I ate. it. all. Well, all the good stuff. I left the nasty cookies and cream Hershey's and the random suckers. It was calling to me from the top of the fridge in all its unhealthy, tasty glory. It started as a "I'll just eat the Reese's" then turned into an all day, all night pork fest where I only ate candy. Even the crap candy that was left was still calling me but I was able to look away.


Next year I think I will have to have the kids hide the candy from me instead of me hiding it from them.

~ During nap time one day this week, I got the scare of my life. T and I were laying in our room talking while he was on a break between jobs when the doorbell rang. He jumped up and went to get it while I got some pants on to come out. It was the neighbors from across the street coming to tell us that D had opened his window and was making an attempt at escaping his bedroom window to the yard. Freaked. Out.


I had tried to open his window before and I couldn't easily get it open so stupid me assumed it just wouldn't open. Or at least that D wouldn't be able to open it. I was wrong.


Not only did he get the window open but he also almost got the screen out and escaped into the yard. Needless to say, his window is now blocked by his huge dresser and screwed shut.


My mind has been buzzing with the what ifs since then. What if he had gotten out and gotten hit by a car? What if he had been taken? What if is a scary and terrible thing as a parent. Add in the guilt of having tried and dismissed the threat and I officially feel like the worst parent on the planet.

~ A little back story on this one: My mother stayed with us on Monday night. She does that sometimes when she wants to spend a little extra time with the boys. Also, I have mentioned a couple of times that D has started having a little anxiety and nightmares. Normal for the age, not worried about it, its only happened a couple of times. Also, also I had changed his sheets.


Anyway, I let D pick out a movie for him and his Nana to watch while I made our dinner and he picked the movie "The Incredibles". Now, he has seen that movie a hundred times but not in a few months so I thought nothing of it. He seemed fine and watched the whole thing, in two parts because of dinner, and then we started getting ready to go to bed.


When my mom went to tuck him in, he had a minor freak out about the sheets. He insisted I put the rocket ship sheets back on his bed or he was just not going to sleep in there. That should have been the first warning sign. Put the blankets and pillowcase back on and he calmed down and went right to sleep.


About an hour later though, he woke up screaming in a complete, sweaty panic. I got up and ran into his room and he was sitting up in his bed, thrashing around and screaming at the top of his lungs. It was the kind of nightmare that he was having a hard time waking up from. It took about five minutes, a glass of juice and some serious snuggles for him to calm down. Once he did, he told me he never wanted to watch "scawy movie" ever again. I agreed whole heartedly and almost threw it in the trash as soon as I left the room. My poor bubs.

~ I hid in the bathroom. Again. This time in public. I was out with all three boys and seriously just needed a minute. Or five. So, I excused myself to "use the bathroom" and let T wrangle the two wild, screaming monkeys while I sat in the quiet bathroom and checked Twitter. It was nice but not long enough. Also: no candy.




So, anyone else eat their weight in candy then nearly lose/ scare thier kid to death only to hide from them in the bathroom later? Or do I officially win Mother of the Year? Le sigh.

Wordless Wednesday - Halloween Edition!