It started out fine enough. We went to mall to walk and Alex got to play a little bit in the indoor playground with some other kids close to his age. For a change, no biting, hitting or stealing of other kids' snacks was involved. We had to leave early though because it was SWIMMING DAY! We'd made plans to go to the indoor pool with a friend and her two boys for the afternoon. Alex was ecstatic. All he wanted to talk about was swimming. "Go to pool?" (Were we going to the pool?) "We go swimming?" (Would we be swimming?) "Caden dere?" "Would Caden be there?" "Pool wiff water?" (Was there going to be water?)... and so on.
All morning we'd talk about swimming this and pool that and how unbelievably awesome it would be. When we got home from the mall, Alex helped me pack our bag of swimming stuff, suits, towels, extra swim diapers, etc. When we were finally ready to go, he ran out to the car and banged on the door "Swimming now! Swimming now!". But, alas, twas not to be.
I knew as soon as we walked in the doors of the rec center something was amiss. There were about four kids close to Alex's age crying hysterically. We walked up to the counter, the whole time Alex was chanting "Swimming! Swimming!". The lady behind the counter looked at me and frowned.
"Are you here for tot time in the pool?"
"Yes"
"SWIMMING!" Alex chirped at her
"The heater went out and the pool is very cold"
"Oh no" I said
"SWIMMING!" Alex was now pulling on my arm
"You can go in and feel the water, but I'm pretty sure it's too cold for your little one."
We did go and stick our fingers in and the water was indeed too cold. No one was in the pool. Alex was understandably distraught about the situation. He cried and wailed and tried to run back to the pool area screaming "Pool! Swimming! I Want SWIMMING!" It was the saddest thing you've ever seen. I didn't know what to do. I tried to pick him up and carry him out to the car and Alex started flailing around saying "Bad boy! No time out! I want swimming! NOOOOOO!" Poor kid thought he was in trouble and that's why he couldn't go swimming. It damn near broke my heart.
The only thing I could think of doing was take him to McDonald's Play-land and buy him a Happy Meal with a toy. I didn't have my phone with me, so I couldn't call our friends to make a new plan. Luckily, they had the same idea as me and we ended up meeting them at McDonald's. Things started to look up, Alex got two toys in his Happy Meal (it must have been Leftover Toy Tuesday because he got a felt pencil topper and a Polly Pocket) and he played happily with his buddies in the play area.
Then it all went to hell again. Alex stayed in the play area while his buddies ate their lunch. I was talking to my friend and I heard Alex crying (it still amazes me that I can pick out my own child crying amongst the noise of dozens of other 2-4 year olds running around and screaming). I went to investigate and saw that he was being beat up by a couple of three or four year old bullies. Well, not "beat up" so much as pushed around and then being pinned to the ground. Alex is usually a pretty tough kid who can hold his own with the older kids, but my poor little guy was terrified and even after I sent his four year old buddy Kennan in to rescue him, he wouldn't come out of the play area. My friend, knowing my fear of going into one of those tube-like play areas and getting stuck, especially in my current bulbous condition, she climbed in to clear out the older boys and fished my son out. He wasn't hurt at all, but he never quite recovered emotionally, and sat on my lap for the last 20 minutes or so we were there crying at anyone who would look at him.
Now we're home watching The Incredibles and Alex is cuddled up in his blankie. Poor kid. First disappointment then being bullied at the McDonald's. I can only hope things get better after nap time.
No comments:
Post a Comment