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conuly
Let's make this clear, folks.
In the SICM, like in most cultural institutions with which I am familiar, you are not allowed to eat outside of the cafeteria. This makes sense, right? You eat in the area designated for eating. Anybody unfamiliar with this rule, you've now been warned.
Of course, this being a children's museum, de facto exceptions are generally made for very young children, so long as they're not making a mess. After all, we all know children need to eat frequently, and it's unfair to drag them up and down every time they want to eat, right? So, for most people, if a child under, say, five is snacking on something, and not dropping it all over the floor - well, no harm, no foul. Who really cares?
Here's something else a lot of people know - popcorn is a choking hazard. I can't even begin to fathom why two 8-10 year old children would be running around screaming while eating popcorn. That's not safe. And it's rude, but more than that - it's not safe.
Yeah. Popcorn. Choking hazard. So when you insist that your older children share with their four year old sister, and they do, and she spills it all over the floor in the toddler area, and there's a baby on the floor, and you're watching all this - well, I don't know about you, but I'd say the only reasonable thing to do is to clean it all up. I mean, you just made a filthy mess all over the floor! And there's little kids trooping in and out, and they don't know any better, they'll just eat it, right off the floor!
I don't want the baby choking to death.
I really don't.
So I clean up the popcorn. And I tell you, I am steaming mad. This woman is watching me clean up her brat's food. Oh, that's not fair. The four year old is young enough to not know better, and if this is how she's raising her children, of course none of them know any better than to act like this.
They also didn't know enough to follow the posted rule about cleaning up the toys when you leave the toddler room. You know, so other children don't arrive and find it an unholy mess.
Like I said, I was mad. I was beyond mad, I was outright livid. So I don't think I was too out of line when, as the woman was about to leave (and stick us, or worse, the museum staff, with their mess!), I went up to her and handed her her filthy popcorn and asked her to please throw it out. After all, as I said, I couldn't - there aren't any trash facilities in the toddler room because you aren't allowed to eat there. There's a sign, for crying out loud, a big flippin' sign!
No, ma'am, you don't have to leave because "the people here aren't very nice". You have to leave because you need some time to reflect on the practices of common decency.
Oh, and don't mind about the toys. You and your hyper pre-teens can go now, the five year old and three year old in my care can clean up your toys and put them away. I expect better of these children than you apparently do of yours. And, I suppose, I expect better of them than I do of you. But that's not your fault. Sometimes, grown-ups just don't know better, even though they should.
Oh, and the rest of you? If I raise my voice to tell your kid that we're in front of them (not behind them), it's not because I "am snotty" to your kid. It's because there are some 70-odd people in the room. Maybe *you* default to assuming the kid in question is rude, but I rather had assumed he simply hadn't heard me over the noise. Yes, I would have been *thrilled* to have spoken to you rather than your child. If, y'know, I had any idea who the heck you were. Next time, might I suggest matching t-shirts? One for you, and one for the fifth-grader* so delicate that the phrase "Excuse me, honey, but I think we were here first" is just too much for his sensitive soul.
The rest of the evening went nicely, I do believe, though next week I'll make clear to both Ana and Deniz that I expect them to at least watch part of the dancing instead of spending all their time running around. They don't have to join in, and they can run around after, but they have to watch a little first.
*It really doesn't matter, of course, how old *any* of these children were. I'm guessing at their ages based on their heights and speech patterns, and could be very wrong. The point is that the adults with these children acted badly.
In the SICM, like in most cultural institutions with which I am familiar, you are not allowed to eat outside of the cafeteria. This makes sense, right? You eat in the area designated for eating. Anybody unfamiliar with this rule, you've now been warned.
Of course, this being a children's museum, de facto exceptions are generally made for very young children, so long as they're not making a mess. After all, we all know children need to eat frequently, and it's unfair to drag them up and down every time they want to eat, right? So, for most people, if a child under, say, five is snacking on something, and not dropping it all over the floor - well, no harm, no foul. Who really cares?
Here's something else a lot of people know - popcorn is a choking hazard. I can't even begin to fathom why two 8-10 year old children would be running around screaming while eating popcorn. That's not safe. And it's rude, but more than that - it's not safe.
Yeah. Popcorn. Choking hazard. So when you insist that your older children share with their four year old sister, and they do, and she spills it all over the floor in the toddler area, and there's a baby on the floor, and you're watching all this - well, I don't know about you, but I'd say the only reasonable thing to do is to clean it all up. I mean, you just made a filthy mess all over the floor! And there's little kids trooping in and out, and they don't know any better, they'll just eat it, right off the floor!
I don't want the baby choking to death.
I really don't.
So I clean up the popcorn. And I tell you, I am steaming mad. This woman is watching me clean up her brat's food. Oh, that's not fair. The four year old is young enough to not know better, and if this is how she's raising her children, of course none of them know any better than to act like this.
They also didn't know enough to follow the posted rule about cleaning up the toys when you leave the toddler room. You know, so other children don't arrive and find it an unholy mess.
Like I said, I was mad. I was beyond mad, I was outright livid. So I don't think I was too out of line when, as the woman was about to leave (and stick us, or worse, the museum staff, with their mess!), I went up to her and handed her her filthy popcorn and asked her to please throw it out. After all, as I said, I couldn't - there aren't any trash facilities in the toddler room because you aren't allowed to eat there. There's a sign, for crying out loud, a big flippin' sign!
No, ma'am, you don't have to leave because "the people here aren't very nice". You have to leave because you need some time to reflect on the practices of common decency.
Oh, and don't mind about the toys. You and your hyper pre-teens can go now, the five year old and three year old in my care can clean up your toys and put them away. I expect better of these children than you apparently do of yours. And, I suppose, I expect better of them than I do of you. But that's not your fault. Sometimes, grown-ups just don't know better, even though they should.
Oh, and the rest of you? If I raise my voice to tell your kid that we're in front of them (not behind them), it's not because I "am snotty" to your kid. It's because there are some 70-odd people in the room. Maybe *you* default to assuming the kid in question is rude, but I rather had assumed he simply hadn't heard me over the noise. Yes, I would have been *thrilled* to have spoken to you rather than your child. If, y'know, I had any idea who the heck you were. Next time, might I suggest matching t-shirts? One for you, and one for the fifth-grader* so delicate that the phrase "Excuse me, honey, but I think we were here first" is just too much for his sensitive soul.
The rest of the evening went nicely, I do believe, though next week I'll make clear to both Ana and Deniz that I expect them to at least watch part of the dancing instead of spending all their time running around. They don't have to join in, and they can run around after, but they have to watch a little first.
*It really doesn't matter, of course, how old *any* of these children were. I'm guessing at their ages based on their heights and speech patterns, and could be very wrong. The point is that the adults with these children acted badly.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-21 12:11 am (UTC)