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Two things...
Feb. 24th, 2006 09:45 pm
1. I am never, ever, EVER going to the Children's musem during a non-summer school vacation again. It was crowded, noisy, and I misplaced Ana twice. Well, the second time doesn't count, she was exactly where she was supposed to be, I just didn't see her there and preemptively panicked. And the first time doesn't count, I'd left the kid for all of 30 seconds, securely in the care of the mother of one of her friends. But that's not the point. Too much chaos.
2. So, at the toddler program today (too crowded!), there was a small group of kids. Judging from some aspects of their behaviour, and fact that they had nametags securely fastened to their backs (why? I know why you don't want the tag on the front where it can be played with, but don't the people watching the kids know their names? Is it really wise to have the name visible to any random stranger who can call it out?) I *suspect* they were autistic, but it doesn't really matter.
At the toddler programs, near the end, they always do the same three things: They take out a tunnel for the kids to crawl in, they take out a parachute to 1. play ring-around-the-rosie on (adults spin the kids around in a slow circle) and 2. to go under. Finally, they blow bubbles for everyone to pop or not. They're these long-lasting bubbles that stick on your hair.
Typically, there's one new kid who just isn't sure about any of this stuff. And, typically, the person running the program tells the adult with the kid "That's all right, in a few weeks he'll be more used to it, and then you won't be able to leave before you do tunnel/parachute/bubbles". And it's typically true, too.
One of these kids happened to be "that kid" this time. And that just wasn't okay. She says, very clearly "No, I don't want to go in the tunnel", and the adult with her actually pushes her in. Not hard, but the kid ended up crawling through, she couldn't back out. (And then she went back to the side. It's not like she went through, decided she loved it, and kept going in.) She firmly shakes her head and backs away at the idea of going under the parachute (a wise choice, it was full of jumping children, as likely to knock you down as to look at you) and, again, is just pushed under. Kid clearly *did* like the bubbles - she was catching them, playing with them. This is good, I think, it's nice to like bubbles - but apparently it's nicer to get dragged to stare in the mirror at the fact that "LOOK! BUBBLES ARE IN YOUR HAIR!" when all you want to do is pop the damn things.
So, as I see it, they brought this kid here, to a loud and crowded and chaotic place where she's not been before (or not within the past year, at any rate, which is just about the same thing) and then don't even let her do what she wants (or not do what she doesn't want).
Why? What purpose did any of this serve, other than to make me distinctly annoyed?
2. So, at the toddler program today (too crowded!), there was a small group of kids. Judging from some aspects of their behaviour, and fact that they had nametags securely fastened to their backs (why? I know why you don't want the tag on the front where it can be played with, but don't the people watching the kids know their names? Is it really wise to have the name visible to any random stranger who can call it out?) I *suspect* they were autistic, but it doesn't really matter.
At the toddler programs, near the end, they always do the same three things: They take out a tunnel for the kids to crawl in, they take out a parachute to 1. play ring-around-the-rosie on (adults spin the kids around in a slow circle) and 2. to go under. Finally, they blow bubbles for everyone to pop or not. They're these long-lasting bubbles that stick on your hair.
Typically, there's one new kid who just isn't sure about any of this stuff. And, typically, the person running the program tells the adult with the kid "That's all right, in a few weeks he'll be more used to it, and then you won't be able to leave before you do tunnel/parachute/bubbles". And it's typically true, too.
One of these kids happened to be "that kid" this time. And that just wasn't okay. She says, very clearly "No, I don't want to go in the tunnel", and the adult with her actually pushes her in. Not hard, but the kid ended up crawling through, she couldn't back out. (And then she went back to the side. It's not like she went through, decided she loved it, and kept going in.) She firmly shakes her head and backs away at the idea of going under the parachute (a wise choice, it was full of jumping children, as likely to knock you down as to look at you) and, again, is just pushed under. Kid clearly *did* like the bubbles - she was catching them, playing with them. This is good, I think, it's nice to like bubbles - but apparently it's nicer to get dragged to stare in the mirror at the fact that "LOOK! BUBBLES ARE IN YOUR HAIR!" when all you want to do is pop the damn things.
So, as I see it, they brought this kid here, to a loud and crowded and chaotic place where she's not been before (or not within the past year, at any rate, which is just about the same thing) and then don't even let her do what she wants (or not do what she doesn't want).
Why? What purpose did any of this serve, other than to make me distinctly annoyed?
