We were at the park today, myself, 2 DDs (ages 5 and 2), DD1's two friends and their moms. The wading pool was open for the first time this summer and pretty busy. The three girls were playing in it when a new kid, 5ish, got in, lay down in the middle of the pool and started kicking and splashing water all over the place. The three girls weren't too keen on this and asked him to stop. He didn't, I suggested that they move to a different part of the pool. They got out instead. Soon they got back in, and the kid splashed water at them again. Before this there had been minimal splashing as rule #6 is "No Splashing" and I had spoken to them about it already. The other kids were being mellow too.
As an aside, on first glance I thought that "No Splashing" was a stupid rule, after all it is a wading pool in a park, but I realized that it is more of a Splashing is OK if no one is bothered, but if someone is, then don't do it rule.
Anyway the kid in the middle kept splashing people, and pretty soon the girls were screaming at him to "Stop Splashing". An older man with a baby on his lap was calling out "Bill, Bill, come here please" and such stuff several times, but the kid ignored him. I finally stepped forward and asked the kid to stop splashing. Then he stood up and did the kind of hand splash where you essentially throw water at the person. Directly at me. Like 12 feet. So I took immediate action, walked into the pool to him, and firmly told him to stop it. He just looked at me. When I told him he should go to his person he said "No". I told him if he kept it up he was likely to be kicked out of the pool then I went back to the edge.
A woman immediately came up to me and yelled at me ""Don't yell at my son". I said sorry, but there is a rule No Splashing and it was bothering other people. She basically said 'So what, it's a pool, if they don't want to be splashed they should stay out, and don't yell at my kid'. This went back and forth a few times, soon after she threatened "You don't want to push me..." I walked away.
There were no park employees around the pool or I would have gone to them in the first place. I was kind of into letting the girls handle it, but their screaming wasn't getting anywhere, and when he deliberately splashed me I got pissed. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten in the water and spoken firmly to him but it was getting ridiculous and I thought he was ignoring his grandfather. If it had been my kid splashing, I would have removed her from the pool. The girls decided to play elsewhere but I kept an eye on the pool. The kid splashed several other kids away from playing there, and it eventually became a splashing free for all.
When we got home I told DH the story. He said he might have punched her in the nose. I wouldn't have done that, but I wonder what other people might have done/said. About a dozen kids were playing in the pool before that kid got in, the tone definitely changed after. It wasn't so much the splashing per se that bothered me, it was the blatant disrespect for the rules and other people that did.
Thanks for reading this far.
-- ML
As an aside, on first glance I thought that "No Splashing" was a stupid rule, after all it is a wading pool in a park, but I realized that it is more of a Splashing is OK if no one is bothered, but if someone is, then don't do it rule.
Anyway the kid in the middle kept splashing people, and pretty soon the girls were screaming at him to "Stop Splashing". An older man with a baby on his lap was calling out "Bill, Bill, come here please" and such stuff several times, but the kid ignored him. I finally stepped forward and asked the kid to stop splashing. Then he stood up and did the kind of hand splash where you essentially throw water at the person. Directly at me. Like 12 feet. So I took immediate action, walked into the pool to him, and firmly told him to stop it. He just looked at me. When I told him he should go to his person he said "No". I told him if he kept it up he was likely to be kicked out of the pool then I went back to the edge.
A woman immediately came up to me and yelled at me ""Don't yell at my son". I said sorry, but there is a rule No Splashing and it was bothering other people. She basically said 'So what, it's a pool, if they don't want to be splashed they should stay out, and don't yell at my kid'. This went back and forth a few times, soon after she threatened "You don't want to push me..." I walked away.
There were no park employees around the pool or I would have gone to them in the first place. I was kind of into letting the girls handle it, but their screaming wasn't getting anywhere, and when he deliberately splashed me I got pissed. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten in the water and spoken firmly to him but it was getting ridiculous and I thought he was ignoring his grandfather. If it had been my kid splashing, I would have removed her from the pool. The girls decided to play elsewhere but I kept an eye on the pool. The kid splashed several other kids away from playing there, and it eventually became a splashing free for all.
When we got home I told DH the story. He said he might have punched her in the nose. I wouldn't have done that, but I wonder what other people might have done/said. About a dozen kids were playing in the pool before that kid got in, the tone definitely changed after. It wasn't so much the splashing per se that bothered me, it was the blatant disrespect for the rules and other people that did.
Thanks for reading this far.
-- ML
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