Feral Child at Local McDonald's Play Land

I usually go home at lunchtime to spend an hour with Nina and then put her down to her nap. Today though Dart was out running a few errands and decided he and Nina would pick me up at the office and take me out to lunch. So where do you luncheon with a two year old? At the local Mickey D’s with the human Habitrail playground of course.

Now clearly we did not go to McDonald’s for the culinary experience. Although they have added salads, yogurt and apples to the menu the food is still pretty gross. No matter we came to play. Nina upon seeing the brightly colored plastic tubes immediately ran to the shoe cubby and started taking her off her boots. How the heck did she know to do that? No time to figure it out, she is off to join the other screaming banshees.

Then it happened. Nina is assaulted: pushed, shoved and smacked down by a rather large and aggressive 20-month-old boy. I resisted my immediate urge to leap across the table and pin the little bully to the floor and instead I played it cool. I smiled at the mother of the boy, giving her a sort of it’s ok I’m a chill-mom nod. I figure that is it but it is not. A few minutes later, the same boy starts grabbing Nina by her dress twisting it and pulling her down. Then he reached over and smacked her across the face leaving a welted scratch across her cheek. A little less ‘chilled”, I looked over at his mother. She does nothing. What the heck lady is this your kid or some feral child who lives in the habitrail tubes and eats cold French fries? Get over here and get your kid under control, bring his meds, get his leash! I am mommy hear me roar!!

Ok the truth is I didn’t roar at all. Instead, we put Nina’s boots back on, Purelled the heck out of her and headed home. Live to fight another day.

I know one day Nina won’t be the innocent victim. She will have her turn to be the hitter, bitter, pincher. Such is the circle of life on the playground. I just hope I’m the kind of mother who puts down her Big Mac long enough to teach her kid that it’s not nice make the other children bleed.