The weather outlook for yesterday was pretty gloomy, so I loaded the kids into the car and drove down to Slinky Action Zone in Duncansville. For those who are unfamiliar with Slinky Action Zone, I'd say it's comparable to Chuck E. Cheese's (which could very well be a destination later this summer) or Fun Unleashed - another still popular (and local) destination for the Cropp children. The one VERY important difference is that the climbing area is kept separate and mostly out of view from the game options and so I don't have to listen to whiny children ask me for tokens or game cards. They simply climb, slide, and run to the point of near exhaustion, which let's be honest is the point of taking them there.
Slinky Action Zone runs a number of specials (except on school holidays and closings) and on Monday, we caught the buy one get one free deal. Just $5.00 bought the kids roughly three hours of entertainment and gave me roughly three hours to read a book. Tuesday is free soft-play from 11am to 3pm and I am thinking if a rainy Tuesday comes up between now and September, we just might head back.
Since we are often a family with some sort of drama, usually self-created, there was little surprise when Matt came up to me late the afternoon with a large red mark on his face - apparently the result of another boy throwing a ball at his face and striking him just below the eye. I got up and looked for the boy, but he was clearly hiding out. A little girl (and by little, I am guessing she was about 10) told me that it was her brother that hit Matt and that she'd tell him to leave Matt alone. I assumed this would be the end of it.
As we were getting ready to leave, Matt and this little boy both went in the bathroom at the same time. When they both came out, the boy came up to me (mind you it's now 30 minutes later) to let me know that Matt had thrown balls at him earlier. My protective mama instinct took over and I let him have it, pointing out to him that he's much bigger than my son - I am guessing two or three years older - and that if he has a problem with Matt's actions, he should look for me rather than throwing something in his face. Wow, was I pissed. And in that moment, I didn't even care if it was true or not. Considering Matt came to me right away after he got hit and this boy hid from me and then waited nearly half-an-hour to talk to me, I am guessing that Matt didn't do anything in a malicious way.
But, I keep thinking back to Cathy's rules from school - rules she proudly shares with us from time to time: keep your hands to yourself, share with your friends, cough in your elbow.
Why can't everyone be as smart as that sweet little girl of mine?
By the way, tomorrow will be our first official reach into the "Jar of Fun"... be sure to check back and see what we did.
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