Hurtful actions...

So, yesterday, we went to a play place and met up with a friend. I lost part of my appreciation for these types of places though. To start with, there were a lot of older kids there. I'm guessing some of these kids were more like 7 or 8, then the maximum age 6 that is apparently supposed to be there.

Well, Sebastian was having a fun time. He got up the courage to climb high into the structure there, and was having a blast. I figured out that he had pooped in his diaper and was encouraging him to come down so I could change him and then he could go back to playing. Well, about a minute later, I was waving at him, and one of the employees comes up to me and says, "is that your little boy with the glasses and blonde hair?" and I say yes, and she says, "someone told me he pooped his pants" and I told her that I knew that, and I was getting him to come down so I could change him. Keep in mind he's three, and maybe he should be all potty trained by now, but he's not. So, he was in a diaper, and there were no messes or anything. Well, I continue to encourage him to come down, but he's just having a blast in this tunnel and as I go to the other end of it, I see these older kids, and as he's coming out of the tunnel, they are holding their noses and making "ew" sounds and stuff like that. I thought it was rather mean and hurtful, and I'm glad that Sebastian didn't really get that they were making fun of him.

Now, I realize that he will get made fun of multiple times in his life and I do expect that, but he's only three and I sort of thought that this type of playplace wouldn't get into that type of thing. I thought that is part of the reason the age maximum is 6. I fully expect hitting and fighting over toys, but not mean hurtful actions that my child is too young to even comprehend.

So, he did come down, and I changed his diaper and he happily went back to playing again. However, a few moments later, one of the older boys comes up to me and says "is that your son, cause he pooped his pants again... I could smell it from the top". Sebastian wasn't even playing near him. And, for the record, he wasn't poopy or anything. I didn't know what to say. Here was some kid dictating to me about how to be a parent and didn't even have his facts straight.

Needless to say, the whole situation just left a sour taste in my mouth. I think this boy and a couple of his friends were too old to be there in the first place and because of that, brought in a whole set of actions and experiences that I didn't think my son would be subject to until he was in school.

I did have a nice visit and I know Sebastian had a lot of fun. But, where are the parents of the older kids and do they not see anything wrong with their kids making fun of a three year old (and keep in mind, he only just turned three that day). I know I just need to get over this, and really, I will, it just saddened me that a fun play place for little kids was suddenly not quite so fun at times.