Sunday (38 degrees) looked like this:
Yesterday (64 degrees) looked like this:
I couldn’t really take a picture of her because my cell phone takes forever to load, she was constantly on the move, and there were SO many people. Gross. I hate people. Yeah I really do. Especially crowds of people. Fortunately most of the people at the park were of the little variety so it wasn’t so bad. The teenagers and bigger variety played soccer or basketball or sat at the picnic tables while the little variety slid the slides (or walked/ran them), swung on the swings, climbed the bars, etc.
As soon as we stepped foot in the park, Lovie was drawn to a big plastic pink ball- the size of her- that two kids, around 6 and 10 were kicking around. She kept pointing to the ball and walking her way over to them/the ball. A very pregnant woman watched and smiled from nearby. I gathered she was their mom. At one point, the ball ended up hitting Lovie. I chuckled while apologizing to the kids for being in their way. They smiled and seemed OK with Lovie’s interest. Phew. I don’t want her to be a burden, but I know not everyone is enamored by her adorableness the way I am.
After a minute I scooped her up so that they could continue kicking their ball around, and made our way over to the swings. Last spring, summer, and fall, we stopped at the park a good dozen times or so. And every time we did, I tried getting Lovie to swing- but she just wasn’t too interested unless I was holding her. I was hoping that maybe she’d be more into swinging this time around, but I was wrong. Like on Sunday, she crinkled her face and wanted no part of the swings.
Do I have the weirdest kid or what? Who doesn’t love to swing?!?
I like to think that I’m not a helicopter parent… but I kinda was yesterday. I felt I needed to because there was just too many people. Normally, like on Sunday, I just kinda follow from a distance in public places (at home she can go wherever). But no matter how my back ached (I really NEED to lose weight) and my eye wandered to an empty bench, I couldn’t leave her be yesterday: she wanted the soccer ball, the huge pink ball, and then she wanted the dog.
“Ki-Ka’,” Lovie exclaimed, pointing to the small dog.
I smiled (everything small and furry is a Kitty Cat- cats, squirrels, dogs, raccoons…) and said, “Doggie, yes, but we can’t go there.”
She started running to the small dog, with her little finger pointing.
I don’t mind running after her when she’s about to get into trouble with a ball, but when there’s a dog and there are signs that say NO DOGS… I started to get pissed. I was super close to telling the dog’s walker to read the sign and leave. The dog’s walker kept the small yippity dog away from others, but still: NO DOGS means NO DOGS for a reason. There are kids everywhere and … I just don’t give a shit if the dog is small and leashed. My kid is attracted to anything that moves that is smaller than her- as most kids are- and your fucking dog needs to leave. But nooo. She just kept pulling at the leash anytime the yippity thing started bouncing up and down trying to get toward the kids. And as Lovie made her way closer and closer to the damn thing, the woman just stood there.
“No,” I said trying to pull at Lovie. “No, we don’t go to doggies.”
Bitch, take your fucking dog and leave already, I wanted to scream.
“Ki-Ka’!”
“Yes, that’s a doggie,” I said trying to gear Lovie away, “’woof! Woof!’ but we can’t play with it. Let's go slide!”
Lovie started to make sounds that would soon escalate into a crying fit if something didn’t change soon. I scooped her up, softly talking about how we should slide or some shit while glaring at the damn dog and its walker. The woman just stood there with her yippity dog boucing around. Lovie wasn’t too pleased about being held and I quickly made my way over to the slides. She slid down and wanted to go back to the fucking dog so I picked her up and asked if she was hungry and quickly gave her a fruit pouch.
All in all by this point we had been there for 20 minutes or so. I was OK with leaving- especially since the dog was still there and I knew once Lovie remembered about the dog, there would be another mad race to get to it and I didn’t think that (almost) 15 months was a good time for a kid to see their parent be interrogated by the police. I’m kidding about the police thing!
I’m overreacting about the dumb dog, right? (it's ok if you're nodding your head, yes)
It just steams me is all. I live in a huge fucking city… the third largest in the United States! And yet this damn woman and her dog had to go and ruin a perfectly fine afternoon because she couldn’t adhere to the sign or respect the people around her. And some wonder why I really dislike people.
I COMPLETELY agree with you! If the sign says No Dogs, there's a reason for it! I can't stand people who say 'my dog isn't a threat' or 'my dog would never bite or hurt anyone.' I just want to slap them. I have 2 small dogs (a Chihuahua & a Yorkie) & they are good, sweet dogs but you never know when they will get spooked & bite. Or get off their leash & jump on a toddler & scratch them when they're trying to play. If you want to take your dog outside, take them for a WALK or a DOG PARK! How much fun is a dog going to have at a park anyway? I love dogs, but sometimes their owners need to have a little respect!
ReplyDeleteI seriously love this blog. I'm struggeling with infertility at the moment and cannot wait to finally blog about my little one.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely be following you.
~ Jill
www.highheelsandhuggies.blogspot.com
I don't think you were overreacting at all about the dog. I, personally, wouldn't have been bothered by it because as long as the owner was OK with it, my kids would have been petting the dog. But I do agree that if there is a sign that says "NO DOGS", then you shouldn't be there with a dog. People don't realize that not everyone likes dogs. And even if you love dogs, look what happened to your afternoon. You're right...the idiot with the dog ruined it.
ReplyDelete