Adults Ruin Kid Events

Saturday was a beautiful Spring Day. Perfect day for a St. Paddy’s Day Parade. It was great seeing my little leprechaun enjoy the festivities. 

His favorite parts were the Irish Stepdancers and the drummers accompanying the bagpipers. He asked Mommy for two lollipops so he could play the drums (on Daddy’s shirt) whenever the drummers came by. It was a near perfect day. 

When the cart with the guy selling souvenirs came by I stopped to see if I could get my son something. That’s when he was nearly blinded by one if these types of geniuses:

Terrific. 

Look, I know it’s a St. Paddy’s Day Parade, which means there’s going to be a segment of people intoxicated. However, I also thought all parades had family areas and drunken fool areas. The two should not meet. Well, they did on Saturday. 

As my son was looking at toys he wanted, a drunk [expletive deleted] reached around him and pulls a mini-flag that has one of those pointy tops. Had I not turned my son at the last second the flag tip would’ve hit his eye instead of his cheek. One thing I soon discovered was how fast someone can go from the ground to running away screaming how crazy someone is.  

I’m not going to argue that you can’t drink at a parade. It happens. However, every parade I’ve been at has been seen segmented. Families go here. Drinkers go there.  Problems arise whena drunk fool stumbles into a family area ruining the experience for families, and in some instances hurting kids (leading to your own injuries). 

Fast forward to Sunday morning. We went to an Easter Egg Hunt. 

Every Easter Egg Hunt features “special eggs” that can be exchanged for bigger prizes. They are always limited. The rule is always one “special egg” per child. Of course, this really is an invitation for parents to be on their worst behavior. 

First, they act like George Costanza pushing by women and children to get in front of everyone:

Then, they collect four or five or more. Fortunately, I don’t care about them right now. I just enjoy watching my kid collect the eggs. The toys they give for finding a “special egg” are too old for him. He just likes picking up the eggs and finding out what’s inside. He doesn’t care about the special eggs. As such, we just go to safer relatively empty area to collect the eggs. 

However, in the future, I know no one abides by the rules and do not care if they push over a child (not an exaggeration). I’ll just have to be smarter to give my son a fair shot at getting the “special egg.”

This past weekend I really did see the worst in adult behavior in children’s venues. They really know how to ruin the fun for everyone. Fortunately, despite all the tomfoolery, my son has fun. At the end of the day, that’s what is most important. 

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