Today I brought the boys to a play center in the nearby mall. I thought, it would be nice for them to play unreservedly because most of their toys are still in boxes and they really do miss playing and making a mess. So okay, I thought, an hour of uninhibited fun would be sufficient. When we got there, there was a boy there (the watchers called him Kian), around 7 years old. I was quite pleased about this because I so dislike it when there are too many kids around. It's just too chaotic. So while inside, I took photos of the boys and Nikki played in the toy house and with a cute toy lawn mower. Ethan enjoyed the slide and the Little Tykes cars. Anyway, in the midst of all the play, I noticed that Kian was dressed in a uniform. So I gathered, he just came from school (that was around 12 noon already). I also noticed that Kian was quite bossy. He would stick close to Nikki and when Nikki would reach for a toy, Kian would try to grab it before Nikki did. I simply whispered to Nikki to avoid playing with the boy to avoid possible fights. And Nikki agreed (he's really not a fighter). Ethan is still in that stage where he does parallel play (there are kids nearby or close to him but he does not play with them) so I was not too worried about interaction. Ethan still pretty much lives in his own world. Anyway, pretty soon, another kid came in, a boy who was probably only 3 years old. While Nikki, Ethan and the little boy were in the ball pit, Kian started throwing stuff into the pit. I warned him to stop because he might hit someone. But he didn't and sure enough, he hit the little boy on the shoulder with a toy tomato. I told him, "Kita mo na?" (You see?) Good thing the little boy didn't cry. But I was surprised that no one was watching Kian and there was no watchers nearby. I thought, "Do they think that having me here - a parent - is enough? That I'll be responsible for whatever happens between these four?" Anyway, Nikki wanted to play a race game on the playstation so I accompanied him. Behind me was a table filled with blocks and Ethan sat there and began to play on his own. While watching Nikki play, I heard some commotion behind me. It was Kian and apparently, he wanted to play with the blocks but Ethan was getting them all from him and putting them back on the table. I was going to tell Ethan to share when Kian showed Ethan his middle finger!! Yes, the you-know-what sign! Oh my goodness! I was REALLY shocked! All the articles I've read before about stopping myself from reprimanding other kids while at playcenters disappeared from my mind and I told him, "Oist! Bad yan! Huwag mo gawin yan ha!" (Hey! That's bad! Don't do that okay?!)
Oh my goodness, I just wanted to bring Nikki and Ethan out of there but we still a good 15 minutes and Nikki was still having fun racing. But I was already simmering. I wanted to give Kian a piece of my mind but I know it's really not my place. While waiting for time to pass, I thought, where on earth did this 7 year old kid learn to do that? In school? From his friends? On tv? It really caught me by surprise. Before we left, I told the watchers to keep an eye on the kids and to be vigilant because some of the kids throw stuff around and bully little kids.
When I got home, I was still bothered about the whole middle finger incident. I mean, why wouldn't I? I certainly don't do THAT! My goodness. Because of what happened today, I am becoming more and more grateful that I'm homeschooling my boys. If this is what it takes to instill the proper values and morals to them then no matter how hard it gets, I'll do it just as long as my boys grow up to be God-fearing, respectful and loving individuals. And I certainly hope that the next time we go to a playplace, there will be more loving kids and less bad boys.
