June 8, 2009

The Banshee at the Pool

I was going to write a post about things that annoy me, but then Mr. BBM reminded me that I would probably need a book for that topic. It's true. I get annoyed easily, but I'm fairly certain it's justified on most ocassions.

Yesterday, we spent the day relaxing at the pool. Big I was off playing with a friend. I can't even tell you how much I'm enjoying the age of eight, where she can go off on her own and I don't have to worry all the time. Lil C brought some mermaid barbie dolls and stuff to play with in the pool and I was hanging out with her at water's edge while she played and shared her dolls with her friends.

The mermaid dolls were popular and we were soon surrounded by a ton of kids each eager to have a look and more importantly, a turn.

One little girl in particular came over and immediately grabbed one of the Ariel mermaid dolls and started playing with it. We have two of them and as soon as the other one was put down for a second she picked that one up too. This child couldn't have been more than two years old. She was having a good time when she set one of the dolls down and Lil C's friend picked it up.

When the little girl realized she didn't have both Ariel dolls, she completely freaked out. I have two little girls and I know all about screaming, but I have never heard a child scream like that, ever. The sound was so shrill and piercing that I thought she was going to pop my ear drums. I kindly pointed out to her that she already had a doll, that they were the same, and that she needed to share (especially since the dolls weren't even hers).

She screamed louder in my face and then grabbed my forearm with her hand and pinched me as hard as she could. I removed her hand and told her that wasn't nice. You'd think her mother would have done this, but instead her mother just stood there while her child screamed directly in my ear and the mother told me "she doesn't like to share. None of my kids do," like this fact makes it ok that her kid is being a total jerk and that she's doing nothing about how her child is acting.

As Lil C's friend walked by with the doll, she went at him and hit him. This particular friend has no problem standing up for himself and he landed a nice kick right on her shin. The little girl screamed louder and grabbed my arm to pinch again. Clearly this kid has some anger issues. I was starting to feel like I was going to have some anger issues as well.

Meanwhile, the mother walks away, leaving her small screaming like a banshee child in my care, right at waters edge. Having been a lifeguard for four years, you would never find me leaving my child alone at the edge of the pool. Never. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I had to grab little arms and pull kids up who had slipped in the shallow water, faces just under the surface, while their parents chatted nearby.

I watched the woman walk completely around to the other side of the big pool while the little girl still screamed in my ear. I started contemplating dunking her. I'm not a horrible person, but my ear drums were seriously about to explode. Lil C's friend would walk over to the screaming kid every once in a while and yell "No!" at her. I clearly wasn't the only one irritated.

After being pinched twice and feeling like I would never hear right again, I told Mr. BBM he was on duty and walked back to where my neighbors and I were sitting. They handed me a beer.

I'm the parent who tells my kids to play with their own toys and to leave other kid's toys alone. I would never let my child take someone else's doll and then let her stand there and scream like that. Had that been Lil C, I would have handed the doll back immediately and walked my kid away, somewhere where she wasn't annoying everyone within a 30 ft. radius. And if she didn't stop? I would have gone home.

I started thinking maybe it was the Mom who needed to be dunked.

The little girl kept Lil C's doll for a good hour. Her Mom finally returned it as they were getting ready to leave; and I decided we won't be getting the mermaids out at the pool anymore, at least not when she's there.

The only thing worse than an annoying kid is an equally, if not more so, annoying parent.