Splash Pad Disaster/Solution

The pools are closed because of covid-19, but when I was looking online I noticed that there is a splash pad associated with the municipal pool and it limits the amount of people who are allowed in at the same time, but it's open! I signed up for the first available slot online in a few days and the kids were super excited. The appointed time came and we got all of our water bottles, swimsuits, sunscreen, snacks, bathroom, bathroom again, shoes, and good attitudes and headed off to the splash pad. Our first obstacle was that we needed a punch card to get in, which was not advertised online. Who has to pay for a splash pad?! Is it just me who thinks that's crazy? I guess I'm spoiled with free splash pads in Nebraska, but I thought that was crazy.

I told the entrance guy that I would buy a punch card (it's not like I could say no once the splash pad is in sight and I've already promised the kids) and he was like okayyyy but you have to buy those inside the pool office and no kids are allowed in there.

........

I think I just stared dumbly for a couple seconds haha. This was becoming so difficult! The man was really nice and trying to be helpful, but I was like your only clientele are MOMS who will ALWAYS have their kids with them at the splash pad...how do you expect us to buy punch cards inside without kids?! I took a deep breath and told the three other kids to sit on a bench right outside the building where I could see them, and I took Claire inside with me.

And then there was no one inside at the front desk -_- I waited for a minute and then kind of looked around and said "hellooo?" I could hear someone in back coming up so I waited and this harried looking worker came bursting in and apologized, and set out to get my punch card, and then while I was paying for it the first guy came in looking really sheepish and told me that unfortunately I hadn't reserved a spot for each of my kids, just one for me, and that due to their coronavirus regulations we couldn't go into the splash pad without going over their limit.

I was like.............you want me to tell these swimsuited squirmy kids out there that they can't go into the splash pad? But I sucked it up and asked how I could reserve more spots next time, grabbed my now useless punch card, and went outside to tell the kids we had to get in the car. They were predictably crushed. All three burst into tears and Natalie threw her towel and Stockton hit Jack and I tried my best to usher everyone through the parking lot amidst my own frustration with the whole situation.

I asked if they wanted to go to the store or the park or have a movie night or make some lunch, but of course nothing sounded good enough to them. Natalie was really disappointed but she quickly rallied and started telling the boys off for blaming me, saying that "Mommy tried!" and that they needed to stop yelling, which of course made them yell more. It was kind of funny but mostly irritating. We pulled into our driveway to let Natalie go the bathroom and figure out what to do next. I decided that we would go to Stockton's new favorite park, Cahill, but he was mad about that too and hit me super hard in the arm a bunch of times, so I told him he lost park privileges.

Then, the pool called and said that a family of 6 hadn't shown up for their reservation and that we could come back to the splash pad if we wanted. I hesitated because out of spite I kind of wanted to stay home since everything had been so inconvenient and the boys had handled everything so poorly (Jack threw a basketball at me in the car), but I was grateful that the pool had tried to be so helpful and fix our situation so I said we'd be right there.

Everything worked out and we had a marvelous time in the sunshine, bad attitudes evaporating as soon as they touched water. Despite the inconvenience, it really is nice that they limit people because we kind of had the place to ourselves. I think technically they can only allow 25 people in per 2 hour session, so there were only like 4 other moms and then the rest were kids, so it felt nice and relaxing instead of the jam packed craziness of typical splash pads that we've been to. I guess there's a perk to having to pay. ($1.25 a person, including both Claire and I! I was like...she's a baby...and I'm not here to play....-_- but it was worth it).

All's well that ends well!!