Sandbox Park

I took the kids to the sandbox park, even though it is quite barren these days (thanks to whoever threw out all the toys). I brought their own toys so they would have something to play with. As soon as we got to the park there was a kid who made a bee-line for our toys. I have no problem sharing our toys, it's just that the boys didn't even have a chance to warm up to the park before there was a kid who was already in their faces. The little boy took a car that Jameson was wanting to play with. Not a problem, it was a great learning opportunity. The only problem was that the boy snatched it from Jameson. His mother was sitting on the other side of the sand box telling her son to give the toy back. Uh yeah, a lot of help that does from way over there. Jameson let the boy have the toy which he promptly took with him back to the other side of the sandbox. Nice.
A short while later a nanny/au pair (I have no idea the difference between the two) came with a boy about Jameson's age. She let him play in the sand while she sat on the side and clipped her nails into the sand box. DISGUSTING!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. I wanted to puke! After she clipped her nails she proceeded to talk on her cell phone, endlessly. In the meantime the kid kept playing, pretty much unsupervised. What a great way to make a living?! You get to "watch" someone else's kids in a new country and you get paid to do it, all the while spending inordinate amounts of time on your cell phone. Nice.
The toy-snatching boy came back for more toys, this time yanking a toy out of Jameson's hand. Again, the mother tried to discipline from afar off but to no avail. Jameson reluctantly handed the toy over. So proud. :)
Jameson needed to pee but there was no washroom so we headed out onto the trail for him to pee. He looked for a hole in the tree but there was none so he became quite upset. I finally convinced him to pee by telling him to make the leaves at the bottom of the tree dance. Whatever works. :)
We went back to the sandbox, collected our toys from the various kids who borrowed them and then headed out. I much preferred the community toys; it definitely kept my van cleaner. :)