Something to think about...ball pits

amandadakota wrote: ** TEXT REMOVED DUE TO IT BEING AN URBAN LEDGEND WHICH MENTIONS A WELL KNOWN COMPANY **

Some may say that I am spreading SPAM on here, but I never would have imagined any of these stories til I read this. Take it to heart or with a grain of salt, but know that I posted this as a Mamma who not only loves her own precious angel but I love all kids!

A&A'smommy replied: I just wante to add that is an urban legend but those things have really happened here is the link.. actually I have seen NEWS stories about children getting bit never about the needles but I do believe it!! very scary


http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/archer.asp

mckayleesmom replied: I got this on myspace a while back. I don't know how true it is, but I imagine it could happen......And lord only knows what is in the bottom of those suckers.

CantWait replied:
Thank goodness for Snopes. It's bookmarked on my favourites, and I'm constantly checking e-mails and SPAM.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I saw that before too.... I don't let my kids play in ballparks. There probably isn't any needles, but who knows.

Boys r us replied: maybe no needles...but probably lots of snot, ecoli from saggy diapers and accidents and slobber etc...disgusting if you ask me! My kids know better than to even look twice at a ball pit! I was SO relieved when Chuck e Cheese took the ball pits out here, if nothing else, they are a breeding ground for germs!

Boo&BugsMom replied:
This is why all our McDonald's and our Chuck E Cheese got rid of the ballpits. I can't imagine all the germs and whatnot in them. Who knows if they even clean the tunnels, let alone the balls in the ballpits.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: Yes I too heard this story! Our McDonalds recently removed there ballpit and I couldn't be happier! I know that things like this could happen, but always wondered about that story!

Crystalina replied: Oh, I can't stand ball pits! They are so nasty and so are the little tunnels that the kids crawl thrue. I never ever see them being cleaned AT ALL! That is down right disgusting. We had an incidant in another town with Izabella. We were at a McDonalds and she went thrue the tunnel and down the slide and came out soaked. Someones kid had peed all down the slide and they either didn't say anything to the employees or the employees didn't care. Either way if it were me I would have told the other parents that my child had an accident and to make sure their kids didnt go on until it had been cleaned. This parent had to have known because their kid would have been soaked. So here we are in another town with no change of clothes (it's not like she was a toddler) and Izabella has someone else's urine all over her. Since then I always keep an extra change of clothes in the trunk and we never get on those things. Gross!

mom2my2cuties replied: you know - this is interesting - ours is cleaned every 3 days. They shut it down and have a special crew come in and clean. And it's also checked every couple of hours to make sure no one has had an accident or puked or something in there.

Boo&BugsMom replied: I don't have any horror stories about them but I have noticed the last 3 times Tanner has been there, the kids have been unruly. Last time there was a child who called him a butthead. We left immediately! Somehow those things attract the parents who don't care what their kids are doing and don't care to watch their children.

coasterqueen replied:
Same here!

stella6979 replied:
Completely off topic, but I love your pics Crystalina!

Calimama replied: Eww.. ball pits just look dirty at the bottom. My sister bought a little personal one from Walmart, the kind that you blow up, and my nephew plays in that. I'll probably do the same for Bella. Hopefully she learns that the balls need to stay IN the pit.

kimberley replied:
hence why we stopped bringing the kids to our local McD's. that is so annoying.

mom2my2cuties replied:
I have a solution for that - if the child is hitting I make a point to find out who the mom/dad/person watching is and say something to them. However with the name calling, I tell Andrea loudly "Andrea, I think you need to play over here - I don't want you to learn those bad words because those aren't things that nice people say"

Usually that is enough to get the parent's attention, or at least shows the kid that those aren't nice things to say and they occasionally stop.

Crystalina replied:

Thanks stella6979. I took those last weekend before the rain came. That was taken at our Salt Fork. I love that lake.

jacobsmama replied: I agree they are disgusting and I have been to mcds and chuckee cheese in the last year and haven't seen anymore..thanks goodness!