Sara Rose
My kiddo loved this place, but honestly it is a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt. I think a program like this works as long the safety rules are followed stringently. This means asking a child with aggression or impulse control problems not to come back. Steve, the program director, is really nice, but he doesn’t want to be the bad guy and enforce safety rules or kick unsafe children out. My daughter was in the homeschool class with a boy that had some behavioral issues. My daughter was always telling me about how this kid was kind of a jerk... like he didn’t get along with others, didn’t want to share communal items, and didn’t show remorse or care after accidentally hurting another child. One day (we heard about it, but we were gone that day) he had a full blown meltdown... kicking, screaming, throwing... and all the other kids had to be taken to another part of the playground for their safety. A week later, my daughter, along with a few other kids, got in a verbal argument over the water hose. The adults got involved. My daughter is telling this boy that he has to share and take turns etc. He stood up, punched her in the face hard enough to knock her over, and proceeded to have another full blown meltdown. Again, the other kids had to be corralled to an area away from him to stay safe. When I came to pick her up, the staff didn’t even tell me that anything had happened. She had a small bruise on her face and she told me she was punched by a boy. I spoke to Steve two separate times after that. In one conversation he just excused the aggressive boy’s actions because of the boy’s disabilities. In the other conversation, he essentially blamed my daughter for triggering the boy’s aggression because she was expressing her frustration towards him (in words). So she’s at fault for standing her ground and getting upset? Boys are allowed to have meltdowns, but girls can’t be verbally angry. *eyeroll* Even after all this, Steve was still going to keep this boy in the program. The boy’s mother had the good sense to pull him out. Kids with serious aggression and behavior problems do not belong in a space with hammers, saws, and power drills laying around. Remember that you do sign a waiver releasing Fairytale Town and the Adventure Playground of all liability when your child uses this space. Their own rules state that children displaying dangerous/violent behavior will be suspended, but it is up to staff discretion to actually suspend a child. Think about how serious you want those rules to be followed by the same organization you are also releasing of all liability. It hasn’t happened yet, but if your child gets seriously hurt in this place, please email me. I will testify to what happened with my daughter if it is ever needed. Edit: All these years later and it still appalls me that Steve would tell me my daughter “had it coming” after getting punched by a boy she confronted about not sharing the hose. The worst part is I complained to Steve and the coordinator at Fairy Tale Town and I’m pretty sure nothing was done to prevent occurrences like these. I was looking through pictures the other day and I found the picture I took of my daughter’s face the day she was punched at the Adventure Playground. He hit her hard enough to leave a light bruise. “She had it coming.” Think about the implication of telling a girl child that she deserves to get punched if she is in conflict with a boy. My daughter never took it to physical action.
