lady ulrike wrote:I have had this happen many times as well, in fact my ex is 6'3" and for many SGs this seems to mean that it's okay for their children to use him as a jungle gym. Mind you, he is sitting down in the front row for parade viewing and children can easily see over him while sitting. Also, this is front row parade viewing that we got by getting to the spot early. The parade viewing is first come, first served. Then we have people showing up later that push their kids in front of us and/or allow their children to use him as a jungle gym. I never let them, they could've gotten there early and gotten a front row spot as well. I have a 2 and a half year old now and I still get there early for a front row spot. Most of the time I am with someone so we can let her wander a bit when she gets restless, but I have waited an hour + for the parade alone with my 2 year old. I know it can be tough, but if I want her to get a front row spot, then I need to get there early and depending on how crowded it is, that can be very early. I would never presume to show up right before the parade starts and shove her forward just because she's a kid. The parks are for everyone to enjoy and everyone has the same opportunity to see and do each and every thing in the park.
I have allowed children to sit in front of us, both before and after I had a child. But there's a huge difference between someone in the front row offering for a child to sit in front of them and for the parents to shove them in front. I never offer immediately. I wait to see what the family is like. If they immediately reveal themselves as SGs (and we all know it doesn't take long for an SG to reveal himself) then I will not offer cause I don't want bratty children sitting in front of me for the parade, especially if they are so badly behaved that they are likely to not stay in the parade viewing area which may impact my enjoyment of the parade if it means a CM has to repeatedly come by to tell them to get back into the parade viewing area.
To sum up (I feel like I'm writing an essay for school) the parks are for everyone whether they have kids or not. Everyone has the same opportunities to experience every aspect of the parks (age and height limits for some things an obvious exception) just because an SG has kids and I do not (well, I do now, but just play along) that does not give them special access to any aspect of the park, except for areas that are just for kids, like some of the play areas.
I feel your pain in the parade viewing department. Unfortunately, I've sometimes found it necessary to behave like my namesake just to keep our spaces at parades. We also wait until the parade has started to let kids in front of us at parades. Learned this the hard way when, well before Illuminations one evening, we let two "adorable" kids in front of us. By the time it was all over we had Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and assorted cousins in front of us. NEVER again. Now, we wait until the parades starts then ask if the moppets would like in front then hold hands and stand with our feet together ignoring the parents. It's easier at MK for the evening parades because we just grab hold of the rope being careful not to pull on it. Makes an effective barrier. Though there's always some Bozo who thinks he's going to just lift the rope and slip in front of us.
Sorry :charlie: Not gonna happen!