day at the zoo...isn't that every day?

so a few days ago pbs and i went to the national zoo. we took the blue line to the red line and got off at woodley park/zoo station. we hiked, maybe i should say, i hiked and pbs enjoyed a pleasant ride up the hill to the zoo. we saw the pandas, elephants, lions, tigers and bears, oh my! the monkeys, gorillas and apes were the most active, unless you count some of the other people that were there.

we shared a lunch in panda plaza and sat at a long picnic table with another family. we were looking for someplace to sit and eat and a little girl, about 4 years old, asked if we would like to sit at their table. i said yes, please and thank you and sat down to start our lunch. pbs and i were laughing at something, when i heard the grandmother of the little girl tell her to stop whatever she was doing. the grandmother, mother and older son were pretty rough in the way they treated the little girl. i didn't see what she was doing but when they started yelling at her to stop i looked up. she was sitting at the table just eating her lunch, from what i saw. the older son said something to the effect of if you don't stop i'm going to come over there and carry you to the car! he went over and picked her up by the wrists and started carrying her that was.

i was appalled but didn't say anything because i was trying to mind my own business since i didn't see what started it all. by this point the little girl is crying and the mother, grandmother and older son are saying they're going home and she is going to her room. the mother and grandmother were kind of like drill sergeants and the older son was trying to be the "good" son and carrying out their orders. the little girl looked so sad. maybe they should have been in the cages for all to view.

i guess everybody has different ways of parenting. some are definitely more extreme than others. js and i are not perfect parents and have never claimed to be but i hope and pray that i never treat my child that way in private or in public.