I have been bringing my daughter to this place since she was only 7 months old, and for years I had…read moreabsolutely nothing negative to say. I had always had a good experience with the staff, and I have always considered the owner to be a very respectful, polite, and professional person.
Unfortunately, this most recent visit was completely different and honestly left me shocked, uncomfortable, and extremely concerned for my daughter's safety and my own.
I brought my 3-year-old daughter, as I normally do. At one point, my daughter approached another child because she wanted to play and took a toy the child was holding. She is THREE YEARS OLD. Of course, I immediately stepped in and asked her to give the toy back. Children are children. These kinds of small situations happen all the time, and as a parent, I handled it immediately and appropriately.
What I absolutely did NOT expect was the mother's reaction. She spoke to my 3-year-old daughter in an extremely rude and aggressive manner. I chose to ignore it because I did not want to create a scene or ruin anyone's day.
But then it became MUCH more serious.
The woman approached me directly and told me that I needed to "watch" my daughter because her son is autistic. I completely understand and respect that every child has different needs, and that was NEVER the issue. The issue was the way this woman chose to address my child and, more importantly, the threats she made toward me afterward.
She told me that if anything happened involving her son again, I would "see what she was going to do to me." She then noticed that I am pregnant and made comments that made me feel personally threatened and extremely unsafe.
At that point, I immediately went to the owner and explained exactly what had happened. I told him that I had been threatened and that I was prepared to call the police because I did not feel safe.
The owner recommended that I leave and offered to refund my money, which I did not accept. I left because I had no intention of putting myself or my 3-year-old daughter in a potentially dangerous situation.
And honestly, THIS is the part that bothers me the most: I was the person who ended up having to leave.
I did not threaten anyone.
I did not insult anyone.
I did not physically confront anyone.
I did not create a scene.
I simply corrected my 3-year-old daughter and asked her to return a toy.
Yet after being confronted and threatened by another adult, I was the one who had to remove myself and my child from the environment.
I have been coming here for YEARS, so writing this review genuinely disappoints me. I never expected to have an experience like this at a place where I had previously felt comfortable bringing my child.
I want to be very clear: this is not about the child being autistic. I have respect and compassion for children with special needs. This is about an adult choosing to aggressively confront a 3-year-old child and then making threatening statements toward her mother, who was visibly pregnant.
A place where parents bring their children should be a place where families feel SAFE. No parent should have to worry about another adult threatening them or their child while simply trying to enjoy a normal outing.
I sincerely hope management takes situations like this seriously because parents should never have to choose between staying somewhere they paid to enjoy and leaving because they are afraid for their own safety.
After this experience, I personally would think twice before bringing my child back, because I can no longer say that I feel completely safe there.
It is incredibly disappointing to go from having years of positive experiences to leaving a place feeling threatened and unsafe.
Parents deserve better. Children deserve better. And no one should have to tolerate threats simply because they brought their child somewhere to play.