Paying to Supervise

It's summer.  My daughter wants to go to a local water park. I would rather have a cavity filled at the dentist.  As a fair-skinned, older than average, plus-size mom, spending the day at an expensive water park is not on the top of my list.  It's not even on the top ten!

Climbing stairs, several stories high to slide down a slide, is painful for my arthritic knees.  Now the lazy river is okay.  But how many times would I have to go around the ¼ mile river, to get my $23.99 monies worth?  And as skin cancer-fearing pale people, two hours in the sun is about our limit before the burn sets in.

This reminds me of a thought I first had when my husband and I first took our daughter as a kindergärtner to the Six Flags amusement park.  We spent a couple of hours in the kiddie section of the park and then spent the rest of the time walking the entire park looking for a ride that might be tame enough for a five-year-old.  We didn't find any. 

The idea is this.  Why do moms have to pay full price to enter an entertainment venue, when we plan to spend most of the time merely watching and supervising our children.

When women rule the world, I hope we consider a tiered entrance price for moms, dads, grandparents, etc.  Discounted entrants would enjoy limited venues or rides, while full priced entrants would receive an additional stamp or bracelet giving the participants full access to all the venues.

I know in the men's business model, where profit is always the bottom line, this suggestion wouldn't be given a second thought.  But if moms were charged less, they might take their child to the expensive water park more than once a summer.

I just hope we arrive early enough to get an umbrella with some shade!