Earlier this evening, my baby mama wanted to take my daughter and her cousin (who is visiting for a week or so) to the gym. They were going to be in the kids area for about an hour while we trained and then we'd take them swimming there immediately afterwards.
Because I had to take care of the dog, they got there about 10 minutes before I did and when I arrived, K told me that they'd been denied entry...because the cousin is not our child.
She was frustrated and walked out and I believed her when she said she didn't cause a scene (her usual M.O...just one more reason for the divorce, for those keeping score at home - lol). She hadn't spoken to management, though, just the desk clerk, so I told her to take the kids for ice cream and then to the local water park, while I went in to argue the case.
After a brief wait, I was able to speak with a very polite young manager, who explained their policy to me. I told her that, while she's with us, we're her legal guardians and we have to make decisions on her behalf as if we're her parents and we're liable for her welfare as if we're her parents.
I then told her that her liability waters are already murky given that most kids under the age of, say, 16 don't have any identification anyway. She agreed that a person could easily identify a child as their own and sign them in without any verification whatsoever.
At any rate, I do applaud this particular manager for understanding why they're not exposed to any greater liability allowing a guardian to sign in a child than they would be if a parent signed the waiver...especially considering the lack of verification of the child's identity.
If something were to happen and the club is found to be negligent in their supervision of the kids in the play area or is determined to knowingly allow an unsafe condition to exist in there, they'd be liable for any injuries *regardless* of the identity of any of the children in their care.
In closing, she did agree to grant us a one-time exception and to waive the additional child's fee if K wants to take them there again, so I guess we'll take advantage of that later in the week.
That's the story.
As a GetBigger, should we be deceptive and say that the child is ours? I'm probably not going to pass for the dad of a white kid LOL, but there's no reason why K couldn't be her mother.
