i swear it's actually worse now that erin is generally treated more like a tween, yet ethan is still dragged around with babs in toddler mum mode. ffs, let the poor kid have fun! "
kids zone is perfect if you have little ones...!" - yeah, brilliant babs, except you
don't have "little ones". she has a nine year old who adores HP - and is presumably taller than 100cm which is the height limit of children that Woody Woodpecker zone is aimed at!
- yet she's dragging him around like a four year old, and preventing him from making the most of his time at Universal and actually enjoying himself, because
she prefers meeting kids characters, like spongebob and scooby doo, and toddler playparks and "big slides" and "safe" toddler rides where she's properly strapped in, because
she finds them more manageable and "really fun". essentially, kidzone is preferable for
babs because she is an oversized toddler who hates rides and prefers the slower, quieter pace in comparison to the hype of universal, because she's so
bleeping unfit she struggles to keep up with steve and the kids, constantly screaming at them to "stop running" because how
dare they have fun while she's hugging and puffing behind them struggling to catch her breath.
this "divide and conquer" bullshit is heartbreaking. in the past, it was used as a way to exclude ethan and leave him at home with steve while she spent all her time with the golden child, yet now it's still being used to ethan's detriment, as erin is paired with steve and allowed to go and enjoy her holiday, actually having fun, going on the rides and getting a break from having a camera shoved in her face, while ethan is manipulated into being dragged around by babs for the day, undoubtedly being guilt-tripped with "don't leave mummy on her own!" type comments, exploiting his sensitive nature.
if babs doesn't want to go on roller coasters and prefers to spend the day sitting down resting and shoving snacks down her throat in quieter areas of the park, surely she can do that
without ethan. but ofc she needs him for content, because she wouldn't lure in an audience if she filmed herself making Universal appear even more boring than she already has, so the poor kid has to miss out on all the fun his sister gets to enjoy, constantly being told that he can't do stuff because he's "too tired" or "too scared" etc. even to the point where erin and steve snuck out the hotel room super early to ensure that ethan couldn't join them, and babs could blame it on
him, claiming it was
his fault because he overslept. yet we all know that is a lie and it was all pre-planned, because we are well aware that it's ethan who wakes up the earliest - supposedly to the point that babs was forced to buy him a toddler colouring book in the dollarstore to keep him entertained until erin and steve woke up! she claims that her and ethan - who always wake up earliest decided to have a chilled morning and not rush out to the parks, yet that was obvs babs' decision which ethan had no say in. she is honestly such a cruel and manipulative
witch, and an absolute disgrace as a. mother, the way she treats that kid.