To let my DD play with some crutches?

[MissRead]

I really don't think I am but DH has got really cross about it and I'm struggling to see his point of view.

DD (8) still enjoys imaginary games with her friends, often these are the doctors and nurses type of thing (not as in sexual, just pretending to be ill or injured). She has a toy medical kit and a nurse dressing up outfit etc.

A friend's older brother apparently had an accident a while ago and the family has a pair of crutches lying about which DD and her friends have been playing with. Today she brought them home and said that x had lent them to her for the night. I thought it was quite funny and harmless but when DH came home he went mad, said it was weird, that it was like taking the mickey out of ill/injured/disabled (not entirely sure which he meant) people and that she looked stupid with them. It really upset DD which upset me as well, I can't see what the big deal is and don't think he should have spoken so nastily to her.

Am I missing something or is my DH just a grumpy git?

[Pumpernickel10]

Sounds like a grumpy git as long as the friends ok with them using the crutches then I can't see why not

[iwasyoungonce]

He's a grumpy git!

YANBU. :)

[BooyHoo]

it isn't taking the piss at all

BTW i dont think anyone needed teh clarification that her game wasn't sexual

[GrimmaTheNome]

Grumpy git, I'm afraid.

[pooka]

He' a grumpy git.

My dcs are often seen pottering around the house with a walking stick that belonged to my Great Grandmother. They love it.

They also loved my Grandmother's stairlift.

Hell - if I had a pair of crutches here right now, I'd be trying them out!

Nothing to do with disrespecting people who actually need them. No more than closing my eyes and working my way round the house by feel (which I distinctly remember doing as a child) is making fun of someone who is actually blind.

[MissRead]

Booy I probably didn't need to say that did I? I just tend to think of 'doctors and nurses' as a smutty, Carry On film type of phrase. But in this case it's exactly what they are playing.

Besides the way some people on here think it's probably better to be clear

[Meglet]

yanbu.

My sister broke her foot when we were teenagers, I was always playing with her crutches and seeing how high I could swing my legs.

[BooyHoo]

yes that's a good point. best to cover your ass on MN at the moment!!

[eurochick]

YANBU. Grumpy git.

[lalabaloo]

YANBU, I used to walk around the garden with brooms pretending they were crutches and walk around the house with my eyes closed, it isn't disrespectful to anyone at all!

[wotnochocs]

I'm with your DH -It would bother me too but probably superstition. There's a saying 'mocking's catching'

[AnyFucker]

I am going to be a grumpy git and ask that you take the crutches back to where they belong

The NHS is very short of equipment, often because people can't be arsed to return it

So, unless you paid for these makeshift "toys" yourself, perhaps you could consider letting someone who really needs them get some use out of them ?

and buy your dd a PS3 or summat

(the last bit was not serious)

[MissRead]

I did wonder why they still had them actually . If that was DH's reason I'd have more sympathy but I think the consensus is that he's just an old misery.

[JaneFonda]

YANBU, crutches are great fun, certainly not making fun of anyone disabled - I can remember when I was on crutches once at school, having to sit down at break time because everyone wanted a play on my crutches!

Your DH is a very grumpy git.

[thisisyesterday]

he's just a grumpy git!

my friend had an old pair of crutches and we used to play on them LOADS!

[AgentZigzag]

Everybody had a go on my crutches when I was down the pub in my younger days, and the amount of 'Oh, you've got a bit of a sweaty crutch' jokes (it was summer) was shameful

They were just messing, and he was being over zealous.

[Glitterandglue]

Not at all unreasonable. Part of her play will be things like seeing how far you can swing yourself without falling over and what you can hook using the end of them, and part of it will be role play like anything else; in the same way kids pretend to hoover and shop and whatnot as adults do, they will pretend to have to use crutches/be blind etc. It's actually a good learning experience because it gives them empathy for those who have got to do/be these things without a choice, and they can learn in some small way about how difficult life can be in different circumstances.

[thegruffalosma]

YANBU. I've still got my crutches from When I had PGP with my last pregnancy and dd loves playing with them. I also remember at school that there was nothing more fun than having a go of a friends crutches if they had broken their leg or something. Your DH is definitely a grumpy git!

[blackeyedsusan]

grumpy git... but do take them back... to the nhs

[AnyFucker]

every pair of crutches costs the NHS about 20 quid

that's quite a few nurses wages that could be paid for, if all you messers-about-with-crutches actually returned them

just sayin'

[blackeyedsusan]

after we have all had a go

[wonkylegs]

I am disabled and have had use of wheelchair & stick at one time or another (never crutches as my hands / arms are too knacked) and i've got no problem with it and I'm guessing that none of my disabled friends would either. There are only 2 reasons my son isn't allowed to play with my walking stick...i need it and he's blooming lethal with it but he's been known to copy using a toy broom/umbrella/ toothbrush
Kids play is about copying , the more normal they see things the better, personally I feel disabled people hate being ignored /patronised /shunned or feared, copied I don't have a problem with

[MissRead]

Thanks all, I so want to tell DH that at least 20 other people agree with my point of view but telling him I posted on here bitching about him would probably not be wise!

[ApocalypseCheeseToastie]

Oh I used to love a good go on crutches as a kid, wheelchairs however were considered the holy grail.

[netbook]

My uncle is in a wheelchair, we used to love playing with his spare chair when we were little. I could go around the entire house on two wheels!