aibu to teach my DC to go up the steps and down the slide?

[PrincessScrumpy]

Really trivial.
I always taught dd1 to do this and not climb up the slide. Now she's 5 and I do let her climb her slide at home but not in front of younger siblings or when at a park. Today I took dtds to the park (22mo) and was teaching them this. It was a fairly tall slide but they were doing well. Then lots of other dc arrived with their parents (all around 3yo) and it soon became apparent I was the only one who deemed this important and one parent accused me of spoiling the fun.
I might well be being a bit precious about this rule - to me it's partly about safety and partially about turn taking and allowing dc to get down the slide.
Happy to go with MN jury if you deem me to bu, i'm truly not sure.
Thanks in advance.

[merrymouse]

I think going up the slide is perfectly reasonable. However, only if you aren't preventing another child from sliding down. Best not to do it in a busy playground situation as it makes it difficult to take turns.

[maja00]

I let DS climb up the slide when no one is there.

If you are climbing up the slide and someone slides down you get kicked in the face. I wouldn't call that fun. If my child is waiting to slide down and some other child is climbing up I do give them warning they are about to get kicked in the face (or lift them off if very little).

[PoppyWearer]

YANBU.

[catgirl1976]

DS loves climbing up the slide

If other children want to come down it I tell him he has to wait his turn

If he isn't hurting anyone, damaging anything or stopping anyone else from playing I try not to impose rules on how he plays

[Fakebook]

I let my children climb up the slide if no one is there. When there are children, they go up the steps and down the slide. At home they can do what they want.

[xylem8]

in wet weather there is always the question of leaving the slide wet and or muddy for the next child

[HorryIsUpduffed]

I went batshit at some children going up the slide the other day - because they were trapping the toddlers/preschoolers waiting patiently at the top and on the ladder (it is a big slide).

I may have used the phrases "how old are you? haven't you worked out yet how a slide works" and "some children are brought up with no manners".

Yes. I was that woman

[extracrunchy]

YANBU

[runningonwillpower]

You are not being unreasonable.

The clue is in the word 'slide'. You can't slide upwards.

How does that work anyway? Children queue to clamber up the slide whilst those queuing the other way wait indefinitely?

And very few mothers would think it fun if their child was kicked in the face.

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

YANBU
"UP the steps, DOWN the slide" - still rings in my head. Our park was always busy so it was pretty much always our rule

I agree with catgirl that there are circumstances when it's OK, but sliders take priority

[IneedAyoniNickname]

Like most others, mine can climb the slide if no one else is on it, and only if its not.muddy.

Last summer we were at a garden centre where they have a bouncy castle with a slide. A smaller boy kept going up the slide, down the slide, up the slide, down the slide etc etc. After a few minutes of waiting patiently, ds1 asked in a very slightly raised voice if he could please take it in turns. His (grand)mum rushed over and dragged him off the castle, moaning very loudly about "those nasty big boys shouting at you" She then tried to blame me for her pfb son screaming (due to being removed) and stormed off! All the other mums rolled their eyes at her back as she shouted at me, and told me we had done nothing wrong.
If my children had been.less polite they'd have just slid down and kicked him.

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

INeed

Oh yes, that reminds me. With serial climbers up who weren't listening to repeated requests to wait for people to go down, I wouldn't rule out just letting nature take its course and them get kicked.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

Learning to climb up the slide is great for development.

However, in group situations they need to take turns and that means up the steps. So YANBU! If the parents wanted free reign of the park they should go first thing in the morning when barely anyone is there.

[ghosteditor]

I'm totally with you on this and we've taught 18 mo DD not to climb back up the slide. When she's big enough to notice other children more we'll let her experiment, but until I can be sure she's not going to inadvertently get in the way, thems the rules

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

In case anyone is wondering, I would never encourage my DCs to send a toddler flying

[pippitysqueakity]

Just out of interest, (and genuinely not knowing) how is climbing up the slide great for development in a way the steps aren't? Is it a balance thing?

[IneedAyoniNickname]

No neither would I jamie though I've seen it happen more than once!

[girliefriend]

If no one else is there waiting I am fine with my dd climbing up the slide but obv tell her to get out the way if someone wants to come down.

It wasn't something I ever felt the need to 'teach' her though, seems like common sense tbh!!

[DoJo]

I'm another one who lets mine climb the slide but moves him if someone wants to come down. I always thank children for waiting as well if it takes me a second to get to him, and on one memorable occasion, thanked a small boy profusely for screeching to a halt halfway down when my son had escaped from my grip and run across the bottom (not actually up the slide, but close enough to be kicked had the nice boy not grabbed the sides and stopped himself!)

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

Because it uses the hands - it builds arm and upper body strength which is essential for things like pen control. Also it's great for confidence and learning to risk assess.

Climbing trees and monkey bars are similar, but less accessible for small children.

[mrsravelstein]

YANBU, it's only ok to climb it if there aren't a bunch of other kids patiently waiting their turn. also, some parents might want to note that it's not ok for your dc to slide down, then immediately start climbing back up the slide, as natural justice in the form of a hurtling 4 year old who's had enough of waiting can sometimes offend

[mamapants]

I let my DS climb the slide as he's too little to use the steps yet. He wouldn't be able to get up otherwise. I move him out of other childrens way to go down when they've used the steps. Although they are not so considerate in allowing DS turns.

I'm not going to stop allowing DS to use the park in the way he is capable of doing it.

[HelgaHufflepuff]

YANBU. Up the stairs, down the slide. It's not rocket science.
How is it 'spoiling the fun' to show your child how to safely 'do' slides?!
Yeah, because that's great fun when a child's patiently waiting to come down the slide and can't because there's some little kid pratting about at the bottom as their parent's haven't bothered to teach them correctly and just indulge them.

[mamapants]

I imagine the fun is in using the equipment in imaginative and creative ways. So that a box can be a chair or a table or a stage etc. Fun is in discovery.

[yegodsandlittlefishes]

YANBU and it always used to annoy me that the children who went up the slide and never really finished their go and let someone else have a turn were the ones who had slides at home. Their parents seemed to think that everyone had a garden and the space and money for a slide. They didn't seem to realise that social interactions at a public playground are full of opportune moments to teach a child to be a decent, fine upstanding member of the human race while enjoying others' fun as well as ones own.

Take heart, their children don't grow up clever, talented, friendly or able to hold a conversation. More money than sense and photogenic (but only for still shots, no one would want to watch a video of them.) OK, I made all that up, imagining that's what they would be like 10 years on!