Well, if you must leave it open!

[Thistledew]

DS has just turned 2. He is mad about all things diggers. There has been some major resurfacing work on the road near us recently and a digger (sorry DS, backhoe loader) has been left parked just down the road for about a week now. DS likes to go and have a good look at it close up. Today he asked to drive it, i.e. sit in the cab. I said "Sorry DS, it is locked", but stupidly to demonstrate the point I tried the door handle.

It's not locked.

It would make DS's week to sit in the cab and pretend to drive for a few minutes.

Would you let him?

I hope I don't have the misfortune to meet this prince you are raising.
You sound awful OP.

I can't believe you are validating yourself with random reasons.

You wouldn't unlock somebody's car and sit inside. How is it different?

It does not belong to you.

You sound entitled. Maybe you are so special it would be ok if you tried it but for most of us we know it's a no

Oh and yes I stop my children walking on brick walls if they are on somebody's property. It's common curtesy

🤦‍♀️

Do you all stop your children walking along brick walls or playing leapfrog over parking bollards as well then?

My neighbours wall has just fallen down because so many people do this. She doesn't have the money for a new one so she's just leaving it. It's disrespectful and a mighty shame.

My other half has a digger ticket and drives them regularly. Do you know what health and safety/tests they have to go through to even sit in it themselves? They aren't the safest of vehicles and he has had a couple of near misses (one of these in fact was when the engine was switched off and the digger was not calibrated properly).

Have you thought about the fact that you could get someone in real trouble by putting your child inside their digger? Ok, they should have locked the door, but what if their boss, or a colleague was to see a child playing happily in the cab of a vehicle and report back to them? I know for sure that my other half would be in big trouble for this.

It's also not your property. By all means go and have a look. They don't tend to just fall over or break, but please don't let your child get in the cab. You don't know what's in there. There could be tools in there, sharp objects, personal items, you have no idea! For all you know the owner left it unlocked completely unintentionally and by mistake.

Hopefully you'll listen to what is being said to you here and take on board what a majority of people are saying...

I also find it quite shocking that you tried the handle in front of your 2yo. On what planet is that ok?

I hope this is a wind up.

@pppma i know but don't you realise she has a special little snowflake ❄️

If there's an unlocked digger sitting on the roadside for the last week you should be phoning the bloody council to let them know not trying to justify letting your toddler play with it . Clearly there has been some oversight resulting in an expensive and dangerous piece of equipment being left accessible to the public.

This really is one of the most stupid and irresponsible things I've read on MN. On what planet do you decide that encouraging a small child to feel comfortable enough around dangerous machinery to play in it is a good idea?

As pps have said you should be teaching your child to stay the hell away from machinery and building sites, they can be extremely dangerous even for the grown adults who are trained and certified in using them.

Some people are as thick as fucking mince.

Here's another bit of parenting advice for you Op: drinking bleach is also dangerous for your child. Don't let him. Even if he really wants to.

Fuck me, this is the super soaker thread all over again.

OP: WIBU to let my child the fucking stupid thing?

Everyone: of course you would, don’t be an idiot

OP: but what would be so bad?

Continue for endless pages.

You are being an entitled twat about this op. It is no more complicated than this: it doesn't belong to you.

You will raise a similarly entitled twat if you carry on with this way of thinking.

Don't be such a dick.

Why do you need additional reasons to safety reasons?!

Surely teaching a toddler that they cannot go sit inside the digger is akin to teaching them not to put their hands on the hob (even when cold) or not to run across the road unsupervised (because you currently cannot see any vehicles coming) the consequences are that these may (quite likely) pose a risk at some point.
If you were to let you child sit in an unlocked digger that you just happen across, what is stop your child as a 5 year old wandering into your garage and starting up the lawn mower or opening mummy's car door to "sit in the driver's seat" and knocking the handbrake?!

Isn't this the role of parents in a child's life?!

It's funny because everyone I know who describes themself as critical thinking are complete bellends with no respect for other people feelings or possessions...

No chance. You should not be letting him sit in the digger, not because it's locked, it's because it's not yours. That is the main point here, safety reasons a whole other issue entirely.

So you'd be happy for him to climb up a parked crane when hes out with his friends at 14? As he won't have learnt a thing about leaving dangerous machinery alone. Yeah? That will be fine then? As some little shits have decided to to that on the building works near my house, dangerous, stupid and trespassing. Have a bit of common sense and forward thinking.

3stonedown maybe their parents had their priorities wrong too.

We all thought we'd explain the whys and wherefores when our kids reached that stage too. But, in reality, I admit that on numerous occasions in my head I was screaming "Justbefuckingcause!"

You're like one of those stupid, entitled mothers who sit their child on my motorbike without permission. It's not your bloody property...get someone to teach your child about respecting other people's belongings - you can't do it as you obviously don't respect them yourself.

OP this is for you for giving me best laugh of the day (apart from the farting thread)

One of the things children have to learn is to do the right thing even when there’s no one to stop you doing the wrong thing. So when someone accidentally leaves a door unlocked you don’t go in, even though you could.

It’s a really fundamental lesson. It’s how we build trust in society.

It’s wrong to dodge fares. It’s wrong to steal. It’s wrong to go into other people’s property.

Are there opportunities to do any of those? Yes, often. But as parents we have to teach our children that you don’t.

This is the super soaker thread all over again.
Some people are to far up their own arises to ever consider they might be wrong.

It's about having respect for other people and their possessions, teaching your child basic social skills and manners. You have missed the point entirely and aren't listening to anyone's opinion, which makes me think you're not great with the above.

The solution to your problem about creating a 'critical thinking' child is to have a few more. You won't give a shit then and will bark 'because I said so!!!' X 8,00000 without a care.

I suspect this is a wind up.

But if it's not, congratulations on being "that parent" at least two whole years before he starts school.

The best thing you can do for your son is to stop being a nob.

To be fair, I think it's a wind up too.
Nobody is that thick and argumentative in RL are they?