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Original poster

If your 10 yr old was playing in a friend's garden...

38 replies

Knitwit99 · 03/03/2021 17:46

..and he injured himself roller skating down a slide, would you be annoyed with your child or the friend's parent?

Ds had a friend in the garden today, friend has been round loads of times before. They're 9 and 10 so not toddlers by any means. They found a pair of roller skates, the kiddy ones that go over your shoes, I don't know how he squeezed his feet into them. I just happened to look out the window and see his friend standing at the top of the slide about to roller skate down it. It is quite a high slide, it's an old one, been in our garden for years, but it's on grass which is pretty soggy.

So purely hypothetical, no-one fell off, but if I hadn't spotted him and he had skated down the slide, fallen off and broken his arm would you have been annoyed with me for not supervising closely or annoyed with your son for being silly?

Oh and they also had a rope tied round the top of the climbing frame thing attached to the slide so they could skate back up too. For added danger.

I think I would be annoyed with my son, at 10 he should have known better. Curious to know what others would think? I've put the skates away, they're too small really now anyway, so this particular dangerous activity can't happen again.

OP posts:
Findahouse21 · 03/03/2021 17:47

I'd think he was having fun and had an accident. Shit happens. Wouldn't be angry with anyone

LadyCatStark · 03/03/2021 17:49

That’s exactly the kind of thing DS would do 🙈 and it’d be his fault if he hurt himself!

WorraLiberty · 03/03/2021 17:50

I wouldn't be annoyed with the parents at all.

I'd be mildly annoyed with the kids though as they should kind of know better that age but could be forgiven for not thinking it through.

PrincessTuna · 03/03/2021 17:50

I'd tell him off for being ridiculous. I would be a bit Hmm at the lack of supervision too, but I have a 6yo so not sure what stage you stop monitoring them.

Frenchfancy · 03/03/2021 17:53

I would think it was my dcs fault not the parents. DD3 is always doing stuff like this. I like to call it childhood (cause it makes me feel less like a bad mum)

doctorhamster · 03/03/2021 17:54

I wouldn't blame the parent at all. You don't expect to have to constantly supervise 10 year olds.

I know a couple of helicopter parentspeople who would have gone mental at you though

Shitfuckcommaetc · 03/03/2021 17:56

The rope for added danger made me chuckle!

At their ages I wouldn't expect a parent to be watching them!

WorraLiberty · 03/03/2021 17:57

@PrincessTuna

I'd tell him off for being ridiculous. I would be a bit Hmm at the lack of supervision too, but I have a 6yo so not sure what stage you stop monitoring them.
Assuming the kids don't have additional needs and there are no sharp tools lying around, no 10 year olds are going to need supervision to play in the garden.
MumandnotMum · 03/03/2021 17:57

I would be a bit miffed at DC, bit disrespectful to be so silly in someone else’s garden. But I definitely wouldn’t be annoyed at the parent who’s house at was. Not at that age.

PaquitaVariation · 03/03/2021 17:57

At 10, it would most definitely be the child I would be cross with, they should know better. I certainly wouldn’t be expecting the parents to hover around them every moment.

Hathertonhariden · 03/03/2021 17:58

Think of it as a good learning experience for them OP. Better they learn these lessons at this age than when they are young adults and likely to cause much worse damage to themselves.

willloman · 03/03/2021 17:58

I would not leave them entirely unsupervised - just the age to try risky monkey business! I would be annoyed with child and parent for not supervising sufficiently.

Clymene · 03/03/2021 17:59

I would be annoyed with my child. 10 year olds shouldn't need close supervision (but equally they do stupid things)

Sawyersfishbiscuits · 03/03/2021 18:02

I'd be annoyed with my son for doing it.
If a parent was watching them do it I'd be a bit peed off.
10 year old boys are daft, and the more 10 year old boys together the dafter they are.

halcyondays · 03/03/2021 18:04

10 year olds go to the park and walk to school by themselves so I wouldn’t expect them to be closely supervised at that age.

Original poster
Knitwit99 · 03/03/2021 18:05

I would not leave them entirely unsupervised

That's the thing though, what's entirely unsupervised? I was downstairs at the back of the house with the back door open. I could hear them chatting and see them through the window when I walked past.

But I was not in the garden with them.

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 03/03/2021 18:06

@willloman

I would not leave them entirely unsupervised - just the age to try risky monkey business! I would be annoyed with child and parent for not supervising sufficiently.
But most kids that age are allowed to the local park without parents, so they should be able to play unsupervised in the garden.
BigSandyBalls2015 · 03/03/2021 18:08

I wouldn't blame the parents at all. At 10 mine were going to the local park with mates, you can't hover around them at that age.

EmpressSuiko · 03/03/2021 18:08

Just sounds like kids being kids, me and my friends would get up to all sorts of silly things that really wasn’t safe but we had a lot of fun!

KettleWentBang · 03/03/2021 18:09

Nope not at parents.
Thats a kid thing. My sibling many years ago was doing 'skids' on wet drains when out with a friend and their parents.
He broke his arm resulting in surgery.
My parents just did the '' that's typical of ds ' thing

KettleWentBang · 03/03/2021 18:10

And a 10 Yr old certainly doesn't need fully supervising! Most go out alone

SillyOldMummy · 03/03/2021 18:10

I wouldn't be angry with the parent. At age 10 I would expect a NT child to not take such obvious risks, and would have a word about not showing off.

My DD has been told in no uncertain terms, that if I have to take her to A&E during lockdown I won't be happy with her.

SquishySquirmy · 03/03/2021 18:13

Hypothetically, if the parents were there cheering them on, and helping the kids find ropes for the added danger I would be annoyed at the parents.

But otherwise, no! I would be annoyed at my kid, but it is the kind of daft thing kids do.

MiddleClassProblem · 03/03/2021 18:13

I don’t think I’d be annoyed at anybody.

user7891011 · 03/03/2021 18:13

Neither, accidents happen. Weird to go straight to being angry with anyone at all