DS15 Used a Green Apple to Roll His Foot After Hike – Am I Overreacting?

[OneShyCritic]

So, we just got back from a weekend in the Lake District with our two lads (15 and 11) and another family. We all did Scafell Pike together, and it was brilliant... but when we got back to the hotel, my DS15 said his feet were aching after the hike. To try and ease the pain, he decided to put a green apple on the floor and roll his bare foot back and forth over it. It’s something he does at home with a tennis ball after football training, and it really helps with muscle soreness.

Now, here’s the thing: we didn’t have a tennis ball, so he used an apple instead. I get that he was trying to relieve the pain, but when I saw him doing it, I was a bit miffed. The apple obviously had to go straight in the bin after – it ended up all soft and stinky! I just feel like if he thought he was going to need something like that, he should’ve remembered to bring a tennis ball.

Am I being unreasonable to be a bit frustrated about it, or am I overreacting? I know he was trying to help himself, but I just can’t help thinking it was a bit... well, a waste to use an apple!

This has to be one of the silliest posts I've ever seen on this site, which is really saying something.

I used a cucumber as a rolling pin once.

Next time he asks for an apple, give him a tennis ball.

So what you’re saying is that you would rather your son’s pain continued than he used what he had to hand - which is a common every day, easy/cheap to replace food item ?

Oh don't!

This will send OP over the edge.

😂

It’s a fucking apple.

I miss the laugh emoji

Oh give over OP 😂

The apple wasn't wasted. It was put to a good use - relieving pain. You are being ridiculous.

But you’d already been on the hike. So you didn’t need the apple after all.

Jesus H Christ, it was ONE BLOODY APPLE and he didn't waste it, he used it for something. Just because he didn't eat it, that doesn't mean it was wasted. It was used for a good purpose.

It's no different from using a potato to make potato prints with a small child, or using rice/wheat grains to make a bean-bag or something. He used it. It served a purpose. Therefore it wasn't wasted.

If this is the sort of thing that makes you annoyed with a 15-year-old, I feel really quite sorry for him because you sound like hard work.

Yes you are over reacting

I might have a different perspective to some other posters, but I would also have a problem with food waste in this way. Having grown up in a place where food was not always available, I would find it difficult to watch fresh fruit be wasted like this. I try and teach my kids to respect and appreciate the fact they have food and clothes available. Yes in the grand scheme of things, it's just an apple (costing what? 20p, 30p?), however it's still food and it shows they are lucky enough to have never gone without food before. I would want my kids to show more appreciation. I also have a thing about kids throwing clothes on the floor...it's disrespectful and it shows they don't value their possessions because the bank of mum and dad will just buy them more.

I wouldn't use this example to berate him but I would definitely have a discussion about it. You're not wrong to be thinking what you are thinking.

Jesus wept it was only an apple. Get a bloody grip.

Yes you are over reacting. Sounds like a good solution to me. I thought you were going to say he put it back in the Fruit bowl after which would be disgusting.

I can see how this may have really upset you. Oh no, wait a minute, I can't.

This is today’s non problem.

Ideally he should have washed, chopped and used to make applesauce afterwards. Otherwise it’s a hideous waste of food. Doesn’t he know there are starving children in <insert country least likely to offend Mumsnetters here>?

If your focus is on waste then surely you've wasted resources travelling to the Lake District when you could have climbed the closest mountain to your home?

He didn't waste the apple, he used it.

Have you ever bought soap scented with fruit or herbs? That's 'wasted' too.

I think your thinking is rather messed up around this. Did you have a very strict upbringing about food?

I can't imagine getting excitable about this. He was in pain, he found a solution. It doesn't sound like anyone went hungry as a result.

If the apple became squashed (earlier you said soft and stinky) due to pressure from a foot, it must've been past its best in the first place.

He didn't waste it though, he put it to good use. Would it be better if he had stayed in pain, and eaten the apple?

Absolutely agree with this.