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AIBU?

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Original poster

To feel sorry for children who are not allowed to get dirty?

119 replies

Falconi · 14/04/2014 13:04

The sun is finally shining, children can finally have fun at playgrounds and parks and I have seen to many parents getting streesed over their kids getting their clothes dirty:(.
My friend didn't allow her daughter play with chalk the other day and now my neighbour just screamed at his daughter face that she is FILTHY but she isn't....she just has been playing at a very clean playground however with a long white skirt and flip flops on... And she does look clean!
Just put old 'primark' clothes on your kids and let them play on their holidays ffs.

OP posts:
Gileswithachainsaw · 14/04/2014 13:07

Yanbu. Get thee down primark and but some joggers and t shirts. Stuff kids can play in. Their clothes are meant to be functional not "look how pretty my kid looks sod the fact she can't run or play"

TiggyKBE · 14/04/2014 13:09

Some parents are evil.

ICanSmellSummerComing · 14/04/2014 13:10

Their clothes are meant to be functional not "look how pretty my kid looks sod the fact she can't run or play"

I let my DD wear what she wants i dont have much choice. She is allowed to play and get dirty too.

RunnerBeen · 14/04/2014 13:10

Yanbu. DS has destroyed 3 brand new pairs of trousers/jeans in under a fortnight... because he was out olaying in them, i'm a little worked up about the cost (only have an M&Co near me and had to buy from there this time) but that's just what kids do.

ICanSmellSummerComing · 14/04/2014 13:11

I think there is a general obsession with things being pristine and clean all the time in general. Scrubbing new born babies, bathing small children every single day....

Scrounger · 14/04/2014 13:13

DD loves big dresses, the kind that frill out - she may wear leggings or skirts if she wants to but it is usually big dresses and she has very strong ideas about it.

However, she loves to play, climbing, jumping in puddles, digging and I don't want to stop that. So her dresses take some hammer and I draw the line at white. Life is too short to worry about them get clothes dirty.

Titsalinabumsquash · 14/04/2014 13:13

You'll love my house today then. I've been scrubbing the decking with some good old fashioned washing up liquid and elbow grease and toddler DS3 has been slashing about in the (filthy) bubbles giggling with glee as I hosed him and the deck down! :D he's all dry and in some new clothes (some more plain cotton leggings and tshirt for when we go out to play after lunch) now but he had a blast!

Gileswithachainsaw · 14/04/2014 13:16

I was at the park once when a mum and her friend showed up with the dd who was between 18m and 2 I'd say. They'd taken her to the park in one of those really long dresses the poor thing kept triping over then buggered off o the bench while she climbed up one of those net things. Every step she took her foot got caught in the dress and she nearly fell twice. Good job I was there to catch her hey.

My kids wear what they like too but only if they can move freely in it and aren't going to go flying or get it caught. I have shares in fairy non bio too :o

ThefutureMrsTatum · 14/04/2014 13:19

Yanbu. Last summer we went our for the day with my brother wife and his 2 dc. She spent hours follwing them round and dusting them off, told them not to use the slide as it was dirty (it hax a few dusty footprints on), she grinds my nut at the best of times but I'd had enough, cue me initiating a mass roll down the grassy hill race for the dc before she could stop them. Her face was a picture and not seen the kids look as happy all day.

Gileswithachainsaw · 14/04/2014 13:22

That sounds great fun :o

Hell as long as they are clean when they go to bed who cares.

dannydyerismydad · 14/04/2014 13:25

I don't get it. We have a washing machine, a shower and a bucket and sponge. If DS gets dirty or makes the house mucky, it really isn't that much of a bother to fix it.

Saski · 14/04/2014 13:30

I have never understood this. Surely this is why we have washing machines.

FetchezLaVache · 14/04/2014 13:33

YANBU. STBXH is a bit like this- "that's why we have an automatic washing machine" became my mantra. I still remember being pissed off at not being allowed to join in playing with the other kids on the rare occasions my dad made me wear a pretty dress as a child!

softlysoftly · 14/04/2014 13:36

You'd probably judge us as DD1 would be gussied up in a pretty dress and ballet pumps plus white tights because she's a stubborn little madam and there are some battles not worth fighting. She fell in mud the other day and wept all the way home.

Hopefully this is mitigated by DD2 who generally looks like stig of the dump.

Some kids don't like getting messy but if it is the parents clearly actively stopping them then YANBU.

ladymariner · 14/04/2014 13:37

My Dad always used to say as long as they were clean at the start of the day and clean at the end then it didn't matter about the rest and he was soooo right. Ds was head to toe Primark when he was little simply because he could roll around, play, get as dirty as he wanted and if he ruined his clothes then it wasn't the end of the world.
I had a friend who used to dress her dd in long, expensive, ankle length party dresses (hideous creations tbh!) wherever they went, and then get all precious when the little girl got dirty. Ridiculous.

ShoeJunkie · 14/04/2014 13:41

This is why DS wears hand-me-downs and second hand most of the time. Then if when he wrecks stuff it really doesn't matter. Life is too short not to get muddy once in a while!

Badvoc · 14/04/2014 13:41

Exactly why I buy most of my kids stuff from e bay! :)
I always think that the dirtier they are the more fun they have had :)

MummyPigsFatTummy · 14/04/2014 13:42

I totally agree. My Mum reckons she turned me into a tomboy when I was 3 by going on and on about not getting dirty whenever I had a dress on. Apparently, at my 3rd party I took my dress off and went to bed and would only come down when dressed in shorts. Apparently, I never voluntarily wore a dress again. (I still have a slight feeling of being "dressed up" in a dress or skirt and mainly wear jeans).

With DD, I am determined not to be the same so she wears dresses and skirts wherever she goes. I only argue really if the chosen item is not warm enough or if it is too long for the reasons Giles describes.

ICanSmellSummerComing · 14/04/2014 13:43

We get clothes from charity, tk max and car boots and ebay. they are lovely, you would never guess...they look well dressed and they do what they like in them.

PeterParkerSays · 14/04/2014 13:43

This really grates me. I remember going to a National Trust place when they had a free access weekend and standing in the gardens where DS was rolling down a grassy hill and a man was shouting at his son about DS's age (3) that he'd put him back in the car if he didn't stop crawling on the path. They're small children in a large open space, what do you expect them to do?

A couple of weekends ago, we took DS to the woods where he cycled to the nearest stream and spent 15 minutes washing his bike and then himself in the water. He had a fab time and travelled home wrapped in a car rug, with his clothes in a carrier bag. DH and I agreed that our parents would have walked over hot coals before they'd have let us get that wet, but we took DS out to enjoy himself outdoors, and that's what he did.

That's what we have washers and bin bags for.

Owllady · 14/04/2014 13:44

We live in the country so it's not really an issue :o I once let my 2 yr old play on a horse manure pile and my friend said, well it's only hay
I will now leave the thread before I disgust anyone further :o
We obviously know the risks of ruminant poo

ICanSmellSummerComing · 14/04/2014 13:44

mummy i dont blame you.

It is nice to have a special dress that you do behave in as it were if not just to mark out a special occasion. I got my older DD ONE nice dress it was a total mad buy on my account and I said " DD this is your, I cant do anything in it dress"! She wore it once on a special outing....it will get worn again but its her only....I cant do anything in this dress.

Sirzy · 14/04/2014 13:45

I don't think I could keep DS clean even if I tried!

Sirzy · 14/04/2014 13:45

(Obviously I do try in the sense of his starting and ending the day clean, but inbetween I mean!)

PoundingTheStreets · 14/04/2014 13:47

I won't allow my DC to do certain activities in certain clothing because clothing costs and I don't have an unlimited supply. However, I probably have two of the most active, constantly dirty children out there (they do wash at night, honestly Grin). The trick is to reserve certain clothing "for best" and let them grub around in cheap everyday stuff the rest of the time.

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