Please reassure me I'm not the only DP in the UK that allows and actively encourages my dc to climb trees

[keepyourchinupdear]

As per the caption... Am I wrong in doing this? I never see dc climbing trees or playing outdoors - am I the only one?

Mine climb trees. There's a brilliant hollow tree in the woods near here and one of the trees in our garden in known as the climbing tree.

Mine climb them if they can find them! There aren't enough climbable trees in suburbia.

Steve Brown fell from a balcony not a tree.

I encourage mine to have a go at climbing trees. It's great fun for them.

There is much more chance of them being in a car crash than falling from a tree but I imagine most people on this thread take their DC out in a car.

In this interview Steve Brown says he fell from a balcony but in [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympic-sport/9400039/London-2012-Paralympics-How-wheelchair-rugby-saved-my-life.html the telegraph one]] posted earlier, he says he fell from a tree whilst working as a tree surgeon. Are there two Steve Browns??

Regardless, there's a big difference between children tree climbing and a fall whilst at work.

My dgc climb trees, splash in puddles and go on long bike rides with their parents. They also go on long walks in the country. They have done several hill climbs in Wales and love going on the climbing wall at the Leisure Centre.They are 5 and 7 years old. My older dgc also climbed trees etc when tney were younger.
I, on the other hand, aged 70 have never climbed a tree in my life.

Oh I love these threads - it's like bingo.

Let me pat you on the back op for being such a SUPER parent. Oh yes you must be the only one who lets your children and those that don't are raising obese gaming junkies with no social skills.

HOUSE

DS climbs trees, we have found some lovely ones in National Trust gardens (Oxburgh Hall was the last one he found). He isn't a high climber, but loves just sitting on the branches leaning against the trunk.
I also worry more about crossing the road.

I'm relieved when DS is climbing trees to be honest, it means he isn't hooked on to the X-box or i-pad and is outside.

I'm far less worried about the chance that he might hurt himself or a tree by climbing it, than I am about the long term consequences of inactivity during screen use.

Maybe gates are bad parenting. He sprints on ahead from me at school pick up and was up at the top of the gates which lead to a 7 foot high wall which he likes to sit on. I heard another mother telling her child that good children wouldn't do that and he must have bad parents. Well that ain't what the school report said [smug inner glow].

Oh I love these threads - it's like bingo.

Poster whinging about another poster doing something with their kids that they don't and taking it as a personal slight.

HOUSE!

DS is a v proficient tree climber. We also have a deep stream at the bottom of the garden (technically in the next door pub, but you can climb over the wall) with a big rope tarzan swing over the water. I check the rope every few weeks to make sure it's ok, but apart from that let him get on with it. The only issue is the unholy mess that he brings in with him after a few hours tree climbing, wall scrambling and jumping in the water from the swing.

Oh I love these threads - it's like bingo.

Poster posting about a Poster whinging about another poster doing something with their kids that they don't and taking it as a personal slight.

AS a child we had a small clump of trees near to the house and DB and our friends all built camps, climbed trees, played soldiers/cowboys and Indians/Robin Hood there. Very fond memories. The area is now a Co-op!
We too let DC play in local woods near to where we lived when DC were small.

My DS1(now 26) went to a small prep school that had a picture of a boy up a tree in its prospectus. The Headmaster explained that whilst the boys were in his care he treated them in the same way as his own DC..that included letting them climb trees! and rescue stuck boys himself

I actively encourage my kids to climb trees. I spent hours as a kid sitting high up in trees watching the world go by.
I think of them as natural climbing frames.

How do they get the apples off the top branches otherwise?

I used to climb trees as a child - we had a walnut tree in our garden and it was great for climbing. I also used to climb on to the shed roof and along various walls to see how far I could get "off ground". When my boys were small we were in the woods and I shinned up a tree to "show you how to do it" and promptly got stuck! Oh how they laughed while I slithered ungracefully down - and then went up and down themselves for hours.

A gang of us dug an enormous hole one summer to make a den, covered it in old doors and turf and spent hours down there with candles and sweeties and drink. Our parents knew where we were and were remarkably unconcerned, the only proviso was that it was dismantled at the end of the summer holidays. I think crawling down a tunnel and crouching in about 4 foot of space in the semi dark has made me the claustrophobic that I am nowadays!

I do.

My boys and girls have been climbing trees for as long as I can remember.

I have seen a few parents tell their child not to climb trees. It makes me sad.

Ah, reminds me of my childhood. In our neighbourhood there was 'easy climb' the starter tree, then you graduated to 'hard climb'. I was the first to manage it so was chock of the street for about a week!

My dc are as yet too small. The elder is interested in muddy puddles and collecting sticks (as long as they don't look like Stick Man) but they will certainly be getting climbing lessons from me.

Ds has got a place at a semi forest pre school (they learn forestry and encouraged to be outdoors add much as poss). I think it's a brill concept.

*cock of the street, not chock!

Frostyfingers -- the climbing on the shed roof reminded me of my younger brother, who was convinced he could fly.

Older brother and I would stand on the lawn shaking our heads and saying, 'Nah, not gonna work, you know' at him as he held a piece of sheet/plastic packaging/old kite above his head and jumped... again.

Bizarrely, though he did break limbs fairly often as a child, the shed-jumping was never the reason.

My husband is a botanist and naturalist. He worked with trees for years. He climbs trees for fun with the children. He always checks them out first to make sure the trees aren't damaged.

If he thought for a second it was damaging to trees he would never do it. He is really hot on not damaging nature and wildlife, obsessed actually. Trees are not damaged by climbing them.

As long as nothing is nesting in the tree it is fine. MIL has the trees in her garden that she had when my husband was little. He climbed them all the time and they are still thriving.

I would never allow my children to ruin nature; climbing trees is not ruining nature though.

My nearly-two-year-old climbs everything in sight. Not trees at the moment but I don't think it'll be long before she tries.

Ok so I'm going to be not normal as we have 2 houses.

One in a city.

One where we lived in the back end of nowhere for 10 years - now a holiday rental and we get our "weeks" in first.

Not too many trees to support dc on a new build estate.

But our house in the Outer Hebrides has awesome adventurous options.

Many trees, and dc-constructed swings!

One boundary is a river (about 8 feet across at our point) with usually very accessible stones/pools/Islands etc.

5 mins (cross-country) to a rocky shore where dc collect mussels and crabs to cook and eat.

Our dc love living in Glasgow, with cinemas/bowling etc and we value the clubs, music lessons etc.

But even 14yo (very cool) dd1 loves our weeks at the house. Goes from being a (far too cool) teenager to rolling her trousers up, getting the willies on and spending a day bouldering up the river and having a picnic.

Tree climbing (and all it's associated outside activities) is the best!!

I do but ds doesn't like to as much as dd.

Am always amazed by the threads saying they never see children playing outside - really?? There are always kids outside here, admittedly more if its not raining. Dd plays outside unsupervised and knows where he is allowed to go, dd is supervised but she's only 3. Both play in the garden on their own.

I think that possibly when I was younger (mid 90s) kids played out until they were 12/13 whereas it seems a bit younger now but otherwise I don't see any change.

I did mean wellies