Ice cream van comes every night in the summer at 7 playing the devil's own music...

[Noellefielding]

about half the kids get a £1.50 -£1.80 double flake 'rabbit's ears'.

We always refused my ds an ice cream from the van when it came near the house because we thought once we relented we'd be down for one for all time.

The other day I gave in and let my dd (6) have one and she has been vile ever since, whining and complaining and saying ALL the other children (not true) have one etc etc

I just wondered is this a national irritation or am I just a meanie?

[shockedballoon]

Ours parks up RIGHT OUTSIDE SCHOOL at kicking out time as soon as winter ice thaws.
Apart from the incessant nagging this causes as I attempt to palm DS off with popcorn/nuts/raisins/a banana/cubes of cheese/whatever, it makes it even trickier to cross the road and causes traffic jams as cars try to get past.

I'd like to shove his face in the dipping sherbet, squirt strawberry sauce over it and stick a flake up his nose.

[WheresWallyNow]

Ours comes practically every night all year round even in December at about 7.30-8.00 which is fucking fantastic as the dog is scared of the music!

It's literally the only thing he's scared of and refuses to be told we are not in grave danger/under attack

[MagelanicClouds]

Now the sun is out a bit, we've been getting two a day!
One always comes just before six, right before dinner time so I get the 'I wanna icecream, not dinner!' whine from ds1 who is a pain enough with his food as it is.
One weekend last year it came a little earler so I told DH that ds1 was allowed a small ice cream. He came back with a huge sodding sundae with mini eggs in it. Ds1 would not eat dinner after that. Once again I was made to look like the bad guy...

[Pengweng]

My sister told my niece and nephews that the ice cream van sold eggs. So whenever they heard the music they would say "Mum it's the egg man" We used to laugh so hard hahaha. It only worked until they went to school but still funny. Mine don't really like ice cream though i sometimes let them have a lick of mine (grin). Plus ours comes before 5pm when we haven't even eaten yet.

[WorraLiberty]

This thing about 'the ice cream van only plays music when its run out of ice cream'.

I keep reading this/hearing this over and over again from parents.

But how exactly does it work?

Surely any kid with normal eye sight can see the van stopping in the street and people buying ice creams from it?

[ipswichwitch]

We not only have a nice cream man playing Christ knows what every night, we also have a scrap man who plays the Steptoe and Son theme tune on his way round! It's like living in the Albert Hall round here

[avocadotoast]

Ah, just keep saying no, it's a pain but you'll get there eventually.

We had an ice cream van that came daily when we were kids. We just accepted that we weren't allowed one most of the time. We maybe got one a fortnight, if that.

Other kids on the street got one daily though, lucky bastards...

[FoxyJane]

Ours plays incy wincy spider at 1pm and then another playing green sleeves at 9pm.

Started during the Easter holidays, if it's like last year they will up they're game and incy icy will be round at 10am, 1pm and 4pm.

Green sleeves icy will be here at 7pm and 9pm. This will last until September.

I just tell the dc they can't have one as its £10 or there abouts for 4 ice creams.

And what to do ice cream sellers do in the winter?

[avocadotoast]

Foxy we used to have an ice cream van that came even in winter. I used to sometimes go and buy a lolly just because he was a nice man and I felt bad that he had no other customers!

Then again, I suppose it could have been a drug van. Maybe I was just naive

[SouthernComforts]

The bastard van parks outside dcs school gates everyday, all year round! Yet we can't put a kit kat in their lunch box

I can still hear my mum saying "there's a choc ice in the freezer, have one of those" when the van came past our house.

[WorraLiberty]

Ours comes every day in the winter too because it sells hotdogs as well as ice cream.

It even pulled up outside on Boxing day

[JoanHickson]

We have one around here. His very loud music sends shivers down my spine like nails down a blackboard. I would never reward his behaviour with custom.

If people want Icecream they buy some and put it in the freezer. He is taking advantage of pester power and yanbu.

[TattyDevine]

Agree Worra, mine would be straight onto that.

Can you just let them have one? Or is it a money thing? Like, designate a day when they can if its every day - I get that you don't want to be spending £14 on ice cream a week sure.

Its not a childhood without the occasional ice cream van success! My husband speaks fondly of the excitement when the van came up the street and they'd all bolt back and nag their mum for ice cream money. "QUICK MUM QUICK!!! HE'S STILL THERE!!!" etc...

[TattyDevine]

He says he still gets palpitations when he hears the music. He's 40

[feetheart]

Ours turns up at the park at 4pm every single day.
My DC know not to even bother asking now as the reply is "There are ice-creams in the fridge. Do you want the house key?"
Admittedly they are 9 and 12 and we do live close by :)

[sakura]

I used to spend my dinner money in the ice cream van that used to park in the school playground

[Bragadocia]

Last summer DS (then 4) on hearing a distant ice cream van would say, "listen, Mummy, church bells!". I didn't disabuse him of this, but sadly this year he seems to have wised up.

[theconstantvacuumer]

at Tatty Devine.

Ours was called Angelo. He sold ice cream, chocolate, bread, milk and fags. I wouldn't be surprised if he also sold handguns and crack cocaine.

[Notthecarwashagain]

I wondered that too Worra!
I tried it once, sort of half heartedly, with DS.
"Oh it's playing music, I've heard that means they've run out" (don't want to be a complete liar )
DS " No it doesn't, silly, look, everyone's buying one!"

Suppose it could work if you don't have windows, or the van parks away from your house, and not right outside (like ours did, the bellend!)

OP YANBU, ours came every night over summer (actually 1 in the day, 1 at dinner) it's bloody annoying.
Then typically when you fancy one, there's none to be seen!

We've moved now, and haven't had summer here yet...

[sleepylittlebunnies]

Ours comes around 6 every day. We started off just letting them have one as a random treat but started having tantrums every night we said no. After a couple of weeks of no ice cream we all reached a compromise of friday and saturdays. Its £2.50 each time for 3 kids, we are often out anyway but they are all clear on the rules and don't ask on other days even when their friends are having one. I don't think you're being a meanie OP but it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

[DeeWe]

My dm had a thing about buying ice cream from ice cream vans. We didn't often get them from the shops, and we only had an ice box in our fridge (no freezer) the door of which was held on with blue tack so no ice cream survived long, and there was rarely space anyway.
So we rarely got ice cream. We learnt not to ask, but I do remember the sad feeling of watching everyone else get an ice cream (or that's how it felt) knowing that we would never have one.

What has worked well for my dc is that they have their day for the ice cream van when it comes. On Thursdays they get an ice cream, assuming they haven't pestered on any other day. So they don't ask the rest of the time, but they know if it comes (and it comes about 3/4 the time in summer) on Thursday then they can ask. Stops the pestering, and also means that when a friend says "why haven't you got one" they give the perfectly acceptable answer of "We get ours on Thursdays" rather than the "not allowed one." You'll probably find a certain number of the children are in a similar position of allowed them on certain days.

My children saw through the run out of ice creams before they were 3yo. I don't think they're particularly savvy either.

[chelle792]

AHH I have icecream van rage most days! Our van comes from about March-October. Plays rudolpoh the red nosed....EVERY DAY. As loud as he can (you can hear him for about an hour). Sends the dog nuts every day and then PARKS ON THE END OF MY DRIVE! To top it all off no one in my street EVER buys an icecream from him

Very little ever bugs me, but I've had it for four summers now!

[JoanHickson]

I wonder if you can report them as a noise nusance?

[HappinessHappening]

We get the dc an ice cream every so often from the van on the condition that they don't nag for them any other time, works really well