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?

[Noellefielding]

These posts are brilliant, thank you for the 'once a week' idea, I think that's the best approach.
My daughter's pester power is like a nuclear attack, she literally obliterates me with sobbing, drama, whining hysteria, so having a clear policy that isn't yes every day, or no not ever is better. "sometimes, if you've been good" was far too unclear.

[ollieplimsoles]

This thread is amazing
I first asked for an ice cream from the van at the park and my mum told me that ice cream men never washed their hands. Sure enough I watched in horror as he handed out ice cream after ice cream, fag in mouth, plunging that filthy scoop into the buckets with his damn dirty hands. Put me off for life.

[mugglingalong]

I use it as a chance for some economics - it costs £1 for one ice cream from the van but £2 for two boxes of ice lollies from Sainsbury's, six per box, so how many days could you have ice cream at home for the price of one outside school. Now if they spot their friends having one they will say 'look James is on top table for maths but he hasn't worked out yet that it is better value to wait until you get home'. I will sometimes take frozen smoothies with me on a hot day so they aren't totally deprived. We will get ice cream from a van or shop if we are on holiday or out for the day so they do get to experience the fun of a van, just not when they are within 10 mins of our freezer.

[MidniteScribbler]

Damn I am now craving a double choc dip with flake.

[Notso]

Luckily we can't see ours from the house, just here it. So I just say no and they harrumph a bit.
I do love it though once in a while when I say "go on then" and they scrabble around to get their shoes on all excited and we do the mad dash to stop him.

[Notso]

HEAR it

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Mine mostly get them out of the freezer when the icecream man comes. He parks outside our house so we have a bit of a standoff. Occasionally I let DS get one, just for the nostalgia of it.

Last night I had to almost physically retrain DS's feral little mate from holding onto the back of the departing ice cream van and having a tow on his skateboard. He was utterly contemptuous of my fears and told me he's done it loads of times. He's 8 and on a mission not to make nine.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Restrain

[SuperFlyHigh]

Fond memories of me growing up but the ice cream van seemed to stop mostly in the council estate area (with the houses) first then do a loop round the rec (bypassing our houses) then to the other council estate with houses and a park next to it.

My friend always used to have an Oyster I think they are - like a pearl shell? with ice cream inside, almost every night at tea time (5-6pm). Her teeth were ruined at 18... rotten and she hated the dentist. My mum used to occasionally treat us but if the van wasn't round or we 'missed it' then what could she do?!

I do remember the park though - it was just behind Safeways and had the estate houses next to it and a postbox - the ice cream van sat next to the postbox so if ever we were on our way to the shops via the park (with playground) or back we'd beg for an ice cream.

I think or can't remember if Tony (I'm sure that was his name) offered my friend a job helping when she was a teenager can't recall if she took it or not!

[DisappointedOne]

Ours comes around 7:30, who wants their chil to have an ice cream at that time?! If it came around 5/6ish they could have one but every day we have the same "no you can't have an ice cream it's bedtime" conversation!!

People whose children don't go to bed at 7pm, maybe?

Our ice cream van often forgets to come into our street (just does the others on the estate) which I think is worse!

[Noellefielding]

Do these devilwagon's have to be licensed by any human body? Do they come under any power, like the Whippy Man.

[nockneedanknackered]

there are restrictions limiting the times they can play their tunes.
12 noon to 7.00pm each day.
further restrictions are that they can only play the chimes for 12 seconds at a time and only once in every 500 yard stretch of road. not within 50 yards of a school or 50 yards from a place of worship.
the noise cannot be higher than 80db.
have a word in the drivers ear or get advice from the town hall.
have a look at
"Code of practice on noise from ice cream vans. "

[vienna1981]

At home at the age of four the local ice-cream van always played Greensleeves. I only remember seeing it once. Tiny van with Wall's colours and logos.

Do van drivers have to agree to play only one tune on a particular patch ?

[kungfupannda]

We hardly ever get an ice-cream van in our village. One did come a couple of times last summer, but the village has two circular lanes, one inside the other, and it did some loops of those, presumably got lost and was never seen again. Presumably it emerged halfway along the main road, discovered there were no houses there and never came back.

We were all running about the lanes yelling 'Have you seen it? Where did it go?' with the sound of tinkly little music floating back from the distance.

The second time it stopped on the corner just long enough for us to see it, scream 'Ice cream!' and run outside. Only to find it gone again.

Maybe it wasn't actually real. Maybe it was a sort of Flying Dutchman of ice-cream vans, doomed to endlessly circle rural lanes and never actually sell an ice-cream...

[liquidstatebacktowork]

I'm already using the run out of ice cream excuse on my DD and she's only 10 months old

Acually we have two that come into our small estate. Annoying fuckers.

[sandgrown]

Oh dear. My ambition is to be an ice cream woman! When I was young it was a rare treat. Nobody had a freezer so ladies used to come out for a bowl of ice cream to have with some tinned fruit! The ice cream man gave our dog his broken cones so as soon as he heard the music he would go and sit by the van!

[feezap]

We loved our ice cream man as kids, there were about 20 kids in our cul de sac and we all played out together. He was very kind and would give us free teddy bear wafers with sauce and sprinkles on our ice creams and if one if the younger children accidentally dropped theirs he would make them a new one for free. I cannot describe the excitement when he turned up most days. We weren't allowed one every day but we still enjoyed waving hello to Mr Rossi, or whatever it said on the van, we thought it was his actual name.

For a few weeks another interloper ice cream man came but he wasn't very nice. So, even though he turned up first we shouted at him and chased the van away saying ' go away, you're not Mr Rossi'! What a weird bunch if kids we were.

Reading this thread has just made me realise what my parents were up to when they took too long to find change when Mr Rossi appeared, sneaky buggers!

[CallMeExhausted]

I told my DD the music doesn't play until after all the ice cream is gone - she ignores it now.

[Bair]

Our stops outside the houses of two known local dealers every evening. I think he sells more than ice cream and I doubt he's overly fussed about his hygiene certificate.

I really want a 'real' ice cream now. Not hard scoop from the freezer, soft delicious ice cream with a flake and a cone and sauce.

[GatoradeMeBitch]

I hate our icecream man. He doesn't stop in our street!! He drives by, music blaring, DS looks out of the window hopefully - and he's gone. Not even at the end of the street, but gone. Are we supposed to sprint after him?! Tosser.