Anyone awake? AIBU to Not want ds2 6yr to go on a big walk in104f temperature. .?

[lborgia]

It's 3 pm here in Sydney and 40 degrees. Ds2 i supposed to join other beavers for a trip into the city on a train, walk over the harbour bridge and then a couple of theme park rides.the walk will start when the weather is about 38 (so, 100?98? Degrees).

Beavers leader refuses to cancel because she made so much effort or organise her personal life to be there. Dh is suppose to go Anna doesn't want to annoy her because he's also in scouting.

Am i missing something thinking duty of care to 6 year old s more important than the fact that you can't be there another time.

Thanks

Yep, I know you're right really. .

No way would my kids do it. I've got a kids party in a park on Sunday and even though it will only be 35 I'm considering not going. Heat stroke is dangerously.

35 is about my cut off for outside activities.

Kids need to drink lots and lots of water in this heat. Way more than most people think IME.

Pool was icy by the way. Bliss!

Witch really? We've just moved to Adelaide...we've been before for a year. How much should an 11 and 7 year old be drinking on hot days?

House it depends so much on what they're doing and they're body type. I have 6 and 10 year old boys, but they're the height of average 15 and 8 year olds. They also sweat a lot more than their friends.

I make sure they've had a cup of water before school, remind them to drink lots during breaks and actually on Friday told their teachers they needed their water bottles on their desks.
When they come home from school they love that they're allowed squash (cordial here! ) And i make sure they have up to 500mls,often easy if it's in a drink bottle.

After that i don't worry so much, i really don't want them waking up for the loo if it can be helped. I reckon they probably have 1.5l or more a day in the summer, and more if they've got football etc. Or extra hot day. I've got over my fear of sugar in squash. .dehydration is a very real problem for us.

Hth.

I think you made the right call. Surprised there wasn't a suggestion of substituting the ferry for walking across the bridge though! (I guess there might have been timing / cost issues there? )

Some people can't be told, unfortunately. I had a teacher at school organising DofE groups; she wasn't impressed by my parents preferring me to carry more water rather than use purifying tablets that she was sure were sufficient. Then there was the time my mother phoned a National Parks Warden to confirm that a track (well the whole park) was closed due to bushfires, then notified the school that whatever the teacher thought, the walk was off that weekend ... well suffice to say I'd given up on doing DofE through school by then!

The last time I took my children home to a Sydney summer, we hit that kind of heat-wave and the kids were told, no, you can't go outside till the weather cools down. (They were 4 and 7 at the time). After a couple of days they were briefly allowed out late one afternoon which quickly convinced them we weren't just trying to make things unpleasant for them!

Realise I'm RIDICULOUSLY late (trawling AIBU to distract self from worrying about poorly!cat at vet) BUT - I think you should contact the group scout leader (or local commissioner, if Australian Scouts don't have GSLs) because that's a HUGE safeguarding issue. I hauled myself up to Brownies on Friday when I wasn't really well enough to be there (not in a contagious way, I'm a Broken Zebra) but if I didn't go the meeting would have to be cancelled. However, the only person being put at risk from that was me. Plenty of Leaders make sacrifices for Scouting & Guiding - the good ones don't make a huge thing about it though. I find it really worrying she was determined to go ahead with the trip regardless of the very real health risks - it seems like there are lots of ways she could have adapted it to make it safe & her unwillingness to do so is something that needs addressing.

Yes Scout & Guide Leaders are volunteers. And dear GOODNESS it's more than the hour or two a week we're with the kids. It might be that she needs some more support in her Unit - how many Assistant Leaders does she have? Maybe she's feeling under pressure to deliver particular sorts of programme activities & opportunities & got a bit blinkered. Maybe she'd just benefit from some extra Training. Don't be afraid to ask questions about what's going on at Beavers - as long as you're coming at it as interested as opposed to hostile that's a really good thing. Might be worth finding out, for future reference, if there is a national policy (or even a local one, I suppose) about how to manage Scouting events/activities when it reaches temperatures like that, too...

(Sorry for any weirdy typos, didn't sleep last night at all as was worrying about poorly!cat & trying to comfort his brother, who is a mismog velcro!cat, currently hugging my ankle & purring to try to soothe himself.)