To think playing outside shouldn't be like this?

[sweetkitty]

I'm standing here in tears the DC have all been sent to their rooms. Why do I find them going outside to play so horrendously stressful?

I have DD1 11 DD2 10 DD3 7 DS 5

DD2s friend comes round to ask if she wants to go out to play, DD2 agrees and takes my keys without asking me and goes and gets her scooter out the shed. I spend 15 mins looking for the keys. Meanwhile DD3 and DS go out to play.

Next thing they are all back in, apparently DD2 was chasing DD3 DD3 runs out onto the road panics and nearly gets hit by a car (we live in a cul de sac so hardly any cars about usually very safe) DD1 grabs DD3 by the hood and drags her along to tell me, DD3 screaming, DD2 intervening. This is after 10 minutes.

Front door left wide open, usually it's the back gate or back door and the dig escapes.

They also left all their jackets/shoes/crap at the front door when they know they shouldn't.

Every time they are outside it's like this, it's a trauma, one falls, two get into a fight, gate gets left open, DS is up to no good and I have to tell him off about 5 times, friends come to the door, dog goes berserk, they are in and out every 5 mins.

AIBU to utterly dread the summer?

This made me smile, ...sorry! Only because I have my dc's arguing in the back garden over a car that should have long gone to someone smaller, and there are tents and blankets all over the garden, I need to go and get them in, in a moment, the children not the tents, they can do that. In the summer the door goes constantly with their friends, who then traipse through our house looking for food when they live across the road! I feel for you!

No yanbu but suck it up, they are only young and will have many more years to stress their Mum out

Sorry but this made me laugh. My mum had 6 of us we played out all the time. When we were out we stayed out because we know if we started running in and out she would keep us in. She always told us to come home when the street light came on.
Fast forward to when we all had dcs of our own my mum was happy to let them run in and out pull every toy out feed every kid in the street, and answer the door every 5 mins. Then she would go home and I was left to clean up the mess. I feel for you.

Mine always fall out when they play outside. Bloody nightmare.

Thanks you would think it would easier them playing out than in.

I remember when we were little it was out all day come homegirls jam sandwich and out again until the street lights came on. No dragging every toy out the shed and house before abandoning it after 5 minutes.

Kids eh who would have them? 😀

When we were younger I remember my mum saying 'in or out I am sick of you opening and (not) closing that door' and I used to think FFS woman what is it to you? Now, the constant in and out and dicking around is the most annoying thing in the world ever.

Yanbu

Not that I want them out all day but half an hour would be good without a fall/fight/major trauma

I only have one, but I remember a few times when she was 6 or 7 bribing her with chocolate to get her to stay in, because playing out always ended in tears.
Looking back the good outweighed the bad of course, and it was great living somewhere she could play out, but Bloody hell it was stressful at times.

Oh my I feel your pain. My two find the most stupid dangerous thing they can possibly find to do. Found myself yelling out the window 'why can't you play like normal children, what is the matter with you?!' Not my best parenting moment

Do you have a back garden you can turf the younger ones out to? At least then they'll only be able to try to kill one sibling each instead of 3. You'll look back on this and laugh, honest!

OMG I feel your pain. I think we all do. I live in a cul de sac, and I am the only mum who would ever get toys and bikes etc out, so all the local kids descended on my big front garden, used it like a playground all day then buggered off and left my kids to clean up - at one point we were only keeping a selection of bikes just to accommodate them.

We had children who had bullied my kids coming round demanding to be allowed to play or it wasn't fair and then fetching their parents when I said no, parents sending their children to my garden so as the kids didn't make their dog bark, and one particular night when a notorious child drew at 10 foot cock in the road using our chalk whilst our much younger DCs looked on in wonder. (We then had to clean the road with a broom.)

But my children loved playing outside so very much, and they really are only young once, so I let them. If you live in a cul de sac and can safely (well, fairly safely) let the kids out to play then definitely go for it. I miss those days.

I kind of miss those days! DS1 is 15 so no in/out dramas anymore. But I do remember at our old house (fairly rural) he would go out and play, and he'd be in/out a million times with his friends, or he'd go out on an 'adventure' with his friends and Id not see him for hours, and going through a multibag of crisps and juice in one day :D Ds2 is 5 but new house looks onto a main road so playdates only, and since he is asd they probably unlikely (maybe thats a blessing going by some of the threads on AIBU lol). Enjoy these days while they last op

I'm so with you, on every word!

We're in a culdesac too, ours is next door to the park, so every kid that vaguely knows mine, calls for them, stops for a wee, blags some crisps, drink, plaster, oh injuries, it's always me they hobble to off the street

I do like having mine play so close though, so suck it up.

There is a thread in Chat from someone worrying that her children aren't able to play out. Maybe we should send her over here!

I absolutely dread the clocks changing. Last summer I was told I has high blood pressure. Returned for follow up appointment and it was normal. The stress of the summer holidays!! Ds (9) adhd wants to be outside all the bloody time. I exhaust myself taking him out all day to avoid the playing outside. But of course it doesn't go dark while silly o'clock in summer so he is out while 8 pm playing and driving me insane!! in/out like a yo yo. Jacket/scooter/ toys left unattended despite 1,000 warnings about scrap man. Other kids wrecked his scooter by doing stunt jumps £50 gone :( kids calling who know him from school to play on field which we don't allow and then tantrum follows. Kids wanting what our ds has like ice lolly, fruit etc. Kids picking on ds as he is an only child. I can't see much from front window so have to keep going onto front to check. Then won't come inside as it is still light, overtired, hyper and horrible

Oh god and the money spent on snacks.
7 packs of crisps/ice lollies/biscuits etc, eeeeek.
And yes, the plasters, germoline, wipes, it seems to go on and on.

The back garden used to be enough but now they want to explore.

It's like a big just now so they can't really play in it and apparently it's "boring" or they fight about whose turn it is on the trampoline!

We had the child who stole from DD1s room.

The ones who scream if the dog looks at them.
The bossy ones.
The braggy ones

Or the ones who disappear and come back with a Magnum or something and mine are like "can we have one" (no have a Mini Milk if we did have Magnums I'd be eating them)

Ah yes, I'd forgotten the kids who scream if the dog looks at them. And the ice creams and the crisps and drinks and god forbid if you let them in the garden then everyone else is being excluded (according to their parents) ...