I'm a single mum working full time with a toddler, so my parents are closely involved with me & DS, and most of the time it's completely fine and they respect my decisions when it comes to raising him. The other night though when we stopped by for a cuppa on the way home from nursery, I mentioned that the messy play game for that day at nursery had been playing in flour to replicate the snow at Christmas and that DS had had a whale of a time according to the staff. I thought it was a sweet little anecdote to pass on so the sheer look of horror on my parents' faces threw me.
Dad in particular freaked me out as he's not the type to over-worry or try and wrap DS up in cotton wool but he was genuinely shocked about the 'explosion risk' from flour and said that it was dangerous for the nursery to be using it for play purposes. I know the science behind the risk of airborne fine particles causing large explosions, and have seen some horrible stories about it occurring in large-scale storage areas, but surely playing with a few 100g in a nursery is perfectly fine?! I tried to point out to him that it would be no more dangerous than me flinging some flour around when I'm baking or making dough, but he was adamant it was extremely dangerous as the babies and toddlers would be 'throwing it up in the air' lots. Mum then said I should ask for the risk assessment from the nursery. She wasn't joking either. To the point where later that evening when I was back home, she sent me an email with a link to the HSE website about explosive risk from powders in industrial settings (although she did manage to admit that the scale of flour being used was slightly different) and she knew I thought they were being 'silly' but it was a real risk.
REALLY?!?! Am I missing something here?! Have there been lots of stories about nurseries spontaneously combusting because the self-raising flour was chucked about one too many times by a small group of hell-raising babies?! I really like the nursery DS goes to. The staff are warm, friendly and I can see how much DS has come on in the few months he's been there. It's stupidly convenient for work too although this means it's not the one that's round the corner from my parents which I suspect it's why my Mum doesn't trust them (doesn't bother Dad I don't think).
They also make little comments about nursery not feeding him enough (he eats pretty much anything they give him - I'm trying to make the most of it before he gets fussy) and I'm starting to feel that they're trying to chip away at my choice of nursery for him as if my judgement in choosing it in the first place was wrong. I understand that they're concerned about DS and his wellbeing (currently their only grandchild), but it's pissed me off royally and I'm struggling to let it go, or know what to say to them to tell them to butt out when 99% of the time they're really helpful and supportive. I'm a non-confrontational type and I'm worried if I don't say something, it'll build up inside me and explode (pun intended) up into something else that might mean I say some hurtful stuff.
Parents eh?