to not stop my DC doing things because other people don't want their DC to do them?

[hollyvsivy]

My children are adventurous and unless something is dangerous or unsafe for themselves or others, I don't see the problem. Increasingly I find myself being scowled at by other parents whose DC want to copy mine as if I should stop mine to help them out. I've had passive agressive comments, too. As far as I'm concerned, it's up to them to enforce their rules on their children - not me.

Some examples to give you an idea of the contexts of these situations:

Splashing in puddles
Climbing trees
Standing up on the swing
Climbing the slide (as long as no one else is waiting to go down)
Painting their hands and feet at toddler group
Rolling down hills

AIBU to continue to let my children do what I'm fine with them doing and ignore disapproving outsiders who expect me to stop them so their children won't do the same?

All sounds normal to me Are you really getting the looks?

They all sound normal child hood activities to me. The only one I can't stand is the climbing up the slide that's a big no no from me. It's very annoying when children are trying to go down and you get that one child who seems to think they can just keep walking up it and sliding down.

Batgirl Sorry to disappoint you, but I carry the wet wipes anyway, they're not just for cleaning playground equipment. Life is too short ...

My penultimate post should read considerate of course - that's what comes of trying to compose a post while proofreading a text about something else entirely

Anyone would think slide climbing was a criminal offence

Zzzzz

Doesn't anyone teach their kids to tell other kids to 'oy get off I am coming down anymore'

I am SO glad we live in feral heaven. Slide etiquette sounds VERY stressful

So the wants of one group of children (slide climbing) trump the wants of another group (slidey slides)?

The water slide at our local pool was closed because someone did a poo on it.

Despite my many posts on this thread I am aware that slide climbing is pretty low in the scheme of things to get worked up about, especially in the world today. But I think the reason it irks me so much is as part of a wider discussion - if I want to do something (eg use equipment in a certain way but could be anything else), but in doing so I stop others doing what they want to do (using the equipment in a different way, or whatever), do my rights trump those of the other people, and if so why?

MsHooliesCardigan My mind is boggling at that All the water slides round here are so busy you'd never have time to stop in the middle for a poo! Or was it a member of staff out of hours, perhaps?

Perhaps slides are not just for sliding?

the name would suggest otherwise.

Matador

To be fair you sound like the organised and helpful parent I would borrow a wipe ioff if needed and I am too disorganised to carry one

The poo wasn't on a water slide was it? Mind boggles. Maybe a scary slide

its the nature of slides that either the people who want to go down OR the people who want to go up have their desires fulfilled. I expect there is a lesson in there somewhere.

But slides are designed to go down, so surely the desires of the people who want to use it as intended should trump the others? It feels to me like, there's a coffee cup in a communal kitchen, put there to drink coffee out of, I want to use it for coffee, someone else wants to fill it with earth and use it as a plant pot. I feel my coffee drinking should take precedence there.

The errant poo was apparently at the top of the water slide on the seat thing that you sit on to slide off. The slide closes down for periods when there aren't enough staff. When the life guard went to open it again, he found the turd. It even made the local papers.

I think on your own garden slide, or painting in your own kitchen yes you are free to do as you please. However, I would never let my child climb a slide in a public playground, and I'm surprised how many people would! It's more about respecting that the play equipment is not yours alone, it's for everybody and the rules on how to use it should be respected. I was never allowed to climb the slide when I was young, and still managed to play plenty of adventurous games at the park! The hand and feet painting at toddler group wouldn't bother me if you were cleaning up the mess your child made, if you were leaving it for the organisers I would think that's quite unreasonable.

My little boy is two and when I take him to soft play you can guarantee older kids will come into the toddler area and climb up the slide etc, and that annoys me no end!

I have Been known to take a cloth to polish said slide.

That's what clothes are for!

Slides don't come with rules which say how they must be used, there is this wonderful thing called imagination which means children can work out how to use the slide; it can be a mountain to climb or slide down. This is what is wrong with modern parenting, children are constantly told to stick to expectations and not think for themselves.

Zzzzz I agree with you wholeheartedly.

It's not just boisterous children that climb slides. My eldest is very timid and she likes climbing slides. She is also very considerate of others and she will be the child helping a smaller child.

Not sure if is is ok but I found this link which I like. Obviously not everyone will agree.

childcentralstation.com/2014/01/climb-up-the-slide.html

Wow slide etiquette could be the new mumsnet hot debate.

Done disabled bus spaces and parent snd child spaces not to mention cat poo... who knew

YANBU except for the climbing up the slide bit, which I never allowed.

I have three boys. When they were small and doing these kinds of things, I did get disapproving looks/comments for them being lively boys (they definitely weren't naughty or rough in a park though, as I am strict).

The main problems were

1. Because there were three of them obviously having great fun, they attracted other kids to the role-play games they were playing - then some parents didn't like it because it was an active game involving getting dirty or physical. Heaven forbid.
2. Parents of a sole daughter (usually dressed in a pristine outfit) not liking the risk of mud on equipment, or anyone doing anything active near their precious princess in case a speck of dirt fell on her.

Happy days

There are these irritating thing called half baked parents that are unable to say 'no, not like that'. I bet the posters on here encouraging 'adventure' and 'imagination' are at school every day complaining that their little darling was told to sit down and be quiet.

Nope, I've never had to do that. My children have done all number of adventurous things both at home and at school (as in residential trips and D of E climbing Ben Nevis etc etc) and haven't had to be told to sit down and be quiet if the feedback at parent's evening is anything to go by - both have usually needed to be encouraged to say anything at all in class.