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?

Because it's a slide, for sliding down. Not climbing up.

Parents who allow slide climbing are the worst type of people. Seriously.

Re the painting their hands and feet at toddler groups, can you not see how difficult that would be for the group leaders to manage? I find it hard to believe that your kids don't make a load of mess that someone else ends up cleaning up, but even I'd you fastidiously clean up after them it's not gong to be feasible with dozens of kids. And if I slipped in your kids' mess and rid myself an injury I'd be gunning for you.

Take some responsibility.

Parents who allow slide climbing are the worst type of people. Seriously.

oh they're practically the devil themselves, they should be in prison for what they do to, errr, smooth surfaces? [confuses]

Catch a fucking grip

Anyone who climbs up the inside of a tunnel slide has got a death wish, even if you're coming down in the conventional way you can't see what's round the next corner.

And I'd love to put a slide in my garden, but I haven't got a garden.

Just be aware that while you're dc are doing this every other parent is thinking your dc are a total pita

Unless I am the other parent in the park or any of the others who really don't mind.

encouraging your dc to play, but be considerate in the playground

It's not so much being considerate as sticking ridgedly to arbitary rules and seeing them as FACT rather then recognising they are simply social conventions IMO.

Are you sure your bring glared at OP? I can't imagine anyone I know taking offence at any of these normal childish behaviours unless there's more to the story. Are you sure your kids are being conscience of the children & people around them? Standing in swings = muddy dirty swing surely? Splashing in puddles = wet & dirty standbyers?? Etc, etc...

zzzz also not from Scandinavia. I'm always amazed by how many MNers think that anyone who might have a different way of doing things is a creepy weirdo with Delusions of grandeur. Because, exploring and climbing and learning how to take turns using equipment in different ways is totally evil. Probably the same as baby showers and satanic worship. 🙄

"I'm always amazed by how many MNers think that anyone who might have a different way of doing things is a creepy weirdo with Delusions of grandeur." Such bollocks.

I discourage slide climbing because DD2 is too young to understand the nuances of when it is ok or isn't, depending on whether there are other children around.

But thanks to this thread I am now also concerned that they might faceplant and lose their front teeth too.

Climbing up stops children from sliding down even after days later. It restricts other people.
Sliding down doesn't restrict others unless they are actually on the slide.

My children are very adventurous too, my youngest especially Likes to climb to the top of lamp posts. She has a notorious reputation at school for scaling walls and climbing on to roofs to rescue balls which gets her in to a lot of trouble. Her dad is to blame for this as he has encouraged them to take these risks and no matter what I say they are always climbing when I have my back turned.
I am very strict when it comes to playing in the sea however. They are both good swimmers but if they can't hear me from the shore I will wade in and drag them back. As for hill rolling, I rolled through dog poo as a child and had to walk home covered in it so don't encourage that one either.

I still want to know what worries the OP so much about the ladies loo at her local swimming pool.....

How old are your spirited little darlings OP?

Letting little ones climb up slides but not letting your 10year go to a public loo/changing room alone...... Mmm!

fudge DS1 loves hill rolling and we recently visited a lovely EH castle site. The DCs found a great big hill, rolled down it and at the bottom DS1 (11) stood up screaming "I'm covered in shat". He really was, too. I daresay he won't learn, though, because they are utter fools.

No idea why because it's entirely irrational but slide-climbing bothers me. I'm not generally an uptight parent and let them get on with playing at the park but have always given them the hens-arse-mouth-look when they've tried it. I wonder why I hate it so much.

Our rule is that you can go up the slide if there is no one else on there. Unfortunately my local playground was designed to bore young children. Half of it was designed for children of near adult height, and the other half had been mastered by my crawling toddler before he'd even learned to walk with a massive gulf in for about 3 to 8 year olds. (I'm having the audacity to lie on my sofa at this moment )

DS2 is an ambitious climber. By his second birthday he'd mastered ladders. If he could get his fingertips on to it, he'd climb it. Many other parents have winced and helicoptered around him which is irritating as I deliberately hold back from distracting and restraining him. I'm fairly close by, but he needs chance to work it out for himself and I have retreated away over time as he's gained confidence. Sometimes DS1 has seen something, concluded it's too tricky then seen his little brother swarm up it and realise he has no excuse to not do it! I don't want other parents lurking, undermining their confidence and increasing their risk of falling by distracting them from concentrating.

Mine can climb up slides if there's no one else on it. They just run up it and then go and do something else, though, they don't stay on it, so I don't think it can really be classed as a hostile takeover. I really don't like it when kids climb up and others can't go down it - at soft play there's always some kid doing this for hours while the parent ignores them. I had never heard of slide climbing as making slides less slidey before tonight. How can I have got to 49 and not known this?

Tbh most of our playground is crap, slide climbing is easily the funnest thing to do in it. And standing up swinging is just another thing to do on a swing, isn't it? There's a massive difference between standing on a piece of playground equipment and putting feet on a tube seat IMO.

It's the rubber soles that leave little teeny bits of rubber on the slide. Remember physics? And friction?

If it doesn't stop or interfere with anyone else's enjoyment and it isn't too dangerous, I let my children play on play equipment any way they want. That might include climbing a slide, standing on a swing, swinging by lying on the seat on their tummy, jumping off things etc. I think this encourages imaginative play and a moderate amount of risk taking is actually very good for young children. Learning about small risks when you are young helps the managing of bigger risks as that child gets older.

I like to encourage imaginative thinking and non conventional ways of doing things. Slides must be sat on and slid down, swings must be sat on and swung on nicely is a bit restrictive in my opinion but I can see that I am probably in the minority.