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?

If people are reacting to your children even when they're doing normal kid things then I can't help think there's something irritating about you and your look-at-me style of crunchy parenting.
Yes. I grew up on a farm and we did lots of things that would make MNetters' hair stand on end. 'Adventurous isn't the issue. It's being anti social and selfish.

When I was pregnant with dd 21 years ago I read a book by Jean Liedloff called The Continuum Concept.one of the things I took from it was that we make too much distinction between play and just life. That children should live their lives alongside us rather than in front of us. and develop their physical skills as part of learning how to be a person. For example, having proper tools to do things-when they cook with you they should have knives that are sharp enough to do the job.

Just to add, I think everything OP mentioned is normal behaviour for a child and would not consider it to be adventurous.

That children should live their lives alongside us rather than in front of us. and develop their physical skills as part of learning how to be a person. For example, having proper tools to do things-when they cook with you they should have knives that are sharp enough to do the job.
I agree Bertrand and that's a rare occurrence.

There are so many things that people on here get worked up about that I've never had an issue with or realised were a problem for anyone BUT climbing slides just makes me want to spontaneously combust. I used to sit there inwardly seething and saying to myself 'It's a slide You can't slide up it. What is wrong with you?'
I'm so glad my playground days are over.

Blimey op that's not adventurous that's standard children these days.

Your hair would curl if you see what we did as 70s kids. And no parents to bother us either.

All those things are pretty tame

Have you read the book, derxa? I can recommend it. Also " The Children we Deserve" by Deborah Jackson.

It's not really the mud that bothers me about upsliders- although that is annoying. It's the hostile take over............

However, I get really pissed off with parents who let their Dc do potentially dangerous things and then just expect other parents to keep an eye on them.

You probably mean me. However, I'm not expecting other parents to keep an eye on them. I absolutely have my eye on them, but from a distance. I and they know what they are physically capable of so there is no need for me to hover constantly nearby. I will intervene if I feel they are being inconsiderate to others (i.e. hardly ever, because they have been brought up to be considerate), but not otherwise.

My DC are very well-mannered, but they are also very able and adventurous climbers. They sometimes make other parents nervous, but I don't see that as my problem.

I've thought of something that does give me the rage, though .

There's a park we go to where the slide comes down into a sort of pit filled with fine gravel, which is great for a soft landing. The downside is that many parents allow their kids to gather up handfuls of the gravel and throw it onto the slide. Drives me potty.

It's very annoying when the council fork out for a lovely new playground and within days the slide is coated in mud and un-usable for the purpose intended. Whose job is it to clean it? No one's. It will stay that way and I'll have to tell my DC they can't go on it and they wouldn't be able to slide down it anyway, while some braying characters admire their ill-mannered children hogging the playground equipment that, of course, no one else is queuing to use. Because they wrecked it. Whoever said they had never seen a muddy slide?! I certainly have.

Another one here who thinks there is nothing wrong with slide climbing.

As pretty much every one else has said who is in favour, this would only be encouraged if there was no one else trying to go down the slide/the park was empty.

The comments of 'that is not how the equipment should be used' and 'but the children might get mud on their clothes!' make me depressed.

Children's job is to play. They are better than it than you are. Stop trying to micro-manage their games and let them take risks.

I can't see anyone scowling about splashing in puddles unless your DC were soaking those passing. Presumably they were close enough for you to see them scowl so close enough to get splashed?

Slides and swing climbing is not OK and I don't believe they take their shoes off to climb up the slide, its chuffing freezing out. No one wants to slide down on sit on a grubby slide/swing.

Why would any parent scowl at you for painting hands and feet at toddler group. This is either presumably an organised activity or you are doing it and then are leaving a bloody mess everyone for someone else to clean up.

Climbing trees and rolling down hills? nah, your kids, your clothes to wash, repair - can't see anyone scowling at this either.

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. There were 3 of us children and between us we had a fractured wrist, a broken arm, a cracked shoulder blade, a broken collarbone and a massive dog bite that needed stitches. And all in the name of adventure!

I have four D.C. And I was one of four. My now adult DCs have had one minor injuries visit between them whereas my siblings and I had loads. One brother seemed to break something or other every year. Falling off roofs, falling of rope swings, jumping on glass shards, skateboarding, etc etc There were also a couple of near drownings. . I remember the 'fun' of throwing the explosive bullets from a concrete gun onto a fire and of spending hours playing in the buildings on huge building site behind out house.

I think there is a happy middle ground between being over precious with your DC and keeping them safe

I find it interesting that people in favour of slide climbing focus on the mud aspect, but none of the other points that have been made............

KingLooie In my experience mud on slides is just as likely to come from feet coming down as those going up, and I say that as someone who does not let their DC climb up slides.

The "hostile takeover", however, is well out of order.

I See all the time children climbing slides in the parks with shoes even with mud. That not unusual thing.only they not allowed in adventure play gym tunnels.

Unless the park is absolutely empty, climbing up the slide is automatically a "hostile takeover"

All the people banging on about the dangers of climbing a slide have clearly never seen how my DD managed to fall over the side of a slide coming down it. There's an element of danger with all playground equipment.

on slide climbers - I have seen a child just slide down when another was half way up a few times. Funnily enough, the parent of the slide climber never seemed to think their child wasn't the one in the wrong. It's always the other parent's fault for not stopping their child sliding down, never their fault for not telling their child to not climb it. As long as you are watching closely to grab your child off the slide if someone else sets off down it, rather than relying on other parents stopping their child from sliding down, and you aren't letting them get the slide dirty, I can't get annoyed at it, although I will tell my children not to climb up for the reason I do think it's a bit of a selfish way to use the shared play equipment.

The rest I'm fine about, although standing up on swings, you don't mean the toddler swings with those leg cage harness things do you? That's just asking for a trip to A&E and yes, I'd judge you for allowing that, although normal swing I'll let mine stand on if their feet are clean.

(And I'm mean, I only allow puddle jumping on the way home from something, not on the way there - I'm past carrying spare clothes everywhere).

lol at 'adventurous'!

(i hate slide climbers though)

Of course Bertrand, did I say any different? Or was that not aimed at me? My kids do their crazy climbing on monkey bars, climbing frames and the like, not slides (as I made clear in my last post).

I don't get all the preciousness about mud though. I just whip out a wet wipe and clean the worst off if my DC want to go down a muddy slide. Not rocket science?

I'm laughing at all the 'preciousness' aswell.

Oh dear. You dc went to the park and came back.... 'muddy'. On dear. Into the washing machine it goes then. No one died.

"I don't like children climbing up slides. Once in 1983, I saw someone fall off one, blood everywhere". Yeah? And? Kids fall off stuff all the time. Even if a kid wasn't climbing up, there's as much chance of falling off the slide/ falling off the monkey bars and doing yourself an injury.
Broken metatarsal at ds1's football last month. Last year. ds2 fell off the trim trail at school. Gashed eye, requiring a stitch. Blood everywhere. I didn't sue the school!!

Ease up. Most of you are frightened, so adverse, I'm surprised you let your kids step outside your house. Actually more chance of an accident at home. Ha ha.