AIBU - to be annoyed with adults at soft play?

[HLBug]

Your child is fine. Absolutely fine. Not a wobbly toddler but a properly capable bounding 4 year old. You helicoptering and following them around inside the climbing frames is not necessary and now you're just causing a massive obstruction for all the other kids. There is also a high chance of you getting stuck. Please, go and sit down.

If you are sitting down though, please remember it's only 11.10am. That is not an appropriate time for you to eat a large bowl of chips. It's just not. No chance of DS wanting those apple slices now!

It's raining and it's the school holidays...what the fuck possessed me to think soft play would be a good idea?! But it's the adults that are seriously getting on my wick. AIBU??

YABU, it's always an appropriate time for chips.

mmmm chips

Soft play is like hell.

But what another adult does with their chips is not really anything to do with you assuming they are not being thrown at you

Ooh I liked the chippies at soft play, my two are too old for those places now though. I miss the chips

To be honest although you might have a point about the climbing frame (depending on the child and presumably the other parent knows their child best) you are out of order about the chips.

It's not everyone's job to manage your child's eating habits. If you refuse to buy chips then your child will either eat the apple or go without. No one's business but your own.

I would much rather have parents who supervised their children carefully on soft play than the ones who sit as far away as possible and then go temporarily deaf to the screams of the children that their little terror is tormenting.
And chips are the only thing that stop me losing the will to live at soft play.

Never too early for chips!! YABVVVVVU!

11:10am is the perfect time for chips if you've been up since 5am....

Why on earth is another person's eating habits your business?

Are you seriously saying that even if your child sees another person eating chips, he will only want chips and you cannot say no? YABU as you seem to have bigger issues to work on than what another person eats.

This is why you only do soft play when it is a birthday party. I have a 5 year old so they are pretty much a regular feature in my life atm!

With you on the helicoptering but can't see the problem with someone else's child not wanting an apple or another grown adult choosing to buy chips with their own money. Perhaps I’d maybe judge if they were swigging gin from a hipflask at 11:10am (but not at 12:01 obviously)

I get the first bit but it's none of your business if they want to eat a bowl of chips so you lost me tbh.

hi - i was one of those parents you have described. My daughter was a very nervous girl when she was younger. She wouldn't go up by herself and it took many many goes before she found her confidence. Sorry i caused a massive obstruction. I was concerned she would fall (which she has done many times as she's a little).

So basically don't play with your kid but also don't you dare sit and eat, regardless of what time you got up in the morning and whether or not you've even had time to eat before dragging your kids out to the hell that is soft play.
Fuck.off.

Ok, I'll admit I was secretly jealous about the chips. I'm doing 16:8 and I'm hangry. I would happily have eaten them all myself.

Yabu, unless you know for a fact the parent was definitely just helicoptering, rather than there being a valid reason eg the child needed them there.

Yabu to expect people to only eat when it fits in with your dc, not fair on them or him

A soft play place near me does chilli chips and it is amazing. Even if I've already eaten I can make some room for a bowl of those.

It's always chips-o'clock. YABU there.

As for "my child won't want apple slices now he's seen chips". That's your lookout. Mine don't get treats and snacks every day; they're either hungry or they're not. They either eat or they don't. Makes no odds to me either way, but the please-eat-please-eat battles are pointless and soul destroying.

I can see the point avout helicopter parenting. Because they do cause obsructions. There is a soft play near us designed for adults to go in too, which stops this issue.

The chips etc. Get a grip. Nothing to do with you.

Yanbu about adults getting in the way helicoptering around perfectly capable children (or even children who are not capable - they shouldn't even be in that bit of soft play).

BUT you are being Vvv unreasonable and quite weird about the chips. They're chips - not crack

Was with you until the chips part. I genuinely don't care if your child sees me eating chips and now won't eat their apple. I'd also have a nice can of pop with it and not care that they won't drink their water.

Yanbu to dislike soft play.

Hypocritical to moan about helicoptering and then object to adults eating chips because you think this will make it less likely your PFB will eat fruit!

Completely disagree

I much prefer adults supervising their kids to those who just sit with their phones and let their kids run riot.
Whilst small kids need supervising so they dont hurt themselves, older ones can be quite annoying and rough around smaller ones.

And 11am is fine for chips, banana, granola or whatever one considers a snack.

But you are right, soft play is hell and i avoid it and only ever go in the mornings on a school day to avoid older children (mine is only 2.5)

I don't mind other adults going in.....they are on hand to pick up my ignored kids any children who might need help.

If they enter the dungeon of soft misery, then I have no sympathy.

I went on with mine until he became too big for soft play. He needed someone with him to make sure he and others were safe.

I used to helecopter parent in soft play. This was to protect other children from my 3 year old boy who was an utter terror for a time. If another boy even accidentally kocked gim down, ds would hunt them down.