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??

I was kind of with you until the chips part, OP.

Whilst I hate to bring up the s/n thing ds2 is severely autistic and has learning disabilities if I didn't follow him around he would get up to all sorts he would also pinch anyone's food or drinks if he fancied the look of it.

I always found the worst thing about soft play was all the other buggers judging you there ...

I really want chips now :(

Yabu on both counts. I'm sure you would have been glad of me 'helicoptering' my perfectly capable looking 4 yr old around as it was primarily to block his unprovoked attacks on other children. He didn't always do it and looked like any other 4 yo without an most of the time.
You're also bu to expect other people to eat healthy food to encourage your child imo.

My husband and I have have to supervise both children on soft play (age 4 and 7) mostly visually but sometimes on the equipment with them. They are both autistic and have global developmental delay and speech delay. They need help with their interactions with other children. We mostly go to SEN specific sessions by we occasionally go to regular ones on inset days or other quiet times.

They both need reminders to be careful of younger children, to wait their turn at the top of the slide, to not touch other children's clothes/hair accessories because they find them interesting, to not take toys/food from another child's hand and to not block play equipment by sitting on the stairs or similar.

They also need help with the way other children interact with them, often children are upset or offended when they wont play with them or answer when spoken to. Some children will get in their face and ask over and over again if they can speak, being near them means I can intercept and give a child appropriate explanation of why they wont get an answer. The are also vulnerable to more physically aggressive children and would not be able to call for help if they were hurt.

With regard to why we would go if they can't play unsupervised, my children have so many more limitations on what they can do than the average child I am not restricting them more on the basis their need for supervision will irritate someone.

And lol at the idea that parents would want to go on the playframe unless they had to for some reason. I can still feel the pain in my feet from climbing up the rope net and crawling through a hard plastic tunnel as an adult is neither fun nor pain free. The day my child was able to go in by themselves and I was able to have a latte and taunt toddlers with my chips was one of the best days of my life!

Yabu. I wish I could sit down and stuff my face but my dcs want mum to come play and dc2 needs alittle help on the big stairs.

If it bothers u that much go somewhere else.

YABU,
At that age I often went in with my child, not to be a helicopter parent but because they wanted me too, my local play centres are quiet so I didn't get in the way of other kids!

Also it's funny you should mention chips because I don't really eat them but love the ones at one of the local play centre and have to get them whenever I was there! If your child doesn't want apple because others are eating chips that's your problem really, does your child really need a snack there anyway? Does it matter if they don't eat?

People don't realise that activities for children with development delays start to become limited as they get older and soft play is one of the few 'mainstream' things they can go to.

Lili, you really don't need to give a reason other than 'they like it'.

When my DDs were little, they opened up a huge soft play centre near us and it was utter bliss. Kids ran off and played, I got to sit with a magazine or book and a coffee. I used to watch the hovering mums with a sense of complete bewilderment. Then my grandson came along. He likes you to "share" the experience with him and drives you mad pestering you to join in. Which would be fab if I were a stick insect and I'm not. I feel like a lumbering elephant and think all the other parents are just waiting for me to get wedged..........

Yabvu, getting my arse jammed trying to follow DD through various obstacles at soft play is absolutely the most fun I'll have all week.

She doesn't need me there, but I need to be there....for me.

All the soft play places in my area have parents on. Can't see what the problem is. Many are far too big to be able to see your child most of the time. As others have said, SN children often need increased and prolonged supervision. Many children with SN don't look like they do.

I wouldn't use a soft play where parents couldn't go on.

YABU chips are for any time of day.

Your not wrong op....the one we go to has a special area for under 4s..but no it's always empty.parent and child in the main bit,blocking the passages slowly slowly climbing round ruining the whole thing for the older kids who want to race and let of steam.

TBH I'd much rather a parent followed their 4 year old around on the frame than completely ignore them for an hour while they kicked the shit out of all the younger kids and caused havoc in the baby area. I'm a regular at various soft plays where I live as DS (2) loves it. Thankfully he keeps himself to himself but the number of unsupervised and unruly kids is frightening.

Admittedly my kid is a bit younger but I'm another one of those parents really wishing I could just sit down at soft play, but my DS is also timid and would otherwise just spend the whole time right by my side. I hear 'well don't bloody take him then' but it helps to (slowly) build his confidence. He needs to get used to more raucous kids and this is a great way to do it (plus I tend to acquire kids along the way, allowing other mum's to sit and eat chips 😭).

I actually judged a bit the parents with the really, really shy little boy who instead of going and playing with him stayed as far out of the way as possible.

I sort of agree with you OP but DD is very wary of other children and 9 times out of 10 will only get on the equipment if I'm with her. I don't go very often and don't like doing this anymore than you'd enjoy me gettin in your way!

YABU, she probably had a reason to be keeping a close eye. And a woman who eats chips at 11am is someone I'd be trying to make friends with!

I think there should be alcohol served at all soft play facilities with a one drink minimum three drink maximum allowance. Would make it much more civilised.

A few weeks ago i was at soft play . I saw a bully of a kid succeed in kicking a baby (babys mum was right on it i can tell you) bully kids mum nowhere to be seen. Shortly after bully kid tried taking a ball for another kid and put the kid in a headlock when he couldnt get what he wanted (i intervened) after that my toddler was playing with a toy which he came and knocked away from her. His mother was nowhere to be seen until suddenly we saw he went over to her she had been sat out of view on her phone. They left before anyone said anything. She was totally unaware. Id rather a helicopter parent than one who didnt care.

YABU in both counts. You're not the chips police. You don't know why said parent was following the child around. They could have any number of behavioural issues. Had said child misbehaved you'll be writing a post about that too. Can't ever win, can you?

Meh who cares.
I took my dts - . 7 to soft play a while back. They both wanted me to go on with them and play with them, so I did. It was fine, no one seemed to mind unless there was a secret Mner lurking in the cafe, cats bum facing me because I was playing with my kids in public.
When I wasn't playing with them I was eating chocolate covered flapjacks, alas the deep fat friers had broken down [daily mail sad face]

Is soft play basically the same as what jungle jims in blackpool tower 20 years ago was? Best place ever was geronimos in wales. They had a slide called the garbage chute i wasnt brave enough for. Adults could go in too and it was in a big building over 3 floors. Man i miss places like that, must be a good 18 years since ive been, id love an adults only one but built specifically for adult sized people, including us who arent so skinny!