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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to refuse DD sleepover at DM's who smokes indoors?

59 replies

blondebuddha · 27/02/2018 18:01

Title says it all really.
DD is 3.
Mum smokes 40+ a day indoors in all rooms. I'm one of those dreaded 'reformed smokers' who now hates the smell of cigs so as you can imagine it causes abit of tension when I take the kids up and we come back stinking. My partner knows when we've been up to see her without asking.
Any suggestions?

OP posts:
Earlyup · 27/02/2018 18:59

A day visit, to see a grandma who'd otherwise have no contact is one thing (although I remember my reluctance to visit heavy smoking neighbour even when pregnant). An overnight stay at a grandma's who can't even manage to smoke outside for the duration is another.

It's very easy for me to judge, mind, as we are non-smokers surrounded only by non-smokers.

SunnySkiesSleepsintheMorning · 27/02/2018 19:10

I’m fairly easy going but no YANBU. I wouldn’t allow such a small child to sleepover either.

YellowMakesMeSmile · 27/02/2018 19:14

YANBU, I'd not allow it either. But then I didn't let mine go on play dates where the parents were smokers either.

PathologyGeek · 27/02/2018 19:19

Nope, YANBU. My kids would be nowhere near that house, never mind sleep over. Let her blow her top, maybe it’s the driving force she needs to make a behaviour change.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 27/02/2018 19:25

Tbh I wouldn't even take her to visit and I would spell it out exactly why.

40 a day? I have smoked in the past and have an occasional one now so I know how addictive it is but your mums house must absolutely reek.

Doesn't sound like she will give up but refusing to go to house might at least get her to smoke outside. Maybe.

snabigailflagstabble · 27/02/2018 19:26

definitely would not be setting foot in that hose

WhatInTheWorldIsGoingOn · 27/02/2018 19:32

I’m still struggling to forgive my parents for my daily visits and whole weekend sleepovers at my grandparents who both chain smoked. I even stayed in a caravan with them for a week. Smoking in the car the whole way down too. I remember the pain in my lungs. I suffer terribly from asthma and chest infections. Goodness knows the damage it’s done. Don’t let your children in the house.

FleurDeLizzie · 27/02/2018 19:37

I grew up in a house with 4 heavy smokers (siblings much older than me) so it seemed normal to me. Unsurprisingly I went on to smoke for many years, sometimes in the house if it was very cold outside, and with the dc asleep upstairs. Nowadays my toes curl with guilt to think of it. We know so much better now YADNBU. No child should be subjected to those blue layers of smoke that only show up in the rays of sunshine through the window. I've been stopped almost 2 years now and it would have been sooner if I'd had grandchildren, if only for the duration of their visit.

screamingatthemichaelangelo · 27/02/2018 19:39

YANBU

And I say that as a smoker. However I only smoke outdoors and never in front of DD.

No way would I let my DD breathe all that jn

Pastaagain78 · 27/02/2018 19:48

i wouldn’t let the the children visit her house AT ALL. Of course she can do what she likes in her own house but I wouldn’t allow my children in a smoker environment.

Littlemissdaredevil · 27/02/2018 19:53

YANBU both my parents were heavy smokers and smoked indoors during the 80’s and 90’s when I was a child. It was vile and I hated the smoke and smelling of smoke. I remember the brown ring that would develop round the light fitting in the ceiling from all the smoke. Every few years my parents would paint the ceiling but within a year or two the brown ring would be back. If fags do that to a ceiling imagine breathing that in!

specialsubject · 27/02/2018 20:05

Presumably the family car is not in the house with the engine running.

That analogy really shows what smoking does to your brain. Grandma chooses - drugs or grandkids. If drugs, she comes to you and goes outside for her fix. And I mean 20 metres away and downwind, not by the magic curtain in the doorway.

Really not fair to enforce the stink on the kid either.

usernameunavailable · 27/02/2018 20:09

You are not being unreasonable I'd be exactly the same.

MrsElvis · 27/02/2018 20:12

No chance

ThatGirl82 · 27/02/2018 20:28

Not at all unreasonable. My grandmother smokes in her flat, she is very old and would not be able to go outside and smoke. I really wanted my daughter to meet her but hated the thought of taking my baby into a smokey flat (I knew she wouldn’t smoke while we were around). She refused to come out for lunch with us (as she feels it is a burden on everyone to help her Sad), so my mum went up an hour before and aired her flat out so that we could pop in for an hour so she could meet the baby.

I also smoke the occasional cigarette but never around my daughter. I think with what we know about the dangers of passive smoking it’s totally understandable not to want our children around it.

Mustang27 · 27/02/2018 20:29

Not unreasonable at all.

Gemini69 · 27/02/2018 20:34

No Flowers

MrsHarveySpecterV · 27/02/2018 20:40

YANBU and I feel for your situation. We had the same with FIL who smoked in all rooms at PILs house, MIL is also a smoker and smoked in al rooms downstairs. We said we understood that they could do what they wanted in their house but that our DCs wouldn't be staying over while they were smoking inside. It was a very awkward conversation to have. MIL was onboard but FIL wasn't. They now have a non-smoking house apart from the conservatory which our DCs never go in and MIL uses air purifiers before we visit with DCs. It's not perfect but we appreciate the changes they've made and our DCs love spending time there. Would your DM do something similar if you spoke to her?

Keepingupwiththejonesys · 27/02/2018 20:45

Thelastmermaid, why don't you let them stay there if your parents don't smoke indoors? Did they until recently?

Op, yanbu. I was a heavy smoker, anything from 20-40 a day and quit the day I found out I was pregnant with dd1. The risks to my child weren't worth it and I wanted to take any risks away. In my eyes, if I've quit for my children's health then there's no way in hell I'm having them at risk of the dangers of smoke from others. My mum smokes but not in the house or car and she has a 'smoking coat' she uses and then takes off after. Yes, this isn't 100% taking away all risks but I feel its enough and am happy for my children to be at her house as I know she wouldn't ever smoke in the house or around the kids. I wouldn't allow them there if she smoked in the house.

Panda81 · 27/02/2018 21:05

OP, my DM sounds very similar to yours!! She gets very defensive about her smoking. We had a big fall out when DS was just a week or two old because I wanted her to change tops and wait half an hour after smoking before holding him.

I'm trying to balance keeping a relationship with DP and also minimising exposure to my DS. We do visit and have stayed over occasionally but always come back smelling of smoke, and I don't think I want to stay overnight again. But this has the potential to cause a massive argument and I'm a solo parent and really need their support.

RunYouJuiceBitch · 27/02/2018 22:50

I grew up in a house with two smoking parents, and used to stink all the time (although I wasn't really aware of it until I reached secondary school and my peers mentioned it). I suffered with glue ear but, surprisingly, nothing else.

Of course, that was the 80s/90s and times have moved on - people know better.

I have never smoked, and notice the smell and poor air quality more than ever when I visit my dad's house now (my mum's isn't so bad as she smokes just one or two roll-ups per day and does so outside).

I do not think YABU at all by refusing to take your children to her house. She is of course welcome to smoke in her own house as much as she wants, but she must learn to accept that others may find the environment unpleasant to be in.

Of course, she will probably not understand this herself because:
a) as a smoker, she cannot smell it herself and probably vastly underestimates just how bad it is in there;
and
b) she may well be of the same stock as my father, who used to smoke at his desk at work before it was banned and brought up his kids in a smoking household, when it was socially acceptable and wasn't such a big deal - and he's barely moved on 20-30 years later.

Just stick to your guns. She may come round in time. My father is a stubborn smoker but even he has recently started smoking at his front door after a lifetime of smoking indoors.

TheLastMermaid · 01/03/2018 23:55

Hi keepingupwiththejonesys, yes they smoked indoors until recently, sorry I didn't explain that well.

Chartreuseveil · 01/03/2018 23:58

My kid and his cousins have for many years spent no more than 30 minutes at my mums because she smokes. They see her away from her home of course. I have to wash my clothes, hair and body after every brief visit.

RitasEducation · 02/03/2018 00:21

Not a chance. I unfortunately was addicted to smoking for years. Never in the home or with DC'S about.

My parents both smoke inside, always have done, they won't lit up when we visit. I only visit on good days and we spend most of the time in the garden.

It's hard to believe a Mother of such a young child smokes indoors these days. 😓

RitasEducation · 02/03/2018 00:23

Sorry read the post as your DD's friends mum. YADNBU.