AIBU to hide away certain toys next time these kids visit...?

[Scaramoose]

This is semi lighthearted but, tbh, I am also a bit irritated. DH thinks it's funny though as he says that Playmobil appears to have unleashed my inner control freak (as I'm not generally anything of the sort!)

We got DS the Playmobil Ghostbusters fire station for Christmas and other members of our family got him the accompanying playsets. We had visitors over Christmas, and the it was played with loads. However, when a certain two kids were here it was just dismantled, the stickers peeled off, tiny parts spread all over the house etc. DH said that this is what happens, kids play with stuff and it get trashed. The kids parents said the same. I'm not so sure, it didn't need to be dismantled and spread all over the place, or stickers peeled off, or chewed! It just seems destructive rather than playful whereas with other kids this hasn't been the case at all.

They came again this weekend and, to try and be reasonable (and not hide it!) I asked them not to spread it round the house or to take any remaining stickers off. They didn't, but it was pretty much dismantled (anything that could be taken apart was, and now some of the tiny bits are lost.)

I think I'm being particular as I think the thing that is so great about Playmobil is the little parts and the detail, so if most of those are lost or spoiled it ruins it. Also, it's not bloody cheap!

So, AIBU by putting it, and anything similar, in a cupboard the next time they come or is this just what kids do and I need to loosen up...?!

Yes, put them away.

We have a lot of lego in our house. DD could build complex sets at 4 and I never had to worry about her playing with my expensive sets. Lego is easier to rebuild than playmobil.
But one cousin in particular is very destructive. No way nice stuff is left out.
Her sets would be put in the cupboard with mine.

Yes, lego is a toy. But when you have expensive sets, the last thing you want is stickers being peeled off or rare, valuable mini figures being put into pockets to be smuggled out of the house!

i didnt even know what a playmobil was - i see now its like lego/duplo. Just keep it away next time said children come round.

Nothing against putting certain toys away but it seems these children didnfillow your instructions the second time and if you don’t want the sets dismantled you might just have to say that.
I wouldn’t be impressed by the parents blasé attitude to stuff being trashed though.

*did follow

I have to hide some of DS’s (he’s nearly 4) toys from DSC, they think it’s funny to pull things apart and the pieces get lost and it’s not fair.

Fucks me right off, YANBU

Put anything away you don't want them to play with.
I can remember when I was little my Mam went mad a couple of times after some friends had visited because they had damaged things in my dolls' house and another time chopped the hair off my Sindys.
I was very upset about it. I had tried to stop them breaking things but they just did it anyway - they broke legs off a couple of the dolls' house dining room tables.
After that she had a box of toys for me to play with with those children and we played in the dining room so that they didn't have access to my bedroom.

I used to lock the playroom door when a particular family visited. I left boxes of toys out in the lounge to be played with.

Each time they came every single box of carefully sorted toys, Lego, playmobil, Kinex, and other tiny parts were opened and poured into one big pile in the middle of the playroom.

It took me 3 hours each time to put the tiny parts back into the right boxes.

After three times I said enough. I selected larger toys and left them out whilst locking the playroom.

The children didn't like this but I'd had enough.

Definitely remove precious toys, they are not for general play, it's not a toddler group.
My children were regularly upset to find their toys missing parts until I put a stop to it.

It's your house, and your rules. You can provide well without compromising play. Just without the damage.

You had my support at sticker peeling. Hide all precious toys!

Oh god yes! Hide anything that can get destroyed.

We have next door neighbours who are so destructive with stuff that even their own mother restricts them with their own toys. When we first moved in DS was all for sharing with his new friends but after a couple of things in his playroom got deliberately smashed up he gathers up the stuff he wants to keep safe and it goes upstairs to his room on every playdate since. Playdates are only allowed downstairs, not up the stairs as well.

After having two awfully behaved children around at Christmas I would definitely say hide all the good toys or put them out of reach. I sympathise OP I was honestly horrified that children could be so disrespectful.

Why do you think some kids are so much more destructive than others?

I hide some of DD's stuff when certain kids come over - she is very gentle and careful with her toys and lots of things with little bits, like Playmobil sets and a few other things. Some other kids aren't......so we put it away when they come over, or if she has lots of friends over at once - little kids plus toys equals a trashed bedroom!

I don't think the kids I am talking about here are just being sods, it is just what they do. The weird thing is, they don't do much with it (from what I gathered) other than dismantle, pick sticker off etc - I can't hear them doing voices, creating scenarios or whatever like I have done when DS has played with it with other friends. And once it has been taken apart (and some of the dismantling I think WHY?), they appear to instantly loose interest.
Next time they come, the teddies and larger and harder to lose toys are staying out and the intricate expensive stuff goes away!

YANBU. My DC have never trashed anyone else's toys, why should I put up with other kids trashing ours. Same applies to you, I assume. I do judge parents who allow their DC to trash others toys. Do they really get away with it at home?

YANBU. My son has the playmobil how to train your dragons sets and would be so upset if they were dismantled or damaged. They are too expensive to be damaged :(