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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

To think that this Rainbow leader should be asked to step down?

57 replies

Lauresbadhairday · 10/08/2019 16:06

My friend's daughter is a Rainbow Guide. She recently attended an evening activity with her pack which took place at a local park where there are no public toilets and lasted for 1.5hrs. The leader took a potty for the girls to use in case they were desperate for the loo. Towards the end of the activity the leader then asked all the girls if any of them needed a wee. Of course several of the girls decided they did even though none of them had mentioned that they needed to go beforehand. They then used the potty one after the other and the leader did not wipe or clean the potty between uses. Also some of the girls were told to go with the young leader (age 14/15) to 'try out' a shee-wee.

My friend was horrified when her daughter told her this and has since raised it as a concern with the district commissioner. She does not feel that it has been taken very seriously even though there are other adult helpers there who can verify the story. I was really shocked when she told me and feel that the leader should be asked to step down. Or AIBU?

OP posts:
RosemarysBush · 10/08/2019 16:10

Mmm bit grim. Was the shewee cleaned between uses? ‘Adult’ leaders shouldn’t be alone with any child out of ear shot of other adult/ children either. What age to Rainbows go up to?

BishopBrennansArse · 10/08/2019 16:11

Please be aware of the piss troll, anyone considering posting here.

Or y'know does anyone else think a thread discussing 7-9 year old girls' urinary habits is a bit suspicious?

SpottedGingham · 10/08/2019 16:12

Really?

HotDogGuy · 10/08/2019 16:13

Step down for what reason? For taking something to use if they needed toilet facilities as there were no there? I’m your friend knew where they were going and could have provided her own ‘facilities’ if she wanted.
Ridiculous to be calling for the leader to step down.

RightOnTheEdge · 10/08/2019 16:18

This poster has been posting since at least 2015 just ordinary kind of posts so I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt.

It does sound a bit gross. How old are rainbows? Surely they should be able to go 1.5 hours without potty and she-wees.

TabbyMumz · 10/08/2019 16:19

Soooo...we're they using the potty in full public view of everyone? Remind me what age rainbows are? Where was she emptying the potty between use?

AppleKatie · 10/08/2019 16:21

Sure it was a potty and not a lat? I can see how a 5 year old might confuse the two?

Original poster
Lauresbadhairday · 10/08/2019 16:22

I'm not a troll. Thank you RightOnTheEdge. I don't post often but for some reason this made me feel uncomfortable and I just wondered what others thought.

OP posts:
BringOnTheScience · 10/08/2019 16:22

Well done on offering to volunteer to take over the Rainbow unit. You can register here so that you can then show other volunteers how to be perfect.
www.girlguiding.org.uk/get-involved/become-a-volunteer/register-your-interest/

GruciusMalfoy · 10/08/2019 16:22

Rainbows are aged 5-7. If it's as you've said it happened, I wouldn't be best pleased with this. I'm struggling to believe in this day and age they'd do this.

Elliebellbell · 10/08/2019 16:22

Oh great, another volunteer bashing thread.

Are you going to take her place when she "steps down" op? Nah, probably not.

Original poster
Lauresbadhairday · 10/08/2019 16:24

I don't know the full story as I wasn't there but my friend seems to think it was in full(ish) view as her daughter knew what had happened but hadn't actually used the potty. It was a child's potty not a lat. Rainbows are 5 to 7.

OP posts:
BishopBrennansArse · 10/08/2019 16:25

Wouldn't know mine all did scouting and thought it'd be similar to Beavers.

I still think discussing young children group peeing online is dodgy territory. Even if the OP is legit anyone can read it.

SnuggyBuggy · 10/08/2019 16:26

Are you the sort of person who is terrified of touching toilet seats incase you contract some sort of life threatening infection?

Seriously it's grim but not going to harm them

Soontobe60 · 10/08/2019 16:26

So what else should she have done? Taken copious amounts of wet wipes with which to pollute the environment? Are you saying that these young girls may have had some disease that they could have passed on?
OP, do you think everyone washes a toilet seat after they have used it? You've clearly never seen inside a toilet in school at the end of the day, there's wee everywhere.
I think these leaders were very sensible in the grand scheme of things. We used to have to do nature wees when I was in Brownies!

averylongtimeago · 10/08/2019 16:27

So, you weren't there. Your daughter wasn't there. You have not spoken to the leader or any other adult who was there.
Another woman (who wasn't there) says her daughter (age somewhere between 5-7) said this might have happened.....

Yes right- this Rainbow leader absolutely did make girls pee on a potty in full view. Hmm

TSSDNCOP · 10/08/2019 16:27

The potty not being wiped down I can sort of get, you don’t wipe down your loo after every use. The she-wee is a different matter.

Cause for reflection and deciding on balance not to repeat - yes

Step down - not unless there’s more you’re not saying

TheWernethWife · 10/08/2019 16:28

I'd be glad that she provided somewhere for the girls to use rather than them peeing their knickers. Saying that as a mother of three girls.

Original poster
Lauresbadhairday · 10/08/2019 16:28

I was a Guide leader for 10 years so I am well aware that the leader is a volunteer however that doesn't mean that everything she does is ok just because she is a volunteer

OP posts:
Cantthinkofanythingrightnow · 10/08/2019 16:29

I would be a bit Hmm if it was my kid but I think this is more of an oversite than a stackable offence. The other adults didn't see it as inappropriate enough to step in did they?

In beavers they'd have no problem with the boys weeing up against a tree. Maybe the she wee was just a way to encourage them to be more outdoorsy? Grim if the she wee wasn't cleaned between uses though.

Cantthinkofanythingrightnow · 10/08/2019 16:29

*oversight

Mumofone1860 · 10/08/2019 16:30

It would surely be impossible for 7 girls to wee one after another into a baby potty? It would overflow after the first 2 if no one did anything to it? Just sounds like normal camping life to me! Festival toilets are basically pottys and not wiped between uses. Also it is better to let children go to the toilet with a supervisor than letting 5 year olds off in a forest out of view, you never know who could be hiding in a forest hoping that someone let's a 5 year old run off alone!

Propertyofhood · 10/08/2019 16:30

It's not ideal but hardly 'horrifying' in the grand scheme is it?

Are you going to replace this leader when she 'steps down'?

What would you have done as Rainbow leader?

MNHQ
YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet · 10/08/2019 16:30

We're just dropping by as quite a few people have reported this thread, and we do understand why you're all a touch suspicious...

While we can never be totally sure of anyone, the OP has been around the site for yonks and at no point in her posting history has she given us cause to think she's a troll.

catsbeensickagain · 10/08/2019 16:30

I’m a volunteer at Beavers (boys and girls roughly the same age as Rainbows). I would have expected them to hold on and certainly wouldn’t have been providing a potty. On the other hand if my daughter came home with this tale I’d 🤷🏼‍♀️. Turning it round I can imagine a parent complaining that my actions had led to urinary problems/distress/child wetting themselves. Sometimes there is no easy answer but you can guarantee someone will bash the volunteer