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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to expect a five year old to walk for 10 minutes without getting tired?

21 replies

cktwo · 23/10/2007 14:30

I have just had my 5 YO cousin over to visit my DDs. Its a nice day, so we went to the park which is a 10 mins walk on the flat with a small walk uphill to the park. And on the way back she complained she was tired and wanted to stop and next time we go can we go in the car? FFS my DD1 is 2 and can manage this walk AND she only learnt to walk 6 months ago!!!!

Is this the obesity epidemic hitting home???
AIBU to expect kids to be able to walk short distances?

OP posts:

MaryAnnSingletomb · 23/10/2007 14:32

no YANBU ! I sometimes look after a friend's nearly 5 yr old dd and am aware that she wont walk very far without complaining that she's a bit tired !! I always made ds walk !

kindersurprise · 23/10/2007 14:34

YANBU, my DD is 5 and walks around with us all afternoon without complaint.

My DH's niece was always like that, at 5 she would not go out for a walk with us. Now she is 13 and obese. It is really sad.

Blu · 23/10/2007 14:37

Yes, but they go through stages where any walk in a straight line purely for getting somewhere is bo-o-o-oring and immediately makes them ti-yud, whilst tearing around at top speed yelling has no such effect.

I expect your 2 year-old might go through this stage in due course, so try not to make a big judgement about it

Original poster

cktwo · 23/10/2007 14:38

I'm flabbergasted really. It's not the girls fault obviously, it's the parents setting the example. It just makes me so sad to see a little girl of 5 being to unfit.

OP posts:

Original poster

cktwo · 23/10/2007 14:40

I know what you are saying but I wouldn't be so judgemental if she was just whinging but she is overweight and is never allowed to walk anywhere.

OP posts:

MrsWeasley · 23/10/2007 14:43

you can always tell the childrn who use a car to go everywhere.

I remember once being out with my friend's DS (aged 4 or 5yo) and I said the usual "mind the dog poop" and he looked in the air Now where did he think it came from?? I laughed about it with my friend and she said he had gone everywhere by car and she didnt think he had ever seen dog poop on the path (as the only time he walks on it is to get into or out of the car!)

FranSanDisco · 23/10/2007 14:47

My 5 yo is tired walking to school. That is until he sees friends and then they run like wild things. It's boredom not tiredness imho.

Lorayn · 23/10/2007 15:04

YANBU, I used to have a friends two boys sometimes and one was 16months older than DD, who was used to walking everywhere, he however would complain when we walked to the park, which was literally across the road and half way up a street of about 30 houses.

Parents should make the effort to get their children to walk to places that are close rather than use the car at all times.

I dread to see these children when they have to walk to their secondary schools!

MrsWeasley · 23/10/2007 15:08

FranSanDisco you may be right. We used to have a 30 minute walk to school and my kids loved it, we counted the snails on a wet day, we played first to the bench/bus stop etc. A neighbour had to leave at the same time as us but in her car so that she could park directly outside the school

ratclare · 23/10/2007 15:49

my poor dd has to come on dog walks with me in the hols and we go up hill and down dale for a good hour and she moans and whines about various parts of her body hurting ,she is 5 ,all you can do is distract them ,occasionally i will let her have a little piggy back ( but not up hills !)

spookyspice · 23/10/2007 15:53

She's not tierd she's bored.

DS(4) can climb hills that many adults struggle with. But moans all the way to the shops etc.

TheEvilDediderata · 23/10/2007 16:05

If a child is used to being carted around in a car, they probably don't have the muscle strength of a child whose parents walk them everywhere.

My neighbour's kid told me he wouldn't be able to go to school a while back. When I asked him why, he said it was because his mum's car had broken down.

He's nearly seven, and the school is less than half a mile away!

Oh, and he's obese, poor kid.

spookyspice · 23/10/2007 20:17

True. They have to be trained up.

EmsMum · 23/10/2007 20:28

My DD (8)complains if I want her to walk with me to the village shop - 10 mins max - but she did the 3 peaks of Yorkshire over two weekends before she was 7. That was a challenge and there were scrambles and snow at the top!

I would guess in the case of the OP its a mix of unfitness and boredom. If she comes again DO walk but think of something to enliven the trip. DD finds the canal towpath boring but we once got her quite a long way with a competition to spot the most dog poo which also served to keep her feet out of it. Maybe that would gross out most girls!

Elasticwoman · 23/10/2007 20:37

If the little girl was not used to walking, of course she didn't expect it. Doesn't mean you were wrong to get her to walk - on the contrary you did her a favour.

We don't always have to do what children expect us to do, and the more children you have in your care, the more you can't please every one.

I hate taking the car short distances - it's more trouble to get all the seatbelts done up and find somewhere to park, than it is to walk imo.

GreebosWhiskers · 23/10/2007 20:46

My dd3 is 2.7 & is going through this phase just now - she won't walk the length of herself along the street or around shops (especially if soft-touch daddy is there to carry her) but show her a park or a beach & she'll spend hours charging around like a loony.

I'm cruel tho' & make her walk anyway - apart from anything else I'm always either pushing 11mo ds in the stroller or humphing him in the sling.

lovecat · 23/10/2007 21:06

I'm glad I found this thread because I was getting worried about dd - at 2.8 she won't get in the buggy any more (which I'm quite pleased about) but dawdles along, sitting down at every opportunity, demanding to be carried - even in the park!

I know you shouldn't compare children, but all her friends seem to be running around and she's staggering along behind them looking like she's about to expire... she's not fat, but I do worry she's inherited her father's couch-potato gene!

somersetmum · 23/10/2007 21:13

It depends on how much running around she did at the park.
She walked to the park (10 minutes), then played at the park. If this was constant running, climbing, jumping around for 40 minutes, then the walk home would bring it up to an hour's constant exercise.
So, whilst YANBU expecting the child to walk for 10 minutes to the park, you may be being unreasonable to be surprised she's tired on the way home.

expatinscotland · 23/10/2007 21:16

my dd1 has dypraxia. it affects her muscles, her coordination and she does tire easily.

but she is 4 and easily manages a walk like this without complaint.

we've worked hard to make physical activity out to be a very fun thing - we're both quite active.

my nearly-2-year old can walk quite a bit without tiring already - she is NT, however.

FrightOwl · 23/10/2007 21:21

dd (aged 4) walked for an hour today. 30 mins there, 30 mins back. i was shocked, had bus fare ready for the return journey but she was fine!

ekra · 23/10/2007 21:25

It depends what is in it for her. If we're at a nice farm park she'll run around in top gear for the whole day. If I want her to walk to the shop with me 5 minutes away she's suddenly very lethargic and she has to stop for 'rests' and to complain about how tired she is every 10 steps.

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