Softplay...

[SliceOfCakeCupOfTea]

Okay, prepared to get flamed here. I'm at our local softplay and it is absolutely heaving.
Two birthday parties plus the usual Saturday morning bunch.
I'm here with three kids aged 5 who are all playing nicely together. One is a tiny bit more wild than the other 2 but none are particularly difficult IYKWIM. All very polite, none of them aggressive etc.
Anyway, I sat on the last available table which unfortunately isn't the best table for supervising from. Ive been told off by one of the birthday mums because she has more guests coming and wanted this table (wasn't reserved) and by her husband for refusing to give up the table.

Another mum has just complained to me that one of the boys knocked her 2 year old over in the over 4s section because I wasn't supervising properly. Tbf, I can hardly get near the area where it happened because there is a herd of dads stood around the perimeter. I do keep checking on the boys, but they are 5 year olds in a soft play so without climbing on all the equipment myself to follow them and insisting they stick together, I can't monitor them all the whole time.

AIBU to firstly, not have given up my table and secondly for not following the kids around?

@ItsAllAboutTheLighting

Do you have triplets? Or just happen to have three 5 year olds with you?

Either way, YANBU, as far as I'm concerned at that age they need to be let off the leash and you can't be preventing them from doing much (so long as it's regularly kiddy playing) because even if you did see something occur, you wouldn't stand a chance of being there in time.

It's up to the baby/2 year olds parent to make sure they are safe, in the toddler section and watched.

I've got 3 boys and it's just the way of it.

You do of course get the odd kid who fights the others one of mine was like this and that absolutely needs to be managed.

God no, I only have 1 DS, the other two are close friends kids as the parents are at a funeral so I offered to look after them

If the wanted to have the place to themselves they should have paid more for a private party booking. Ignore the dumbasses.

My son is past Softplay age but these are my thoughts on the situatuion OP.

Softplay on a Saturday morning - nope.
Softplay at the best of times - ok, well maybe, if it's not too busy.
Children in the 'over 4 area' who are under 4 - well then parent of the younger child(ren) needs to realise this area isn't really that suitable for their kids, unless there aren't really older ones in it. It's 'over 4' (or 'under 2', or whatever, for a reason).
People assuming a right to a table they haven't booked - nope (yes, it may be nice to move and let them have it, if it's not an inconvenience, but they certainly don't have a 'right' to it).
Parents at Softplay - yes, they really should be supervising their kids, older ones do need to 'let off steam' a bit, but parents should still be generally aware of what's happening (phone, book, etc away). The only scenario where this might differ is if it's some sort of supervised set up where you actually drop the kids off.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the day OP.

@LittleBearPad

Yanbu but soft play on a Saturday morning 😫. Well done to you!

Agree with little bear defo a big well done!!

Thanks everyone.
Both parties have now gone to the party rooms so it's back to being normal now.

I appreciate what you've all said, as backwards as it sounds, I probably supervise better when it's quieter as I can actually engage with kids better. I hadn't expected it to be quite this busy!

I thought I was going to get a bollocking off you all for not following the kids round on the equipment so thanks all for being canny

We had a soft play party for my youngest last year. We hired the whole place out after school on a Friday at the end of term.

When we arrived and told Reception we were there for the party, a crowd of Mums standing nearby berated me because they wanted to used the soft play and had come after school for a treat and ‘who has a birthday party on a Friday’.

I can only assume from this that soft play sends some people crazy

God agreed! At DSs softplay party ages ago we got told off by someone as there were too many kids waiting for the toilet when her child wanted to use it...

YANBU. I used to police DS when he was over 3 to make sure he wasn't in the toddler area, but a 2 year old in the 4 yr old section is completely the responsibility of the adult with them and I'm glad you didn't give the cheeky lady your table. Sounds like she wanted a party without paying for all the necessary privileges.

So glad DS is past the soft play stage .

You shouldn’t have given up the table. If the party people haven’t paid for exclusive hire they can’t demand tables etc.

I definitely do not follow around my 5yo around softplay but I do remind her to be careful of the little ones. I also know that my 2yo isn’t able to stand up for herself. I’m a bit on the fence as some of the bigger kids are a bit feral and need reminding not to be rough but they do need to play freely.