Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Bubble etiquette at the playground

47 replies

NeedingAGoodNap · 07/08/2022 07:58

Just got back from the park where one family started blowing bubbles for their dd. As the bubbles drifted across the playground the other children there (including my dd) all got excited, yelling “bubbles!” and started trying to chase and catch them as well.

The mum seemed genuinely annoyed. She kept trying to move further away and was getting frustrated that the wind was blowing the bubbles towards the other children. Her child was still getting to enjoy the bubbles, the other kids were getting the ones floating further down wind (though they were all creeping towards the source of the bubbles!). She ended up putting them away.

AIBU to find this strange? Anytime I’ve taken bubbles to the park I’ve assumed that other small kids would also be interested in them! I’ve always encouraged others interested to join in and other mums have always done the same

OP posts:
danny735 · 07/08/2022 08:03

I find her response strange! Maybe she was having a bad day.

saveforthat · 07/08/2022 08:05

She sounds bonkers.

sugarspiceplumfairy · 07/08/2022 08:08

Can’t wait for the next CF thread I bet she’ll pipe up about the lazy parents in the park using her bubbles for entertainment 😂

MuffinMcLayLikeABundleOfHay · 07/08/2022 08:10

She kept trying to move further away and was getting frustrated that the wind was blowing the bubbles towards the other children
Brilliant.
I'd have enjoyed seeing this.

GreenWheat · 07/08/2022 08:11

She is literally blowing things into the air in a public place. Expecting other children to ignore them is just absurd.

ApolloandDaphne · 07/08/2022 08:12

Bubbles are entertainment for everyone nearby. Surely that is the fun of them? The woman's response was very odd.

QuillBill · 07/08/2022 08:13

You should have gone over and accused her of littering.

Aria20 · 07/08/2022 08:15

Ah my old next door neighbours had a bubble machine for their grandkids and my dd (and my dog) loved it when they had it on in the garden on a windy day and the bubbles blew over the fence! They were happy to share their bubbles and the kids enjoyment lol. That woman in the park sounds miserable!

girlmom21 · 07/08/2022 08:16

What a miserable woman!

Kanaloa · 07/08/2022 08:19

You use your bubbles at home if you don’t want anyone else to see them. But you were watching your kids, right? If I got some bubbles out and ended up with a bunch of kids around me that nobody was looking after I’d probably put them away. I find it a lot if I bring toys or games etc to the park, I’ll end up with a bunch of kids around me that nobody is watching trying to join in the game.

Pinkflipflop85 · 07/08/2022 08:19

She sounds slightly odd!

Surely everyone knows, the moment you start blowing bubbles you become the pied piper and will be surrounded by small excitable humans.

AristotlesTrousers · 07/08/2022 08:21

sugarspiceplumfairy · 07/08/2022 08:08

Can’t wait for the next CF thread I bet she’ll pipe up about the lazy parents in the park using her bubbles for entertainment 😂

Grin
Hugasauras · 07/08/2022 08:23

Everyone knows that bubbles = being swarmed by kids, surely?! No one can resist the lure of bubbles.

Goldbar · 07/08/2022 08:24

As far as I'm concerned, blowing bubbles and expecting other children to ignore them is like wearing a clown suit and doing jokes and then being amazed that children are following you around and laughing 😂. We have never done bubbles at the park or playground without ending up with a gaggle of little children around us.

Sirzy · 07/08/2022 08:24

Ds has a bubble machine, we took it on j holiday earlier this year and where blowing bubbles. Other children where happily popping the bubbles that floated off, it was lovely!

WinterMusings · 07/08/2022 08:28

You got back from the park before 8am on a Sunday morning and there were lots of children there??

there's one very small toddler on the baby swings right now at our large park 🤣🤣. The others must be getting ready for church!!

(watching Tv while tired parents drink coffee!!)

Hardbackwriter · 07/08/2022 08:29

Kanaloa · 07/08/2022 08:19

You use your bubbles at home if you don’t want anyone else to see them. But you were watching your kids, right? If I got some bubbles out and ended up with a bunch of kids around me that nobody was looking after I’d probably put them away. I find it a lot if I bring toys or games etc to the park, I’ll end up with a bunch of kids around me that nobody is watching trying to join in the game.

I've noticed that quite a lot of people are like you - they bring toys to the playground and then seem annoyed when other children except their own are interested in them - and I find it really baffling and quite irritating. We never bring anything to the playground, I consider the playground to be its own entertainment and because we never do my children don't expect to. I also don't want them to get lost or broken, which seems inevitable because obviously other children will want to play with them. People who do this basically create an unnecessary conflict for everyone - everyone else has to explain to their children that those particular things, in this place that is otherwise communal, mustn't be touched, and then the people who bought them seem to end up 'defending' them against all comers. I just don't get why people do it!

modgepodge · 07/08/2022 08:31

Yeah you can’t stop other kids using your bubbles if you’re blowing them in the park 🙄 What a strange thing to get annoyed about!

Another kid just picked up my daughter’s balance bike and started riding it around the park yesterday though. I did have a word about that!

Kanaloa · 07/08/2022 08:34

Hardbackwriter · 07/08/2022 08:29

I've noticed that quite a lot of people are like you - they bring toys to the playground and then seem annoyed when other children except their own are interested in them - and I find it really baffling and quite irritating. We never bring anything to the playground, I consider the playground to be its own entertainment and because we never do my children don't expect to. I also don't want them to get lost or broken, which seems inevitable because obviously other children will want to play with them. People who do this basically create an unnecessary conflict for everyone - everyone else has to explain to their children that those particular things, in this place that is otherwise communal, mustn't be touched, and then the people who bought them seem to end up 'defending' them against all comers. I just don't get why people do it!

Show quote history

Bringing a football or game to the park is normal in my area - the houses around me have very tiny yards that make it impossible to play anywhere else. We don’t have big fields or open public football pitches or similar near us either. So if you want to play a big game you play it at the park. And I don’t mind my kids bringing toys either. If an older child came up and asked to join (or their parent joins supervising them) then of course they’re welcome so long as they behave. But if a small child comes up and starts clambering over us without a parent in sight then yes, we pack our stuff up or move away because I do enough childcare at work without babysitting at the park!

And to be honest I really don’t worry about causing ‘conflict’ for parents because their child wants to play with our toys any more than I’d worry about bringing a picnic and not providing a sandwich for your kid.

SmallPrawnEnergy · 07/08/2022 08:35

WinterMusings · 07/08/2022 08:28

You got back from the park before 8am on a Sunday morning and there were lots of children there??

there's one very small toddler on the baby swings right now at our large park 🤣🤣. The others must be getting ready for church!!

(watching Tv while tired parents drink coffee!!)

It’s also possible op isn’t in the U.K…. I know that’s a mad concept to grasp

Kanaloa · 07/08/2022 08:36

Same with bikes/scooters/bat and ball games etc etc. These are all things that can only be used at the park in my area. So yes, we take them to the park, and no they’re not available to all and sundry who want them. I wouldn’t think it was that hard to explain to your child that the playground is available to everyone and other people’s toys aren’t.

But bubbles don’t could as a toy imo. I would still go with my child if they were ‘creeping towards’ another family though, rather than sit chilling out and expect the other parent to supervise my kids.

KilmordenCastle · 07/08/2022 08:37

If I got some bubbles out and ended up with a bunch of kids around me that nobody was looking after I’d probably put them away

Blowing bubbles is a universal signal for "I'm happy to have kids swarming around me".

Goldbar · 07/08/2022 08:38

I agree that it is slightly irritating when people bring 'kid magnet' toys to the playground and then seem amazed that the other children are interested in them. Our local playground has a sandpit so people do bring spades and sand toys, but there seems to be an unwritten rule that it's fine for any children to play with the toys if they're left in the sandpit (though the child owner has priority) until the owner of the toys goes home.

Kanaloa · 07/08/2022 08:38

KilmordenCastle · 07/08/2022 08:37

If I got some bubbles out and ended up with a bunch of kids around me that nobody was looking after I’d probably put them away

Blowing bubbles is a universal signal for "I'm happy to have kids swarming around me".

Which is fine if you’re with your small child. But if you’re just leaving them to swarm round another parent while you chat/go on your phone/stare into space then I’d pack them away as I wouldn’t want to be responsible for someone else’s small children.

Hardbackwriter · 07/08/2022 08:45

I think maybe we were talking about different things and that's my fault - I think there's a difference between bringing balls or things like that to play with in the park and toys (things like cars) to play with in the playground - I think the first is totally normal and utterly unobjectionable. The second I find a bit irritating if people then are going to be precious about other children approaching them.