To be raging - school holiday camp

[peoniesandpumpkins]

Booked my DC into the holiday camp at our local tennis club. They’ve just turned the age that you can go from but it’s just 3.5 hrs (they do pre school 2 days 9-3 and 3 days 9-1:30 so used to longer days etc.) It’s not all tennis, lots of games.

They have absolutely loved it. Been twice now. My mum picked up last week (she knows a lot of the coaching team) and they mentioned he’d been great, my mum asked about the toilet and they mentioned ‘oh yes they know where the toilet is’ ‘jokingly’ apparently. We took that to mean they’d been going quite a lot, but at least not peed themselves!! Husband picked up on Mon, great time again. Due to go tomorrow, really excited!

Logged onto work email (not personal) tonight to see an email from organiser sent at 8:43PM saying ‘sorry but don’t think peonies child is really ready for 3.5 hrs of tennis (it’s not 3.5 hrs of tennis) they are more interested in going to the toilet and this impacts on the coaching team’

Honestly, I do know that they can be a little bugger for wanting to go off to loo if they think they can go have a nosey/explore and get away with it. I apologised said as much but, said they love it and that messaging at 8:40 odd at night (to my work email (wouldn’t have seen it ordinarily) the night before was really not great, would they please let me have a chat, let them come tomorrow (really left me in the f’ing lurch) and if more of same then I understand.

They emailed back to say it’s a no as a member of staff has to take them to the toilet each time. I am confused about this as they normally have to be told to go toilet (unless opportunity for boggling - which they wouldn’t get if they have to go with an adult), so I’m like well yes I understand that and that is annoying but I am telling you that I am 98% certain that will stop once I’ve had a word and if it doesn’t then yes I’m in agreement. I just think it’s so shitty not to give them a last chance.

Also I don’t think it’s that they don’t want to have take them to the toilet full stop, as there are 2 children doing it who aren’t quite 5 (one not until the new year) who have been allowed as they have older siblings so surely if it’s an age thing they are having to take them to the loo when they need to go?!? DC quite capable of going on own physically iykwim. Can understand they need to be supervised.

If it was that they weren’t coping/joining in or didn’t have the motor ability then I understand but why not mention that then.

All just seems rather mean not to let us have a chat and give them another chance. Not to mention bloody unprofessional, she could have told me on Monday night or Tuesday night!

I was going to say YABU and have a word with the kids, then I saw they're 5?? So now I don't think that. Yes it must be annoying if they're going to the toilet loads, but I don't understand why they haven't spoken to you first

Your kid is too young for this. They're being a pita and taking staff away from what they should be doing with the other children. If they're going to the loo this often, they're not learning anything or properly enjoying it anyway. I do think they should have spoken to you when you picked up though, maybe they expected you to react badly so opted for an email instead.

Yanbu. This kind of thing happens with children this age and if they don't want to deal with it they need to have set the lower age limit to 8. Any activity that I've seen with 5 year olds included has involved very regular toilet visits.

You shouldn't have replied to the email and just shown up. It's ridiculous to let you know with such short notice and no feedback about this previously.

5s very young for tennis. It's not fair on the other kids that said the age should of been upped to at least 8.

Regular toilet visits, yes.
This is obviously more than usual, they are turning down your money because the inconvenience is too much and the disruption too great to everyone else.
An email is a formal, clear communication that you can’t misinterpret, unlike an unrecorded, informal chat.
Maybe try again next year when your child is a bit older.

I think raging is probably a tad excessive, but YANBU to be annoyed. They've handled it really badly.

I'm not sure why you're blaming them for using your work email though. Presumably they're contacting you on the email you used to register your child?

Your child is too young - the company wouldn't turn down your money for no good reason

Using 'they' instead of he / she is annoying and makes your post difficult to read

The company contacted you using the email you gave them!

YANBU. I think to cancel your existing booking at short notice is extremely poor. Presumably you're relying on that childcare to work. I think they would not have been unreasonable to change the lower age limit of the camp in future, but I think they should honour your existing bookings.

5 isn’t very young for tennis, kids can happily go to tennis holiday camps from 3 if the coaches are good at their job

Agreed on the “they” thing. So irritating. Then suddenly “he”.

Also what is “boggling”?

They handled it badly, but your DC is being a pita, taking up too much of the coaches time and not engaging with the activities.

I also highly doubt they are enjoying the session as much as you think they are.

@NorthernGirlie no this was the emergency contact. I'm on the phone a lot so might not catch acall but would see an email, did it as a belts and braces, booked via my perosnal email.

agree @electriclight @QuietDragon but it might have been nice to give me an opportunity to tell him to stop being a pita and give him a last chance, he's 5 and well behaved which I think will be evident to them. Generally if you tell him something needs to stop and give him clear consequences he does, it would be nice to have been given that opportunity to do this or at very least sorted another option for tomorrow and Friday.

Really poor yep! Leave a bad review, I would

That’s why they emailed you, to make sure you got the message.
They have a choice about whether to put up with your child’s constant need for the toilet and they’ve chosen not to deal with it.

I don’t understand why they are not saying no to constant toilet breaks? Surely you’d just say you only went 10 minutes ago are you sure you need to go again? Isn’t that what happens at school?

@QuietDragon he told DH completely umprompted at bedtime that he 'loved the tennis so much' and he's not stopped going on about playing a game where he got to be a ghost all weekend so I'm pretty certain he enjoyed it.

When you booked this, irregardless of which device or email you booed it from, what contacts did you give them in what order?

If your work email was the LAST of these, then TABU.
If it was the first, you are

And if you say no and the child wets themselves????

@NorthStarRising it's not a constant physical need, I know exactly why, there'll be something they want to have a nosey at, he'll do this when he's out with me. Weh ave zero problems with this at pre-school where he went for 2.5 so it's not a regular thing. He'll stop once he's been rumbled! I have explained all this to them.

A preschooler does seem out of place at a half day sports camp aimed at primary school children, I can see how it would be very disruptive. Sounds like they've only just discovered this for themselves, which is very annoying and unfortunate for you!

I work for a tennis club, we run summer camps that have about 800 kids booked in each summer, in 14 years (so thousands of kids) we’ve never once had to cancel a booking for a child going to the toilet too much, the coaches just manage reasonable toilet breaks.

My view is they set an age limit, he’s within it and if they are not up for taking the level of childcare on as advertised it’s very poor show. It might be billed as ‘tennis coaching’ but it is a holiday club aka childcare so they need to step up. Regarding loo breaks and school - it’s not school, you are paying them to do childcare. Regarding those who say the child isn’t ‘learning’, the learning is a bonus, childcare during hols is the objective. They are paid to entertain him not paid to moan about a few more than average trips to the loo.

My guess is that they have under staffed the activity. They’ve made it from 5 so they can take siblings, because not many parents want to drop siblings to different activities in the holidays.

it’s piss poor they told you with 12 hours to go. I’d be really unhappy about that.