Toddler loves watching diggers and building sites - AIBU to let him?

[Jean24601Valjean]

This may be a really stupid question but DS absolutely loves diggers etc. We can't go past a building site or other type of workmen activity without him asking to stop and watch. Sometimes I say no if we are in a rush but otherwise I often stop so he can watch for a bit. Sometimes it is clear that the workmen are happy with this e.g. if they wave or say hello to him. But other times it's not clear and I wonder if I'm being unreasonable. Like, what other jobs is it OK for a small child you don't know to sit and watch you do it? On the one hand I think it's nice because he obviously thinks what they are doing is the coolest thing ever but on the other hand I feel like it might come off as intrusive. Am I overthinking this or am I being unreasonable by stopping to watch? Of course I could ask to see if they mind but that's not always possible and if I'm honest I feel a bit silly doing so. I don't want to interrupt their work!

It's fine - you're not gawping at them in a rude way and they're working in public spaces. Plus, I think pretty much all builders are very used to children being fascinated by what they do.

See also: children who love standing on a bridge and waving at trains/buses/canal boats etc. Everyone on the vehicle should actually be legally obliged to wave back to them by law, as far as I'm concerned.

Honestly part of me thinks it might be instructive for some workmen to find out what it feels like to have women staring at them

That‘s a good point 😃

Why not get your son a yellow hard hat to wear so that he feels like he's part of the action?

The Glowhouse Yellow Construction Boss Hard Hat Builder Kids Play Fancy Dress : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

Let him watch, and maybe buy picture books with pictures of diggers etc as well. When my DH was made redundant and became a SAHD by default as I had to return to work he said taking the boys to watch the roadworks every afternoon saved his sanity.

Used to do this with Ds

Longest was around an hour

He also watched the neighbors have their drive paved, that was a day of a job

Mine loved Build-A-Block. So many random construction machines you didn’t realise had actual names! (Grader, pipe layer, backhoe loader etc)

Of course adults and teens can watch, and enjoy the thrills. We stayed in two ancient Spanish cities which are undergoing big restorations and watching the huge tower cranes lift machines and materials over whole buildings into the narrowest of mediaeval streets (only wide enough for horses and carts) was a major source of wonder and admiration. You can only marvel at their operators' skill.

Same! The train drivers always beeped their horns as they came into the station if they saw DS waving at them too. So nice of them, and made DS so incredibly happy.

@Circumferences luckily there are a lot of new build houses being built where we are so it’s easy enough to find one and a good spot to park. Much better in the rain too when we can have the wipers on too!

I had no idea about Diggerland. It warms my heart to think a place like that exists.

And here's this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Il43JqfzaRM

I think the world would be better if we all were a little more like these guys.

@Jean24601Valjean Maybe take him to Diggerland. It is a whole attraction you can go on with diggers! Diggerland UK Theme Park in Kent, Devon, Durham and Yorkshire

I jumped on to suggest this, we went when my son was little. He LOVED it!

My son used to stop and interrogate workmen who were digging holes in our street.

It’s old now but have you seen Truck Tunes 2 on YouTube?

I'm 60 and one of my earliest memories is being taken by my mum to see a building being demolished near where we lived. Simple experiences are brilliant for toddlers.

If any of the builders get the hump with you, just say loudly "don't worry, I'm not checking you out. I like something a bit bigger than what you can offer."

Then point out (loudly) one of the diggers to your DC.

When my brother was about three he watched a bridge being built across the local river, he could see it clearly from our front garden. Well, when I say watched I think it is probably more true to say that without the sterling digger and tractor work and humongous earth moving effort he put in from our garden that bridge would never have been completed.

It's not only toddlers. When we were out at a cafe there was a lad about 10 with very evident disabilities and he was excitedly waving to all the big wagons going past and every single one waved back but one blew this little horn thing and as he got to where I was sitting he blew his airhorn 😂. I nearly had a heart attack but his Little face was a picture of happiness.
Sometimes it's the little things.

This is how I survived lockdown, we had an industrial site being built nearby and I would load my toddler and newborn in the car and watch for a good. 20 mins/ half hour the baby slept and the toddler just watched fascinated

When I was 3 we moved to a new build. Apparently I used to visit all the digger on the site every day and I remember loving them building directly opposite us!

YANBU, OP, not at all.

I'm 68, and I'm still fascinated by diggers, bulldozers, even the humble dumper truck, and I find tractors and other agricultural machinery quite unfeasibly enthralling.

I once pulled over in a layby to watch a combine harvester doing its stuff.

Jeez you don’t have other things to think about?

When our son was a toddler he was fascinated by construction sites. It was a weekly trip for about a year to go to a local site where there was shops but also a major construction site. The guys got to know our son and used to make the bucket shake on the digger over and over again as it would make our son do this cute giggle they couldn’t get enough of chatting to him.

My toddler loves this too. High point was when he was watching a digger and the driver got out of the digger and lifted my toddler into the driver seat for a photo, then showed him how to beep the horn. I've found most people are fine as long as you're polite although I do feel quite self conscious sometimes 🤣. We recently had the new fibre network installed and workers were lovely with him, we followed them round the estate for about 4 days in a row 🙈. They said it was a nice change from people shouting them for all the disruption.

Aw! You're reminding me when we had an extension build. Ds was 20 months old. It kept him fully entertained for nearly 6 weeks, although he was a bit put out he couldn't have a go with the mini digger.
When we had a big lorry arriving with the concrete he nearly went mad trying to see them both pouring the concrete into the wheelbarrows from the lorry, and then taking it round the back and pouring it into the foundations.

At 3yo, he thought working for Kwik Fit was the height of anyone's ambitions. He used to sigh and look at the wheels with envy. They were really good at talking to him and answering his questions. He thought working with wheels was the best job ever.

He's now 16yo and wants to work with computers. Nothing like as cute.

I suspect the workmen like having the kids around just as much as the kids enjoy watching