Nursery painting 2-4 yo nails

[Vanillalatte1]

My 4 year old DS returned from nursery with his nails painted and said it was varnish day at nursery and that the teachers were painting the kids nails. Is this normal? The kids are between 2 - 4 years old. They seem a bit young to me.

Exactly. It's all well and good posters saying they wouldn't mind etc but that's not the point. The point is there's no purpose to them doing it and there are rules settings need to follow and by not asking consent these were obviously not followed.

It's not like doing it at home with your own children.

I know a wind up when I see one.

You're actually just giving me a good laugh 😂

My DGD (only just four) loves the kiddy nail varnishes! I don't know why anyone's thinking that the nursery is using the adult stuff. Of course they won't!

I'm not remotely girly and have never worn make up, but my own kids loved the Tinkerbell stuff and tottering around in my shoes when they were little, and DGD is the same. They're just like pretending to be grown up at that age.

I'm honestly stunned that so many people in this thread are annoyed by it. If anything I'd have thought that parents would be more easy going about pretend make up than they were when I was at that stage.

OP, is it childrens nail polish or regular adult polish?

Shit. What if it's just felt pen??? I don't want daughters any more. I've come to terms with ending my mitochondrial DNA lineage.

I know this is side tracking but...Why are other pps getting so mad at some parents saying they wouldn't like their sons or boys rocking about with nail varnish? If my husband toodled down the stairs with painted finger nails I'd have questions/think it odd/wonder what planet he's on but you daren't suggest you'd be uncomfortable with your son doing the same for some reason...

Parents who love to see their boys wearing skirts, painting their nails, wearing lipstick, playing with dolls, go you!

Parents who would rather not the above, that's ok too!

The judgement is now reversed and you're seen as a terrible person if you'd rather your son not wear nail varnish.

Sexism isn't ok though, is it?

I feel more attractive when I wash my face and comb my hair. Thankfully nursery never seem to wash the kids faces so I have no need to worry about the sexualisation of my child. Next time I eye roll at the state of them, I'll remember it's good it's not about being sexy for the other kids or staff.

If 3 yos only need to be in for 15 hrs according to the Government, then surely that allows plenty of time for dicking about for kids who are school hours or even full days? Obv the 15 hour kids need to keep their nose to the grindstone at 3 so they don't fail at life

End of prescriptive gender norm reinforcement, presumably.

So hoping that that poster's son rocks Day-Glo nail polish one of these days, and I don't even wear it myself 😜

Well DS at 3 does lots of things I wouldn't want DH to do because DH is 47. Surely you don't actually have the same standards for your young child and your grown adult husband? I mean DS, 3, if forever pulling his willy, walking around the house naked, blowing rapsberries on his brother's butt. DH refrains.

🥱 very angry is extreme,
It's harmless fun

Why would it matter if it was a son or daughter?

I imagine it’s peel off. It’s just play.

Oh my goodness,
Dress up play is an issue now ?

It's all imagination play. Kids see it as harmless fun

Sexualised ???
We are in 2023. Your views are actually baffling and you 100% sound like a prude

That happened to my son in playschool. Some of the girls were getting their nails done and he wanted to as well. I was told they couldn't say no as it would be discriminating against him, It didn't bother me in the slightest.

Look, you may think a child sitting stationary for ten minutes whilst an adult does their nails is a good use of time, but childcare settings have goals and standards they need to meet, not to mention most toddlers would find that dull as hell. It's not a case of fun, versus learning, as you are so keen to frame it, it is a case of there is a way for it to be fun, appropriately risk assessed, parentally informed and developing key skills.

Would you like to engage with any of the above points or are you merely going to continue to posture it as 'right on fun' versus 'boring learning'?

Because nail varnish on kids is just play, it’s like face paint or dressing up.

It’s not sexualised or part of the beauty industry like make up and nail varnish on an adult. Not that that means a man shouldn’t wear them, but it’s different from kids play.

Children having fun doesn’t need to be sexualised or stereotyped. Don’t be a weirdo.

it is a case of there is a way for it to be fun, appropriately risk assessed, parentally informed and developing key skills.

@WhenSheWasBadshewasawesome

You aren’t selling it

That's the reality of the nuts and bolts of eyfs. If it was just oh I fancy doing this random unplanned thing anyone could do it.

I mean, I cannot be bothered to explain it anymore but the problem is not the concept it's the execution. But you and others can continue to use it as a virtue signalling exercise.

Toddlers love having 'nail varnish' on, and the kiddy stuff takes two minutes, max, to apply. We're not taking carefully applying adult nail varnish to adult nails!

And jeeze, the kids is three. There's room for play in a three year old's nursery experience. I'd be horrified if there wasn't.

Fortunately I've visited lots of nurseries/pre-schools professionally, and know that there's plenty of pretend play and dressing up, and it's actively encouraged.

@theduchessofspork thats a ridiculous argument. If that's the case give them a pair of fish nets and a bra to "play dress up in"

At what point did I say dress up was not ok.
It's about the child playing a passive role in play for an extended time, coupled with the possibility of allergies etc.

Were you visiting as a prospective pupil or something?!

It's not passive for an extended time. As I said, applying my DGD's play nail 'varnish' takes less than two minutes. And she's absolutely absorbed in every second.

And no, as a teacher visiting children who were going to be in my class the following term.