How much freedom would you give your DC on holiday in a campsite?

[Rainallnight]

DP and I tend to be on the (over?) cautious side of parenting. We’re on holiday in a French campsite. There was a show on this evening. I was keeping an eye on DS, 6, playing football, just outside the venue, while DD, 8 and a friend were running in and out of the show venue, getting water from the bar, going to the loo etc. She came past me every 5-10 mins.

DP was chatting to someone.

When it was time to leave, we couldn’t find DD. She was inside the venue down the front row, with friend, watching the show.

DP got really anxious and angry afterwards saying that it was the only time this holiday they’d ‘taken their eye off tbe ball’, and DD had ‘got lost’.

I think this sort of running about in this kind of setting is normal and DD wasn’t far from where we expected to find her.

YABU - Of course, you idiot, she could have been abducted in a camper van.

YANBU - this is what holidays are for and having a bit of freedom is good for kids.

That's a normal amount of freedom. Unlikely that they'd both go missing. The anger is wrong, but if he wants to keep a closer watch on her, I think that he's entitled to do so.

Thank you. I think the anger was more that sort of anger you feel when you’ve been very worried. There was probably about 7 minutes when we couldn’t find her and I was also worried.

We have trailed after them both ALL the time this holiday.

Nowhere can be assumed to be ‘safe’. Madeleine McCann’s parents thought their sunny middle class backwater holiday resort was safe. Sadly, it wasn’t for their child.

I wouldn’t - and didn’t - ever take my eyes off my children. Yes it’s over cautious but I’d rather be safe than sorry. On a risk assessment you’d put it at very very low risk, but the outcome would be so life altering and devastating you just wouldn’t take the risk. I wouldn’t anyway.

It’s not the same as Madeline McCann at all.
running in and out of a clubhouse on a campsite with a friend at 8 is perfectly normal behaviour, they hadn’t gone off they were there in the room so at no danger at all,
just make sure you’ve set the boundaries of where they are allowed and time limits for being out of sight.
it’s not doing you or them and favours being watched alll the time, it’s better to learn independence slowly and on a site with limited people and traffic is the perfect place at those ages.

Lots of freedom as long as they're not noisy or disturbing anyone else.

Oh, and this sounds nuts but I used to make mine tell me if they went to the loo so I could check they'd left it clean and ready for the next person. Whatever I was doing, I'd get up and check. I absolutely can't stand when people leave their DC to roam on campsites and festivals and they inadvertently trash the loos because they're just little and messy and forget to flush or accidentally block the toilet or leave droplets on the seat or tissue on the floor. If they know I'm going to pop my head in to check when they're finished, they leave it looking smart. I only stopped checking once they turned 10. I really wish everyone did.