To not go to school playgrounds/kids places during school holidays/weekends

[HJA87]

EDIT: the title should just say “playgrounds” not “school playgrounds”.

I’m currently a SAHM and just been to the park with my kids which was completely deserted apart from
mums with newborns/v young babies in prams. I’m guessing 99% of toddlers/preschoolers are in childcare. Made me realise how awful (busy) playgrounds etc are during school holidays/weekends/after 3 PM. AIBU to avoid kids spaces at weekends/school holidays?

You seem obsessed with my posting history and are derailing from the post in question. Are you bored and looking to start an argument?

Most nurseries have big gardens with play equipment in them, as do schools, so no I wouldn’t say that at all. The kids in nurseries get lots of park equipment time every day, and throughout the holidays.

There are 13 weeks of school holidays in the year and 39 weeks that schools are open.

No, it's not unreasonable to take your children to these places for only 39 weeks of the year, instead of 52. They will be fine. It will not hinder their development.

It may also save you money, as prices are hiked up during holidays.

And all the parents who's kids are in school and have no choice but to take them during holidays will thank you for making everywhere a little less busy!

No - I just object to disingenuous posters wasting genuine posters’ time. So I’m happy to flag to others that your very new account appears to be here merely to bash working parents whose childcare.

That's a pretty important thing to leave out of your OP.

I'd mix it up a bit and take them sometimes when it's busy too.

But really don't see how you could be unreasonable if doing it your way suits you.

But isn’t this the same as my kids using the equipment in our garden? That poster specifically said that parents who don’t take their kids out to playgrounds/parks shouldn’t have children.

Depends how big and what you have in your garden, and if other kids are playing in it too. At nursery it’s a change of scene from our house with different play equipment, and they have big climbing frames, swings, slides, water play like at the park, the plus lots of other children to play with and learn to socialise. So no I’d say it is actually quite different from playing in the garden at home. My kids get the opportunity to do both, and I also take them to the park at weekends and holidays too.

How old are they?

Fair enough. I guess it depends on your location. A lot of nurseries in big cities don’t have that much outdoor space.

Hi op, 👋 SAHM here. Yes I hate taking dd to busy playgrounds and softplay etc. My dd is immunosuppressed so I do have an additional concern but yes I do generally avoid very busy places like that. We live rurally and love the peaceful natural lifestyle so I'm always overwhelmed by crowds.
I wouldn't worry about not taking them to busy places, sounds like you're doing a great job to me 😀

YABU. There are plenty of time during weekends or school holidays when playgrounds are empty. It's a useless restriction.

Ours barely has any children before 10am, quiet until 11am and then gets busy from there. It gets quieter again towards 5pm.

The key question here is - “how old are they?”

If they’re pre school then NBU to look for the quieter times.

If they’re at school you would BU to pull them out of school to go, or to never go to anything aimed at children, not even the park.

I work in a school so my dc go to the park only at busy periods. It’s fine.

What age are your kids? Taking small preschool children to a busy park is not fun. Taking a 9 year old who can run around a big age appropriate park while you sit on a blanket nearby might be more appealing than you think.

Yanbu not to go, but as with most things it is likely you will go to activities for kids you would rather not go to. I couldn't be bothered reading an extra book to my youngest last night but I did.

Yes YABU. I’ve lived in some very child heavy areas and even there the playgrounds were never ridiculously busy. Plus most children (SEN excepted) would prefer not to play in a near-deserted playground? They enjoy the social aspects as much as anything else.

What a horrible response!
Yes, when my children are all grown up and I ask them what I did to be a good mother to them, they will say: mum took us to the park 🙄
Please.
There are a million ways to be a good mum.
I consider myself to be a very good mum, or at least one who tries to be as good as I can be. However, I also get a say in things I enjoy doing with my children. Some parents like cooking and baking with their children. Others prefer adventurous activities. Others take their children on far-away holidays. Others just include their children in the everyday household activities. Others read books with their children
All of these are good parents. None of them should have not had children just because there's one thing they don't like to do.

I get the impression that it's not that the OP doesn't think it's fine it's that she doesn't like busy parks. That's totally valid imo but what I don't get is why she needs permission to hold that view and not go

Maybe I was a bad parent when my children were younger but I didn't go out of my way to do stuff I didn't like when there were alternatives but the internet was going then and we had to make our own decisions 😂

Well as you might have seen from some replies, people do indeed hold strong opinions on this topic (including that I shouldn’t have children if I don’t go) 😀

I didn't go to playgrounds or children's places during school holidays/after school or at weekends because I found them too busy so I made the most of taking my little one before he started school. Now my child is at school then we have no other choice but I still try and go when I think it will be a bit quieter.

Don't take this comment too seriously OP.
It's just one voice in the many.

Do you know how high we as a society have set the bar for women and mothers? It's like we often can't even have our own identity because it just might harm the development of our children.
Do you know what children also need, besides going to the park when they want to? To learn to deal with disappointment when things don't go their way. That is a basic life skill that many children aren't being taught anymore.
No parent is perfect. Not a single one. It's much better to teach your children to handle the inevitable disappointment they will feel when their parents let them down, than to push yourself to extremes to try to avoid them having any kind of emotion.

The thing I'm most proud of in regards to my motherhood, is that my children feel free to tell me: mum, I was really sad when you did this/didn't do this. And I can say: I know, love. I'm so sorry I've made you sad. I had my reasons to make that choice but I'm also here to comfort you when my choices hurt you. And thank you for telling me how you feel.
I will be that mother every single time, rather than being the mum who crosses her own boundaries to do whatever my children want.