AIBU? Kid's kicking rotting apples in a field / parent had a right go

[TheZanyPanda]

Took my two boys (DS15 and DS13) out for a walk and a picnic in the Yorkshire Dales over the weekend. It was lovely—other families were around, everyone was relaxing, and we found a nice spot in a field to sit for a bit.

After eating, I wanted to read my book for half an hour while the boys let off some steam. Near the edge of the field, there were a few wild apple trees with a ton of bruised and rotting apples all over the floor.

The lads decided to have a bit of a kick-about with them. They spent about 30 minutes mucking about with the already-fallen/rotting apples, kicking them to each other like a football, and stepping / stomping on some. They were in my sight the entire time, weren't shouting or swearing, and were just genuinely having innocent fun.

Out of nowhere, another parent walked over and had an absolute kick-off at them (and then me). She was furious, claiming they shouldn't be "kicking fruit" or "making a mess."

I stood up for the boys and said they were just letting off steam, weren't being rowdy, and the apples were already on the ground rotting anyway so no harm was done. She wasn't having it at all—told me we were "ruining the area for everyone" and said we "shouldn't come back," before storming off.

It totally ruined the atmosphere and has left a really sour taste in my mouth. They're teenage boys having a bit of fun and letting off steam with mushy apples in a field, not vandalism!

Am I Being Unreasonable to think she completely overreacted and was way out of line? Or should I have stopped them?

YBU - They were making a mess and ruining the area, leave the fruit alone. YANBU - Harmless fun with rotting apples, the other parent needs to get a grip!

It would make a mess and attract bees, wasps with the damaged fruit, so really not acceptable behaviour.

I have apples on the grass in my garden. The ones that have fallen because they may have had a maggot in etc.
Properly I should pick them up. But I know the birds and squirrels and a whole host of other wildlife eat them. So they are left for them to nibble on. The odd one does get stamped on. And becomes a right mess if you have to mow over it. I pity the mower of the grass !

They just apples. They will get smushed into the ground and start another load of apple trees. The wild life will also come along and feast on them.
Just apples.
Not napalm.
Some people should get a life 😅

As it was far away from other people, I don't see the issue to be honest.

Fruit was already damaged, wasps would've already been there imo.

Good, we need to encourage bees 😊

13 and 15 year old kicking a load of rotten apples about is pretty anti social. they would have been booting them hard at each other and carrying on, of course they would have.

it's not crime of the century but if this is going on for half an hour it's bound to piss off others

could they not just mess about on there phone looking up memes or something like normal teenagers?

Wouldn’t bother me. Totally harmless. It’s not as if they were throwing them at cars or windows. Some people just seem to need something to complain about.

Well maybe.

But take this as an example. You are sitting along with everyone else enjoying your book quietly and someone turns up with a bunch of kids that scream their heads off and plays loud music via portable speakers.

Are they technically doing anything illegal ? No. But they well be ruining the atmosphere for everyone else.

You state the atmosphere was "relaxing". Two teenagers kicking around and smashing up a load of fruit doesn't fit in with many peoples idea of a relaxing atmosphere.

There is such a thing as reading the room. You don't necessarily have to be doing something illegal to piss people off.

They weren’t doing anything technically or morally wrong as far as you’ve described it but I can see how half an hour of being around that would be a bit annoying and it would look mindlessly destructive.

Couldn’t you have packed a ball as well as a book? Why are they so pent up with ‘steam’ that they need half an hour of kicking and stamping on things?

Agree. Some of these comments are insane! Kids kicking apples has surely happened for centuries. They were hardly battering grannies whilst wearing balaclavas

How is kicking a ball less annoying than kicking an apple?

Genuinely asking - I wouldn't be bothered by either, but surely if you're the type of person to get annoyed by one then you'd get annoyed by the other?

Lol yes, it's well known that boys lose all interest in kicking spherical objects around when they reach puberty.

Depends how far they were away from the other families really.

Not the crime of the century but bloody annoying. I wouldn't have said anything but would have muttered about your parenting to my family and gave you a few looks!

I definitely wouldn’t have let my DC do it. It seems a bit destructive, so I don’t like that as a concept. But there’s no great harm in it, so she overreacted

I suppose that the apples would have just been mouldering under the tree and now they're spread out mouldering all over the field. Its definitely a bit nuts to confront someone over it though

I would have looked over and thought how nice it is that teenagers can still have some innocent fun.

I am really surprised that people are saying 15 and 13 is too old for a kick about and a laugh with fallen fruit. They are still kids!

Absolutely! I'd have tutted at seeing teens on their phones "looking at memes like normal teenagers" personally!

I also hope nobody on this thread comes across any teens having snowball fights this winter, they'll have a nervy b 🤣

Am so impressed your teenagers were out doing this rather than skulking inside on phones. They really weren’t doing anything wrong. Am mid 50s and still find it quite satisfying to stomp on a windfall.

My DS was told off for whipping nettles with a stick as we walked along a path -he was about 9 and DGS built a cycle jump in a ditch in the local dog walking area, all the young boys cycled there and took turns -someone complained and it was fenced off

There are some right miserable sods in the world

I don't think your sons were doing anything wrong OP, sounds like an overreaction from the woman. Also not sure what the snarky comments are about their ages, better outside for a kickabout (albeit with a mouldy apple) than indoors on a screen.

FML I’d far rather see kids - and yes especially teen boys - kicking around a few rotten apples rather than some things I see kids and teenagers do. From the way op described they were out of the way of others and just mucking about not harming anyone, just having harmless fun. The apples would mulch down anyway.

Apple trees out and about in fields always drop fruit. It always rots and attracts (drunken by the time they've finished) wasps.

Totally normal for kids to have a kick-about with fallen apples where I grew up, the rotten ones aren't good for anything (and animals won't care if they're a bit more smushed), and the vast majority of anything that's already fallen will already be a bit too damaged for most humans to want them - they'd just pick whatever's still good on the tree.

YANBU to let them have a little bit of fun with something that will still be just as good for the purpose it had before afterwards.