Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think sis in law is mad to want to get pony for...

23 replies

j0807bump · 06/03/2010 15:58

sis in law wants to get a pony 4 DD 2y10m cos she says she wants 1?!?!?

ok she has exp with horses and had from young but id say if DD wants a pony give her a bloody plastic one one!!!

27+ hours a week my pnts look after said DD so how can she have time to get a pony aswell

whilst im ranting stop giving my mum evils for not giving DD things before she says please

aaahhh!!!!!!!

OP posts:
compo · 06/03/2010 16:01

aw a 2 year old on a little shetland pony will be so cute
yabu
it's up to her

KurriKurri · 06/03/2010 16:11

Don't think a child should have a pony until he/she is old enough to at least help look after it, and understand the work involved in keeping a horse.

Seem to remember also reading somewhere that its not a good idea for children to start too young (could be nonsense, my memory is rubbish)

Fortunately the 'shall we get a pony' dilemma was never an issue for us

GlendaTheGrizzlyPiggy · 06/03/2010 16:23

YABU. I was brought up around horses and given a pony when I was 3. It has taught me a great deal about responsibility and given me a sense of pride. It really was the making of me. I can relate to people better because of the way I've learned to relate to my horses.

I think you sound very jealous tbh.

Original poster
j0807bump · 06/03/2010 16:25

i was lucky enough to get my own pony at 11 but dispite saying i wouldnt, did 'go off it' when boys came on the scene 14/15

DS isnt impressed with horses at all thank god but im 6m exp DD and it well may become an issue....not that we could afford it to be!

OP posts:
emsyj · 06/03/2010 16:28

My DH is already planning a pony purchase for DD, who is not even due til June .

There's something about horsey people (I used to be one, but lost interest at about 17) and DH is obsessed. His main motivation for wanting DC1 to be a girl was that girls are more likely to be into ponies. Apparently.

Original poster
j0807bump · 06/03/2010 16:47

its not so much jelousy as confusion for my DS when he has to say pls and thanks and doesnt get the moon on a stick like her DD.

dunno maybe i am jeleous. jus does my nut in

OP posts:
cory · 06/03/2010 17:01

But in that case, noone should be allowed a pony (or indeed any other pets) because it will confuse other children who can't have one. And presumably there are things that your ds has that he shouldn't be allowed, for fear of confusing other children who don't have it? That way madness lies.

pranma · 06/03/2010 17:41

We gave our dc their first pony when ds was 10 and dd 6.I think in op's case the pony is probably mainly for the mum to play with!Although Shetland ponies are not as sweet as they look ime-better with a little Welsh Section A or an Exmoor.

Morloth · 06/03/2010 17:43

My sis has horses and her DD was bought a pony when she was about 2yos. It is their "thing".

OTTMummA · 06/03/2010 17:48

i don't know, i would find it a bit extravagent for a 2 yr old!
maybe take her riding every week, but i certainly would not buy a pony for a 2 yr old.
whenever i see a small child on a horse i always think of gone with the wind

JemL · 06/03/2010 18:04

If they are horsey people, it isn't that weird. And it is up to them, so YABU.

skihorse · 06/03/2010 18:32

YABU. Would you be getting your knickers in a twist if she'd bought the child a fucking dollhouse?

Original poster
j0807bump · 06/03/2010 18:35

nah shes got a big pink dollhouse but they dnt require a lifetime responsibility!

OP posts:
yumimummi · 06/03/2010 18:38

Maybe your sil just wants a pony & this is the excuse?! DS wants a pony. He got a cat. (ok, I got a cat.)

yumimummi · 06/03/2010 18:41

Oh, and your ds can have a ride without any of the hassle of looking after and paying for it - maybe there are some benefits? (I like to look on the bright side
)

Original poster
j0807bump · 06/03/2010 18:51

think sil does want 1 for herself too but she has given them away to charitys when became too much in past years.

think i started this thread without enuf backround.

i am a mnet newbie and guess have an axe to grind when i know that shel run out of time and expect others to pick up duties ie my supposedly 'retired mum'

jelous? not of neice getting a pony/things we cant afford/dont feel appropriate, no.

of me not feeling i can have a free babysitter/dog walker whenever i feel the need? yes, probably, definatly.

OP posts:
yumimummi · 06/03/2010 18:57

Pony just a catalyst then for all this other stuff. What does your mum say about it all? Is she unhappy about how much childcare she's doing for sil? Can she still babysit for you? Why do you feel you are drawing the short straw?

faddle · 06/03/2010 18:58

Its her money, her child, and her who will be shovelling sh*t for an hour a day, let her get on with it.
I dunno, I probably wouldnt just because she has asked for it - fair enough if mum already has a nag and will be going to stables to look after it, not much difference doing 2 instead of one, but to buy a toddler a pony when mum/dad/older sibling doesnt already own one, just because toddler has asked for one, its a bit daft I think?
As for not starting them too young - I've been riding since I could walk, did me no harm and kept me off the streets as a kid. Both my kids were down the yard the day I came home from hospital with them, again, they seem to have survived?
Def wouldnt buy a shetland though, it would probably eat the child........

Original poster
j0807bump · 06/03/2010 19:05

probly getting to the nub of it really.

mum is great and shell have DS and bump if i ever ask, i guess its cos neice is v.demanding and I feel pnts are so knackered by end of week i cant ask if i need help.

we tend to just visit the days they have neice cos then they at least get some free time though i know if i needed them they would make themselves free

it is the little things too like the unapprichiative nature of them towards prnts and the way they are thought of as interfering ie with the pls/thnqs.

gotta go. bathtime. kinda dreading what will be posted here in a couple hours!

OP posts:
LittlePushka · 06/03/2010 19:05

faddle...maybe that is the very reason a shetlend is suitable !

TrickyTeenagersMum · 06/03/2010 20:09

I got a pony for PFB1 ds1 for his second birthday. I just couldn't help myself, I was so overexcited to have kids and I love love love horses.
We had a lot of fun with the pony for a couple of years, pottering around with half the kids in the village on its back (it was a saint). Then ds got fed up with it and I was really busy and broke so we sold it. So no harm done. Ponies are not pets for life, esp shetlands, as kids only ride them for a few years and then grow out of them. But they are better than most pets cos you can usually sell them when you don't want them any more.
But OP I think your issues are not so much with the pony as with your family and childcare arrangements. That is much less easy to solve than popping pony into Freeads and selling it on when you don't want it any more. Good luck, stay cool.

HerBeatitude · 06/03/2010 20:12

All I could think of when I saw this thread title was that episode of the Simpsons where Homer has to take 3 jobs and never sleep in order to get Lisa a pony.

As you were...

Original poster
j0807bump · 06/03/2010 21:06

trickyteenmum. thats the issue i think and dont get me wrong i have bought an sold horses as you say but the girl hasnt even sat on one yet and an hour lesson round here costs simlar to keeping a horse on grazing only week to week guess with a payoff if it doesnt work

as for the childcare, yeah its a touchy one no one wants to fall out with anyone where family is concerned. bin through it before with other sil.

love the simpsons comment but trust me theyd sell it before takin on extra hours!

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread