Firework display fiasco at the DCs' nursery. Not sure if I'm furious with them or myself.

[Slubberdegullion]

My dds (2 & 3) nursery had their firework party tonight. It's an annual event (always very popular so said the info), but we are fairly new so hadn't been before.

dd1 did not like fireworks last year (the banging variety), so had planned to avoid all things bonfire nightish this year, but we got the info through and I thought 'Oh a little display run by the nursery for the children and their parents, it's going to be pretty tame isn't it?'

I know 'no bang' displays do exist as our local round table runs one which we took the dd's (successfully) to last year.

So tonight all was good, burgers (good), mulled wine (good), toffee apples (good), little kids racing around all very happy in the dark (good).

And then the fireworks started.

And all fucking hell broke loose.

Totally fucking massive, enormous, multiple exploding bonzer rockets they were. And a good few didn't go up, oh no, for some inexplicably horrifying reason they shot out sideways exploding in trees and on the ground.

I would say the majority of the kids were in tears. My two were just terrified. Parents disappearing left right and centre, taking cover in the nursery. We just got in the car and came home.

I should have checked shouldn't I? I should have asked that they were going to do a really tame, no bangs display? Maybe a catherine wheel and one of those fizzly things and a few sparklers being whizzed around in a circle.

Or am I allowed to be just slightly dismayed and a tiny bit livid that a nursery would organise a display like this?

Did I fuck up, or did the nursery?

Sounds MAD to me although both mine hate bangs (don't ALL children?!?!?) so I would avoid that sort of thing completely

wow - sounds like a fuck up by the nursery
there are enough health and safety rules for the kids, why wouldn't they check fireworks?

FWIW, i would have assumed that a nursery for teeny children would not have a re-enactment of WW2 for its bonfire display

hope your DDs are ok now.

Nuts! (the nursery I mean, not you).
Questions need to be asked.
My sister works in a nursery and they specify non-scary halloween costumes (no masks etc), never mind fireworks.

Tbh even if it were a primary school what you describe sounds way over the top.

I don't think I would have checked. Would have assumed it would be really tame.

They're fine now Ruby thanks. From abject terror to "Mummy can we have Charlie and Lola story peees" in a matter of minutes.

I will new be politely declining the invitations to the fireworks parties we have been asked to on saturday and monday though.

fwiw a large firework exploding inside a horse chestnut is really quite a spectacular sight to behold.

Gawd I'm feeling a bit sorry for the horse chestnut...

blimey - sounds memorable

Glad they are ok ...

dd's nursery had fireworks every year

halfway up the field across the road. Everyone stood within the grounds of the nursery and were completely safe.

Complain to Ofsted.

tissy, I will certainly be having a little word tomorrow.

Something along the lines of "why not tone it down a bit next year, some sort of display that will not provoke faecal incontinence in 50% of your target audience or illuminate internally the nearby trees?"

I think the masses of parents scooping up offspring and leaving will have given its own message!

A bit misjudged certainly given how much effort had gone into everything else they organised. Were the fireworks something they did themselves or did they bring in someone to do it for them? I wouldn't complain to Ofsted but would have a brief word with the manager as you drop off/pick up and see what she has to say. Hopefully something like they were too loud - we won't be doing that again - or we had no idea they'd use bangers etc.

ok, so complaining to Ofsted may be a bit OTT unless they regularly misbehave like this

I am amazed the nursery took on such a liability. I wouldn't complain to OFSTED either. Just tell the nursery manager that you and many other parents did not appreciate the war-like re-enactment and was wholly unsuitable. If they are incapable of setting up a fireworks display safely, then they shouldn't set one up at all.

I think (to use your words!) you fucked up by not checking about the noise aspect. The sideways shooting rockets is the fault of the firework display company (this happened at the school display one year, presumably due to windy conditions, but was the far end of the playing field)

Complain to Ofsted? What would you say? That the fireworks went bang? It was firework display. What did you expect?