Difference of opinion

[handlemecarefully]

Esteemed fellow mumsnetters,

Perhaps you can help settle an argument between dh and I....I shall write this as neutrally as posssible so you can't tell which 'camp' I am in....

Here goes: the plan (by one party) was to take 19 month old dd on her trike (she can't pedal it herself, but is strapped on and pushed by an adult) for a little ride near our house. We live in a rural location and planned route was down a country road with no pavements. Said road is not particularly busy, but vehicles that do use it sometimes exceed the 40 mph speed limit, doing 50mph-ish. However the road is quite straight and visibility is reasonably good.

Is this safe? - or would you stick to a road with pavements. Is the person who objected to this ridiculously over cautious / OTT?, or by contrast is the person who proposed this lacking in basic common sense?

Should we get divorced ? (just joking on the last one)

I think that the party who wants to stick to roads with pavements is right - absolutely. Why take a risk like this when it is not necessary, on a trike as well which I don't think are particularly safe for all the reasons which people have already mentioned. I would not be happy if my dh wanted to do this. The person who objects is not being over-cautious just normal!!!!
Given the fact that your 19 month old can't pedal the trike she will be even more unsteady on it than if she could. Plus I don't think those straps hold children on trikes properly.

Stick to the pavements

Dear All,

Thanks very much. The majority of you think that it is unwise to trike down this road with no pavements...which was....exactly my position!!!

However my dh is so keen to label me as over cautious / obsessively careful / OTT, that I start to believe him at times and question my own judgement.

It is reassuring to hear that many of you agree with me.

Can I hear the printer working, handlemecarefully?!

Yes you may have heard it whirr into action Droile

hmc - my DP is the same - he's always saying to me "oh don't worry it'll be fine", making me feel neurotic. Last holiday in lake district he had DS in a back pack carrier and he went and stood on the edge of a (slippery) waterfall with a 20 ft drop. He just couldn't see what my concern was.

hmc - you realise if you print this out he'll just say everyone on here is a neurotic mum!

You're probably right Wobblyknicks.

Marriage would be so great if it didn't involve husbands....

It's really frustrating actually - he often kindly offers to take Lily out for half a day on his own at the weekend to give me some 'me' time. A considerate and generous offer - but I can't take him up on it because he is hopeless. He'll go out without nappies...or forget its her lunch time and wonder why she is hysterical.

The latest example of his ineptitude - on Sunday, he appeared with a 6 pack of fromage frais which he had discovered in the car boot. We worked out that the fromage frais had been there for 8 days (it had been left their by accident when we last went to Sainsburys). Dh was all for feeding these to dd. I had to point out that even in February a car boot for 8 days is no substitute for a fridge. He thought I was mad to throw them out.

I dunno, perhaps I am too hard on him!