Do you let your DC climb up slides in the park?

[rosie79]

My ds who's 3 has always been really into climbing (like most kids this age!) and for as long as he has been able to has climbed up slides in parks as well as sliding down them. He always waits his turn if it's busy and doesn't climb up if someone is about to slide down. I have always let him do this as I know that he knows his own limits and has yet to have any accidents, he is careful. Our parks are rarely very busy either. However, I have often heard other mums say to their kids as they try to climb up the slide "no dear, go up the normal way" or the "proper way" or similar words to this effect, or worse "you'll get the slide dirty" !! So their shoes doen't make it dirty if they slide down?! .
It doesn't bother me what other parents let and don't let their kids do, that's their choice, but to imply that my child is doing something wrong or abnormal and give me funny looks or say stuff extra loud so I hear them, that's annoying!! surely in playgrounds children should be able to use the equipment however they choose to, exploring and being adventurous? Isn't this what childhood is all about? With a bit of adult supervision it isn't dangerous. Am I on my own in feeling like this?

You bastard VVV!

Right, that's it, I'm getting my line-drawing crayon out now...

This is why I love mumsnet

nyeh nyeh! I wrote after hunker's line!

(mental note: must stop typing after drinking wine)

//////////////////////////////\

i scribbled out your line

oh GOD...ive been to a park with twig....
what did i do ...what did i doooo?...was ds bratty?...was i slack?...it could have gone either way.

I cant REMEMBER! [genuine anxiety]

and i ignore typing convention.

three strikes and im out!

(i blimmin LOVE marmite though)

didnt see the line

Hello, BoT - don't fret, DS was well-behaved

My DS1 ran off a lot and sat in his pushchair eating sandwiches and twiglets, I seem to remember

Oh, am I glad, most of the replys I have read on this, and I admit it wasn't all, seemed to be just down my street, lol...my ds use the slide to go up on as well as going down...and indeed in some parks the slides are to difficult for lil ones to climb up the "proper" way, so, going on them the "wrong" way is the only way!
Like someone else said, Parks are for playing nor learning, aslong as we draw the line as jumping the queue and hurting other Kids, lol!

wow I don't think I'll ever see parks in quite the same way again... I'll always be wondering if any MNers are around and which camp they fall into RE slide etiquette!

Just warn your kids never to loop their jackets over the slide from underneath and do a zip-wire slide down it when there is a vertical support pole halfway down. DS1 knocked his front teeth out that way

Don't worry Rosie, if you're in my park you'll know its me, I'll be the one handing out the Park Etiquette leaflets

Ha ha

Hmmm.....just spent minutes reading sample of views....suddenly reminded me of 'Why don't you.....just switch off your (television set) and go and do something better instead'
Can't believe this is a hotbed of controversy. Surely there are no rules, only conventions. Surely childhood is about exploration, development and discovery. Surely if it isnt interfering with others enjoyment it's acceptable to climb but if it is obstructing others then it's not. Surely it is easier to clean muddy clothes than muddy shoes in these days of gadgetry. Do the mums who object to mud carry their children everywhere or do they allow thm to walk through the park and occasionally splash in puddles

tigermoth - yes, don't worry, I'm quite normal really - or at least I was until today when I came on this site for the first time! I don't think i have ever climbed up a slide the wrong way in my life but I tried to strangle my brother when I was 3, my best friend and I used to run round our street at midnight pretending to be horses jumping all over our neighbours' gardens, I set light to a jam jar full of petrol on my dad's lawn when I was 13, and i accidentally killed my brother's hamster. Oh... nearly forgot... my maths teacher wrote a report saying that i'd wasted my time and his all term and I got chucked out of the 6th form. Despite all this I'm quite a well adjusted adult (I like to think!) apart from the fact that I've amused myself by looking round mn till 2am!

PF. Poor DS1. I knocked mine out on a seesaw

How on earth have I missed this?

We rarely go to the park, as we usually have kids over to play on the equipment at our house, but yes I would let him climb up as long as it was his turn, etc. as others have said.

I think there can be too much emphasis on the "right" way of doing things. As long as it's not hurting anyone I rather like to see him thinking outside the box and exploring his world in different ways.

Message withdrawn

sounds like we need a Geneva Convention for slide etiquette

LOL bloss Think you deserve a medal for that, hehe.