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?

I would be very upset if I saw DominiConnor climbing up a slide in the park. Very.

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dd3 climbs up slides she cant manage the steps yet.

"Do you a favour"? Perhapd not

Yes, certainly allowing your child to climb up the slide is ill-mannered. But they are your poor manners, not his. So it's a little unreasonable to expect other parents to be considerate about taking turns on the swing.

Lisa, when I saw the thread title, DC translated itself as DominiConnor!

everyone is wary of 'Unsupervised Child' in the park - you can just sense all the mums start to hover.

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floatingonthemed, I have found playgrounds stressful sometimes, especially when my sons were younger.

My idea of mini hell is a playground with a wild, unsupervised child, and/or an over supervised child plus tutting parents, issueing instructions and casting critical glances at all the other families (I am talking extremes here btw. Not suggesting anyone on this thread is like this).

Anyway, both types of situations is equally as bad for my equilibrium .....no, actually the over supervised child and tutting parent does tip me over the edge more easily.

I can tell off a wild child without fear of a parent going wild in the background. Much more difficult to tell off a child and parent for being 'good'.

Anything like that and I gather my ds and scarper.

Save your pity for those who need it, my dear

My child is not very athletic or confident. I think if your child is, it is easy to underestimate how intimidating they can be to more timid children. Referring to them as 'milksops' merely confirms that. I'm sure it is lovely to just sit down with a newspaper and ignore your kids, sure in the knowledge that they are big enough, confident enough and athletic enough to take care of themselves while you relax. However, other children there may well not enjoy themselves at all while your child romps about using the equipment as they see fit. And therefore their parents will have quite a stressful time, not just encouraging their own children, but remonstrating with the more boisterous ones and trying to make sure their kids get a turn now and again. Nobody's saying they can't have fun, but there does seem quite an aggressive, 'my kids can do what they like and sod yours' feel to parts of this thread. the playground is a public place, with equipment to be shared, and I think parental supervision of some kind is necessary.

I retired from this thread partly to recover from the after-effects of laughig at MI's plates, and aprtly to eat, washh-up, watch bargain-basement TV about murderers...but I would like to say that many of my posts were (whilst being based in my truthful position) delivered with a certain amout of tongue-in-cheek. I think Bossykate's post below is also 'satirical'. Her child is a lively, funny, active little boy, she is a highly responsible parent with a very strong sense of social conscience. I'm a bit lax, true, but as BK says, DS is mostly quite well behaved - we are not bringing thugs to your local park - chill, step back, ALL children, believe me, will want to experiment with climbing up the slide at some stage in their lives, and I've been known to try and run up the down escalator! (But not recently).

tbh I am not too riled by parents letting kids climb up the slide (I remember doing it and failing at it). What riles me is the fact that ignorant little sods write all sorts of obscenities over the kids park, leave broken bottles and fag ends. I have even had to ask 14/15 year old's to allow the younger kids on the play equipment..

Mostly it is the older kids or adults who irritate me with their lack of thought and comon sense. At local open plan park on Saturay and a family had thier chocolate coloured lab off the lead. The dog was barking and jumping up at the kids from his family, cocking his leg against play equipment, got smacked in the head by the swinging dish thing as he jumped up. Really really annoyed me as totally irresponsible adults.

Both my children are quite athletic and fully capable of climbing up anything .. they are neither timid nor are they shy

But I am shocked that so many of you think its OK to let your kids climb up the slide if there are OTHER CHILDREN THERE

It's not OK .. it's RUDE .. you have BAD MANNERS and you are teaching your children these bad manners TOO in a very self-obsessed 'I'm the centre of the universe' sort of way

.. don't do it

and like Sorrel when I'm not on this thread or at the park it doesn't even cross my mind

Blimy what a ho ha!

Not only was guilty of the dreadful crime of climbing up the slide, our parents where hardly ever there. And Unlike 'Unsupervise Child' in the part of modern times, we knew how to behave!

Were there times when some horrid kids would try to spoil our fun, yes. Did this, in the greater scale of things, matter? No.

guess what, we learned to cope with the antisocial ways of others.

My kids climb up the slide, if they piss off other kids, I tell them to stop. They need to play without my constant intervention though. And if someone else tells them, good. It is good for them to realise that other adults care about their behavior too. And also other kids. Social understanding grows with social interactions. Kids are far less patient with each other than adults are with them.

My children and nice and polite....for that matter I think I am too. And they climb up the slide, and dare I say it, I bet everyone on this thread will say the same thing when their kids get old enough.

Ohhhh Blu was it you who ran down the wrong escalator and then had to try to look 'cool' about it? One of my fave threads on MN and it made me laugh as much as Mother's Plates

nope its RUDE when they're young .. when they're older (from 8 or 9 up) its fair play that they sort it out themselves but young kids if they haven't been taught social mores need to be

my kids are old enough to play on their own in the park and they do (I am the master of beign neglect).. but they won't climb up a slide if there's other kids around and this is at 5.5 and 2.5

am ROFL at this one

clearly letting kids climb up slides is a slippery slope to depravity and self obsession

off to the park....

I discourage this too in mine - I do think it's rude, and can be very intimidating to other, younger children at the top of the slide.

Dd1 used to do it on the climbing frame in the garden, when her little siblings are at the top.
The she fell once doing it and broke her foot. 4 weeks in plaster and it's a habit she's pretty much given up.

A mumsnet classic .... 222 posts about climbing up slides or not Toptastic!

FWIW ... I, as always, agree with the Twigmeister I encourage my kids to climb up steps ... don't like it when children climb up slide when there are children waiting at the top. If it is an empty playground I may be a little bit more lax about it ... but as I say, I always encourage them to go up steps (even it is empty .....
See, Greeny - I am with you on this one

I have always told my children not to climb up slides and not to hang around on them, either at the top or at the bottom. But I don't get that wound up about other people having different rules. (Except those older children who think pouring orange juice down the slide is socially acceptable ) I probably allow my children to do a few things others don't like. And I have been known just to send my older two off to the park without me, so I'm not always supervising.

I think playgrounds these days can be so tediously safe that older children need to misuse the equipment a bit to have any fun, though I do encourage mine not to do anything that might inconvenience or endanger younger playground users.

Gosh, I read this and thought 'old thread resurrected, surely?' but no! It's a new one! This discussion has been had before, can't remember if it was as heated or long though, will see if I can find it.

slides... the burning issue of the day

I'm really suprised at how many people would let their small children climb up the slide if someone's waiting at the top.

The OP was about adults who tut at children using the equipment the 'wrong' way - which is insane of them.

But if you want to teach your child how to interact with others in a considerate way, why do that everywhere except the park?