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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I will freely admit that I do not usually intervene when my kid commits a routine playground faux-pas like climbing the slide. You know why? I am tired and it is not a huge deal at the end of the day. With my 2yo, I intervene because it is usually a safety issue. With a 5yo, though? No. They can figure it out themselves.

I completely realize this is selfish and that most of you probably find it extremely annoying. I find the people who are constantly intervening in the social dynamics of elementary-school-aged kids annoying as well. [/quote]

Fine, but don’t get upset when I intervene and tell your child to move because my child and others are waiting to use the equipment correctly.  I’ve done this a few times, and the kids immediately move.  I think kids just get tired of their parent’s voices when they know there are no consequences.[/quote]

I won't "get upset" in that I'm not going to intervene with YOU either. I am curious, though. Much of the equipment at a playground is designed to be used in different ways depending on what the children using the equipment choose. Your "incorrect use" of the slide is how someone else's child has chosen to use a piece of playground equipment that does not have specific guidelines for correct use. Some kids also like some parts of a playground more than others. My kid, for example, does not particularly care for the swings, so we are not and have never been swing monopolizers. However, she absolutely loves the slide and will go down it (and up, because I do not have a problem with her climbing up the slide) repeatedly. She is 2.5 and she is beginning to understand the idea of taking turns. My strategy, as a parent, is to use opportunities like the playground to give her the space to safely explore her abilities, including the ability to manage a social interaction where two kids want the same activity or toy, rather than to follow her around making sure she maximizes her enjoyment of each piece of equipment.

Either way, it sounds to me like you should be supporting your child in advocating for their own needs, rather than telling other people's children to move. Feel free to passive aggressively tell Larla, "ASK THAT GIRL TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE SLIDE SO YOU CAN USE IT CORRECTLY" though. It'll save me the trouble of deciding whether to encourage my kid to play with yours.[/quote]

DP.  What is wrong with you?  People are talking about safety.  I highly doubt anyone cares about another kid climbing up a slide if there are no kids waiting to slide down at the top.  No one is trying to inhibit your child's creativity.  This is about parents like you who justify laziness and confuse it with teaching independence.  If you think a 2.5 year old can figure everything out on their own with no guidance from you, you need to research child development.  This is not about hovering, it's about intervening when things get unsafe.  If you want your kid to suffer natural consequences to learn, that's up to you, but the rest of us don't have to stand by if things get unsafe.

And trust me, no one will lose any sleep over "missing out" on a friendship with a kid whose parents are lazy and ineffectual.[/quote]

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