offering advice

When eldest DGC was a toddler - and he's now nearly 15, taller than me, and loves outdoor activities - I can remember taking him out with DH along a country track when it had been raining, and saying to DH 'Why does he keep saying apple?' It took a long time, but I realised that was the closest he could get to saying 'Careful'. Not that it made any difference!

I thought DS and DDiL were a bit too anxious and over-careful, but DGC are now 7 and 10 take absolutely no notice of parental worries and run and climb and do all the things that would have caused parental conniptions five years ago. Now I am the one saying 'careful'.

When my granddaughter was around 18 months old, they had a filled in bay with a very deep window ledge, and she used to climb up there and teeter on the edge. One day she was standing on the edge, wobbling away, and I gasped, my son-in-law said "Oh for f---`s sake woman, shut up, she`s alright!" So after that I just had to make myself keep quiet.

I know someone exactly the same thomsnannie2. My 3 grandchildren are extremely active and quite daring too. They sometimes meet up with a little boy who is a distant relative of theirs. His father is "Safety Joe" on steroids and its so sad to hear "J, don't do that, J get down, J don't climb, J don't..., J be careful etc". He cannot enjoy most things little children take for granted. I must stress that the little boy to whom I refer is a lovely child and is different when his father is not around but you can actually read the anxiety on his face when daddy is watching him.

I wonder if your son or the person I know had accidents when they were children which may have lead to this over protection?

This is the 2nd thread on this subject.