One mom on Mumsnet recently shared a dilemma she had about what time of day is acceptable for her toddler to play outside…
She asked other moms whether 8:30 am on the weekend was reasonable or too early to let their child loose in the garden.
In the post, she explained that her partner seemed shocked when she suggested they let their little one out in the garden to blow off some steam at such an early time and said that it would be unfair on their neighbors to let their son out to play.
She wrote in the post, titled: “To think 8:30 am is an acceptable time for a child to play in the garden.” She started off the post by explaining that “[My son] is on one this morning and I said to my partner ‘it’s fine we can get him out in the garden in 20 minutes or so to burn off the excess energy.'”
She continued: “He looked at me like I had two heads and told me anything before 10 or 10:30 on a weekend was unacceptable and would make us ‘those’ neighbors.
“For context, we have two attached neighbors both with babies or young children themselves and ours is only a toddler so plays relatively quietly (obviously not silently though).
“So, am I being unreasonable? Am I accidentally the neighbor from hell?”
Her post was met with mixed comments, however, the majority agreed with her partner that 8:30 am on the weekend was too early to be making noise outside.
Some advised her to wait until at least 9 am before letting her son out to play, as one person said: “I would say 9:30 am. Anything before 9 is definitely too early.”
Another dramatically added: “If you were my neighbor I’d be sticking pins into a miniature-sized doll of you.” While a third said: “It’s fine if they’re quiet – but in my experience, most toddlers aren’t quiet…
“I’d say 9 am for weekends personally – if they want to run about and be noisy, take them out to the park, don’t let them disturb your neighbors.”
But others said they didn’t agree with that logic, as toddlers get up notoriously early, and trying to keep them entertained until 10:30 is impossible.
One said: “How on earth do you keep a toddler entertained at home until 10:30? I don’t think 8:30 is too early at all.”
Another added: “I would say 9 is okay for a weekend. 10.30 is practically lunchtime when toddlers are up at the crack of dawn. I think before 9 am is unsociable for people to start doing noisy DIY or gardening on a weekend but toddler noise is nowhere near as loud.”
What do you think?