she let him play in dirty gutter water

snickerdoodle27

My MIL came over saturday to babysit while dh and I ran a bunch of errands. She had taken ds outside since it was so nice and warm. We got home around lunchtime, so I said it's time to come inside and eat lunch. Well, he was splashing around in the gutter at the end of our driveway. His brand new shoes were completely soaked, as were his socks and his jeans from the knees down. He had dirt all over his hands and his face. And he's putting his hands in his mouth. Ugh. MIL laughs and says he was just having a good old time in that water! I wanted to cringe. I changed hime and washed his hands and face, then later said to dh, what on earth gave your mother the idea to let him play in the gutter water? It's the runoff from the lawns, birds are in there so there's bird poop in there, it's just gross. He said don't get me started, she doesn't know how to say no to him. I guess from now on we'll need to specify where it's OK to play outside!

DandR

The only part that would bug me is the new shoes being soaked and ruined....she should have taken them off. Gutter water...sure not the cleanest thing, but its not like you can keep them in a glass bubble and away from germs and every single thing....that's a part of being a kid...stomping in puddles..

aprilmomtobe

ah - sounds like fun to me. 

KrisBriMcBunny

oh come on seriously?  The only thing that would bug me is the new shoes getting wet.  Thats what kids do play in dirty gutter water, mud holes and stuff.  It all cleans up...no biggie.  Let your kid get a little dirty for god sake and let him be a kid.

preemiemom

I know its so easy to get mad at MIL but really she was doing you a favor. Maybe its just me, but if someone voluntarily watches my child for free, I don't really care what they do to entertain them as long as it isn't dangerous. I'm sure rain water from your lawn is reasonably safe. Hope this doesn't come across as mean, I would just put him in old clothes when MIL babysits.

emilykristene2006

KrisBriMcBunny:

oh come on seriously?  The only thing that would bug me is the new shoes getting wet.  Thats what kids do play in dirty gutter water, mud holes and stuff.  It all cleans up...no biggie.  Let your kid get a little dirty for god sake and let him be a kid.

Ditto.

kylara111

That would bother me.  DD has gotten wet from puddles and muddy at school, but messing with stagnant water that birds poo in is just nasty.  I guess that makes me like the bubble lady in the commercial.  ;-)

amiamish

KrisBriMcBunny:

oh come on seriously?  The only thing that would bug me is the new shoes getting wet.  Thats what kids do play in dirty gutter water, mud holes and stuff.  It all cleans up...no biggie.  Let your kid get a little dirty for god sake and let him be a kid.

Ditto... I love letting Jake play and get dirty outside!

shopgirl78

My son loves to do this. I let him but not in new shoes. MH thinks is appalling.

Zenya

sounds like he had a great time.  I can't believe you would be upset by that! I can maybe see the shoe thing but that doesn't seem to be your issue.

breezee_bean

It's not really that big of a deal IMHO.  I am super weird about J's clothes, so I would have been upset about the clothes (he has "play" clothes.) But other than that, playing in the gutter doesn't bother me at all. 

wellfleet04

I agree that it's not a big deal, including the shoes/clothes.  That stuff all washes out.  Kids play in dirty water, mud, etc.  It's what they do. 

belle204

The shoe thing would bother me but other than that I don't think it's a big deal. Kids are going to play in yucky stuff.... I know we did. Those were some of they best days. My grandmother is always telling me "a little germs and dirt won't hurt the kid. It's good for them."

KoriBrett

Kids pee in swimming pools and bathtubs, kids drink pool water and tub water.  Some kids eat their own poop & take their diapers off.  Eh.  The new shoes would tick me off but otherwise, kids can't always be little neatly dressed grownups - gotta play & get dirty, too :-)

rebs

Wow, I cannot believe you are upset about that!  Your FREE babysitter took him outside for some fresh air and activity.  So he got dirty, that is what kids do.

 

marrymemylove

I can't believe people are defending your MIL.

1. Dirt is one thing (and kids have gotten very sick from dirt btw but if they don't care if their kids get sick that's their problem).

2. Water with poo in it, and potentially pesticide runoff, oil, etc from leaky cars is another.

3. The fact she's a free babysitter has NOTHING to do with it. This makes me think that if the hobo on the corner offered to babysit their kids for free they'd think that was just great because it was free. This is parenting not coupon collecting.

I would be even madder than you about it. Flame away.?

ithadtobeyou

Ok that is just nasty. I ditto MMML. I cannot believe people are defending your MIL.

First of all, did it never occur to her that those shoes were new and beautiful and you might not want them ruined? The clothes/shoes would bother me but I would be even MORE bothered that she let him play where birds poo and there is general nastiness. Hello infectious wierd diseases.

It's one thing to let them get dirty, it's another thing entirely to let them get dirty in an unsafe manner, which is what I would say this is.