Kids at the lottie?

[greenishfing]

Having just had a dose of the 'sproggs from hell' this evening on the adjoining plot I believe that they should be segregated to another planet and there should be compulsory sterilisation for all parents who don't control their offspring. If you have them, look after them and control them.

[ladylottie]

No children on our allotments, it's not that they aren't allowed, it's just that everyone except two lottie holders are over 50 (I think) so there aren't any children around.

Very occasionally you see someone bring their grandchildren just for a look but I've never seen them actually do anything on the plot. One man has an immaculate plot and no weeds are allowed on it so can't imagine him wanting the children touching it. He does explain things to them though, but it's just not hands-on stuff.

I must admit though that I do like the peace and quiet up at the lottie - must be getting old

I said the above earlier on this thread. I've since found out that one man at the other end of the lottie site to me was bringing his kids along (young - about 6 or 7sh). Apparently they were running about over other people's plots and messing about. (Bored probably). Following complaints from the nearby plot holders he has been told not to bring them again. And a ruling has been made by the committee for no children allowed on site at any time (health & safety you know).

[greenishfing]

I know I've just had a rant about the sproggs from hell but banning all kids from an allotment site seems very unfair. Far better to ban that yhoughtless plot holder as a warning to others but without penalising parents who look after their children.

[greasemonkey67]

When time spent on an allotment is precious because of having to work,I myself wouldnt want to spend time with other peoples children trying to get them interested in gardening, if there not bothered in being there cos they want to and they enjoy it,leave them to play with there friends or something.Like i said I will bring my grandson a try to teach him how food is grown and make it fun and interesting for him,but if he gets older and decides that something is more interesting then I wont bring him just for the sake of it,he will prob just throw temper tantrums and that will cause me to have to stop what im doing to sort him out.And i dont get to my alloment as much as i would cos of work.

[Andromeda]

The feral yobs who have been wrecking wigwams left, right and centre had been busy again...9 wigwams on 4 plots in pieces. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on whether you side with plot holders or yobs their grandmother was there this evening...She is significantly less tolerant of their conduct than their father. The boys were made to apologise to each plot holder and help re-build the wigwams, over 2 hours later they left - swearing never to bring a ball to the site again.

I am now in possession of their grandmothers telephone number and she has requested I call her if the boys misbehave on the site in future.

[Feral007]

Good on her Andromeda!
Maybe you need to do what I've had to do at home? Due to the dogs running thru the garden, and the daughters dog when she was a puppy and thought the clothesline was an awesome toy for her fun.......

they are all behind electric fencing. I don't actually have it turned on anymore. They learnt that white tape can be pretty bad tempered

Sounds like there needs to be some organising of the plotties...........the quiet plots; the 'passed the parental test' plots; and the unplotted.

[DragonMistWitch]

We've only had our allotment for 2 weeks, but I have taken my three daughters (aged 8, 6 and 5) nearly every day. They love helping. At the minute the plot is quite overgrown with lots of weeds, so they are helping to dig them up. We have, however managed to get a few crops in and the girls are really enjoying learning about the different growing conditions each plant prefers.
They are also loving all the animals they are encountering, everything from ladybirds and butterflies, to frogs, birds and bats! They have learnt so much in the last fortnight (as have I), I can only hope they continue to enjoy themselves as much as they get older.
They have been made very welcome by all the other plot holders, and invited to go and visit a plot with chickens on.
As a Pagan, it is really important to me that the girls learn about the cycles of nature and the seasons, and having an allotment is a great way for them to do this, hands on, rather than through books.

[chriscross1966]

AS a determined bachelor I'm rather glad all the families with kids on site are all up the far end of our not very big site.... I believe that it's great for kids to get an understanding of where food comes from and each one you catch young is a potential future allotmenteer (with a lot less starry eyed hopefulness than some) ... equally small kids running riot is about as an annoying event as I can imagine, up there with people talking on a commuter bus (I should be allowed to take a gun IMHO) .... so kids should be on allotments, but not near mine thankyou.... wonderful how ENglish that attitude makes me feel

[areia]

tried to bring both my cousins kids to the patch ones 3 ones 2, along with mine. hers lasted 15 mins as the lil blighters would not do as they were told and run amock everywhere. So we will not be having all the kids there at once, mine id say is very good for a 2 yr old she sticks to paths and doesnt wander if there is no-one around, but if one of the freindlies as i say comes over she b*ggers orf with them and tells them what to do, told one he should rest the other day lol

[The Nichols']

As a father to a 4½ year old and 2½ year old I have no choice but to take them down. Mostly they're very good (we have a tent and a few toys kept down there to keep them entertained) but do occasionally act up. They're children!

This year has been a bit different because the older one has "got it" I think. She's always wanted to be helpful (handy because she can keep watering the same patch for ages, less so when she wants to dig over the same bit of ground you just did by walking over it dragging a spade) but now she knows that if she's helpful and does what she's told, I get finished much quicker (no stopping to see where they've gone or to tell them off) and she gets to do more of the things she wants to do.

All that said, she's very helpful in planting, really pleased to see her own plants spring up and takes very good care of them. The younger one is a carbon copy and it's difficult to explain to her that she's not 4 and can't do the things her big sister does.

With regards other plot holders, they all seem rather taken with my two. They will talk to people we do and they know not to take anything off any plants but our own.

[Jamesy_uk]

I have to say I have taken my son who is 2 and a half to my plot 3-4 times now and he is beginning to understand now that he has to stay in 'our' plot. Luckily apart from last sunday every time I have been down there we were alone otherwise my terse 'No's' and 'Joshua come back now!' might have grated a little
I took a picnic blanket, colouring pens snack box and his tractors so he loved it digging with his little trowel and running his tractor accross the freshly dug areas going 'Vroom Vroom'.