Summers in the country.

Sanguine

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 4:38 pm

mummiedearest wrote:

you really don't want a kid from brooklyn to pick mushrooms and eat them. those can be dangerous. we had some random mushrooms growing in our "lawn," and we had to tell the kids not to eat them. until a couple of years ago, I had never seen mushrooms growing on lawns in brooklyn. if your kids go exploring, have you warned your kids not to eat mushrooms? I think that for most people in my area, it wouldn't enter their heads to mention it.

I'm a kid from Brooklyn. Every kid in the bungalow knows not to eat mushrooms. If we saw one we'd smush it with our feet. Kids have freedom but parents aren't idiots. No one opens their door the first day and just lets their kids go out and run free for the summer. We also knew not to go near the well in the middle of the colony. It was covered (maybe it wasn't even a well) no one dared go near it. No grain silos but I'm sure we wouldn't have gone near it if there was one.

marina

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 4:39 pm

I don't understand the financial comparison. If bungalows cost say 5-12 K and city camp costs 4-8K, you are still not working while at the bungalow. So you could be not working in the city too. And then you don't need to send your kids to city camp- you can do Camp Ima. So you save 5-12 K or 4-8 depending on how you look at it.

And for some people, maybe that 5-12K / 4-8K makes all the difference and they won't need government assistance anymore that year.

Of course, if your financial situation doesn't require saving money, then none of the above applies..

amother

Pumpkin

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 4:45 pm

I don't think I saw any posters say that the country is risk-free. No one discussed the fear of a kid cutting himself with a knife while chopping the salad because that can happen equally in the city and in the country.

In the same manner, it is irrelevant to discuss se-ual predators and swimming pool chlorination issues because those are issues that occur in both places.

Are you trying to say that there are risks that are inherent in the country that are not in the city? Or are you trying to say that the risks are the same?

If the former, then bring examples of those risks, and only those risks.
If the latter, then I will tell you how they are not the same. How some of the city risks don't exist in the mountains. Like one poster already mentioned, the fear of kids running into the street is not there.

Or are you saying that going to the country is exchanging one set of risks for another set? If so, I agree.

Maya

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 4:49 pm

amother wrote:

In the same manner, it is irrelevant to discuss se-ual predators and swimming pool chlorination issues because those are issues that occur in both places.

Are you trying to say that there are risks that are inherent in the country that are not in the city? Or are you trying to say that the risks are the same?

I am saying the risks are the same, yet people's supervision of their kids is more lax because of their false sense of security and perception that the risks are minimized.

Sanguine

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 4:50 pm

marina wrote:

I'm not from the financial assistance people but we weren't super rich. (I never paid for a bungalow - I was a kid there). My mother taught so was off in the summer. My father went to work and came up from Thursday night till Monday morning. In the summer she had vacation. People do spend some money in the summer. We were four kids who would have needed city day camps as well as some after day camp activities some days as well as Sunday.

I don't really know the exact finances but when I went the Bungalow wasn't something for only the rich.

the world's best mom

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 4:50 pm

It is true that there always seem to be more accidents in the country. We do need to be careful enough.

However, my children are safer playing outside our bungalow while I do my needlepoint and watch them- I can see pretty much the whole bungalow colony from around my bungalow- than they would be if I sat in middle of a busy street in the city while they roamed. No cars can come into the colony, and there are lots of kids who all know each other in a little area of grass.

If strangers would come in- and it has happened- the adults that are there notice and ask them if they need help and show them the way out. If somehow no adults would see, there enough kids around that someone can alert an adult. That has happened too.

Swimming is scary, but I am always in arms reach of my 3 year old at the pool, and watching my other kids at the same time. Yes I pulled my 3 year old out of the water yesterday when he fell in. It happens. Mothers have to be very close during swimming. But the rest of the time, keeping an eye from your porch or lawn chair is generally enough, especially when your little kids are playing around the bigger ones.

We do have poison ivy in one spot. We know because this colony has been in use for years, and nobody ever got poison ivy anywhere else. We avoid the troublesome spot. It's not in a main part of the colony anyway.

There are no silos anywhere near our bungalow colony. I have never heard of anyone falling into one.

amother

Pumpkin

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:00 pm

Maya wrote:

I am saying the risks are the same, yet people's supervision of their kids is more lax because of their false sense of security and perception that the risks are minimized.

Thanks for clarifying what we are debating here!

However, you are wrong. Risks are not the same. Some are, but some aren't.

Read TWBM's post above mine. As well as those of previous posters who have shared about not worrying about their kids running into the street.

I have a toddler. We were in the mountains for a weekend. At home, I need to literally walk two steps behind him to ensure he doesn't go into the street. In the country, it was fine if I watched him from in front of the bungalow. I was able to see him for a longer period of time without needing to get up or be concerned that he's doing something dangerous. So, yes, it is easier. Was I more lax? No, I was more relaxed. And that's what I "heard" from all the previous posters.

So explain again where se-ual predators come in?

Sanguine

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:03 pm

Maya wrote:

I am saying the risks are the same, yet people's supervision of their kids is more lax because of their false sense of security and perception that the risks are minimized.

How do you know that people are lax? They may be relaxed but that doesn't mean that they don't know where their kids are and who they're with. Parents aren't idiots. They don't get to the bungalow and become brain dead. Everyone evaluates each situation and knows their own child. I don't know how this thread ever turned into a discussion about danger in the country. The kids are there with their parents who protect their children as well as they do at home. It's more relaxing cause any stranger would very quickly stick out. Kids can play and the mothers can sit talking more relaxed than in the city. They're all watching each other's kids too and they all easily will notice if a stranger comes in. It's relaxed, not lax!

MagentaYenta

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:04 pm

amother wrote:

...

So explain again where se-ual predators come in?

Neighbors, acquaintances (folks in the colony you just met), maintenance workers, peddlers who drive their cars into the colony to sell stuff, relatives, the candyman at schul or the colony, the older boy your son just met at the colony this summer.

I really can't believe you are so naive as not to know about where and who are s-xual predators. I'm guessing you are a master baiter.

Last edited by MagentaYenta on Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

Maya

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:07 pm

amother wrote:

It comes in with those posters who say they allow their six and seven year olds to run around without keeping a constant eye on them, because they don't see what danger there is in them running around unsupervised. This discussion is not about a baby who plays in front of your bungalow while you watch him from inside.

Sanguine

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:08 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

You've gone to a bungalow colony? From your list it doesn't sound like it.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:12 pm

Sanguine wrote:

You've gone to a bungalow colony? From your list it doesn't sound like it.

Each of those examples was taken from thread about bungalow colonies on Ima and news about se*xual predators in the Orthodox community. Anyone can be a se*ual predator. They blend in very well, let's face it our faith is competing with the RCC when it comes to covering up se*xual abuse and not recognizing they walk among us without notice.

Maya

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:18 pm

Sanguine, this is your quote from page 5:

Quote:

3 year olds don't roam around but 7 year olds do with their friends. It's a gated community in which you know all the other families. cars don't drive through. The older kids know all the younger ones too.

There are no wild animals roaming through - It's fenced in.

You're saying it's perfectly fine for a 7 year old to roam around because the place is fenced in. This is what started this discussion on safety. A fence does nothing to protect your kids from predators, and it does nothing to protect them from going into the pool area. It doesn't even protect them from the roads since they are old enough to open the latch and get out.

This, to me, is lax supervision, not relaxed. Maybe we have different definitions.

Fox

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:24 pm

Sanguine wrote:

Then why does Hatzolah and virtually every Jewish periodical run articles, interviews, and publicity warning people not to let down their guard during the summer?

Presumably this never applied to you, but there are many people out there (as evidenced by the need for such publicity) who are lulled into a false sense of security.

Sanguine

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:29 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

I asked if you ever went to a bungalow colony cause there are no men there during the week. There aren't even big boys (wonder if they even get a minyan during the week). No man blends in well during the week. I went to the bungalow till I was 9 and I knew every single person in my bungalow colony (40 families). The mothers are all outdoors all day.That's what you do in the bungalow. No man would wander around without being stopped by the ladies there.

gp2.0

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:30 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

I last visited a bungalow colony when I was ten so I'm not going to depend on memory. IRRC that the residences were all on the perimeter with play areas in the center. Three acres isn't a large space at all. When I lived rurally my DDs play area was just about 3 acres adjoining my garden, visible from the kitchen, living room and dining room. It was fenced but that didn't stop raccoons, or cougars visiting. She always had her whistle around her neck and the border collie. In the Catskills kids are more likely to run into a skunk, poison oak or some ground dwelling bees or hornets.

I'd be more concerned that the pool water was being treated and chlorinated properly and se*xual predators.

There are black bears too. Sometimes spotted nosing around on the playground in the early morning hours around 6 a.m. or so.

There are grizzly bears and cougars in the catskills too but the black bears were spotted several times.

Fox

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:35 pm

the world's best mom wrote:

There are no silos anywhere near our bungalow colony. I have never heard of anyone falling into one.

Really?

I usually try not to be snarky, but this is ridiculous. I explained before using the example that my example had nothing to do with going to the country. It was an example of not realizing dangers in an unfamiliar environment.

I then politely explained again for the benefit of posters who still didn't get it.

And *still* I get comments like this?

Really, really sad.

Maya

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:42 pm

Fox wrote:

I know how you feel.

Sanguine

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 5:47 pm

Maya wrote:

Sanguine, this is your quote from page 5:

Quote:

Do you know what a Bungalow colony looks like? A bunch of Bungalows in a semi circle with grass in the middle. The mothers all sit outside. There's nothing to do in the bungalow. (If there's anyone here who's in a bungalow, all those ladies much be having a blast reading about all these bungalow fears Very Happy

- Hi bungalow ladies Wave

watch out for the silos ). The pool isn't unattended. It's full of kids and mothers. They know the 7 year olds too and will stop one from going in he pool without their mother (and fully clothed).

S even year olds aren't trying to escape the bungalow colony. They're not sneaking out the gate.

You ladies really don't get it. A bungalow colony is full of little kids and their mothers. Everyone is outdoors all day (we even ate meals at a picnic table). Mothers aren't inside busy.They're all outside all day with all the kids.The little bit of housework that they have they do during daycamp.Everyone knows everyone else. Everyone knows everyone else's kids too. No kid wanders off alone. You're all making up what-if's that don't fit the bungalow scene