This weekend’s news that three children have had to be taken to hospital after a bouncy castle broke free of it’s moorings in Whitby has started me thinking about how safe it is to let our kids go on these types of rides. It’s not the first time that something like this has happened recently and although I don’t think that the children involved have not been seriously injured, it’s quite scary to think about what could have been.
Like most parents, when we go out for the day we often let our two go on bouncy castles and rides. Although we try to make sure that the ride itself looks safe before letting them on it, in reality we aren’t qualified to make that judgement as we don’t know what we’re looking for. Something that looks safe to you and I may be a Casualty episode waiting to happen!
You might think I’m over reacting a bit, which I may well be but having had a bad experience ourselves recently, it’s made me re- think how happy I am about letting my children on rides.
A few weeks ago we visited a local farm and while we were there Master Frugal asked if he could go on the quad bikes. It was quite a small course and while we were in the queue we watched the children in front of us be given a five minute instruction session and then saw them all kitted up with their helmets. The man in charge of the quads was very attentive while they were riding round the course so by the time it got to our turn I was more than happy for both of them to go on.
They had great fun zooming round the course and the few times that the kids crashed into the barriers or looked like they were having difficulties, the man running the ride was right in there to sort it out. The problem came at the end, when they’re all called in one at a time. The child behind Master Frugal failed to stop and the man’s reactions weren’t quick enough to stop her from crashing into Master Frugal who had been told to stay on his bike until everyone had been called in.
I caught the incident on video and I feel sick every time I watch it (it’s in the last ten seconds if you want to forward through):
Luckily he was fine although it did cut our day short as he was really weepy and clingy on and off after it had happened. We took him to the Dr who just said to keep an eye on him but other than an achey neck for a few days he recovered quite quickly thank goodness. I can’t help thinking that it could have been so much worse though….
I don’t want to be one of those mothers that wrap their kids in cotton wool but I’m struggling at the minute and with Summer coming up I know we’ll be going on more days out and we’ll come across numerous rides that the kids will be desperate to go on. There’s only so many times I can say that I don’t have any pennies with me or bribe them with an ice cream 😉
So, how do you decide when a ride is safe to let your children go on. I used my judgement that the quad bikes were safe and I’m pretty sure that the parents this weekend used their judgement that the bouncy castle was safe but we were wrong, weren’t we?
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Poor little thing. That made me catch my breath; how awful for you all. So pleased he’s ok.
I don’t know what the answer is. I try to encourage my kids to be outgoing but I remember feeling so frightened once when my daughter was on a high rope course with her friends the same age. However, unlike them, she wasn’t clipping herself onto the ropes properly and my heart was in my mouth watching her so high up. It was just dreadful and there was no-one in sight to offer assistance. It took me 4 years to let her go up again.
When I see my children doing stuff like this, I stand there with a big encouraging grin on my silly face but inside I’m so tense and anxious.
P.S. I really enjoy your posts; they give me lots of inspiration! Thank you.
oh god that was awful, and could have had awful consequences. glad hes okay.
Julie
Thanks very much x
OMG, that video really shocked me. I am so pleased he didn't suffer any serious injuries. Things like this really scare me. I guess you can't wrap your kids up in cotton wool though. I am so over-protective though. I even think playgrounds are death traps. So easy for a child to fall off the top of a slide, run in front of a swing etc.
I know exactly what you mean and I don't want to be one of those over bearing mothers who doesn't let their children do anything. I guess I'll just have to hide my fears and let them get on with being children 😉
Hmmm It's a difficult one isn't it. My two are older now, so I don't really have that problem. I do recall them going on a bouncy castle slide once when they were younger around 8 & 4 they were sliding down at the time and the bouncy castle started to deflate, OMG it was so scary, they just seemed to disappear for a few seconds, then suddenly it blew back up and they continued down the slide. It was frightening I can tell you, but they came to no harm, but it could have been a very different story.
I'm not sure what the answer is, I think we just have to go with our gut instinct on these things.
That must have been awful – I do trust my instinct on whats safe and what isn't and I don't want to be one of those over protective mums so I think I'll just call this a freak accident and carry on as I was x
I don't think there is a definitive answer to this one- I think if there are appropriate health and safety measures such as helmets like in your video. I did watch it, and it's truly frightening. I think the people who provided the course had a duty of care your son to prevent that from happening. I'm no fan of a compensation culture, but they should be held responsible if only to ensure it doesn't happen again. Thank goodness he is ok. x
My heart's in my mouth when I watch it back – I have complained to the farm if ionly to make them realise what they need to change for the safety of other children.
I can't bring myself to watch the video as I can imagine what it's like. I had an incident once when I lived in Germany and the little girl that I was looking after stood up and fell off a fair ride!!! Her screams still haunt me now!! I do the same as you with Chick. See if it looks reasonably safe and go with my gut instinct….to be honest I'm not sure what else you could do?? Hope Master is feeling much better now xx
That must have awful – bad enough when it's your own child but when you;re looking after someone elses it must be worse in a way. He's fine now – not sure he's in a hurry to go back on a quad bike mind.