For the record, the kid is pretty well behaved and isn't much trouble (although he seems to lose some maturity when either of his parents is around), I didn't give harsh criticism about how they should discipline him more or anything like that.

Correction : she's actually my first cousin and not my niece, we use similar words differently in Dutch She's 11 years older than me.

Quote Originally Posted by Papewaio
A 6 year old I would not send off for a period of time without family members. Maybe for a weekend camp with the inlaws. However as for boy scouts I would wait till they are older depending on the child.
I mostly agree, but the original point was about a trip with his grandparents (when he would be virtually 8, his birthday is september 1), the kid is with them twice a week when my niece and her husband are working anyway.
The discussion also wasn't aimed at the past but at the future. So I wasn't really commenting on how they raised him.

Part of why I got a little ticked off was that she kept saying stuff about kids that did do these things when they were 6/7 (sending a kid to camp is for lazy parents, we can take care of our kid ourselves, blah blah blah) while I was one of those kids who went on camp at 6 and joined scouts (actually a similar organisation) at 6 or 7 (only stayed for about 3 years). So they were essentially insulting MY parents, who were also there but didn't say much during the whole thing.


Quote Originally Posted by Duke of Gloucester
Parents have a responsibility to bring up their children as well as they can, and therefore, they have the responsibility to make decisions about what is appropriate for their sons and daughters. Add to that the strong emotional attachment between parents and children, you will not get a favourable response if you start to question their judgement. I have never reacted favourably to this, although it has only happened a few times. You may believe, probably correctly, that you are both older and wiser than your neice, but I would advise not making judgements unless the safety of the child is at stake. You could try questions: "Would so-and-so enjoy such-and-such," but even this is risky.
You are probably right on the mark. Now usually I expect she can take a little from me, but she seems to have had a similar discussion with her father in law the same week, so she probably felt like everyone was ganging up on her...