Free Range Kids

I recently came back from a week in California. My husband and I had dinner at a colleagues' family home. We, and I think they, enjoyed the exchange of chat about parenting, education, life etc. We were handed a copy of "Free Range Kids" by Lenore Skenazy. I heard stories about knee pads being available in the US to help "ease the transition from crawling on carpeted to hardwood floors"; about some families providing their toddlers with helmets to wear around the house to prevent bumps and bruises... Although these are extreme cases, they are indicative of the growing hesitancy and fears that are taking hold on many parents as they risk-assess day-to-day children's activities. 

Oh my, a GOOD parenting magazine. Gurgle.

Maybe I'm a bit too opinionated, or have created very high expectations based on my personal experience of parenting over the last few years, but I don't generally think that highly of the writing and messages of the parenting magazines out there. I thought I was too cynical and have been pleasantly surprised to have just read a few issues of a new magazine, Gurgle... and liked it! 

Fascinating insights into the developmental consequences of the first 1000 days of life

There've been a number of radio and television programmes that I've learnt alot from lately. First was BBC Two's Horizon, "The nine months that made you", next BBC Radio Four's "The first 1000 days: a legacy for life", and finally, BBC R4 again, Women's Hour and "Babies and salt". Altogether, they provide a very interesting collection of research into the consequences of behaviour in pregnancy, but also lifestyles of Mum and Dad around conception. I certainly learned alot and recommend a listen/watch if you can catch them in time. (I'm being a bit lazy, but may summarize the findings for you in another blog if I'm feeling generous!)

Nervous twitch

Of all the aspirations I may hold for whatever we're doing in our parenting of Abigail, there's one flaw that I'd like her to be free from: Nervousness.

Exploring the world together: Buggies, slings and carriers

Providing babies with the confidence to explore the wider world starts with providing them with a loving and secure base*.  The pushchair direction and the direction with which your child faces when being carried in a baby carrier is an element of that opportunity to explore through the reassurance of seeing the Mother/Father/Carer whilst out and about, as highlighted by a recent article in the press.

Recent comments regarding the negative consequences of forward-facing buggies, and outward-facing carriers, have been made by Professor Cathrine Fowler, from University of Technology, Sydney, and backed up by a 2008 study at Dundee University by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk (Daily Mail article - please ignore sensationalist title - and see also the Dundee 2008 press release):

‘Imagine if you were strapped to someone’s chest with your legs and arms flailing, heading with no control into a busy shopping centre – it would be terrifying...Outward-facing baby carriers and prams give babies a bombardment of stimulus, creating a very stressful situation... In not considering our baby’s perspective, we are inadvertently quite cruel to children’  - Cathrine Fowler

We could have had it all

To return to my opinions, "Having it all", and the associated checklist is something that I loathe. The pressure it puts on women is ridiculous. I say women, because it seems to primarily describe the lives of women, rather than considering whether men can have it all, (or assumes they are already?) but I'll return to that. 

Billie Piper and her son

"Having it all" seems to be something along the lines of having a career (but not just any career, something BIG, IMPRESSIVE); having a partner (but not just any partner...); having a family (but not... you probably get it now); maybe even having good looks and a good sex life to boot. Woweee. It's there for us to see whenever any, some may say (and I am one of them most of the time), poor celebrity women get pregnant - the pressure is on to tick those boxes. To quote Emma Thompson, "Having it all is a revolting concept".

Same but different

I've been writing a lot of blogs lately. I suppose they're like buses - thoughts, ideas and opportunities to write come along at differing frequencies. Last week, my husband was away with work. It left me with time to think and write in the evenings - I've also been encouraged to do this because of there being very little else to do (TV is a load of rubbish mostly and housework is only a partial priority, unless there is a mouse-on-the-carpet emergency or something).