Notes from 1st March: Mums, mums-to-be and even those who had not yet embarked on parenting joined together to discuss how we parent children in such a fast-changing, technology-driven world.  Sue Palmer, author of Detoxing Childhood,  says that our children’s childhood is “toxic” on many levels; physical, emotional, social and cognitive.

We explored our personal challenges which included:

·       How do we allow our children to play independently when other children are not allowed unsupervised play?

·       What sort of nappies do we choose?

·       How do you counter the toy consumerism that has replaced creative play?

·       What about schooling? Should children always go to the local school?

·       Can both parents successfully juggle work and domestic responsibilities?

·       What about TV, internet and mobile phones?

·       How do we avoid alienating our children if we parent more simply?

We then chose a few concerns and shared some possible ways forward.

·       Parents should find like-minded parents with whom they can share their concerns on a more regular basis. Children from these families could share toys, resources etc.

·       Remember that there is no such thing as quality time with your child but quantity time.

·       Some of the best time children have is often with the simplest of resources.

·       Where possible walk your child to school from an early age, teaching them first-hand about safety awareness, show them safe places along a route. This will help children to feel more confident out and about and help them to achieve greater independence.

·       Possibly equip children with a VERY basic mobile phone but teach children to use it only in an emergency

(Ailsa Powley)