We went down to London the other week and had a great time. We have family there so it's a great base. My son loved the buses, trains, tubes, helicopters, aeroplanes and police cars! My sister took us to the zoo and we had a really lovely time. We even got invited into the giraffe enclosure and were allowed to feed the giraffes. Amazingly my four month old daughter managed to sleep for two lots of two hours on trains, buses and just walking about in a sling (it's a tri-cotti and brilliantly easy to use).
Anyway, the point of this entry was that it really hit home how sheltered a life my children lead. I lived alone in London for five years from the age of 17 and I adored it and had a ball but when you go back with children it is a different story. My son jumped onto the tube and said 'Hello people' and was promptly ignored. He's two. There's no need to ignore a two year old. Not one person said hello to him in spite of him saying hello to pretty much everyone he saw in the street. I was concerned for his safety on so many occasions as he happily ran off into the tube station shouting 'trains'. It's not a problem up here because the train station is practically empty and there are no escalators or other hazards!
The two of us went into a cafe in M&S and he asked to go and find a seat, which I let him do. I could see him but I was still queuing. The lady he sat next to was clearly extremely concerned that he was by himself and asked him where his Mummy was, he pointed at me and I waved. She frowned. About two minutes later when I went to sit down, the woman was clearly angry with me at letting my son leave my side. I rationalised that he would have had to walk past me to exit the cafe but she was having none of it. When she got up to put something in the bin behind her, her two year old screamed and screamed for his Mum.
I think I would rather have a child who is independent and wants to explore and go and do things himself (as long as it is safe) than one who screams when I leave his side. It did hit home though that if we were still living in London, I would probably be bringing him up differently. It made me a little sad.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising people brought up in London, it was just a realisation that things have to be done differently there.
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