I was asked this morning, what I would be getting my children for the 'silly season.' The truth of the matter is that I hadn't given it too much thought, mainly because it's still November but also because I don't want to think about it. My reticence is born partly of a desire not to buy into the commerciality of the process, of adding to the volume of 'stuff' in our lives but also because I again find myself borrowing from the 'Victorian' school of parenting and am running the gauntlet of judging and judgement. Presents are great, I love a good well thought out present as much as the next person. I am not proposing we should all turn into the Grinch or Scrooge and move away from all things gift like. But for a moment let's acknowledge the world has moved on, and while in the 1940's 50's and 60's a gift of chocolate or a toy was a novelty for children, in 2016 those things are readily available and our children are arguably ex...
It's been a while I know and what brought me back was a conversation I had this morning, with several parents, about children travelling on public transport and walking to school. I clearly missed the memo which said it was unwise, and unsafe to let a child use a bus, train or their feet to get to school. In fact I was quite shocked about the conversation and so have done some reading. It seems (according to the 'West') parents in WA are far more uncomfortable than our European and British counterparts at letting our children independently get to school. Why? What is it about how we perceive our city and transport system which makes us so? Is Perth really more dangerous than London or Paris? Are our trains so inefficient we risk our child being stranded? Or are we simply worried the physical world is somehow fraught with danger? Dangerous, predatory people exist, they always have and always will, some of them will even catch buses and trains, ...