What kind of world am I raising my daughter in?

The news story dominating the headlines today is the tragic event in Tenerife, in which it appears that a British national was picked at random in a supermarket and stabbed and beheaded in front of shocked tourists.


Not a nice subject for my blog quite frankly but I can't seem to get it out of my head.  It really has made me wonder what kind of world Mads is going to grow up in.


When I look back to my childhood, it was idyllic.  I am not saying that bad things didn't happen and serious crimes weren't committed, of course they were.  But it was safer than it was now, or at least maybe we weren't so aware of everything.  I would go out for hours on my bike, build dens with my friends and roam around in the woods near my house.  I didn't have a mobile phone so couldn't contact my Mum every few minutes to let her know that I was alright, but she assumed as long as I came back every couple of hours to check in, that I was safe and well.  Obviously this was when I was old enough to know the dangers of talking to strangers etc, but I was streetwise and remember my childhood as generally being a very safe and carefree time.


Fast forward to today and I feel it is a very different story.  Perhaps serious crimes aren't being committed more but we all have to be a lot more aware of what is going on.  As a mother to a baby girl, I am worried for her when she becomes a teenager.  Girls seem to be a lot more sexualised and the Internet has become a frightening place, I feel, for our children.  My sister is ten years younger than me, and I remember when she was a few years younger, we had to stop her from placing innocent photos of herself in a bikini on her then 'bebo' account.  Nowadays Facebook accounts have better privacy laws to stop people getting onto your profile but still they could fall into the hands of the wrong person.


We have the fear of terrorist attacks, and we have teenagers killing each other just for being in the wrong postcode.  I know that these are still rare events but I can't help but think that you can't turn on the television without reading a distressing story.  I have been to Tenerife a few times and I can't believe that such a macabre act would happen in a quiet resort like that.  To me the world just seems to be getting a more violent and frightening place, or is just that I am more aware of it now I am a mother?


I have already mentioned in a previous post about posting photos of Mads online, I find it so upsetting that I worry about showing off photos of my daughter, for fear of them getting into the wrong hands.  At the end of the day I am not stupid enough to show her without clothes, they are innocent shots, but the fact that we even have to think about these things, I think is a real shame.


I, like any other parent, would do absolutely anything to protect my daughter.  But does that mean that I will have to wrap her up in cotton wool?  I want her to grow into a well rounded, streetwise individual, not a scared, clingy one.  Will she be able to have an innocent childhood like I did, camping out overnight in a tent in a park about twenty foot from our house, where my Mum could see us from the window?  Unfortunately I don't think that this will be the case as we are more aware of what potentially could go wrong.


I know this isn't a particularly cheery post first thing on a Saturday, but I really have woken up this morning, wondering what kind of world we are now living in, and what kind of world it will be when Mads is older.  As I looked at her in her moses basket smiling up at me, it really made a tear come to my eye.  I want her to stay innocent forever, and not have to realise the dangers of the world around us.  At the moment she is my baby, and will do a beaming smile at anyone, it will be such a shame when I have to tell her otherwise.

Sure Start Centres could face closure...

I am lucky that Mads and I have a very active social calendar.  This is something I was very worried about before I had her as I was concerned I may have gone a little stir crazy on my own at home all day.

We only recently moved to our area, although I grew up here, all my friends have moved away, so I had to start again.

Myself and Mr E completed NCT antenatal classes which were really interesting and I have kept in touch with a few of the girls from there.

However the main way in which I have met new Mummy friends is through my local government funded Sure Start centre.  For those of you who aren't aware Sure Start centres are situated in local communities and offer activities, groups and support to families.

If I am honest when I first heard about my local centre through my health visitor I had a completely different impression and I am ashamed to admit I turned my nose up a little at the idea.  I had an image of them being for 'those' kind of mothers and it being a place where others views and ideas on parenting were forced upon you and shoved down your throat.  

How completely wrong I was.  One day I decided to go to a 'Bumps and Babes' group which was specifically put on for mums and babies under seven months.  I was greeted by ten or so mothers who were really welcoming and kind.  The centre was a lovely building, and not at all how I imagined it.  The staff were all very friendly, and not at all pushy or self righteous, they genuinely just wanted to help mothers and provide a sociable, welcoming environment where mothers could meet and relax.  They laid the floor with more toys, pillows and cushions than you could imagine and provided drinks and refreshments also.  There are mothers there from all walks of life and I have really enjoyed meeting lots of new mums who are very similar to me.

I now go twice a week to two of the groups and have built up a nice network of friends who socialise outside of the centre as well.  

This is why I was really saddened to read a story on The Telegraph website which states that up to 250 Sure Start Centre's could close within a year due to councils trying to cut costs and make budget savings.  

To me this seems a real shame and I really hope that it doesn't happen.  I am fortunate enough to be able to afford to do activities outside of Sure Start- Mads and I have already done baby massage, baby yoga and swimming lessons, but by closing down these valuable community centres it will seriously damage those who are not as fortunate as us who rely on them as a support and help them learn things that they might not otherwise have done.  Our local Sure Start runs baby yoga, baby massage, singing lessons, a free swim session and baby signing to name but a few.  Our centre also offers important breastfeeding support from trained advisers- a lot of women may not continue with breastfeeding as a result of closures.  

For me, it has been a lifeline in my early days as a mother.  I am not one of the 'poorer' families that the government are trying to help, but I am a new mummy who needed a place to go and socialise with people going through the exact same experiences as me.

I just hope that the Councils can find somewhere else to make cuts so that local families do not suffer.

For more information on the Sure Start centres in your area click here.

To read The Telegraph article on the possible closure of the centres click here.