Stitch This

I often start stories to my boys with the words “when I was a little girl…” And it’s true, I tend to hark back to good old days more and more now. but why? I mean, kids these days have so much.

My two boys have their own bedrooms, they get to eat good food every day, there are clubs, activities, play dates. WHy draw the past as better?

My sister and I were reminiscing this week about how we used to be allowed to cross the northern town we lived in by ourselves on the bus aged approximately eight years old. It doesn’t even bear thinking about. But we did it. I went on a coach the length of the country when I was about 8 or 9, alone, armed with Ballet Shoes by Noel streatfield and a packed lunch. It was an adventure. I loved it.

and that’s what my boys miss … Sheer adventure. Yes, there are skate parks, soft play, zip wires. But health and safety are ever present. I get very anxious but I want my boys to take risks, balance the pros and cons, make decisions. And in real life, not in minecraft.

I don’t know whether there’s a point to this post, more an expression of a feeling, a disquiet. It’s up to me to act on it, isn’t it?