I have two of the happiest children on the planet. We live in a cul de sac with kids on all sides of us and it might as well be kid heaven. I love the fact that we are raising our children collectively. We drop and pick each other's kids up from school and my neighbours' children will enquire of me "Are 'we' going to the park today?" with no hesitation that we will all be included in any outing in the pipeline. Every garden is considered accessible, every bike, scooter and trike communal and every parent approachable if one of the 'pack' is in peril.
We recently tied a rope ladder to a tree in the street and nailed the odd piece of wood across a few branches. The tree-house has become the epicentre of their world. Older kids warn smaller kids to hold on tight, smaller kids dangle from the third rung of the ladder feeling kings of the world and the littlest stand at the bottom gazing longingly at the gods in the branches, knowing that one day soon, they too will be big enough and brave enough to venture up.
It's a blissful childhood but even more so for the parents who watch from their front gates.
Thursday 21 July 2011
A new era
It's official - I no longer have babies. I just sold my pram after giving away all the other baby paraphenalia and so I feel that the baby stage of my life has just ended. A little sad perhaps, but I'm sure it will pass as I have enjoyed each new stage of my children's development heaps more than the previous one. Here's to a new era and the adventures that unfold with the new dawn!
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