Innocence and Independence

My friend Emma has recently blogged her thoughts on the Madeline McCann case and how it affects her as a parent. This got me thinking about how we keep our children safe and protected but also fulfill one of our ultimate roles as parents - nuturing an independent and confident child.

I am a very careful (read paranoid) parent, I recently stopped the Princess attended local gym classes as I wasn't happy with the level of care given by the instructors. After watching a session I didn't feel that they were equipped to watch the children adequately and I am just not willing to take any chances at all.

Other than pre-school (in which I have confidence), the Princess is always with me or someone I trust, but terrible things can happen in the blink of an eye. Only the other day we discovered that whilst we had been downstairs blissfully unaware, she had been up on her windowsill - the thoughts of what might have been still make me feel cold.

What about other areas? I'm not sure what to shield my kids from now. Sure there are the obvious things. Certainly, I don't swear in front of them and keep anything inappropriate out of earshot - I need to load Amy Winehouse, Prince and some of my gay tunes on to my I-Pod if I am to listen to it in the next 15 years. I know that hitting "next blog" when she's close by is a definite no-no. I don't allow her to see adult televison including soaps (Eastenders is so vile in it's content)

Obviously, their Internet access will need to be closely monitored as they get older to protect them from pervs and also the limit websites available to them - there is stuff they just don't need to know about anytime soon.

If you know me, you will know I am no prude and that I have certainly 'lived' but I find society today a scary place, there is little respect for others and the boundaries of what is morally and socially acceptable have moved so far away from what I find acceptable. It is the slow decline of manners and morals which I find hardest to grasp - again I blame things like Eastenders for the drip drip effect of changing our perceptions.


It's really overwhelming, the task of shielding our children.With society, television, films (even Disney), video games and the internet filled with violence, drugs, sex, and obscene language, how do we strike a balance between being a hovering parent who shields their eyes and ears from everything and allowing them to see and hear more than they should and becoming fully rounded people?

Really, how do we ever let them out of our sight?