Dianna Edwards and Writing
  • About me
  • Short stories
    • Death in the Desert
    • Secrets
    • Airport Drama
    • Acacia
    • Two Chooks in December
    • A Darned Surprise
    • The Sunset Mermaid
    • Friend or Foe?
    • At Rainbow's End
    • Sisterly Love
    • Good Times to Come
    • Being Famous
    • Something Special for Dinner
    • Walter's Secret
    • The Visitor
  • Children's stories
    • The Red Silk Kite
    • The Singing Tree
    • Beatrice Barnfeather
    • Garth's bath
    • Little Dog Tambo
    • Flowers For a Special Day
  • Non Fiction
    • Letter to a Soldier
    • The Body
    • Autumn Saturday
    • A Year With Billy
    • Lunch
    • Harry's Story
    • 2007 bushfires
    • My Father's Kite
    • Death of a Chook
    • Gentle Heartache
    • Shopping with Sisters
    • When I am Old
    • Matilda
    • Fragments
  • Blog

BLOG

Kids Get a Raw Deal

13/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
 Be warned: What I am about to write will annoy people; it will be considered politically incorrect or sexist, but I will persist.
 
I consider kids to be short changed in this modern age.
I am not going to say ‘some children’ or ‘many children’ or ‘most children’ or ‘a few children’. You can adjust the amount of kids that you think fit my opinion piece to your own estimation. But I am saying that I consider kids to be currently getting a raw deal.
 
Let’s start with their very first days.
Nowadays, after giving birth, mothers are sent home after the shortest time possible. There is little space for nursing that baby; for cuddling him close, for gently talking to him, kissing him, getting to know him intimately in mother’s own time, without interruptions. 
 
Here’s an alternative:
Mother and baby rest in hospital – for at least a week - and longer if a C-section is involved.
As their lives combine in a calm togetherness, mother learns to breast feed baby and baby thrives in relaxed surroundings.
Call it ‘bonding’ if you like, but whatever it is, it is essential for the well-being of both mother and baby.
Even, dare I say, especially for baby.
And it's only a week!

So, in this better alternative:
Once home, the mother does not worry about housework or the way she looks. She does not worry about her ‘lost’ figure. Instead she hunkers down with her baby and in a comfortable and cosy chair –or even bed – they cuddle and coo together and baby feeds.
No TV, no mobile phone texting…just mother and baby idolising each other.
And the baby loves this.
That’s mothering.
That’s a good start to life.
__________________________________________________________
Not so long ago I listened into a conversation between two young mothers, who were discussing (of all things) breast pumps. While one mum spoke of her efforts with a hand held machine, the other mum suggested that a ‘plug-in’ pump was better as you could just turn it on and it extracted the milk. (A bit like in a dairy farm).
That’s NOT breast feeding. That’s harvesting milk to allow someone else to feed you child – with a bottle. There is a vast difference.
_____________________________________________________________
Why the ‘need’ for new mothers to be off to the gym to regain their ‘pre-baby’ shape. What for? WHY is this so important?
For the off-to-gym-mother = less mother’s milk, less cuddle-close time and already a diminished bonding – not to mention a weird (peer-pressured) attitude.
 
And this is just the very start of my whinge!
 
So on to toddler stage and beyond, including those execrable tubes of ‘food’ that little ones are seen consuming instead of proper food.
And disposable nappies that are worn up until school age, as it’s easier than teaching a small child to use a toilet.
Little kids aren’t that stupid.
 
Then there’s the rarity of family meal times around the table.
And the missing bedtime stories; gentle story books read to sleepy children by parents not stressed out by the need to work long hours to keep up the money flow.
Stories that may or may not be the old-fashioned Winnie-The-Pooh and Peter Rabbit, books, but sweet and gentle nevertheless.
 
Instead we have the ghastly but apparently compulsory, movie-going to see ‘Frozen’ , with the accompanying merchandise and the seeming necessity for singing the appalling, ‘Let it Go’.
Why this meaningless follow-the-leader? Does no one have any original thoughts any more?
And why are little kids wearing Superhero costumes (boys) or net fairy outfits (girls) instead of normal clothing?  More follow-the-cheap-commercialised-leader?
 
 
Other things that upset me:
Back ‘yards’ too small for decent ball games.
The after school mug of Milo and home baked goodies replaced with shop bought ‘treats'.
Soft drinks considered suitable everyday drink for kids.
Single mothers with 5 or 6 children, crying poor.
The considered absolute necessity for both parents to work continuously.
 
 Okay, call me a grumpy old woman. Call me old-fashioned. But, having  enough time to observe children now, I am saddened by what I see.
 


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author notes

    I choose to comment on social issues and write creatively on a variety of subjects -  for a variety of audiences.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    Childhood
    House
    Kindness
    On Death
    Social Comment
    Writing

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • About me
  • Short stories
    • Death in the Desert
    • Secrets
    • Airport Drama
    • Acacia
    • Two Chooks in December
    • A Darned Surprise
    • The Sunset Mermaid
    • Friend or Foe?
    • At Rainbow's End
    • Sisterly Love
    • Good Times to Come
    • Being Famous
    • Something Special for Dinner
    • Walter's Secret
    • The Visitor
  • Children's stories
    • The Red Silk Kite
    • The Singing Tree
    • Beatrice Barnfeather
    • Garth's bath
    • Little Dog Tambo
    • Flowers For a Special Day
  • Non Fiction
    • Letter to a Soldier
    • The Body
    • Autumn Saturday
    • A Year With Billy
    • Lunch
    • Harry's Story
    • 2007 bushfires
    • My Father's Kite
    • Death of a Chook
    • Gentle Heartache
    • Shopping with Sisters
    • When I am Old
    • Matilda
    • Fragments
  • Blog