Do we really need these parenting reports & surveys?

What would your kids do if you took away all their toys and games, and left them with what experts are calling a ‘pocket playground’ which is made up of pencils, paper, beads, thread, blocks and plasticine (they say this can be used for 50 activities!!)

 

A report in the UK suggest that parents spend way too much time and money on kids these days, estimating that there is a spend of just over £10K / €12K on kids before they reach the age of 18. Apparently the report was to establish the effect of the modern world on children’s play, and suggests that screen based activities dominate youngsters lives.

 

I can say with some degree of confidence that mine would be pretty unhappy if I did this. And I can say with absolute confidence that I would be VERY unhappy. I’m a working mum of 3, we have a routine and we have good days and bad, but I’ve never ever felt guilty about letting the kids play with their toys (which range from colouring books to games consoles, from branded dolls to TV shows and movies).

 

I think my kids are happy little creatures. We do family stuff together, and then we all need a break to do our own thing – whatever that may be. And it works for us. This new report says we need to stop spending so much money on our kids to make up for the time we can’t spend with them in our modern world. It says we need to switch off the TV (and keep it switched off), it says we need to stop relying on expensive toys to plug the ubiquitous gaping ‘quality time’ hole. I say commission a new report, and base it on an everyday family like mine. Do I spend quality time with my kids? Yes. Do we have movies and treats at the weekend? Yes. And sometimes we eat dinner in front of the TV. Do we own games consoles? Yep. Do we watch DVDs? Are the kids a bit spoiled on birthdays and Christmas? Yes, yes, and yes. Do I feel guilty? Not a bit of it. Are my kids suffering? No. Do they interact with other kids? Yes. Are they social? Yes. Do they play imaginative games with their friends? Yes.

 

I come from a family of 8 kids, and I can tell you now that 'quality' alone time with my mum was practically was non-existent. She is a great mum, but keeping a house, 8 kids and a husband is a buys job; and she occasionally worked outside the home to make ends meet, so we all just muddled along. We had the toys of the day to entertain us, including, a very early games console (remember tennis/ping pong which just consisted of two sticks either side, controlled by a joystick moving them up and down and round dot bouncing from side to side on the screen, eat your heart out Wii) along with all the other usual such as Simon Says, Tiny Tears, kids, books, Fisher Price stuff etc. We weren’t rich by any stretch, but we had toys, and more than just a pencil and paper. And it did us no harm.

 

I’m tired of new reports being released suggesting I’m doing my kids harm by allowing them watch TV, or play games consoles, or eat rubbish, or not reading enough, or that I’m not spending enough 'quality' time together. I do a great job with my family, and I remind myself of that every day.