Kids must enjoy rite to roam off-screen
As if poodle parlours and doggy day care aren’t already barking mad, it seems the entire canine industry has dog-gone crazy.
To celebrate National Pet Day, a spa hotel offered a three-day DogFest Retreat with poochfriendly
Dyoga, paddleboarding and grooming (presumably just for pets, not owners) for £845.
After a ruff day of walkies, furry guests at Pylewell Park, a New Forest country estate, could relax in a four-poster bed or have a spa treatment.
It’s not the only place to offer o you remember being told, “Go outside and play, and be home in time for dinner”?
No phones, no watches, only one vague rule – when it starts to get dark, you go home.
My brother and I would roam the streets on our bikes and skateboards. There might have been a skipping rope or a ball, some kid might have had a Coca-Cola yo-yo or, even better, 50p to spend on sweets from the shop.
Would I let my kids enjoy the same freedom I did? Absolutely not. Is this because I am a total helicopter parent control freak? Partly.
The dangers are probably no different, but we all worry more – about everything from speeding delivery drivers, who hitch up on the pavement at 50mph, to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang child-catchers (Remember him? He was terrifying).
The world is a scary place and we can all recall enough high-profile crimes or accidents to send parental anxiety into overdrive.
But a study out this week revealed the depressing statistic that one in three children spends less than an hour a day outside in summertime.
According to the poll by retailer TK Maxx, one in five stays inside for four days or more in a row.
You can guess what most kids are doing instead. Playing on games consoles or chatting to friends online, as opposed pawsh spa breaks. I’ve read about doggy mud baths and facials, as well as puppacinos, pawsecco and afternoon tea.
Has the world gone mad? Are there not better things to spend your money on?
If you are forking out hundreds of pounds for your pet to live the high life, is this a case of the tail wagging the dog? Mad Englishmen and dogs… to actually talking to humans in real life.
This is bleak. Will children become so immersed in being social online that they will lose all ability to be socially competent?
They need fresh air and exercise and human interaction – they can’t fester in a dark room with nothing but headphones for company.
The study found that most parents agree – we want to see our children embrace the outdoors.
But with our newfound bubble-wrap parenting, we have to structure it, with play dates and football camps and family days out. Scheduling fun is exhausting.
Having just survived the Easter holidays, it’s not easy. I have a son who would happily play on his Nintendo Switch for nine hours straight if I let him, and a daughter who makes endless dance videos.
Sure, there’s a place for it, but ensuring the screen time is brief is a battle.
My detailed summer holiday plan starts with all the Mary Poppins promise of skipping through open fields, with wholesome baking and crafting, and quickly descends into me drinking wine, dishevelled and screaming at the kids to, ‘Go away and watch Netflix, I just need five minutes.’
Maybe our parents, with their latchkey kid approach, actually had the right idea.…
They must swap social media for being social
My son would happily play Nintendo for 9hrs straight if I let him