We are not alone among parents in wanting our children to remain children a little longer. While we can hope for excitement and adventure as they find their place in the world we quietly add an Augustinian 'not yet'.
Hatty is now ten and in reality she has already taken on some of the independence of growing up, with all the associated highs and lows. She can play freely but middle-school applications still await her contribution. The most challenging part of relationships we face as adults, how to be a good friend, is already hers to face. Arguably she and her peers already have a more difficult time because they have more friends.
She was born during what we call at work the GFC, the Great Financial Crisis. On the day of her birth President Obama made his first address to the joint sessions of Congress to stress the need for urgent action on the economy. If I can say anything about the world order now, it is that it is just as uncertain as it was back then.
Hatty's generation will face challenges familiar and new. For her birthday she wants to be able to have her own YouTube channel (for the uninitiated this is a video sharing site). She plans to use it to talk about her favorite games such as Minecraft. We were cautious about this because of the risks we can see online including bullying and inappropriate content. I think I said she could have a channel when she was ten because it seemed like it was far away but here we are.
She is an optimistic person and she is unfazed by the challenges. Recently while reminding her of the importance of being careful online I mused that I was lucky to avoid this growing up. Her retort was to remind me that I grew up with three television channels and she was very glad to be around in the age of Netflix. That was me told and I thought bringing up Channel 4 was not likely to turn the tide of her argument.
Indeed there has been progress. One of the reasons we do not notice this is that it is hard to remember just how bad things used to be. Child mortality rates a century ago were unimaginably high. Even in 1960 the global child mortality rate was almost 1 in 5 but it is now down to about 4 in 100. It is fragile though as we see long vanquished diseases return. Yet I have a lot of confidence that Hatty has as good a chance as any in facing the future. All the feedback from her teachers is that she is one of the people who is friends with everyone. She is seen by her peers as someone they like to be with and someone they can trust.
Every day for the last ten years she has brought me joy. Too often I take it for granted and some of my worst lows are when I realize I have gone too far when exploding over some undone piece of homework, room not tidied or hair brushed. The lows though are greatly outnumbered by the the highs. I look forward to the next ten years knowing that, although the changes are likely to seem even more dramatic, there is underlying constant in all of this - the inquisitive, kind and adventurous spirit of our Hatty.
Hatty is now ten and in reality she has already taken on some of the independence of growing up, with all the associated highs and lows. She can play freely but middle-school applications still await her contribution. The most challenging part of relationships we face as adults, how to be a good friend, is already hers to face. Arguably she and her peers already have a more difficult time because they have more friends.
She was born during what we call at work the GFC, the Great Financial Crisis. On the day of her birth President Obama made his first address to the joint sessions of Congress to stress the need for urgent action on the economy. If I can say anything about the world order now, it is that it is just as uncertain as it was back then.
Hatty's generation will face challenges familiar and new. For her birthday she wants to be able to have her own YouTube channel (for the uninitiated this is a video sharing site). She plans to use it to talk about her favorite games such as Minecraft. We were cautious about this because of the risks we can see online including bullying and inappropriate content. I think I said she could have a channel when she was ten because it seemed like it was far away but here we are.
She is an optimistic person and she is unfazed by the challenges. Recently while reminding her of the importance of being careful online I mused that I was lucky to avoid this growing up. Her retort was to remind me that I grew up with three television channels and she was very glad to be around in the age of Netflix. That was me told and I thought bringing up Channel 4 was not likely to turn the tide of her argument.
Indeed there has been progress. One of the reasons we do not notice this is that it is hard to remember just how bad things used to be. Child mortality rates a century ago were unimaginably high. Even in 1960 the global child mortality rate was almost 1 in 5 but it is now down to about 4 in 100. It is fragile though as we see long vanquished diseases return. Yet I have a lot of confidence that Hatty has as good a chance as any in facing the future. All the feedback from her teachers is that she is one of the people who is friends with everyone. She is seen by her peers as someone they like to be with and someone they can trust.
Every day for the last ten years she has brought me joy. Too often I take it for granted and some of my worst lows are when I realize I have gone too far when exploding over some undone piece of homework, room not tidied or hair brushed. The lows though are greatly outnumbered by the the highs. I look forward to the next ten years knowing that, although the changes are likely to seem even more dramatic, there is underlying constant in all of this - the inquisitive, kind and adventurous spirit of our Hatty.
