I read this article with great interest. A Manchester hospital is introducing tagging but security guards are no longer being employed or services decreased.

Is this another cost saving initiative that will go wrong or a clever idea?

My 3 day stay after the birth of my daughter was in a labour ward where visitors had to buzz to get in and staff had a code to tap in. To me this felt quite secure. Visitors had to report to a desk and I am pretty sure that a security guard was pacing the halls at night.

The tagging system discussed in the article does make me wonder how ‘safe’ this is, how secure and how reliable. Although the hospital still have their security measures, such as the ones I encountered above, how soon will staff become reliant or relaxed because they have this in place? Is this system really needed? No where are statistics shared on the effect this has on child abduction or the electronic waves pulsing next to baby’s skin.

Relying on electronics where a person can do a job is not always the way forward. Failures in systems, false alarms happen and although I am sure that the tags are probably put through their paces we cannot rely on them fully.

In the long run will this only cost more money?

The rising cost of living means that many mothers have to return to work much sooner than those of previous generations. In turn this means that childcare has become a fast growing industry and rates of nurseries and childminders have increased swallowing up around a quarter of a families income.

Sure Start Nurseries give parents the opportunity for a subsidised facility relieving the stress of high childcare bills. This article from The Telegraph and Argus about the loss of funding in Bradford just highlights to me how important Sure Start is.

A similar problem is happening in Brighton with the possible closure of Bright Start and a group of parents here are looking at ways to run the nursery themselves in an attempt to keep the nursery they love as well as keep the costs down. I am hoping that a collective like this will be the way forward.

I returned to work in 2010 when my daughter was 7.5 months old. Financially we couldn’t afford to live on Statutory Maternity Pay for any longer, savings depleted and our nursery asked for a month in advance. Going back to work for 4 days a week means that we are £50 a month better off, if I went back for 5 days that would add a measly £12 a month. Our salaries are enough to pay the bills but with our nursery coming to more than our mortgage payments it does make me a bit cold.

With tax credits lowering from 80% contribution for low income families to 70% shortly it does make me wonder how many parents will be able to afford to live in a time where VAT has risen, debt has risen and the chances of owning your own home become a distant dream. Sure Start is really important for these parents – they want to work and provide for their children.

Sure Start is not just for childcare. Breastfeeding support is very widely needed, health and educational advice as well as a variety of parent and baby groups. If the funding goes from much needed childcare subsidies first it does leave me questioning where next? And when it does go are we encouraging a debtors society where people are priced out of jobs and out of enjoying life just to live.

We love Sands because they love our children :))

Lordy. it’s only August. What’s all this about? What are we doing for xmas? What are we doing for new year? Purrrleasssseee. 

We’re into our negotiations now, and it’s only August. Good Grief. We tried the taking it in turns to visit each respective grandparents, then us having everyone over at once and then us being on our own (but his sister got engaged on that xmas day so we ended up seeing everyone from his side anyway), so now it looks like we’re going back to going to turns with parents/outlaws. Yuk. The benefits of this are that someone else is doing all the prep, saving me time and money, which is nice. But the downside, of  being on other people’s schedules, them filling our children with yak that will have them awake all night  and not  being able to pull my husband off for a snog after a bottle of wine are not so nice.

DH wants us to spend xmas day with his parents this year. Like we don’t enough of ‘em, living next door. (I kid you not). So I’ve got the awkward call to have with mine, asking them to drive here, as we’ll be heading south for NYE hopefully and don’t fancy 3-7 hours each way depending on the traffic followed by another 7 hour drive south for New Year.

Thankfully, we seem to have settled into a pattern of hanging out with DH’s friends (who have families as well) on New Years Eve. So that’s not too much of a battle ground. Particularly as we’re looking at going back to sands with them for their NY houseparty  - this makes me very happy. They’ve got great childcare – which E can only go to “if he’s a good boy” ahem….  amazing food and lush surroundings on the shore line. We’ve been there before, we love them, they genuinely seem to love our children and are unfazed by their random holiday habits of only eating broccoli (yay William) and they do children’s high tea at 5pm. Fab Fab Fab.