Occasionally (OK, most days) I head over to the UK Times Online website, to check out current events in the Old Dart.
This week, I came across a very interesting article, and it’s given me an idea.
The article is about a couple of rather exclusive “mum and baby” members’ clubs that have opened in London. They each have a slightly different focus, but they provide food, massages or other relaxation treatments (for parents) and fun (for kids). They’re touted as being a great way to connect with other parents – mostly mums, I’m guessing – and children. Oh, and they’re super luxurious. And therefore, pricey.
When my girls were born, I was automatically included in a mothers’ group for new mums in our area. About nine of us would meet up every week for a couple of hours, bringing our babies to each other’s houses and watching them while we chatted. We provided each other with fantastic support, and some of us became good friends. We knew that, as first-time mothers, we could blather on endlessly about sleepless nights, sore breasts, baby bellies and mysterious baby ailments without boring each other. Once the babies became mobile, we began meeting at a local mothercare nurse’s centre, and the group eventually became a playgroup.
But we certainly didn’t have massages. Nope. Food? Yep – someone would bring a nice little naughty nibbly thing each week. And the nurse’s centre itself, while very pleasant, wasn’t what one would call luxurious. But, really, it was the support that made it so much fun. Being a mum on your own at home, with young children, can be pretty lonely.
Just imagine, though, if there existed in every town, in every city, a kind of gorgeous “Raw Parents’ & Kids’ Club”? A beautiful refuge where parents of young children could head not only for company and support, but for a lip-smacking raw nosh-up (and with take-home salads made to order)?
And for a reasonably priced aromatherapy massage or reflexology session, knowing that their children were being well cared for in a fun children’s club, just a few rooms away? A place where children could run wild through nature (with their mums keeping an eye…) or get their hands dirty in all sorts of fun, creative activities; where lively debates were held; where stimulating lectures were given for parents; and where inspiring raw-food creation classes were offered every week? An aesthetically pleasing, groovy haven that soothed the senses and made you feel as though you’d come home? The sort of business that received local government subsidies so that everyone and anyone could afford to drop in for an energy boost and dose of lovin’ care?
I’m melting, just thinking about it. Maybe I’ll file this away as one of my “brilliant ideas” (well, an idea I’ve borrowed and tweaked) that might – just might – come to fruition one day. Or maybe this is something YOU could build in your neighborhood? Dream big, baby!