Planet Child, Overprotective Parents, The Royals

                              Planet Child ITV

Walberswick, Children Paddling,

Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942)

Photo Credit: The Fitzwilliam Museum [CC BY-NC-ND]

The premise for Planet Child was sound. Overprotective parents make their kids less safe by hampering the development of their skills for managing risk. So why not get some kids aged seven and under and see if they can catch a bus in London and get off at the London Eye armed with just a map (and undercover chaperones lurking nearby)?

…The twin doctors Xand and Chris van Tulleken made good points about how young children in other countries are trusted to do far more. Three quarters of our children spend less time outdoors than prison inmates, we were told.

(The Times, 2019)

A challenge far less testing than the Japanese boy’s daily solo commute in Tokyo. What was also interesting was how anxious and frightened the British parents were.

The Royals

The Daily Mail devoted 20 pages to the stories on the birth of a royal baby in its souvenir edition. The Daily Star was much more frugal.

American actress has baby.

(The Daily Star, 2019)

Cute baby named.

(The Daily Star, 2019)

Kensington Gardens, 

Frank Lewis Emanuel (1865-1948)

Photo Credit: City of Westminster [CC BY-NC-SA] 

*Even the most ardent republican would need a heart of stone not to find comedic value in the royal family. From It’s a Royal Knockout to “air miles” Andy and his somewhat questionable friends, the institution is ripe for mirth.

And last week, none more so than the Duchess of Cambridge, whose garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, Back to Nature, was, according to her co-designers, inspired by “forest bathing”. What, skinny-dipping in Sherwood? Aquarobics in Arden? What glorious visions, but no.

Apparently, it’s the Japanese practice of walking slowly and thoughtfully through a wood.

I think that’s what real people call going for a walk. But just as the rich are different, so is the royal family, and I think I know full well where the blame lies. Sorry, Charles, but I am looking at you.

I also noticed that Tom Dixon, designer of the ikea garden, favours growing things in stacked “crates” and refers to “hyper natural edibles”. These could just be vegetables

(Jonathan Bouquet, The Observer, 2019)

Dr Qing Li who has written The Art and Science of Forest Bathing has this to say:

Make sure you have left your phone and camera behind. You are going to be walking aimlessly and slowly. You don’t need any devices. Let your body be your guide. Listen to where it wants to take you. Follow your nose. And take your time. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get anywhere. You are not going anywhere. You are savouring the sounds, smells, sights of nature and letting the forest in.

You’re going to get lost very quickly in this forest then, aren’t you?