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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To belive that my children are having a great childhood in London?

409 replies

mrsruffallo · 27/01/2010 13:36

Annoying woman at parent and toddler grouip today.
She was noisily proclaiming her intention to leave London before her child turned 5 as it's an awful place to grow up!
I said if not here, where?
There is so much to do, lovely green spaces, much better than being stuck in the middle of nowhere
Turned into quite a lively discussion

OP posts:
Swedey · 27/01/2010 20:00

Onebat. LOL at twocking. So true.

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:02

the electric

My milksop children wouldn't stand a chance.

And my skills aren't all that transferable.

Habbibu · 27/01/2010 20:02

DH lived in London when we got together - i was living in Glasgow. So I visited a lot, and some bits I liked, like Greenwich, and the Globe theatre, etc. But it seemed to take ages to get anywhere, because it's so big, and if you live on one side of the city, and the museum/restaurant/friend is on the other, it can take a long time to get there, along with thousands of others - it was as quick for me to get to the middle of Edinburgh sometimes from Glasgow as it was for DH to get across London.

I think it's great to love where you live, and anywhere that children grow up will have pros and cons, but the London threads do frustrate me (in case that isn't clear) because it's a false dichotomy - it isn't London vs the sticks at all - the rest of the country is really interesting and diverse too.

Habbibu · 27/01/2010 20:03

we have tv up here, batty.

BradSplit · 27/01/2010 20:04

havent had any of htat in my gaff for a while.

Its all heroin.

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:07

Yes you are VERY right habbs.
When I talk about the sticks only, it's bcs dp has to be within driving distances of London. Me too. Both freelance so have to be very much available.

If we were normal people with staff jobs , I would move to Glasgow in the blink of an eye. Really liked it there (though was v competitive I thought, in the arts/tv/film/journo world at least)

Habbibu · 27/01/2010 20:08

I just had to google twocking.

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:12

"All these things get on your nerves and can really impact on your quality of life. They are things that annoy/upset/irritate you several times a day. Every day."

Christ yes.

Today I dismantled children's 'shorty' cabin bed and put up an Ebay bunk bed (habitat - aesthetically pleasing - bargain) only to discover that it didn't fit in the children's boxroom. Fuck fuck fuck. So took it down again, rebuilt old one from scratch. Wine.)

GetOrfMoiLand · 27/01/2010 20:12

I grew up in the arse end of nowhere in a small town, about 6 hours drive from London.

Bloody awful. Nothing to do, real parochial attitude from locals, real 'keep off the moors and on the road' feel to it. Drugs rampant, violenec and alcoholsim rife, real rural/small town poverty. Screw that.

I live in a city now (albeit a small one still in the west country) and I much prefer it. The green hills are a few miles away if I ever get the need to look at some sheep, but there are more opportunities here for everything, it is mulitcultural so less ignorance and casual nasty racism, and if I want to go to Birmingham or London for a day the nearest rail mainline is a mile away, not 60.

I would never ever live in the country again.

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:13

BradSplit
I'm v behind the times.

Swedey · 27/01/2010 20:14

Where I grew up there was no twocking but there was a lot of cider drinking on the church wall with gratuitous snogging. And a bit of swearing if the coast was clear. Ugh. There was literally nothing else to do. It was oppressive actually.

I would imagine these days they do duuurgs.

staranise · 27/01/2010 20:15

Of course there are lots of other places that are great too, for numerous and various reasons. And London is great too, for similarly various reasons.

The difference is that if you are frequently asked (by family and friends living outside of London) "So when are you moving out?" and likewise told that they would never dream of having children in London, you tend to get a bit defensive about the positive bits of living here.

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:15

interesting Getorf

I need a staff job, and fast. Doesn't feel safe moving to either small city/big town/proper rural without a guaranteed income.

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:16

duurgs sounds, like, illegal?

Swedey · 27/01/2010 20:17
onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:17

If someone's doing duurgs I'm calling the NSPCA.

BradSplit · 27/01/2010 20:17

we get " gangs from london" coming in to deal heroin.

they do tend to stand out a bit, so have started meeting on the county border ( a303 anyone?) to deal there

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:18

I have to research social media and education.

Habbibu · 27/01/2010 20:18

Onebat, the bunkbed thing surely not so much London as not having a tape measure?

Don't kids everywhere sit on walls, not doing much?

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:19

A303 is a LOT better than 'outside my house with a rottie off its lead' though, eh BradSplit?

Swedey · 27/01/2010 20:21

Onebat - bummer about the bed.

onebatmother · 27/01/2010 20:21

Well you'd think so Habbs wldnt you - seller had mis-measured.

But main prob was my failure to visualize the extent to which bed would project into room and block out the sun. Basically, failure to admit that I keep my children in the cupboard.

midnightexpress · 27/01/2010 20:21

Oh it's one of these threads.

I grew up in the (south east) country, have lived abroad, lived for years in years in London, now live in another big city. DP is a Londoner and (ahem) former teenage twocker, and has lived in the real wilds, and between us we can reach absolutely no conclusion whatsoever about the best place to bring up children, or indeed ourselves.

Which leads me to conclude that the discussion is rather pointless, because everywhere has both good and bad points.

Except possibly Cumbernauld.

LEMhasgonetothedogs · 27/01/2010 20:22

I wouldnt like to live in london - i like london as a place to visit, but i find it too busy. But hey, thats just me. I grew up in a town not so far from london which is not overrun with DFLs (down from londons).

My DP is from lewisham and I find it manic whenever i visit there. One day my BIL was visiting with the kids and we were off to the beach and he said, "oh, its nice here, you are lucky to have the beach and countryside nearby, but i couldnt live here with my kids" i was of course, deeply offended and i was "um, WHY??" I mean, why wouldnt you live near the sea with "clean" air and a pretty laid back community atmosphere? I just couldn't get my head around it. But he said "there is nothing for the kids to do apart from the beach, and i want them to have more opportunities when they are older". I had to concede that he had a fair point.

Having lived here for 15 years now, DP says he wouldnt like to go back to lewisham, its too busy, impersonal etc. But i think his DB would hate it. So it is all a personal thing really isn't it. We love to visit, especially greenwich park and the museums. But for me, a day trip is enough - i love the vibe etc, but im too lazy for london

GetOrfMoiLand · 27/01/2010 20:23

brad how do you know Guy Ritchie esque info re drug deals?