Marlborough College for Prince George!

[barefootcook]

A great choice for the whole family. He will do well there.

If you’re thinking in PR terms, then sending him to Eton would be such a bad move.

I wonder how much choice she actually has. I'm not sure she was just given the pram and told to use it for the photo shoot.

There isn't actually anything wrong with big prams though is there?

Smaller ones with smaller wheels are less good over curbs etc.
Surely they are only 'better' because they take up less room in houses, and fit more easily into car boots, easier in shops etc?
If you are Royal these considerations are irrelevant, you have a big house and big cars and don't have to get the on and off buses or into corner shops.

Nice try. ‘I sent my child to boarding school so I could spend more quality time with him/her.’

If I had had a big house during the buggy years, there's no way I would have used that thing. They changed for a reason and are more efficient now.

Prsms evolved for a reason. The same reason the nanny used McClatens or whatever it was and not the big old pram.

I had a big old twin silvercross twenty years ago and loved it. I don’t think it was ever folded or put in the car but it was great for putting twin babies sleeping flat at on end and a nearly two year old sitting up at the other.

I could manage a days groceries in the basket underneath.
Fabulous for local walks and trips to the shop.

I also had various compact twin and single buggies

I have a friend who lives in an enormous country house, and they have one of those huge old fashioned prams for wheeling the baby around indoors.

So where the rest of us would carry a Moses basket to the next room, they can wheel the pram across the house.

Most people fold buggies regularly, like on the bus after a certain age and at nursery, GP etc. Its not practical so they changed

There is some truth in this though. Boarding schools are nothing like they used to be. I do think it’s healthier for teens to be in an environment where they have loads of extracurricular options, structured routine, controls on internet use and are kept busy than coming home, shutting themselves in their rooms and spending hours online every evening, as many teens seem to do. I say that as someone whose children don’t board. Boarding isn’t right for every child, but it definitely suits some.

Having teenagers I would agree.
If I could afford it, I would send to boarding school during the week.

I know many people who boarded for logistical reasons and some whose parents wanted them to knuckle down and work during term time.

It’s very different growing up and knowing from a young age that you will be boarding like your parents before you. It isn’t as if it was just sprung on him out of the blue!

It really depends where you live - if you live in a rural area where you do a lot of walking on farm tracks, gravel roads or snow then you need BIG wheels.

I had my kids in rural Sweden and the locals told me to get nothing less than 10 inch wheels/25cm - and they were absolutely right although I got a more modern version (also had a Mcclaren buggy for the car but not nearly as comfortable for the baby,)

The Nanny wore her Norland uniform last year at Trooping the Colour ie a formal occasion. During the Jubilee celebrations in 2022 she say a few rows back from the family in cities. It depends on the formality of the day.

Well, if you (I don’t mean you, @Another76543, I mean generally) can’t manage that, or some semblance of it, with your teenager, but need to send them away to an environment where other adults enforce rules and routines you don’t feel able to, I’d say that was a fairly significant parenting fail, all other things being equal.

All schools (should) enforce rules.

Interesting. I know two men who were borders, so a small sample. They both talk fondly of their school days, but I wouldn't say either of them are happy or well balanced. Both have lots of issues with their parents and struggle with relationships - which could be why they ended up at boarding school, I suppose. I.e. the issues were there before school.

My best friend's husband went to boarding school as did his two older brothers. None of them liked it and would not send their own children. Their youngest brother didn't go - by then their parents had got the message.

My best friend’s ex husbands dogs vet’s niece’s cousin’s husband went to boarding school and loved it.

And will send all his children/puppies to his old school, with his kit packed in Daddy's old school trunk of blessed memory.

Funnily enough my Dad used to speak fondly of boarding school but I think it was self preservation; to admit it was hard (which it clearly was given he was 7 when he was sent away to another country) would be to admit that perhaps his parents weren't looking out for his best interests. What does that say about how they felt about him? You can see how these thought processes would be very uncomfortable. I don't think my Dad loved boarding school but he convinced himself he did because the alternative was too hard to face.

He led a dysfunctional life and drank himself to death a few years ago.

What? You think their parents sent them away because they had issues? I’m lost for words.

My mother was sent away at 8 with her brother who was 5. Thousands of miles from home and didn’t even come home for holidays much of the time. It really damaged her. OH also sent to boarding school and it really damaged him. Quite often it’s parents who don’t enjoy being parents and want their kids out of the way sadly.