I've had visits with British moms who feel that the US is much more family friendly than the UK. I have to say that I agree that hotels and restaraunts for "holidays" or vacations are pretty nice in the US, but I'm not sure that much else can beat some of the things they have in the UK. Now I haven't had much experience with the US and dealing with kid friendliness since we left when Addie was only 5 months old, but over here there are some amazing things that they have that I've never seen in the States. Here are a few things we have available:
1) Parent/child parking - they have this at almost every major type of store. They are designated parking spots with extra room (3-4 feet) on either side of the space to that you can easily pull a child out of the car and put them in a push chair (stroller). Regular parking spots allow you just enough room for someone to crack their door open about 8 inches and squeeze out of your car and that's if you have a small car. The coolest part is that these spots are often right up next to the store on the other side of the handicap parking and there are usually a ton of spots. Today we parked front and center at a very packed new store called B&Q which is just like a Home Depot but cooler. It seemed so unfair that we got to park so close, but we'll take advantage of any thing that makes life easier here.
2) Family changing rooms - everywhere you can actually find bathrooms they have a men's, women's and family changing room. It's not just a pull down changing table but loaded with necessities, most are impecably clean, and they have been wonderful.
3) Free baby food offered at grocery store cafes. The ASDA supermarket store (the British Wal-Mart) gives out free jars of baby food when mums get something to eat or drink.
4) Mother feeding rooms - I have seen at IKEA and at a store called Mothercare that they have designated rooms for breastfeeding mothers....wow. It's challenging enough to keep yourself discrete feeding your child when out and about, but it's amazing to walk in a store that cares enough about the little things. Back to IKEA...the store in Milton Keynes is the most family friendly place I have ever seen. They have an entire play room loaded with games, toys, and movies for kids to play while parents go shopping in the store. They offer free baby food, designated family eating tables, and more.
5) Maternity leave here is for months...not weeks. Some of the moms here about fell over when I told them I got to take 7 weeks for my maternity leave. They thought the few months they get off pretty stringent compared to other places in Europe that offer women up to a year or more off with pay and they get their jobs when they want to come back.
6) Baby TV - we have two television channels that are devoted completely to programs for baby's. Not that I want Addie to be a couch potato, but they have some great little programs with nursery rhymes, bright colors, and learning about shapes, numbers, and letters.
You be the judge, but even with weird baby food and other quarky things we've run into I have found the UK a pretty great place to be raising our little girl.
Monday, November 5, 2007
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