This week my son’s school ruled that parents were not allowed into the children’s changing rooms. The thinking behind it is that parents should not be allowed into the area when children are changing, on the grounds of safeguarding the children.

My heart sort of sank when I heard this. Not because of what the school is trying to do. I completely understand where they are coming from – they have to ensure that the children are protected from harm, and they have to abide by Ofsted’s rules. I get all of that – I work in childcare and understand the desire to safeguard children. After all, you can’t ask parents to complete a CRB check just to enter a locker room (but now I’ve suggested it, somewhere in Whitehall a light bulb will have gone on, and who knows when this will become policy!).

No, my heart sank because being OCD, I am constantly anxious about where my son’s kit may have wandered off to, or what sort of state it will be in. So I would often sneak into the changing room just to be sure that everything was in order! What do I do now? Many a time my son has told me his towel or gum shield has gone missing and is nowhere to be seen. Within 5 minutes of searching, I’ve located the offending item. Children just don’t have that homing device that mums have when it comes to tracking lost property.

But equally I have to learn to let my son get on with it. Will he still want me turning up at university after a cricket match, and rummaging in the changing rooms for his missing jock strap? I think not.

I have to at some point let go. That will probably involve a lot of therapy first though.

Amanda Coxen

Tags: School

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2012 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Working Mums. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.