So you want to be a single parent and Baby Borrowers - useful TV or total tosh?

Last night, there were two programme featuring people who don't have kids who volunteered for two reality TV shows to look after children for several days, on their own (with a nanny in the background as backup and of course, the TV crew!)

They were abit different - 'So you think you want to be a single parent?' took celebrities (including Rhona Cameron who I also spotted today on the down escalator at Warren Street) and had them look after children (in a single parent family) for a week. And the 'Baby Borrowers' took teenage couples and had them look after babies for a weekend.

The idea was to show us how hard parenting is and, in the case of the teenagers, put them off getting pregnant too young.

Are these programmes also useful for people trying to decide whether or not to have kids? Would they help someone with the decision? I'm really not sure.

Anyway, these random thoughts are probably distracting me from my main task for this month - mainly to revise my book proposal in line with advice I've had from a literary agent. I really must get some more discipline!!

Comments

Jana said…
I've often thought it would be good for people who want to have kids to actually have to live with them for a while and take care of them - I was never big on having kids but when I was an au-pair in France it really made me realize what a 24-hour a day job it was. Of course, it's different than being a real parent, but it helped confirm for me that kids can be fun but also very demanding and draining! I like to have fun with all my little cousins and then go off and do my own thing - the best of both worlds...

And yeah, I hear you about the discipline-to-get-writing thing!

Jana
decided said…
I think shows like these have some value for people who are trying to decide whether to have children or not.

They point out the challenges of parenting so that an informed decision can be made.

But I think that the opportunity to actually try out parenting would be even more valuable.

People who are pondering the idea of having children could look after a friend's child for a week and see if they are any good at it, or if they like the experience.

You can't change your mind once a child is born, so a 'trial run' isn't really such a ridiculous idea!

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