Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

spending much of your childhood away from your parents has shaped your attitude to your own children? For the youngsters replace the word "has" with "will".

I'll give my views when I have more time!

(No children yet)

One observation - "sending" your children to boarding school seems often to be viewed as a selfish act on the part of the parts (parts=parents - Mod).
I've always viewed as more of a selfless act in actuality - the parent puting the needs of the child in front of their needs.
Parents miss the children as much as the children miss the parents, but parents can see the benefits of the school over-and-above the upset of missing their children.

Personally I felt that my relationship with my parents grew stronger - separation makes the heart grow stronger - and my parents saw the better side of us during the holidays, whilst the teachers had to put up with the more unpleasant sides of kids growing up.

Hence, I'd probably turn the question around and say that being away at boarding school has shaped my attitude to my parents, and made me appreciate them far more than I think I would have had I lived at home....

If I do ever have children then, if they wanted to, I'd certainly hope they wanted to go to CH...
J

jtaylor wrote:(No children yet)

One observation - "sending" your children to boarding school seems often to be viewed as a selfish act on the part of the parts.

J

Of course, it all depends which part we are alluding to at any given moment. As the Good Bard says (I think) each man plays many parts (the exact quotation eludes my aging brain).

I wonder to which particular part of his parts then Julian refers?

Alright alright!
Should have known better than to post without re-reading my contribution....

I wasn't SENT I desperately wanted to go (I read too many books about it I think).

My children didn't want to go. nuff said.

jtaylor wrote:Alright alright!
Should have known better than to post without re-reading my contribution....

Well it's good to know that there is no part of parts (or the absence thereof) which is in any way related to the "no children yet" bit. So may we expect some quite soon then, Julian?

DavebytheSea wrote:So may we expect some quite soon then, Julian?

Errr....NO!

I have a niece though - all the fun, none of the hassle or responsibility!

I intend to spoil her completely, so that she says to her Dad "I wish Julian was my Dad!"

J

Would suggest the above posters attend the next meeting of the Anarchists Club.....

Children ??

I'm tutoring 4 x Grand-Children, but that's another story !

(p.s. Julian: It ain't difficult !)

When I posed the question I wasn't necessarily coming from the boarding v day angle although that is obviously relevant.

There were times that I felt very, very alone and low at CH and because those memories are vivid, even now, I've always tried to talk regularly to my children about all aspects in case they feel the same way.

My parents would do anything for me and it is not their fault I felt bad at times. Communication with parents in my day was limited to holidays, 3 weekly visits and sunday letter writing. They were therefore inevitably unaware of my emotional state much of the time.

I think therefore going to CH has (in theory anyway) made me a better parent and more able to empathise and discuss things with my children since my experiences have given me the incentive to work at it.

Reading the above in isolation it sounds like I hated the School. That was not the case as I had very happy times as well.

MidA15 - You and I seem very similar. Long conversations this afternoon regarding this very subject.

Our Grand-Children are as close to us as our two girls were. A long, long story. Much too long to go into detail on here !

How do JR,

I won't mention Wednesday if you don't

Not so good today though against Bolton!