NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
Mar 11th 2009, 12:32 am
#16
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Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
You can be outdoorsy (I am) but not particularly sporty (I'm not). I don't miss the retail therapy too much either and enjoy the relative lack of consumerism.
Mar 11th 2009, 4:03 am
#17
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Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
In some towns it can be a problem and kids will still whine they are bored, sit on the playstation or computer, and traipse mud in the house.
In Timaru, we have a quite nice beach, but now they are older it can be a mission to get the kids to go there, unless they can txt a friend to meet them there, which drives me nuts. There is a sailing club, which two of my boys were involved in but have now given up. We have plenty of bushwalks and I have to insist my kids come and have some compulsory fresh air and exercise, or I will confiscate the playstation. We have two swimming pools and on occasions I say "Right, get your togs" (swimming attire) and I drop them at the pool for a couple of hours while I go grocery shopping, or I go with them and take a picnic. There is a movie theatre, and the kids mooch about and go to Subway or McD's.
They often get involved in sport clubs through school and you don't necessarily have to go each week, as the coach or another parent may be able to help with transport. My 4 kids get to do one or two out of school actiivities a year - they've done competition gymnastics, netball, softball, Tae kwondo, soccer, swimming, rugby, art classes, violin, drums, choir, basketball, badminton, skiiing. There is plenty to keep them occupied, but you still have to insist sometimes as many kids are inherently lazy, or become so as they grow up.
In Timaru, we have a quite nice beach, but now they are older it can be a mission to get the kids to go there, unless they can txt a friend to meet them there, which drives me nuts. There is a sailing club, which two of my boys were involved in but have now given up. We have plenty of bushwalks and I have to insist my kids come and have some compulsory fresh air and exercise, or I will confiscate the playstation. We have two swimming pools and on occasions I say "Right, get your togs" (swimming attire) and I drop them at the pool for a couple of hours while I go grocery shopping, or I go with them and take a picnic. There is a movie theatre, and the kids mooch about and go to Subway or McD's.
They often get involved in sport clubs through school and you don't necessarily have to go each week, as the coach or another parent may be able to help with transport. My 4 kids get to do one or two out of school actiivities a year - they've done competition gymnastics, netball, softball, Tae kwondo, soccer, swimming, rugby, art classes, violin, drums, choir, basketball, badminton, skiiing. There is plenty to keep them occupied, but you still have to insist sometimes as many kids are inherently lazy, or become so as they grow up.
Mar 11th 2009, 6:56 am
#19
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Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
Ref the clubs that are being mentioned, I just wondered how expensive they are to join? It costs £24 per term for swimming, £43 for guitar, £40 for ballet etc here and with two of them the costs mount up.
Cheers
Lorraine
Cheers
Lorraine
Mar 11th 2009, 8:07 am
#20
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Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
For younger kids there's lots of 'free stuff' in the sense that the outdoors (bush, beaches) is free and there are well-maintained kids playgrounds in most neighbourhoods - usually with appropriate safety surfaces.
Mar 11th 2009, 9:00 am
#21
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Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
I do that here just now so will be no different in NZ then
I am not sporty at all but like you enjoy being outdoors.
My youngest has a drum kit,the oldest a guitar but they also do judo,rugby,swimming,Boys Brigade,kayak club and canoeing.
One of the reasons we are going to NZ is for the outdoor life and the freedom to be children longer it will provide my boys.
Phyl x
One of the reasons we are going to NZ is for the outdoor life and the freedom to be children longer it will provide my boys.
Phyl x
Mar 11th 2009, 9:58 pm
#22
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Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
Because a 20 month old has no road safety awareness and some people here don't seem to realise that....they shouldn't be roaming around cars at all. But here everyone just calls these things tragic accidents - they are not neccessarily. Plural because there were two cases last year on the kapiti coast in the same Church car park on a Sunday morning..and everyone just said 'how tragic it was' not how dumb the adults were in not supervising such young kids properly around moving cars.
In the UK, such incidents do happen of course often with reversing farm tractors and the like.....it is a tragedy if the child breaks free from a carer's endeavour to keep them safe..it is less so and more negligence if the child is unsupervised in the first place. The younger the child the more negligent it is.
ACC cover seems to encourage a laxer attitude to safety..there is less traffic here but it only takes one single car to injure/kill a kid. And yes on your own driveway you should be taking extra precautions when your kids are young.
In the UK, such incidents do happen of course often with reversing farm tractors and the like.....it is a tragedy if the child breaks free from a carer's endeavour to keep them safe..it is less so and more negligence if the child is unsupervised in the first place. The younger the child the more negligent it is.
ACC cover seems to encourage a laxer attitude to safety..there is less traffic here but it only takes one single car to injure/kill a kid. And yes on your own driveway you should be taking extra precautions when your kids are young.
Mar 13th 2009, 1:34 pm
#23
Galaxy 1: Cadbury's 0
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Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
UK kids.....
I think kids in UK have had far to much, all those bloody theme parks, zoo's soft play areas and so on and on, and when they get over here, they dont know what to do with themselves, kids seem to stay kids longer here, we try and get outdoors as much and have stayed in basic cribs and gone fishing ect, our daughter seems to play ourdoors more, i suppose thats down to low popualtion and less crime or dodgy people about, when we stayed at fishing lodge the kids went off on their own and played down by the river and you didn't have to worry about them, even school play grounds are proper playgrounds, none of this wrapping them in cotton wool like UK, even most schools dont have fences around them like uk ones did, especially junior schools.
Kids do seem to make their own entertainment in NZ, when we went back to UK this Christmas all the kids we went to see seemed to all have X box, Wi or some form of electronic gadget to keep them happy, and whent the family goout on weekends it usually involves spending money to keep kids happy, in NZ you have to be more inventive and thats gets you out and about more, and there are no theme parks down here on SI, we have cinemas and all sorts of other things but if wages in NZ are lower than UK some peoples dispossable income can effect kids being able to go where others are going if it costs alot $$.
NZ is what you make it and if you can get your kids to play outside more then thats a bonus.
I think kids in UK have had far to much, all those bloody theme parks, zoo's soft play areas and so on and on, and when they get over here, they dont know what to do with themselves, kids seem to stay kids longer here, we try and get outdoors as much and have stayed in basic cribs and gone fishing ect, our daughter seems to play ourdoors more, i suppose thats down to low popualtion and less crime or dodgy people about, when we stayed at fishing lodge the kids went off on their own and played down by the river and you didn't have to worry about them, even school play grounds are proper playgrounds, none of this wrapping them in cotton wool like UK, even most schools dont have fences around them like uk ones did, especially junior schools.
Kids do seem to make their own entertainment in NZ, when we went back to UK this Christmas all the kids we went to see seemed to all have X box, Wi or some form of electronic gadget to keep them happy, and whent the family goout on weekends it usually involves spending money to keep kids happy, in NZ you have to be more inventive and thats gets you out and about more, and there are no theme parks down here on SI, we have cinemas and all sorts of other things but if wages in NZ are lower than UK some peoples dispossable income can effect kids being able to go where others are going if it costs alot $$.
NZ is what you make it and if you can get your kids to play outside more then thats a bonus.
Personally, I think that's one of those sweeping generalisations about the UK that I completely don't understand. It's all about mind set and parenting. Influenced by upbringing perhaps.
My childhood was free and outdoor based, so my children's is the same, including family time. We certainly can't afford to frequent theme parks at £100+ a day, despite our relatively high income. Or maybe it's more accurate to say we can but choose not to, for a variety of reasons. They have their place, but not for regular entertainment.
The media talks about children these days being closeted, couped up indoors and entertained by electronic gadgets. But like many things, it is not a reality I have witnessed. Although I'm sure it does exist somewhere. Just by no means everywhere.
Now, if we could have more of those community BBQ's though, that would be great!
Mar 14th 2009, 12:01 am
#24
Here in Dunedin
Joined: May 2003
Location: Dunedin
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Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
Personally, I think that's one of those sweeping generalisations about the UK that I completely don't understand. It's all about mind set and parenting. Influenced by upbringing perhaps.
My childhood was free and outdoor based, so my children's is the same, including family time. We certainly can't afford to frequent theme parks at £100+ a day, despite our relatively high income. Or maybe it's more accurate to say we can but choose not to, for a variety of reasons. They have their place, but not for regular entertainment.
The media talks about children these days being closeted, couped up indoors and entertained by electronic gadgets. But like many things, it is not a reality I have witnessed. Although I'm sure it does exist somewhere. Just by no means everywhere.
Now, if we could have more of those community BBQ's though, that would be great!
My childhood was free and outdoor based, so my children's is the same, including family time. We certainly can't afford to frequent theme parks at £100+ a day, despite our relatively high income. Or maybe it's more accurate to say we can but choose not to, for a variety of reasons. They have their place, but not for regular entertainment.
The media talks about children these days being closeted, couped up indoors and entertained by electronic gadgets. But like many things, it is not a reality I have witnessed. Although I'm sure it does exist somewhere. Just by no means everywhere.
Now, if we could have more of those community BBQ's though, that would be great!
But it just seems easier in NZ, with a bit less peer pressure, and more parents than not taking a pragmatic view on what kids can do safely.
We find the cost and convenience of doing stuff with the kids very good here in Dunedin. Older daughter (9y) did golf yesterday at school, has recently done diving, scuba diving and other cool stuff too.
Mar 15th 2009, 11:09 am
#25
Has left the building
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Posts: 4,079
Re: NZ - kids' heaven or kids' hell?
Just wondering how much there is to do for kids. Not too bad at the moment as ours are 4 and nearly 8 but obviously they will need a bit more going on in the future. At the moment they are happy in soft play places (don't know if there are any on the North Island?). Everything seems geared up to outdoor stuff and also there are plenty comments about how much rain there is, so:
I'm wondering what kids do when the winter and bad weather come?
I'm wondering what kids do when the winter and bad weather come?
As for being sporty - muscle memory plays a big part
If Melbourne is not the place for you NZ might be? But bewarned the South Island is different to the North so really depends on what you and the kids are after?
As for isolation we were never prevented from travelling to Europe/Asia/USA on 6 week family holidays. Work prevents me from returning but thats a personal choice - plenty of it but just not at my level elsewhere.
