Enjoy your children while you can….

Childhood flies past at incredible speed - as a mother and grandmother, I know this.

And I have such a heavy heart when I see parents failing to appreciate this by ignoring their little ones when on the bus… the buggy is pushed into a space, out comes the phone, and the child has to sit there silent and ignored.

Mothers nowadays do not use a bus journey to enjoy an extra cuddle with their babies. Either they are left in their buggies or - and I cannot believe my eyes when I see this - the child is put on the seat and the parent stands!

I remember with such nostalgia how wonderful it was to have my little son on my lap, my arms round his fat belly, sharing a picture book or pointing out features of our journey. I also see parents sitting next to small children when adults are standing – why not be considerate and at the same time grab an extra cuddle by having your child on your lap?

It is so much safer, too, the child cannot slip or climb off the seat and get hurt.

I know I am a grumpy old woman, but these mums are missing so much, and children are missing out too by sharing what could be a together time with their parents.

When I DO see children and adults interacting together, it is generally with a grandparent who has not forgotten how to talk to a child.

Mobile phones may be wonderful, but we should not let them distract us from our little ones, because in a flash they will have grown up and left home and that precious time together can never again be recaptured.

Carolyn Jones, Hon. Sec. of Altrincham Interfaith Group and member of Dunham Road Unitarian Chapel