Wednesday, July 06, 2005

London 2012

So London has won the right to host the 2012 Olympics. What will this mean to us if we decide to go to this iconic event when our bump should be seven years old? (Wow, seven years old, that's a mind-blowing thought!)

Having been to London last weekend I predict that the tube (and public transport in general) will be unbearable. When we arrived in London on Friday we took several tube journeys on trains where there was only standing room. Only on one of them did someone offer to stand up so that Hayley - who looks heavily pregnant - could sit down. And it was a woman who offered. On the other trains people just looked away. We noticed one man who clearly looked at Hayley, then her bump, then up at her face, then looked quickly away. Welcome to the friendly caring capital.

Of course the idea that sport will get a big boost - and that the boost will be focused on children - is an encouraging thought. I am rather terrified that our child is going to grow up in a world full of child-targeted advertising of junk food that didn't exist to the same degree when we were kids in the 1970s. Couple that with a lack of exercise and you can see why he UK has far too many obese children. I can only hope that we are successful in encouraging our child to enjoy the countryside, outdoor activities and sports in general.