Hugging

Last night before Hayley went to her Childminding nightclass she came over to Oliver and I where we were sitting on the floor to say goodbye with a hug and a kiss. She put her amrs round both of us for a group hug. He responded by first hugging me and then Hayley and then each of us again. It was lovely that he understood what was going on and that he shows affection like this.

On her return from her nightclass Hayley related how one topic for discussion had been the fact that childminders must be very careful about any physical contact with children in their care. So much so that even if a child has hurt itself or is upset the childminder should try to avoid giving them a comforting hug.

I suspect that such hard and fast rules would naturally break down over time once the parents knew you well and you had established trust all round. After all, when parents hand over responsibility for the well-being of their child, surely it shouldn't stop at the basic physical preservation of the child. After all its emotional well-being is almost certainly foremost in a parent's mind when choosing a childminder.

It seems to me we live in sad times when a caring hug has to be avoided.