Articles
Originally published on Tuesday, 6th August 2013
KIDULTHOOD
Bringing up baby
The days of the babysitting club are numbered. Generation Z can pretty much have their cake (gluten free with agave nectar) and eat it. The term "rugrats" no longer applies – from nursery clubs and baby raves to spas, fashion and balls, the children's market is packed with adult-like (and adult-friendly) offerings.
We start with the dreaded day care. Swap the town hall playgroups for souped-up mummy clubs. Maggie & Rose – the "Soho House for yummy mummies" (it was designed by the same people) – has classes for children including Jackson Pollock-inspired art, Jamie Oliver-based cookery and organic gardening. It comes at a price: £650 per year for Kensington; £825 for Chiswick, but we are talking about the next-gen of Soho House cardholders.
Those more concerned with schooling, enrol the mini-mes into the Purple Dragon kindergarten in Battersea or Chelsea. Here kids are subject to "6 areas of learning", "social development" and an "understanding of the world". They even list schools at which their alumni end up, with testimonials from little Lucias, Evies and Emilios (obviously). Plus, if all the studying gets too much you could always take them to the Baby Spa for some therapeutic flotation and massage.
The more liberal parents might be up for starting music education early with some baby raver action. Set up by and for the now-grown-up 90s rave generation, Big Fish Little Fish hosts child-friendly day parties in good Brixton venues with a decent line up, and some added kiddy-entertainment thrown in: a bubble machine, confetti guns and a chill out room when it all gets too heavy. If you want to do it all at home then there's Baby Rave, who'll set up a kid-friendly party in your living room, garden or chosen venue. Or, for more classical training, try Bach to Baby. Beats a buggy in the mud at Glastonbury or the Teen Tatler Ball (cringe) any day.
Then there are the kids who already have one firm foot in the adult world (and are probably already saving cash for university). Take 10-year-old DJ prodigy Luda who just celebrated his birthday at No. 8 in New York or the kids FROWing (for £100 a ticket) and walking the catwalk at Global Kid's Fashion Week. Just another day on the playground.
