Conference

The enticing line up for my conference in Edinburgh today made it easier to get out of bed at 6am on a Saturday and catch the 6.38 train. I arrived at Waverley station at 8.45 having made it through Glashow from central to Queen St effortlessly. The sun was shining all the way there and the capital looked splendid on a bright sunny morning.

I found the Royal College of Physicians with ease and had a fabulous day. All the speakers were excellent, as I knew they would be. Many of them I have heard numerous times before but some were new to me, preceded by their reputation and well worth giving up a sunny Saturday for.

I particularly enjoyed chatting with Tam Baillie about the Early Years Collaborative, as I was surprised no one had mentioned it by 3pm as it seems to me to be the answer to many of the questions posed. He assured me he would bring it up a the panel at the end of the day and I actually got o ask my question from the floor so he answered it directly which was cool. It was a bit of shame that word hasn't spread yet about the Collaborative despite all 32 local authorities being involved but hopefully the delegates today will go away enthused to find out more.

I made some great connections with people who can help me in the work I'm planning with parents, especially fathers so that's exciting. I've also had some ideas about exploring 'love' with our children and families as it is one of the key values of Arthurlie Family Centre an features in the 3 main areas the early years task force are working on. In order for Scotland to become the best place in the world to grow up EVERYONE needs to realise that children need three things...

Children need to be loved

Children need behavioural boundaries

Children need play and fun

It may sound obvious to some, but it's a huge challenge to ensure that every child is wanted and nurtured and every parent is prepared and supported.

So parents:

love your children,

love yourself

love each other

Tell everyone you know, it's a radical concept ;D