Structured play, in the form of playgroups, is all the rage these days. Young mothers can be observed with their designer prams, taking their offspring to have their lives enriched by engaging in constructive activities that have made numerous child psychologists wealthy from the proceeds of books about the subject. Whilst the children engage in activities that allegedly teach social skills, improved cognitive ability and creativity the mothers can drink coffee and socialise amongst one another.

Isn’t it great to have your obligations to the creative development of your child so conveniently catered for? No need for any nasty unstructured mess around your model house. Cute finger paintings and crayon drawings can be restricted to the ten square feet of whiteness that is the fridge door.

These women are achieving exactly what society expects of them. They are raising sons who will have to fit into the rigid world of industry and daughters whose time will be taken up taking the children to structured playgroups, socialising with other mothers whilst maintaining the house in a tidy and germ free state. These future adults will have their time for their minor creative endeavours carefully regulated by society and they wont care.

Heaven forbid that you inadvertently raise an artist! Imagine arriving at the home of your adult child to find it in chaos, children on the rampage, exploring, learning what they want to instead of what they are told to, creating, and having fun. All this whilst their parents are engaged in having fun themselves. Not only are they poor but they don’t care.

Obviously they are being irresponsible. How will they afford the world cruise when they age? Think of what they are missing out on, the opportunity of seeing the world in a luxury version of a troop ship. Herded from one carefully sanitised parody of some local culture to another. If they travel at all they will be forced to actually associate with the locals and take the trouble to conform to the social mores of the community in which they find themselves.

I hear you thinking “Society would collapse if everyone behaved like that” but, of course, they wont. There are too many young mothers training the future fodder for the factory and the home as we speak. You however can give you child the most rare and precious gift that you have to offer. The ability, when they approach a fork in the road, to choose to take the path less travelled. You give them this gift by showing them the way. Be brave. Stop pretending that you are happy. Stop trying to be what society expects you to be. Follow your dream and to hell with the consequences.