Thank you to the lovely Harriet for a personal insight into her childhood and her wishes for her own daughter.
"When I think back to my childhood it brings back fantastic memories and leaves me with a huge smile on my face. My childhood wasn't conventional by any means and it would be easy to assume that I didn't have a happy time, but far from it.
My parents divorced when I was 6 years old. To be honest I don't remember them being together, my earliest memories are ones where they are already separated. At 7 years old, my mom made the somewhat crazy decision to move to France, me, step-dad & brother in tow, with not one out of the four of us able to string a sentence together in French. All I could say in French was "hello" "cat" & "dog", not the makings of a great conversation.
We went to a French school, talk about jumping in at the deep end, but I can honestly say never did I ever wish that we were still in the UK. I loved it. All of the French children wanted to be my friend as I was some sort of English alien. We spent 9 years in France, I ended up doing my French Brevet (equivalent to GCSE's) and passed. I was completely fluent, French people who didn't know me wouldn't have known I was English. The years spent in France were some of the happiest of my life and although I didn't have a conventional family life, it was solid and it built the morals and values that I have today.
That's what I want for Ava, a happy family life, I think everyone wants that for their child. I was lucky enough to gain from my parents divorce. I got two extra parents, a half-brother, a step-brother and a step-sister. I got to experience a different culture and all of those experiences made me who I am today.
In my experience your childhood builds you into the future adult you will be, whether your parents are divorced or not. I want Ava to have a happy childhood but most of all I want her to grow up with a good head on her shoulders. I want her to be aware of the world around her and have good morals and I hope that I can teach her that.I was so lucky to have such a happy and exciting childhood."Harriet blogs over at http://www.arushoflove.co.uk
