Urban wizards and suited skateboarding

Sometimes I love where we live. Sometimes I don't.

There is the man who walks around dressed as a wizard, with a large staff and some big headphones. The bloke who skateboards past in a suit, often balancing tesco bags in each hand. The painfully thin girl who sometimes stands on the corner opposite our house, late at night selling herself. The not so subtle drug dealing from the bookies down the road. The flowers left outside the flat where a man was shot as part of a gang war. The friendly, helpful DIY shop where one of the staff offered to give us the childsafety locks from his own kitchen cupboard to child proof ours. The brilliant locals parks, albeit with their fair share of the local drunks and teenagers with bull mastiffs...

It's an exciting, at times scary place to live, and for now its our home.

However, at some point UB Dad and I hope to leave London and move to a more rural setting. UB Dad grew up in the country, and I was a city kid. We often debate the merits of both setting, though UB Dad is convinced that there can't be any benefits to growing up in the city, I had some good times and I don't think its done me any harm! But, we both agree that London isn't where we want Babin to grow up. Part of this is, I think, our parental desire to wrap her in cotton wool and protect her from the world, but more than that, I think we want to give her a chance to explore the world without us constantly hovering around her, anxious about local shootings, gangs and whatever else there may be.

That isn't to say that I naively believe the countryside is a idyllic, safe place but perhaps the darker side of the world isn't pushed in your face at every turn.

Yet maybe life would be dreary without our wizard and suited skateboarder? Afterall, what would I watch while I do my ironing?