The Times recently ran an interesting story on a writer called Corinne Maier who has caused a huge stir amongst parents back home in her native France by publishing a book in which she argues that having children is a very bad idea indeed.

Losing touch with your friends after you have children is cited as one of the many reasons she gives but while you may have less time overall with your friends, having children is often a good way to meet new people who are in similar stages of life and parenthood as yourself. New parent and mother and toddler support groups are often organised for local parents and are designed to allow new acquaintances and possibly friends to meet regularly and chat about life and their children. Many are organised through the National Childcare Trust (NCT) or by local mums.

According to Maier, staying at home to look after children is also breathtakingly dull but the old adage ‛only boring people get bored' springs to mind here. Looking for ways to entertain children can be tricky but with a little creativity and remembering what you yourself liked to do at that age, a whole range of activities can be dreamt up. The important thing is to keep the children stimulated and above all having fun!

Financial concerns connected with supporting children are also added to the growing list compiled by Maier and is perhaps the most understandable of the points she makes. Having children is obviously going to have a huge financial impact on your life but with careful planning most couples can prepare for the monetary demands that providing for children bring.

Having children is always going to be a challenge but it should be one that brings huge rewards to the parents. Ultimately hurdles like money and less personal time seem very insignificant when you are able to watch them growing up as happy individuals.