Polish Boat Mum

Monday 28th June

The Polish Boat Mum and I met on the towpath and arranged to go to the park together. She already introduced herself to me in Little Venice. She is Polish born and also speaks German. She knows Barge Mum and her baby is born in the same month as Barge Mum’s baby. We go to a shady park in Colebrooke Row, to avoid the hot sun. Big Sister jumps off rocks and climbs small trees pretending to be a squirrel. Polish Mum breast feeds her baby while I spoon feed Baby Sister in the pushchair.
“So what do you think is the hardest thing about being a boat mum?” I asked.
“Probably most things are the same as in a house at this stage,” she says. “But moving the boat, travelling you know, is not so much fun anymore. My husband does all the driving and locks on his own while I look after the baby.”
I agree. Boating journeys used to be something that we did together, now it’s a job that needs to be done.
Also, Polish Boat Mum thinks, by the time the children are walking or running they will need space to run about maybe,
“And then we will move to a house,” she thinks.
“My mum is very worried about me living on the boat with the baby,” she says. She was delighted to discover that me, Barge Mum and Single Mum are also living aboard with children in London, and so she reassured her mum that there are other girls doing it too!