Maree Todd reflects on her time as Minister for Children and Young People ahead of Mother's Day.
MUMS are famous for their catchphrases – some days we find ourselves saying the same thing again and again!
My mum is a native Gaelic speaker, and although I don’t have Gaelic myself, when I had children, I rediscovered my "mother tongue".
All of the things mums say a million times a day, came to me as easily in Gaelic as English, like "suidh sios" (sit down) or "m’eudail bheag" (my wee darling).
Generations of mums have passed on wisdom to their children in the catchphrases they use. One of my favourites is "what’s for you won’t go by you".
As Children’s Minister I spend my days making sure that none of our young people miss out on something that’s "for them".
Today thousands of families will celebrate Mother’s Day.
Some will use the classic catchphrases they learnt from their own mums, some will have traditions and catchphrases of their own.
But what we all have in common is our ambition to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up. It’s why the Scottish Government has introduced the Baby Box, to give every child an equal start in life. In just over a year more than 80,000 have been delivered and 96% of expectant parents are requesting one.
We are also transforming early learning and childcare, almost doubling the amount of funded childcare hours and ensuring the emphasis remains on quality, regardless of where these hours are delivered. This will be available to all families by August 2020, but local authorities are phasing in the extra hours already.
It means all of our youngest children will have a chance to play and learn in the best possible environment and families will save almost £4500 a year per child.
Our work doesn’t stop there though.
We know we have to get it right for every child, not just the majority. That’s why we continue to work on improving consistency of the support available for young people with additional support needs.
And it’s why we continue to invest time, money and love into improving the lives of our looked after children.
The Independent Care Review is listening to those with experience of care in Scotland to identify and deliver lasting change to the care system. You often hear being a mum is the best job in the world. I’m extremely lucky because as well as being a mum to three wonderful kids I also get to do one of the other best jobs in the world, working to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up. Another favourite phrase I’m sure we all remember our own mum saying is the classic "I haven’t stopped all day!"
Every child deserves the best possible start in life, no matter their background, and I’m absolutely determined to use my time in office to the full, working hard to make this ambition a reality.
But I will take one day off to stop, relax and maybe get a little spoilt by my own kids.
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