Parents // Current

Outspoken TV Show Topics Health, Safety, Beauty, Alternative and Conventional Medicine

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female to male transgender 6 weeks on hormones

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Live: "My two fathers"

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Why Good Benefits Matter

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Mom gets 15 years for driving teens to kill rival

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New Moms are forced to receive Tdap shots in Hospitals

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Center for Parental Responsibility

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Got rich parents? Join the club

Are private memberships for well-heeled families breeding a new elite?

They have Marcel Wanders light fixtures and Arne Jacobsen tables; they run classic cartoon screenings and sushi-making classes; they even have their own art directors. Welcome to the world of private children's clubs.

Once the preserve of City suits and media luvvies, the private club has rolled out the alphabet blocks. With organic food made on-site and diversions for children and their adults, this new breed of club aims to fill those sometimes engaging, sometimes suicidal hours for parents that stretch between breakfast and bedtime. And now there is a platinum version.Purple Dragon opens next month near Battersea Park, southwest London. The 10,500 sq ft club caters to the under-12s and will be open daily from 9am to 9pm with theme-based “pods”, including five-hole mini-golf, a gaming area and a recording studio. Grown-ups can have manicures and neck massages in the spa or eat in the 100-seat brasserie. Founding members pay £2,500 for the first child, £1,750 for the second and £1,000 for the third. Additional children and babies under six months are free.

Kids' private clubs structure their fees in different ways, but with one common thread: you have to pay to play. Purple Dragon membership includes classes and use of all the facilities. At Maggie & Rose in West Kensington, London, families pay £500 a year and get reduced rates for individual classes and parties at the club.

Justin and Angela Hammond have three children under 3 and live in Putney, West London. “I see it in terms of costs and benefits like a gym, but we'll be using it far, far more,” says Justin, a GP who works in Chelsea. His wife, who works in media, anticipates not only coming with her children for cooking classes but to play during bad weather. “It just takes the stress out of it all,” she says. The couple are one of about 230 families who are already signed up to join. Membership is capped at 500 families. Are private memberships for well-heeled families breeding a new elite? They have Marcel Wanders light fixtures and Arne... more