This weekend I have to admit I haven’t been feeling my best. In fact this morning I dragged myself and the boys to out of hours to find I am quite badly dehydrated. Today has been all about rehydrating. The fact I haven’t been feeling very well might also explain why I spent a large portion of yesterday afternoon in tears and generally feeling pretty down. The reason: one text message. I suppose this blog is a follow up to the one I wrote recently on entitlement.

NESL is here for all families. There are no “rules” over the parents we help. I want NESL to be able to help as many families as possible. We are though at heart a lending library. We loan you a sling for 2 or 4 weeks and then you bring it back on the date given when hiring (and sent via email). In cases of ill children, broken cars etc I get that people won’t make sessions to return. I get it. I am a Mum first and foremost. I will work with you to find a solution; often extending or retuning to a different session.

I also understand that you may want longer to try the carrier. Usually it is possible to extend your hire but it is not a guaranteed right. There may be times, especially with new or popular or specialist slings, times it isn’t possible. I will always give as much notice as possible of it won’t be possible. For example, our “summer slings”  are popular in well ‘summer’. I have requests from parents daily and usually I can accommodate them. Some may request a specific sling and I will do my best to help them get it. 

I know it isn’t nice to be told you can’t keep something. I vividly remember the anger of getting a “reservation notice” from the university library meaning I wouldn’t be able to extend the loan longer to finish that essay. I got that the books were popular. Some so popular you could only loan them for 24 or 72hours. But I got it. I understood they weren’t mine. If I wanted them longer then that’s what Amazon and Waterstones were for: to buy. If you are enjoying the carrier so much you want to keep it let me know. If I can extend hire I will, or I will help direct you where to buy one (you never know I might even have a discount code available) but please remember it isn’t yours.  If I ask for it back it is so I can help another family. Please don’t try to make me feel guilty or make demands with sense of entitlement. That isn’t how NESL works.