This morning my inbox contained an email update from Hello Its Gemma entitled The Friday Rant. On further reading I found this to be something that she had discovered at Muddling Along Mummy’s blog. The Friday Rant Club.

“The Friday Rant Club is an opportunity to get all those frustrations that have been building up off your chest before the weekend. Either post something in the comments below or write your own one. There’s a little badge over there on the right if you fancy showing the world that you are not a doormat!” (I did try to use the badge but it did not work for me!)

Now this just happens to suit my mood this morning. Every Friday the babies and I are signed up for Baby Sensory classes for the rest of this academic year. Esther and William love the sessions and I have to be honest so do I, I love anything that involves singing and that gets me out to meet other Mums. But every Friday morning I am filled with a sense of dread, we are okay to get to our classes in town but often we struggle to get back.

You see, I live in a lovely little village called Charing, which is just near Ashford in Kent. The classes that I attend are mostly in Ashford. This is a mere 6 minutes away by train. Perfect, you would think.
On a Friday morning I catch the 10am train without incident and head on into town and through to our class. I board the train on this side of the station, in Ashford there is a lift from the platform to the subway.

The problem arises when we are coming home. The babies are tired after a successful, active class and I just need to get them home to feed them and get them to bed. But then we encounter our problem. When the trains are returning from Ashford passengers have to alight on the opposite platform, from which you cannot exit the station with crossing the foot bridge. There is no lift, no ramp and no staff. So unless some kind hearted stranger happens to be pasing by and takes pity on us, Esther, William and I are stranded at the station, on the other side of the rail tracks from where we live.

In this day and age surely every station should be catering for people with buggies or wheelchairs? To get home I would have to pay for a ticket to Maidstone and back to allow me to travel a further 20 minutes out of my way, change trains, travel 20 minutes back to enable me to get off the train on the right side of he platform.
I find this to be unacceptable that I am unable to travel unless my partner is at home to meet us from the train and help me carry the buggy up the stairs and over the footbridge.

When my Mum was here a few weeks ago we had our double buggy in car seat mode and my Mum had to stand at one side of the station with the babies as I carried the buggy over piece by piece. First William in his car seat, then I had to go back for Esther and then back again for the chassis. If I am to do this on my own it would mean leaving the babies on their own which is surely not to be expected of a young Mum to do.

I know that lifts are expensive, I know that they may not look pretty but surely in 2011 we should have these faculities in even the smallst of stations, and particularly in fact int he stations that are unmanned to avoid young families or people with disabilities being stranded.

Rant over, what a great club to join!

Do you have any end of week fury to get off your chest?