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Showing posts from July, 2012

A rare day in the sun.

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Taking full advantage of  one of the rarest of rare sunny days yesterday, we went to Speke hall. One of Liverpool's oldest Tudor homes, with grounds bigger than most national parks. We enjoyed the peace and quiet, roaming the huge grounds and playing in the maze. When my son asked one of the volunteers if there where any ghosts inside the house. She told us she (legally) couldn't say in case she scared him. Well that only made our ghost hunt around the huge house even more exciting!

Inspire a generation, GB takes gold.

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Last night I watched the Olympic opening ceremony with baited breath, so often the organisers of big events like this get it wrong. It could end up being too drawn out and long winded like the Jubilee Pageant. Or worse we could end up making a spectacle of ourselves like every British Eurovision contestant for the last 10 years. Thankfully I needn't have worried, the ceremony was a visual masterpiece which shone a glimmering light on all of our unique quirks and the astounding talents which make our tiny islands Great. I had a lump in my throat throughout the entire ceremony. Never have I felt so proud to be British and for once, thankfully, the organisers got it right.  Inspire a generation It may sound cliche but the children are the future and we need to invest in our future. More than that we need to inspire them to succeed, show them the results of perseverance, hard work and determination. Although the games have barely started I suspect that the Olympic

Anything is possible, through the eyes of a child.

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 I love the fact that I can take my son anywhere, with or without toys and he will turn the day into a fun filled adventure. The pictures above may just look like piles of sand and litter from the beach. But last Sunday our spot of sand became the epic battle field for a camp of good and evil soldiers. Each camp site - or rock - had an emergency exit in the form of a stick slide at the back. The sites where joined together by a long winding road which he drew in the sand using his rake. It was a beautiful thing, I sat in awe watching my little boy create this magic world of make believe whilst he gave his story more twists and turns, playing for hours. At the age of five the world is a magical place full of epic adventures and absolutely anything is possible. I hope he never loses this precious gift, too often adults let go of the things that made childhood so wonderful, their imagination. How do our once colorful, boundless, never ending stories turn into drab self doub

The never ending circle of clean.

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(Not my house but not far off on a Friday afternoon) So I was wondering if  I am the only person on the planet who's home looks like a nuclear bomb has hit it every Friday afternoon? I honestly can't explain it, our apartment, a tidy suburban haven on a Monday morning. Is turned into a modern day war zone by the end of the week. I find myself dodging toy dinosaurs and hurdling over baskets of washing just to get out of the front door. I'm not sure if it's part of the parenting package or if the my hoover shy partner should shoulder some of the blame. Whatever the reason, guest are not welcome in our home after 6pm on a Wednesday, unless they're blindfolded or bound by a gagging order. I feel like no matter what I do or how hard I try, the clutter just keeps coming back. It creeps up on me. Slowly at first, a fallen cushion here, a magazine there... Then BAM, I can't even find the cat. According to an article I read on  how clutter affects you , a m

Smelly Cat - A social injustice

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So we're walking back to the car when we see a hissing cat staring menacingly at us from an alley way.  my son says to me "mummy why does the cat in the alley look dirty and sick and our cat doesn't?"  Tough question, I try to be honest with him.  "well son, the cat in the alley didn't have the best start in life, it was born on the street and probably lives in a shack. It didn't have a family to take care of it like our cat." He was (understandably) shocked by this appalling social injustice.  "but mummy, will the cat find a family to love him like we love our cat?"  "hopefully son, everybody deserves a loving home" I say reassuringly as I usher him away from the squinting moggy. Poor kitty, sometimes your dealt a bad hand in the game of life, but have faith Mr Smelly Cat, you never know what's waiting around the corner. There could be a loving family out there just for you, a family who'll give you the warm ho

Making new friends at school.

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As my sons first year at school draws to a close I could laugh when I look back at the nights I spent worrying about my him. Will he make friends,  will the other children like him?  Will he become a loner unable to form an emotional attachment in adulthood because of his social failings at school ...   It turns out I had nothing to worry about, my son had made a best friend after the first week and is invited to at least one birthday party a month. Even after the great ‘worm eating’ incident back in November, my child has remained a firm favorite among the reception set. Relieved though I am that my son is a well adjusted, socially savvy child. If I’d known back then what I know now, I would have spent more time worrying about myself.  Making friends with the other parents was not nearly as easy for me as it was my son. I hadn’t expected to be the new kid at school all over again. Trying desperately to fit in with the other parents, the ones who hung around outside school

As easy as riding a bike ...

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The five-year-old has enjoyed cycling to school since he started last September. He loves the freedom of zooming down the road on his little Toy Story bike with matching stabilisers. A few weeks ago we felt the time had come to destabilise and help our son transition to an independent cyclist. My partner and I are both keen cyclists, and ever since the days when I used to cycle around town, with my toddler strapped in safely at the back, I have longed to go out cycling as a family. Finally that day has come! I thought  naively setting aside an afternoon in which we would both teach our child to ride and go for a cycle around the park. Before setting off we decided that we would teach him in the same way that we were taught. Basically our parents  held on to the back of the bike until we found our balance and then let go so we could do the rest. From what I could remember, the rest would came naturally. It would be a piece of cake. So the day came, we set of to the