The cry of a screech owl pierces the stillness of the night heralding his approach. Shadows move in the darkness, shapeless forms that drift in and out of vision. One of the shadows grows more dense, gaining form and substance. He is here.
No one knows his name, or where he came from, they simply call him 'Noir' - The Dark One.
Have I just written the opening lines to the novel I have always wanted to write? - No.
Do I have an idea for a fantastic new graphic novel? - No.
So what the hell am I doing? In all honesty I think I'm going mad, I used to think it was the world that was mad but I'm starting to change my mind. So why? Why the dramatic opening and why am I losing the plot?
Well I'll tell you, I know that we all think that our children are super, well it turns out that some are just a little more 'super' than we give them credit for.
Last week, in my own home, a guy arrived making a 'crime' documentary for Channel 4 - all well and good. Several hours into filming with my eldest son the camera is pointed at me, with enough lights on it to light a sports field and I am presented with the 'revelation' that said son is a secret crime fighting superhero who patrols the streets at night, reporting and fighting crime wherever it may lurk. (No it doesn't sound any better how ever many times I say it!)
It seems that this is something that more and more teenagers and even grown men with families are participating in, and a documentary is in the process of being researched and filmed about them right across the country, showing what they do and why they feel the need to do it.
Am I right to be worried about my sons safety? Am I right is telling him that this is not the way to go about being a role model? (That is what he sees himself as being). Or do I just stay quiet and pick up the pieces when required? This is one of those scenarios that if I condone it and say "yes, its a good thing that you are doing" which I don't believe for a second, that will give him the validation he needs to step up his activities in this area. Yet, if I say "You are placing yourself in danger, you must stop this activity at once, I forbid you to be a superhero!" He will rebel in an act of defiance and go out and do it even more anyway. I am totally at a loss, dazed and confused.
I am not looking forward to this documentary being aired. I am not looking forward to the repercussions, and I am not looking forward to picking up the pieces.
Why is there never anything like this in the parenting books?
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
I'm Not A Morning Person
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. - Frank Sinatra.
I like that quote from Frank, it seems to sum up how I feel every morning, like I've been partying hard, drunk too much, gone ten rounds with a burly stranger and slept in my clothes! Yet in reality I've been home all evening drunk nothing but tea - well maybe the 'occasional' glass of wine for medicinal purposes you understand, and gone to bed on my own (the dog doesn't count). Waking up in the morning after another restless night is hard, so hard that my body seizes up at the thought and I try so hard to resist hitting the snooze button on the alarm. Most mornings I win and I stagger across the landing to wake my son,who I'm sure is just laying there awake waiting for me to say its OK to get up.
This morning was no different, I opened my bedroom door to find a demented husky lying in wait to pounce on me, which he dutifully did. There is nothing quite like the warm smelly kiss of a large dog to bring you back to consciousness! I called my son to get out of bed and headed down the stairs, trying to avoid falling over the dog which was doing his best to trip me up. Still bleary eyed and in the gloom of the darkened hallway I spotted an unusually light patch on the carpet close to the dogs bed, assuming he had been sick through the night I gave him a comforting cuddle and walked through to the kitchen to collect cleaning materials. Returning to the hall, and opening the curtains I discovered that what I had spotted was not doggy vomit but a nice bare patch where there should have been carpet. He has chewed not only through the carpet pile, but through the backing and the underlay, stopping only at the concrete underneath, which even though he is teething and apt to chew whatever he can, was just a little on the hard side for him.
Still, with temper unusually still intact, especially as I found I'd ran out of tea bags and I NEED my cuppa of a morning, we made it through to the school run. The dog watching through the glass of the back door as I we headed out on the short walk to school. I was a little concerned that by the time I got back the hole in the carpet would be the size of a man hole cover, but no, thankfully the carpet had been abandoned. Unfortunately he had found a new pastime to occupy himself.
I came through the door to what looked like an explosion in a confetti factory. He had managed to acquire a complete roll of kitchen towel and had proceeded to unravel, chew and shred every last piece of it. So now having cleared the mess away I an preparing to leave the house again. I fear I may have to duck tape him to his bed in an exercise of damage limitation.
Roll on bedtime.
I like that quote from Frank, it seems to sum up how I feel every morning, like I've been partying hard, drunk too much, gone ten rounds with a burly stranger and slept in my clothes! Yet in reality I've been home all evening drunk nothing but tea - well maybe the 'occasional' glass of wine for medicinal purposes you understand, and gone to bed on my own (the dog doesn't count). Waking up in the morning after another restless night is hard, so hard that my body seizes up at the thought and I try so hard to resist hitting the snooze button on the alarm. Most mornings I win and I stagger across the landing to wake my son,who I'm sure is just laying there awake waiting for me to say its OK to get up.
This morning was no different, I opened my bedroom door to find a demented husky lying in wait to pounce on me, which he dutifully did. There is nothing quite like the warm smelly kiss of a large dog to bring you back to consciousness! I called my son to get out of bed and headed down the stairs, trying to avoid falling over the dog which was doing his best to trip me up. Still bleary eyed and in the gloom of the darkened hallway I spotted an unusually light patch on the carpet close to the dogs bed, assuming he had been sick through the night I gave him a comforting cuddle and walked through to the kitchen to collect cleaning materials. Returning to the hall, and opening the curtains I discovered that what I had spotted was not doggy vomit but a nice bare patch where there should have been carpet. He has chewed not only through the carpet pile, but through the backing and the underlay, stopping only at the concrete underneath, which even though he is teething and apt to chew whatever he can, was just a little on the hard side for him.
I came through the door to what looked like an explosion in a confetti factory. He had managed to acquire a complete roll of kitchen towel and had proceeded to unravel, chew and shred every last piece of it. So now having cleared the mess away I an preparing to leave the house again. I fear I may have to duck tape him to his bed in an exercise of damage limitation.
Roll on bedtime.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Emergency Cost Cutting
Well with the double barrelled shotgun of unexpected unemployment staring us squarely in the face this week, steps have had to be taken to stem the flow of money that seems to flow with increasing speed from our accounts. What has struck me more than anything is the fact that we have had money leaving the account that we had forgotten about - mad I know, considering we are supposed to be aware of our spending these days, those 'one off' yet somehow ongoing subscriptions that magically renew themselves every year etc, simply because we are too lazy to cancel them when we should.
So far we have managed to make a good start, (see below), but without more funds coming in its difficult to say just how we are going to pay what's left, I'm just keeping everything crossed that something comes our way soon.
- Virgin TV Package - Pared back to the minumum.
- Virgin Internet Package - Pared Back to the minimum.
- Mobile Phone Packages - Reduced
- Magazine Subscriptions - Cancelled
- Audio Book Club Subscription - Cancelled
- Money Transferred to Savings - Pared back to minimum.
- Charity Donations (Direct Debit) - Cancelled
- Changing from School Dinners to Packed Lunches
- Window Cleaner - Cancelled
- Milk Man - Cancelled
Today is my son's 6th birthday, and whereas last year I arrived at school with a (bought) birthday cake and bags of sweets for all of the children in his class, this year I made home made chocolate and banana cakes/muffins for everyone, including his teachers. Other than the hour spent in the kitchen making three dozen cakes, rather than being on the lap top working, I saved at least £10 by doing it.
We even - after a LOT of searching, managed to buy him his first bike for his birthday, for half the price it should have been, rather than buying the first thing that we saw that he would like - whatever the cost.
There are a lot of learned behaviours that we need to change, and I'm hoping that when we are back in gainful employment that we can maintain some of our new cost effective behaviours as I am sure that they will help over the coming years.
Sunday, 27 February 2011
What a Week!
You may have noticed that my blog posts have been in short supply this week, for which a apologise. This week has not been the best week of my life, in fact its running on from an earlier bad week and into an even darker one.
In the past week I have been in hospital with chest pains, which after being wired to an ECG machine, stuck with needles and pumped with pills, turns out to be due neither to a problem with my heart, nor a blood clot anywhere, nor pleurisy. But even though they could tell me what it was not, they couldn't tell me what it actually was. Whatever it was left me weak, grey and my fingernails half blue!
I was discharged from the hospital and within the next hour I found out that not only was I being laid off but my partner was also out of a job. He could stop work tomorrow, next week, or the end of the month. Whichever the guys in the suits decide to choose - thanks. Thanks for sending our stress levels through the roof and thanks for the increased tightness in my chest.
I have spent a whole day digging out certificates and updating our CV's, rooting out suitable jobs, searching from the North East to London in the hope that we can find something within a month or else things will become seriously serious.
It seems that the knock on effects of the recession have caught up with us and knocked us flat, just when we are being told that the country is getting back on its feet too. Well, not from where I am Mr Cameron, as far as I am concerned its limping badly and about to fall over.
In the past week I have been in hospital with chest pains, which after being wired to an ECG machine, stuck with needles and pumped with pills, turns out to be due neither to a problem with my heart, nor a blood clot anywhere, nor pleurisy. But even though they could tell me what it was not, they couldn't tell me what it actually was. Whatever it was left me weak, grey and my fingernails half blue!
I was discharged from the hospital and within the next hour I found out that not only was I being laid off but my partner was also out of a job. He could stop work tomorrow, next week, or the end of the month. Whichever the guys in the suits decide to choose - thanks. Thanks for sending our stress levels through the roof and thanks for the increased tightness in my chest.
I have spent a whole day digging out certificates and updating our CV's, rooting out suitable jobs, searching from the North East to London in the hope that we can find something within a month or else things will become seriously serious.
It seems that the knock on effects of the recession have caught up with us and knocked us flat, just when we are being told that the country is getting back on its feet too. Well, not from where I am Mr Cameron, as far as I am concerned its limping badly and about to fall over.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
How To Cut The Cost Of Keeping Your Car Running.
With the price of fuel continually rising and car tax seeming to change every six months its becoming increasingly difficult to keep our cars on the road. So, if there was a way or two of keeping the running costs down shouldn't we try them? Some are common sense but some may come as a surprise, check them out and see if they can save you some money.
Find the lowest priced petrol in your area: Make sure you take the time to research the fuel prices in your local area. You will be able to locate the cheapest filling stations using www.petrolprices.com, all you need to do is type in your postcode. you can also use this service to sign up for email alerts to keep you up to date with price changes.
Declutter your car: Carrying extra weight in your car causes you to use more fuel, so remember to remove any roof rack that is not in use, and take all non essential items out of your boot.
Swtich things off: Remember to switch off your heated rear windscreen, demisters and headlights when you don't need them, and if you get caught up in a traffic queue, turn the engine off - especially of it looks like you are going to me sat there for more than three minutes.
Take it easy: Constantly speeding up and slowing down means that your car greedily drinks down petrol. Remember to drive smoothly, accelerate gently and read the road ahead to avoid unnecessary braking. If you can keep the car moving all the time, all the better as stopping and starting uses more fuel than just rolling. On a road with speed bumps, drive at a steady 15-20 mph, rather than braking hard, accelerating and then braking hard again for the next bump.
Watch your speed: The faster you go, the greater the fuel consumption, and the greater the pollution. Driving at 70mph uses up to 9% more fuel than at 60% and 15% more than at 50mph.
Find the lowest priced petrol in your area: Make sure you take the time to research the fuel prices in your local area. You will be able to locate the cheapest filling stations using www.petrolprices.com, all you need to do is type in your postcode. you can also use this service to sign up for email alerts to keep you up to date with price changes.
Declutter your car: Carrying extra weight in your car causes you to use more fuel, so remember to remove any roof rack that is not in use, and take all non essential items out of your boot.
Swtich things off: Remember to switch off your heated rear windscreen, demisters and headlights when you don't need them, and if you get caught up in a traffic queue, turn the engine off - especially of it looks like you are going to me sat there for more than three minutes.
Take it easy: Constantly speeding up and slowing down means that your car greedily drinks down petrol. Remember to drive smoothly, accelerate gently and read the road ahead to avoid unnecessary braking. If you can keep the car moving all the time, all the better as stopping and starting uses more fuel than just rolling. On a road with speed bumps, drive at a steady 15-20 mph, rather than braking hard, accelerating and then braking hard again for the next bump.
Watch your speed: The faster you go, the greater the fuel consumption, and the greater the pollution. Driving at 70mph uses up to 9% more fuel than at 60% and 15% more than at 50mph.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Mummys, Romans & Pirates all in one day!
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| My Little Roman |
The boys aged five and nine were thoroughly stimulated and entertained, they especially enjoyed exploring the old paddle steamer the PSS Wingfield Castle, with both of them repeatedly climbing up and down the stairs to the wheel house, and staring in awe at the size of the ship massive boiler. They decided they were going to be pirates and the gift shop was quickly plundered for pirate attire! Bad pirate accents were then adopted and and the boys went off in search of treasure. We're not sure what they thought they might find in the car park, but they were happy to look.
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| Pirate Xander |
Monday, 21 February 2011
Save A Life - Sign The Register - NOW!
We walk this way only once, and though her journey was short it was filled with love.
This is Kristina, a beautiful bride on her wedding day 5 years ago. A picture of health and happiness, the future before her without a cloud on the horizon.
Kristina died yesterday. She passed away surrounded by Lee, her husband and her family after a long battle to beat a chronic condition.
Kristina needed a lung transplant, and spent the last to years hoping for a phone call to say a donor organ had become available, the phone call never came.
I cried many tears yesterday, not for Kristina who I know in my heart is now at peace, but for those who remain here, coming to terms with the void that her death has left behind. Her husband, her mother and her sisters, the nieces and nephews that will never know what a beautiful person she was, and those of us who, though were not close to her shared a connection.
For the past couple of years every time we heard that her condition was worsening, we hoped that a donor organ would materialise, feeling guilt at wanting a stranger to die so that she may have a chance at life, yet wishing for it all the same.
I would implore everyone to sign onto the Organ Donor Register. Anything could happen to anyone of us tomorrow, but knowing that in death we could give someone like Kristina, my sister in law, a chance at a full life is a legacy that is priceless. Giving our families the knowledge that a piece of us lives on through others and that in our passing we had the ability to give another family hope and joy and spare them the anguish that Kristina's family experienced yesterday. Please sign the register today.
Kristina died yesterday. She passed away surrounded by Lee, her husband and her family after a long battle to beat a chronic condition.
Kristina needed a lung transplant, and spent the last to years hoping for a phone call to say a donor organ had become available, the phone call never came.
I cried many tears yesterday, not for Kristina who I know in my heart is now at peace, but for those who remain here, coming to terms with the void that her death has left behind. Her husband, her mother and her sisters, the nieces and nephews that will never know what a beautiful person she was, and those of us who, though were not close to her shared a connection.
For the past couple of years every time we heard that her condition was worsening, we hoped that a donor organ would materialise, feeling guilt at wanting a stranger to die so that she may have a chance at life, yet wishing for it all the same.
I would implore everyone to sign onto the Organ Donor Register. Anything could happen to anyone of us tomorrow, but knowing that in death we could give someone like Kristina, my sister in law, a chance at a full life is a legacy that is priceless. Giving our families the knowledge that a piece of us lives on through others and that in our passing we had the ability to give another family hope and joy and spare them the anguish that Kristina's family experienced yesterday. Please sign the register today.
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