Life of Mum.

I consider myself a conscientious mother and to further my childrens' education and lives, I do my best to give them opportunities to progress, succeed and have some fun along the way.
Unfortunately my children seem to forget the fun times and have an opinion that differs from mine regarding use of TV, Nintendos and other digital paraphernalia. This doesn't bother me in the slightest as I regard these activities as mere cherries on the top of their otherwise 'non digital' lifestyles.
So when my 10 year old son had a minor breakdown (Oscar trials I call it) and told me I was ruining his life for sending him to extra classes to help him with his literacy, I had to respond.
'You are only 10' I said, 'so hardly a life to ruin'. This was of no consequence.
'You are ruining my TEN year old life', came the reply amidst the sobs.
On the other hand, I appear to have ruined a whole weekend for my 9 year old son. Having promised 'crumbed chicken' at some point over the weekend, he assumed that come Sunday night (& no appearance of crumbed chicken until this point) meant the 'promised dinner' would appear on the dinner table. One would think that doomsday had finally arrived given the realisation that crumbed chicken was not on the menu tonight.
The funny thing is that the one who loves crumbed chicken so much, thrives on extra maths activities I take him to at the same time his brother goes to the literacy classes. But 'literacy brother' hates my crumbed chicken! And the 6 year old sister unmentioned so far, loves ANY activity, crumbed chicken & most other dinners.
I almost give up in despair. But then I love them so much I could never do that and tomorrow I will remain the big bad witch dragging them to extra activities. And I'll probably make crumbed chicken for dinner. That'll keep them all happy! Well, here's hoping.....

The Lighthouse Family

Peonis, Italy August 2009

So we left for two weeks in the sun in Italy after a 2 year absence and sun we received in abundance. Arriving at biz-Nonna (great grandmother's) house in Peonis, is always like coming to our second home. 14 years ago in August we got married and headed first to Italy (& to the great grandparents) before coming to London to live and work.
After a few short days adjusting to the heat & humidity, we armed ourselves with factor 40 and headed to Lignano, to the beach house of the Lenardon family. What a wonderful spot!
On arrival at the beach, my anxiety at keeping an eye on a 6, 9 & 10 year old in the sea, amongst hundreds of other beach dwellers, quickly dissipated. They stood out like white beacons amongst the tanned swimmers. Add Mama & Papa to the equation and you had a full house. No amount of Dove 'Summer Sun' could stand up to the colour of your average Italian spending their 'Fera Agosto' at the beach!
We spent a marvelous week indulging in sun, sand and sun downers, until the light faded before returning back to the house to shower, eat (pizza, pizza and then some more!) and collapse into bed on balmy, mosquito ridden nights. Just the stuff novels are made of.
After a week, we went back to Peonis and the cool, cool water of the tagliemento river. A short & sweet reconnection with the famigilia to tide us over the dark, grey days to come.

Nic's Chix 2009

As my dear friend Nic commented today, I can tick off one of the things on my wish list - to take part in the Race for Life 2009! With rain pouring down all last night I was pleasantly surprised to be woken up by bright sunlight this morning. We had great weather if a little humid and we set off with determination at 11.15am. Seeing so many others with the same goal inspires one to keep going despite aching legs. Amongst the 4000 who took part today, the majority are not athletes or runners - just a large group of women and girls who want to help fight this awful disease in the only way they can. It is becoming a yearly ritual with our friend Nic who is a survivor! I look forward to the next one too.

The power of Women

Despite growing up as a strict Catholic I have chosen not to correct my nearly 6 year old when she refers to God as "she". Quite frankly she would disagree with me anyway if I told her otherwise!
In her mind God is a very special woman. I'm not going to argue with that.
This quote decided that for me:
"My husband and I split over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't"

Diversity....

A usual morning breakfast discussion led Stephen to using the word 'diversity'. He asked the children if they knew what it meant:
Lucan - "When you don't go to university"?
Ronan - "When you die at university"?
Tosca - didn't bother answering
And so another week at school.........

The Snow must go on.....

Yateley Green, Hampshire, UK
Tuesday 3rd February '09

There can't be many out there who haven't heard and seen for themselves the chaos caused by the unusual amount of snow which has hit the UK in the past week!
We awoke on Monday to a thick blanket of it but prepared ourselves to start the week back at school and work. Not long after we had shivered our way downstairs and the first text message came in telling us of the school closures. It snowballed (excuse the pun!) from there and eventually we realised that we were well and truly coming to a grinding halt. I could not have asked for a more apt time for an impromptu break from work and school during the long winter days. By day 2 we were secretly hoping for it to last all week as we chucked it all in watched the kids spending hours out snowball fighting and rolling obscenely large snowmen bodies (bizarrely headless at our house). We met up with friends at the local green and let the kids run riot whilst the sun alternatively shone brightly, followed by blizzarding snowfall. It was magical and even more intoxicating because it was so unexpected. Strangers were talking to each other and people greeting each other in a similar manner to which one behaves when the sun shines for a week in England!
Chaos still reigns although we have been back to school for the last 2 days. The roads were hazardous today as the snow started melting and there are rumours of England running out of gritting salt! But the snow continues to fall with more due tonight and rumours of potential school closures. For now, it remains a novelty going to sleep each evening uncertain of how the day ahead will unfold. The radio beats the kettle being switched on each morning to listen to the bulletin list of school closures. Long may the novelty last!

Ali snowballed out and ready for that hot chocolate....

Playing For Change: Song Around the World

Aaah the feelgood factor. This is wonderful music!