Monday 30 April 2012

This picture doesn't really do it justice. I went down at high tide and the sea is wild again. That gunge on the beach is the weird sea foamy stuff that was actually reported on the ITV news and in the Metro, it is all quivering in the wind and looks like it is alive and breathing. Amazing, so lucky to have the beach at the end of the road. Took the doggies to the marshes this morning as well so my plan to get out and about is slowly taking shape. My plan not to give too much of my money to large supermarkets is not going so well. Not only do I give them too much money, I waste far too much of my time in them!

I had a fantastic day at home yesterday with a really good friend and her children. Whilst dodging the leaks and buckets, we talked non stop and drank too much wine. Not much wine, is too much for me these days. My limit is really 3 glasses before meltdown occurs, and I should drink water alongside my wine but I never seem to remember that until the morning after when I wake up and have to peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth. My husband, who doesn't really drink tries to remind me, he also gives me that look that says 'i think you have already had 3 glasses' but despite his best efforts I am usually having far too much fun by that stage to take heed of his very kind attempts at intervention. Luckily, it could have been a lot worse this morning. I got going pretty quickly, and didn't help at school today so didn't have to use my mushy brain too much. I have to plan a phonics session for tomorrow though for year 2. The sound is EW as in 'oo' or 'you' so I need to plan some games and get some word lists together for the morning.

My friend and I are trying to arrange a week at the house in France in half term with our children. It would be nice to go back with some people from the UK. I think my youngest daughter would be able to go to the park in the town, and maybe to the town square accompanied by my son and my friends eldest daughter. She was too young before we left, to go out with just her brother, but now she is 6, I think she would be OK there. There is hardly any traffic, it's a one way system through the town anyway, and everyone knows her too. The children would then have real freedom, and be able to do some exploring together. The weather should be pretty nice in June too, although the pool won't be open which is a shame. In France, municipal swimming pools are generally only open in July and August. Even when they are open you must remember that they shut for at least 2 hours for lunch! That means no relaxing all day by the pool and grabbing a bite to eat at the poolside snack bar. That would be far too civilised. The best rule of all, is the one my husband loves, the rule that states all male swimmers must wear nut-huggers. This rule doesn't bother me so much, in fact has made for entertainment on occasion.

Sunday 29 April 2012

I think the nation is well and truly fed up with the rain, I don't want to talk about it anymore. Suffice to say there are some days when I think life in France was better than it is here! We lived in the south west of France on the Spanish border for almost eight years and returned to England in October 2010. Neither place is actually better. Daily life in both has it's good and bad, and anywhere is what you make of it. Differences in language and culture had a changing affect on us over time and we grew to miss the familiarity of the UK and the relative ease of communicating. I did detest the school and the attitude towards education that we personally had to deal with there,  my son is ten times happier in school in the UK and my daughter is thriving,  but who can say what might have happened if we had stayed? I could never have pursued a career in teaching if we had stayed so I am glad for that reason to be back home.
We love it here, I don't think you can still call it the honeymoon period, we don't have rose tinted specs about being back in blighty. We just feel comfortable and a little more grateful for the simple things in life. The return has been a real test financially and we are not quite out of the woods yet. We still haven't sold the house in France and my husband has struggled with work. Thankfully he hasn't spent any time really out of work, but he hasn't found something yet that earns enough money, and has the right challenges and prospects. Just having work in the current economic climate is amazing though, especially as a 'grockel' in Devon.
Changing the subject, we actually watched a film last night. It was called The Martins with Lee Evans and Kathy Burke. It was one of those films that I like, just about ordinary people like a Mike Leigh film. It didn't rate very highly on the internet movie database, I think it got 4.9 which is pretty rubbish. Well I thought it was alright. The main character was a bit shallow to start with but as it continued it made me reflect on all sorts of things, and that's what I like about those kind of films.

Saturday 28 April 2012

Sorry for the delay. I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. We had a brilliant day yesterday, the sun shone nearly all day and it was actually hot. It was my husbands day off so he got up with the children and took them in to school and then we went for a long walk and finished up along the front. We spent the afternoon preparing food and the house for dinner with friends. It was only the second time we have invited people other than family to eat in this house. We are sadly lacking in lots of the basic equipment like chairs! It didn't seem to adversely affect anyone's enjoyment of the evening though. I had a sticky moment with the quorn lasagne. I started it off in a dish I thought looked smaller than usual. I was sure it was smaller than usual when I finished the first three layers and it was full. I then found the tin I usually use which was in the oven with the squash baking in it. There was only one thing for it, washed the bigger tin, then held it over the half prepared lasagne and tipped them both upside down above my head. Thankfully it worked.

The good thing about socialising on a Friday night is that you feel totally happy being a vegetable on a Saturday night. With any luck I will also feel really tired after the voice and Britain's got talent have finished, so I can shamelessly go to bed  and read my book and be asleep by about 10. I am so rock and roll.

Thursday 26 April 2012

The seafront at high tide last night was chaos. The wind and waves hammered the shore line causing complete mayhem and destruction. There is a clean up operation this morning but the weather and sea conditions are still so bad I can only imagine there will be more of the same tonight. The wind is so cold and strong it stings your skin and gives you instant earache. It is amazingly refreshing and raw though and so elemental. Just a walk along the front gets your adrenalin going on a day like today.

Among my jobs today is a school project for my son. I know it is his job, but the whole task is way beyond his capabilities. If he is going to present a time line for example, I will have to create the time line's structure and then get him to help fill in the information. Of course I will also have to provide him with the facts, he will then rearrange them and word them but I still have to basically do ALL the work first. It just doesn't seem right or like a productive use of anyone's time. There is so much he needs to learn in terms of the basics.

At least the projects subject is one that interests him. He is studying the Axe Estuary Wetlands which are situated literally five minutes walk from our house. These nearby marshes are a mecca for birdwatchers. Are they known as twitchers? I can't believe what a geek I have become in my old age. My son has signed up for a junior rangers club each week and has been pond dipping and making sculptures out of swamp clay and reeds. He does love it which is very rewarding for me. I feel so blessed that my son has such a lovely nature. I don't know where he got it from but it was there from birth. He had a look in his eyes from the very beginning. If there is such a thing as reincarnation, his soul has a rich past. It pains me to see him struggling at school with his reading and writing so much. He has such a practical mind and can solve really complex problems like flat pack (complex to me) or wiring up a new TV to work with the Sky box, external hard drive, media centre thingy and PlayStation. When it comes to language, he just can't see how it all fits together. It's so frustrating for everyone but obviously mainly for him, and it chips away at his confidence daily. Thank goodness he is good at so many other things, and that he has friends to laugh and play with and a little sister to annoy the hell out of him, but that worships the ground he walks on too. And us of course, to love each and every inch of him (there seems to be more each day, he grows so fast!).

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Morning everyone, yes it is morning although you wouldn't know it because it is so dark and miserable out there. My six year old daughter is preparing for her second school council meeting this week. She takes her role very seriously. She has prepared a preliminary list of ideas to discuss this morning. The issues that concern her are the levels of noise in the dinner hall at lunch time, the Diamond Jubilee celebration plans and a potential school trip to the Aquarium. She has also been approached by other class members about the dinner ladies. Apparently the staff have changed and her classmates feel that they no longer listen to them when they say they don't want peas!
She had a friend over for tea last night, this friend just 'had' to come because my daughter has the episode of icarly with One Direction on it! They both sang that 'you light up my life like nobody else' song on the way home and then dressed up in princess dresses with plastic high heels after they had watched the programme. There was no make up last night because it was a school night, but the friend did show us her beautifully painted toe nails, complete with little leaf design.
When my daughter goes to a birthday party, she carefully selects a spangly party frock, she has me paint her nails and put on some silver glitter hair spray. She wears some discreet silver eye shadow, a little pink blush and some lip gloss. The final accessory which is very important, is the handbag with lipstick and fake mobile phone inside and some random toy.
On Saturday mornings my daughter plays tag rugby. She wears jogging bottoms and a jumper. Black trainers because they get muddy and she rarely even brushes her hair before she goes because it starts at 9.30am (its Saturday!) She plays a mean game of tag rugby and is a great lines woman and whistle blower too. My girl devours each day and whatever comes her way. She is exposed to so much and is processing information and drawing and revising her conclusions all the time. As her parent I obviously want the absolute best for her, I want her to be a strong, happy, independent and successful adult. I think my role is to gradually expose her to all the stuff in the world and be there at her side to explain things and give her a sense of security as she explores the big bad world. I think I could be criticized for allowing things to move too fast. In many ways she leads the way and I run along behind. This tactic could be a real mistake. I have done what comes naturally and followed my gut instincts and it is so hard to know what is the best approach for each individual child. It's nerve wracking stuff this parenting!

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Tuesday 24 April 2012

The sun has returned, and school have asked me back! I wasn't going to make this an ongoing thing but a little sunshine and feeling needed and appreciated do make me happy. I accompanied year 2 on a trip to the play park this morning and we all had a brilliant time. The theme was loosely 'push and pull' and I took lots of pictures of the children heaving and shoving themselves around the equipment. I was reading last night about the educational benefits of play so I actually felt like I was seeing it in action. Its amazing how their eyes light up when they see a park and don't know what to go on first! Children are so fascinating, their capacity to find fun and true enjoyment in nearly everything they do is enviable. They can also determine very quickly if learning is disguised as a game, they know its a compromise.

Monday 23 April 2012

Today it is raining, not April showers but PROPER rain! Got soaked taking my daughter to school, even though we went in the car and dread to think how wet my son was when he got to school, as he opted to go by scooter ahead of us. Popped in to Tesco as I was in the car already, to grab a few healthy bits for my husbands new diet. Ended up spending over an hour there and coming home with much more than I anticipated. Nothing new there!

Do you struggle as much with as I do with time? Having looked yesterday at my aunts thoughts on happiness, I think that mastering time management has to be on the list of essentials, its right up there with gratitude. I am beginning a one year PGCE in September, which I know will be manic, and I really want to get stuck in to it now, to start reading and get prepared. My volunteer time at school has been reduced, which I thought was a good thing; it would give me time before my course started to get my house and family in good order, and do some extra phonics work with my son, who is seemingly dyslexic, and really finding things hard. However, too much time on my hands and a lack of structure to my day, has proven hard to handle and has allowed time for a lot of reflection, and some procrastination too. My aunts letter talked about deriving pleasure from activity. When I started this blog, I was supposed to fill in a profile section where I could list my hobbies and interests.

HOBBY - An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.

I definitley think that things conspire to motivate me, whether I like it or not. I realised I don't have any hobbies so this sent me scurrying to bed with a notebook and pen to jot down a few ideas to help me get organised. I did go to sleep feeling happier with myself and I have some great intentions. I am going to get out and about a bit more and get a bit fitter and more active, that's for sure.  I want to blow the cobwebs away and take a fresh look at the world.

Its REALLY raining though........  I have written my blog today so that's something I have achieved. I have also discovered that there are lots of activities that give me pleasure; and that in reality there is quite a lot of time in the day spare to do more of them, I just have to use it wisely, so there is always hope.

As for interests, I am actually wondering, what do people class as interests? Are they the list of potential hobbies you would like to do if you found the time. Maybe they are the things that you have to do anyway but that you try to do conscientiously, like cooking and gardening, and try to make as pleasurable as possible. Or are they just the things that you find interesting? Whatever they are, my list in all three categories is pages long, so I am thinking this is a good thing!

Reading this back is strange as I try to work out how it will sound to someone else. I really need to stop using the word 'and' so much and get things in a more logical order before I start tapping at they keys. I think my sentences are too long which has now made me consider the use of semi-colons. I wonder, are they obsolete?

Sunday 22 April 2012

This is my first entry so I haven't really found my voice yet, I am half hoping to get called away by children or the phone so that I can think some more about what to write but I am being left well and truly alone this morning!

This blog is inspired by my great aunt. When I was at university she sent me a text about happiness which I still have and will show you now.

I know that some of this is difficult to read but I just wanted to include the original copy.

I truly believe that gratitude is the key. The problem is that knowing gratitude, and actually feeling it are different things!












Well today is a very typical April day full of sunshine and very welcome showers. Husband is at work and children are each in different rooms, daughter aged 6 currently working her way through every episode ever made of Icarly, and son aged 10 is in the world of James Bond on the xbox. Thinking about baking biscuits later and maybe inviting some friends over for the children to drag them away from their screens.