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I can't please everyone and you might disagree with something I've said so share your view - just don't be a dick about it.

Wednesday 23 February 2011

STOP FOR A MINUTE!

The museum I related to in my last post is a tiny, local one and it relies on donations as you walk through the doors.  This time though, there was a note asking visitors to please give generously to avoid them having to charge an entry fee in order to stay open.  (SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SMALL STUFF)!!!

I sound old now but it seems like all the nice, pure, innocent things are being swallowed up by the fast, modern world. 

Everything is throw-away and everyone wants everything NOW!

It's like the world's turned into instant coffee and I like instant coffee but because of the convenience of it, no one has the time, or interest to wait for the fresh stuff to perculate anymore.  If it's done properly, the fresh stuff is nearly always better than the quick stuff and i'm not talking about Costa Packet, or Cafe Scrooge here either.



As a mum, I feel like it's a battle to include enough of the old stuff, without moulding my kids into square oddballs and at the same time, make sure they are up to speed with the latest kids trend, be it Rastamouse, Gogo's, Toy Story 3 on XBOX... I have even got my son into Jackass. But, I don't want them to lose out on what I think childhood is all about and in my experience, an English childhood.  It should be magical and thought about, not plastic.  Adventures, exploring and learning.
We painted this 'magic' tree in the kids bedroom & they made leaves with their hand prints
I'm all for multi culturalism, ( I had the luxury of being able to travel and work abroad for 6 years in my early 20's and loved the experience) but I think we should be allowed to keep our own identities too.

Be proud of who we are, where we come from and what being 'us' is all about.  I've lived in Ireland, Spain and Australia and i must say that you always knew which country you were in from the feel of the place and the attitude of the people. That's what I loved about it. They were all so sure of their culture and allowed to be them, without apology.

England is so diluted now. It's really annoying and sad that we allow pathetic factions of society dictate to us what is acceptable to be English (without being racist).  You can fly the St George during the world cup BUT FOR GODS SAKE TAKE IT DOWN STRAIGHT AFTER or everyone will know you're evil!

We need to become children again, slow down, just be ourselves without worrying if we'll offend others.
It's good for the soul.

My daughter is so sure of herself already. There's a real confident, nonchalance about her. She is quite intimidating, all 2 years of her.


We read to our kids alot. My mum read constantly to me and as a result, I was a great creative writer as a child and my teacher Miss Anderson, (who said she lived in Enid Blytons old house and knew Peter Pan), used to get me to read aloud in class.


Reading is so important. I embarrassingly could only think of one 'favourite' book to add to my blog profile, Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugarman.  I get bored easily and am on the hunt for a good book (please give suggestions).

I get my son to really think about what he is trying to draw.  He used to come home from nursery with a scribble on paper and I'd say, 'what is it'.... if he didn't know, I wouldn't keep it  - I wouldnt shred it in front of him or anything ;).  Now he really lets his imagination go and one of his drawings was a 'Pork 'em Boxing Match'... he described it as three boxers in wheelchairs that have to roll over and squash as many pork chops as possible. Any pork that isn't squashed is caught by the referee, 'The Catcher'...and the crowd chant, "POOORK 'EM! POOOORK 'EM! POOOORK 'EM"!

A Pork 'em Boxing Match
The Hulk, Max from The Prodigy, Merlin, Keith from The Prodigy and ET
There are things from my childhood and youth, that I try to keep alive for my kids... obviously some are not English but what I am trying to do is slooooooow things down from time to time.  Appreciate what we had in 'the olden days';

Boiled eggs & dippy soldiers, reading ORIGINAL Winnie The Pooh,  And Now We Are Six,  When We Were Very Young,  The Kings Breakfast, Heinrich Hoffmann,  Hilaire Belloc, Grimms Fairy Tales, Steeleye Span (getting macabre some of this), My Naughty Little Sister, Where The Wild Things Are, Burglar Bill, Mr Wolfs Pancakes, anything by Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl, Choose your Own Adventure books. 
  
Museums, cups of tea, corned beef & brown sauce sandwiches - on white bread. 

Saying PLEASE and THANK YOU, naturally.  Being polite to people. Saying 'hello' to old people who smile at them.  Telling stupid jokes. Eating your veg...eating curry - trying new food.

Proper small Lego, face paints, dressing up, Action Man with proper hair (not plastic hair), Sindys & Barbies (not Bratz, the sl*gs!), Snow White & The Seven Dwarves, old magical Disney films.  The Wizard of Oz, The Sound Of Music. David Attenborough.

Monty Python,  (I started to go upstairs the other day and my 4 yr old son stopped me and asked in a shrill voice, "WWWHAT IS YOUR QUEST"?)

Madness - baggy trousers, Musical Youth - pass the dutchie,  Blur - Park Life, Hanson - Mmm Bop.

Playing in the garden - lifting the bricks and stones to see what insecty treasure lurks beneath. Snail races, catching frogs, feeding the birds, not shouting at them.  Doing stunts and making obstacle courses.  Owning a pet hamster & helping to feed & water him.

Going into a proper old fashioned sweet shop and choosing out of big jars and coming out beaming,
with a small, white paper bag full of sugar & colourings.

Awww it is easy to rush around and not really look or listen to your surroundings.    

I am awful for gettingwound up and impatient.  Just now, whilst writing this, my daughter sneezed and was asking me to blow her nose but just mumbling, 'mo, my mo, mummy'... Whilst wiping it, I told her in a stroppy tone, 'you have to learn to talk properly and stop being so lazy'... my son looked at her, patted her hand and said slowly and thoughtfully, "don't worry Am's, when you are three, you will be able to say eeeeeveryyyyyyything".

This post is a bit all over the place but I am in a hurry! Just today, for a change, I am going to try to be polite, calm, friendly and slow down a bit.

Try it.

2 comments:

  1. There is so much "small stuff" out there to see. I think when you have a child/children it brings you back to that wonderful place where children see the world for the first time.

    It's the grown ups generating the fast world, not the kids. Kids just take root in whatever soil we choose to plant them in.

    If adults could maintain that childlike appreciation of all things simple then things might slow down enough to let us take those much needed breaths.

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  2. Kids just take root in whatever soil we choose to plant them in, is a really tender, yet powerful statement. Very thought provoking.

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