The word of the week this week is "No."

That, surprisingly is not the kids word. It is my word of the week.  Apparently I am not allowed to say no, otherwise my eldest has a hissy fit.
So my simple plan is to "just say no". He asks for something and I say "no".

I will continue to say "no" until he understands the word no and no longer has a hissy fit. Let's see how this week goes  ;)

Why we had a white wall

When our eldest was younger, much younger than today ;)   we went through a period, as many a parent will recognise, of the walls of the house being marked with a pen.  Child is in the other room, they are too quiet and you go to see what they are doing, to be greeted by markings on the wall. Always seems worse if you have just papered or painted the wall.

So we gave our boy a writing wall.  The wall in his bedroom by the bed was painted bright white and he was given the go ahead to write on it as much as he desired.  The flip side was that he was not allowed to write on any other wall in the house, ever.

It served its purpose brilliantly.  He took to his wall with gusto, pens/pencils/colouring pens.  It stayed for about 18 months until he no longer was writing on the wall.  We painted over and the wall was restored to its  previously unmarked state.  He, as they all do, grew out of writing on walls, seemed to grow out of writing altogether at one stage.
Mainly though the rest of the house was pen free and he kept his artistic licence within the domain of his room.

It's not because I'm lucky

Do you recognise the line "you are so lucky with your kids".

Really? So nothing to do with the fact that the kids get all our attention; read with them every night, visit the library once a week, work with them on their homework and not least talk with them all the time, about all sorts of subjects, nothing is of limits if they bring up the subject.

Now when the person who throws the above phrase is not choosing to do the same and their off-spring and expect their kids to just turn out 'right', then please don't compare my kids with yours because it has nothing to do with luck.

I'll give you "Ok"!

What does Ok mean?

"Please turn off the TV" > "Ok"
"Come for dinner" > "Ok"
"Stop doing that" > "Ok"

What do you mean Ok?!?

Currently in our house it means, I hear you but....
So actually hears me much like a wall hears me.

I'm sure the only reason my son has the monopoly on this, is that my daughter is not old enough for those "Ok" hormones to have kicked in.

I find that suitable response is to say "Ok" when he asks for something he wants :)

Dear Reg, .......

My response your recommendations, which seem to based on living outside of the real world, probably same place inhabited by Mary Whitehouse.  Probably just your "raison d'etre"

• Providing parents with one single website to make it easier to complain about any programme, advert, product or service. > You mean "direct gov" http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4018851 
• Putting age restrictions on music videos to prevent children buying sexually explicit videos and guide broadcasters over when to show them > create badge honour, is what this normally does in the real world
• Covering up sexualised images on the front pages of magazines and newspapers so they are not in easy sight of children. > let's start with the Sun? Must be covered neck to ankles? Whose definition?
• Making it easier for parents to block adult and age-restricted material from the internet by giving every customer a choice at the point of purchase over whether they want adult content on their home internet, laptops or smart phones. > Is already available if people use, except kids know how to use better than parents
• Retailers offering age-appropriate clothes for children – the retail industry should sign up to the British Retail Consortium’s new guidelines which checks and challenges the design, buying, display and marketing of clothes, products and services for children. > errrr...have you even looked at the clothes on offer, most not sexual.  You cannot make parents buy decent clothes and would suggest that is least of the kids problems if their parents do buy sexual looking clothes
• Restricting outdoor adverts containing sexualised imagery where large numbers of children are likely to see them, for example near schools, nurseries and playgrounds. > or shopping centres, bus stops or in fact anywhere outside? Doh! Again what is this imagery, bikins which you see at swimming pool, beach and even at the shops sometimes?
• Giving greater weight to the views of parents in the regulation of pre-watershed TV, rather than viewers as a whole, about what is suitable for children to watch. > errr parents more involvement than viewers as a whole?!? How about we just stop kids watching TV?
• Banning the employment of children under 16 as brand ambassadors and in peer-to-peer marketing, and improving parents’ awareness of advertising and marketing techniques aimed at children. > are these the same parents who are unable to parent by using the word "No" and sticking to it?

Face it Reg you are on a "Road to No Where" with this.....

Early morning

Son up early every morning this half term week. Early meaning 05.30
He is going to be so tired this evening, after attending last day of holiday club, playing football every day.

Getting old?

Am I getting old? I am always wearing slippers around the house now. I used to be like my kids, no shoes our socks apart from going out...

ByeBye..Kids can be so lovely

Today was the my wife's last day teaching at her present school.  Every era comes to an end at some point and at this point she is glad for a change.
The tearful and sweet side of leaving though was the kids.  They gave her a lovely bouquet of flowers and some really lovely leaving cards, with some brilliant lines; "You are a great teacher", "I will work if you stay miss", "Glad you were a teacher in my life"

Kids can make you tear your hair out but can also be so great to bring a large tear to your eyes.