under pressure…

My daughter has a ballet exam today, maybe just as you are reading this and tonight while she was going to bed there was some definate nerves going on. She was being that jumpy, silly, almost naughty way they act when underneath its all nerves and anxiety.

“you are going to be great” we re-assured her over and over again. Along with lots of ‘just do your best and thats all that matters’ type comments that we know we have to say to our kids so that they don’t feel like they are failing or not doing well.

Thing is..i know that her ballet teacher pushes them and probably does openly praise the kids in the class who get the dance right straight away or have the best pointy toes (or whatever). So there is a bit of tension i would imagine in the mind of a small child when their parents are saying in a floaty fashion ‘just do your best, we will be proud of you, whatever you do’ and then they are hearing their ballet teacher wondering out loud in a ballet lesson ‘SO who will get a distinction and do me proud then girls?’

Im never sure where to pitch it when it comes to this sort of dilemma. I read an article at work today about Louis Smith (the olympic gymnast) and he was saying that his hero was his mum. awwww. Now im guessing as the mother to a young guy who eventually went on to be part of the olympic team and then a medallist..you must have to do a fair amount of pushing…and yes, applying a bit of pressure to do well. Otherwise how to they make it? Is that just the job of the coach or do we, as parents, wade in and start applying the ‘thumb screws’ too, so to speak?

Im not sure. what do you think?

(btw, for the record I have never actually heard the ballet teacher say those words) 😉

 

themondayclub

 

Follow:

to pay or not to pay…

I find myself in a bit of a dilemma.

Did you hear the news that certain large retailing chains are using “legal’ and sophisticated accounting routes around paying what could be deemed as their fair share of tax in this country. The likes of Starbucks and Amazon spring to mind.

I have listened to couple of arguments on this and the pro-tax dodge folk seem to say something along the lines of ‘it is legal, its the governments fault for allowing the loop holes to exist’

hmmm… so they are not breaking the law, no they are working inside the law but does that make it okay?

Its like when kids try and walk UP the slide. It might be the quickest route to the top but the fair and proper route is the steps. I guess the folk that have made Starbucks and Amazon the mega retailers have not done it by going up the steps. 😉

My dilemma now is whether or not i give any of my TAXED income to their tills. In the case of Starbucks it wont be hard to resist. Im not a big coffee shop type person…well unless i am ‘sans enfants’..which is um….never. Also, incredibly, where i live there isnt a Starbucks on every. single. street. Costa sort of rules the roost over this way..i wonder if they pay their taxes? 🙂

But Amazon? That is going to be harder. Its just so easy and their delivery options are generally pretty reliable…yadda yadda..BUT I sort of feel like if a company is going to be part of  a society then they should contribute to that society.

Just sort of makes sense to me.

Anybody else?

 

themondayclub

Follow:

Facebook…

I used to be a real fan of facebook. Really..i was.

I remember first being told about it by a friend and he was explaining how his sister in America used it a lot and it was this new big thing. I remember logging on (on dial up..which takes some patience!) and not being able to understand why it would ever be useful. I think i logged on, got an account and then promptly forgot about it…

Then dawned the age of the iphone and for me this opened up a whole world of possible surfing opportunities and in a moment of mild interest i loaded the facebook app from itunes and then facebook became part of my daily catching up, finding friends from years ago, seeing kids grow up and change, finding out news and of course that delightful past time of rolling your eyes at how wonderful everybody’s day, holiday, family, car, weekend etc are…yeah yeah don’t go on there after you have had a wet week camping in Devon you are going to depress the C**P out of yourself flicking through the 200 pictures posted by someone you vaguely know of all their inclusive, sun soaked, smiley, happy, sangria holiday. 😉

Anyhoo…Recently i added a business type page for my photography and it has been amazing for referrals and a quick way of communicating with my clients.

Then things started to change and i heard scary stories about photos loaded to FB being the property of FB, entire pages just disappearing without a mention. More recently there seems to be much more control over what you actually see in your news feed. The OH and i have had many conversations along the lines of..

‘hey did you see X’s photos of his kids?’ –

‘er…no’ and then i discover that, that person’s updates are not featuring in my newsfeed AT ALL despite being a friend of mine and you know a proper friend not someone who you vaguely know. 😉

This has been happening more and more. I see less of actual updates and more and more of company promotion.

Now it appears that if FB think you are newsworthy enough then you will feature in newsfeeds……nice… so companies that rely on reaching their clients via fb are now finding that they are only reaching (in some cases) as little as 10% of their followers because fb is not deeming their news worthy enough to go into all their followers newsfeed.

The newest development? The option to ‘promote’ your posts which means that you can pay for your posts to be in other people’s newsfeeds. Click on it and facebook will cheerfully ask you for your paypal details and off you go. *shakes head*  you would think that promoted posts would only be from people that you are friends with or pages you like. Not so…i keep getting promoted posts from facebook accounts that i have never had anything to do with..

I remember reading something about  Mark Zuckerberg saying facebook would always be free…hmmmm..guess that changes when you have shareholders to satisfy now eh?

twitter anyone?

🙂

one week

themondayclub

 

Follow:

Its beginning to feel a lot like…..

Okay I know, i know….its a little bit far off but it is nearly the end of October and so that, for me, is a bit of a count down. For me that means there is a really serious possibility that there may be one or two *whispers* nights out!!

The prospect of the LBD number maybe breaking out of the mothballs means that those jean and legging glad legs probably need to get a a bit of a winter airing! *insert scream type face here*

So whats the easiest way of sorting out the forestation? Razor? Imac? what is your poision?

For me..it has to be waxing. I can relate to the whole ‘why cause yourself pain?’ argument but really waxing makes life so much easier….a little discomfort for a couple of weeks of care free frizz free.

Recently I decided to break out from behind the ‘at home’ strips and venture into the world of beauty therapy. So i went to the Jersey Treatment Rooms, which is a beauty salon very near my home on a recommendation. I was met by friendly staff and directed to a lovely little sitting area and asked to ‘take a seat” and make myself comfortable. Glancing around there was tea, coffee accompanied by softly glowing candles and a selection of mints, which I imagine might be useful if you were having a facial. No-one likes bad breath! A luxiourious moment, making a drink and actually drinking it in peace, no babies crying, no toddler screaming. Bliss.

Im not really the sort of person to run toward pain. I am first with the ‘brufen and paracetamol. I believe in pain relief. Why suffer is my policy? Which may beg the question why subject yourself to half an hour of having you hair follicles ripped from your skin?….but like i said before, convenience is such a big bonus in my world…i barely have enough time to wash in my daily shower let alone razor, pluck and primp. Which is why so often the ahem ‘forestation’ is well over due management if you know what i mean 😉

So game face on and FACE the pain. Repeating over and over…’hell ive given birth to FIVE babies(with no pain relief i might add..not through choice, but thats a different story!) so a little hot waxing was going to figure low on the pain threshold. right? RIGHT? hmmmm….

Well actually, in truth, it wasn’t too bad. At Jersey treatment rooms they warm the wax and use a follow up lotion to smooth and cool the skin. It was quick and okay a little painful but I was left feeling smooth, not too plucked chicken like and with an half hour headspace, made possible by one of those wonderful breed of beauty therapist who just ‘know’ not to fill the empty space with mindless chatter. That is like little shards of gold in my frantic schedule.

I was really impressed with the Salon actually you just have to look down their ‘menu’ of stuff and i was already starting to think what i could go back for next…im thinking maybe the fake bake? 😉

So what is your poision? Go on tell me, no-one is listening!!

themondayclub

 

 

Follow:

Birthday season..

It is birthday season in our house. Over half of my children where all born within three weeks of each other’s birthdays…..*cough*

Which is good on a number of counts.

1. You get it all out of the way all in one go and then it goes very quiet for a while.

2. Thrifty relatives can send lots of birthday presents all together in the same little bundle

3. You can bank on sept/october being a pretty expensive month (tho that might not be such a good thing)

4. Chowing down on party food opportunities is limited. Isnt it better to eat all in one go than spread it out?

5. Any whinging along the lines of ‘when am i going to get some presents?’ can be met with a triumphant “NEXT WEEK!”

There are obviously downsides to it however and it has to be said that my head spins on my neck for most of the last bit of sept and October…oh and then its the C word but lets not go there…never mind that another one of my kids is 7 days after the noel event.. okay so planning not a strong point….ever…

Anyhoo…first up on the birthdays has been my oldest girl. She wanted a ‘pony party’ as in lets all have a riding lesson. So she invited some of her friends and they went to a local stable to have a riding lesson. It was an incredible trip down memory lane for me. I spent a lot of my years when i was younger around horses and going to the yard the first time, one molasses filled breathe in and i was transported back to frosty, quiet mornings hacking out across the countryside and returning home flushed with the excitement of flat out gallop across an empty field.

There was no galloping, lead rein ponies looking moderately bored, as they always do, plodding placidly round an outdoor school and finishing of with the old classic of ’round the world’ Good to see that some things don’t change. It felt so nostalgic watching her and her sister ride. Like looking back at an old picture..only the characters had changed.  For now its just a one off…dont know how long that will last though.

Finishing off the day with cake, of course and then little cupcakes for party bag substitutes. I HATE party bags and will do anything to avoid handing them out. No parent has EVER been blessed by one of those tacky cheap whistles that kids then blow for the next 2 hours driving their parents to the edge of sanity…OR the other cheap crap that gets thrown in the bin as soon as possible or wedged down the side of a car seat for the rest of time.

🙂

im joining in with my blogger friends with Monday Club by the lovely Sarah Miles. Head on over and catch up on some other ordinary mums doing an extraordinary job in raising their kiddies.

 

themondayclub

 

Follow: