Updating and finally some photos!

I know I haven’t done anything like ‘meaningful’ blogging for quite some time. Life is hectic, as ever and there’s so much I want to say, but lack the headspace to get it down ‘on screen’.

Tuesday I phoned the GP to chase up the Xrays that it turned out STILL hadn’t been sent. Unsurprisingly, was patience wore past thin and I phoned up the Xray Dept. muttering words like ‘incompetent’ and ‘sue if there’s anything serious’, etc. Strangely enough, the Xrays were faxed through within minutes of the phonecall.

Grrrrrr, gnash teeth.

R. and I are going to see the GP early next week to discuss them, so fingers crossed, but I’m trying to go by the saying ‘no news is good news’.

R. turned 13 a few days ago, which is a bit of a strange thing, to have a child who is ‘officially’ a teenager (and NO, it doesn’t make me feel old ;0) Unfortunately the postal strikes hit his birthday cards quite hard and they still haven’t all arrived, but he’s quite philosophical about it. Sarah made a tasty birthday cake and R. had a nice day playing Zoo Tycoon with Dino, which was a good, considering it’s not a good idea for Dino to go haring around the garden atm. Now just a couple of weeks break until the next birthday (Mrs Moo who will be 4), so fingers crossed no postal strikes there as I don’t think she’d be quite as understanding.

Ted has recovered well and is off the inhaler he was given. He’s now saying recognisable attempts at words (well, recognisable to us anyway), typically, “A B-!” repeated very loudly, over and over, whilst smacking me on the back of the head. This is to announce that he can see a bus and as this means we’re out and about, he’s normally in a sling on my back (hence the back-of-head-smacking). We also get a good attempt at, “Here y’are.” I know people talk about the ‘terrible twos’ but really I think they’re terrific!

My new camera has arrived. It’s fantastic that I can take photos again. I haven’t had much of a chance to play with it (due to the general busy-ness), but did take some promised pics of recently finished knitting.

So, firstly, a pic of the lovely bag sent to me by my Secret Pal (yes she did send other lovely stuff, but the bag was my particular favourite and has been much admired).

It’s already had plenty of use, carrying two projects around (the yoked jumper for Ted and a lace scarf I’m knitting).

A few things I’ve finished recently:

A felted bowl from NDS yarn. Yes it needs a bit of a shave and yes that is yarn in it already.

A green balaclava, again from NDS yarn. I love balaclavas – they’re so practical for young children, however, they’re really hard to find in the shops so knitting your own is a must!

A beaded purple rose made from, you guessed it, NDS yarn again :0)

We could go on like this for some time, as I’ve made quite a few rose corsages recently. This one, however, is made from Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk and the leaf is made of ‘something’ I can’t quite remember (but is soooo soft!)

Last Friday I went to my local MPs surgery for the first time. I’m a constituent of Caroline Flint and in light of recent discussions on various HE lists about Labours proposal to change available benefits for Lone Parents when their child reaches 12 (and further proposal to drop this age to 7 – more details on Freedom for Children to Grow website), it was a must that I should attend and put forward my opinions on this, as it would, IMHO, have a huge impact on the wellbeing of children of lone parents (and that’s even before we get on to home-educating lone parents).

I’m afraid it wasn’t the most positive of meetings. Ms Flint is very proud of her position and very proud of her career. She sees her work as ‘setting a good example’ and that paid employment is central to improving self-esteem (etc.) However, she doesn’t appear to understand, at all, the choice to stay-at-home and care for one’s children, and certainly does not think that it applies to single parents (it’s fine for those of us with partners to support us financially).

I pointed out that it is stay-at-home parents who listen to children read in schools, who make up the numbers for adult to child ratios on school trips, who run the local toddler groups, etc. She pointed out that it was Labour who were instrumental in getting classroom assistants paid – totally missing the point I was trying to make.

I could go on about how I also pointed out the lack of suitable childcare, how for some 12 year olds it would be potentially inappropriate for them to come home to an empty house (and that’s before getting on to the NSPCC’s views on this), that parenting is a hard job with very long hours for anyone, let alone single parents who are for the most part, entirely responsble for their children – so they don’t come home to someone who can maybe do the washing up, or read to the children to give them a break. When do they get the time to listen to their children read, practice their spellings, etc.?

And that’s even before I got on to HE. Oh yes, I mentioned HE and the body language visibly changed. One lady (accompanying Ms Flint) rolled her eyes. The assumption is that HE-ing single parents are a tiny minority and the implication was that they aren’t worth worrying about because of this.

I’ve typed in brief, because tbh, typing it all out would just get me even more worked up than I am already 😦