Now before you get all hot under the collar and suggest I’m advocating child abuse, would you like a drink? A refreshing G&T or perhaps a glass of something cold and white? You deserve one, it’s been a tough day. There’s something I’ve been struggling with. Here in Scotland, booze is a problem. It costs […]
When is a child not a child?
When he’s a teenager. We’re still here enjoying the Maltese sunshine for the last couple of days before that bitter-sweet return home. The comfort of familiarity tempered by the shadows of the boring old grown up stuff that starts looming again. We’ve visited several of the fabulous attractions here – no complaints at all. Not […]
Life’s not fair when you’ve got siblings
My triumvirate of sons have one thing in common. They will all wail “it’s not fair” many times a day as one injustice or another befalls them. Almost certainly they have perceived that one of their number has been treated differently and, in the unlikely event that it’s not my fault, it will fall to […]
Things your children don’t need
Back to offering unrequested advice again. This time parenting advice, like it or not. It’s almost Boy Three’s seventh birthday. (Seven! I know, can you believe it?) So it was necessary to organise a celebration. Interesting how there’s an inverse correlation between the number of children’s birthdays you’ve presided over and the level of […]
Show me the Monets
The shame… “Oh no, madam. The Monets are at Kelvingrove, we’ve got Manets, and Degas and lots of other stuff. But if it’s Monets you want, you’ll need to go elsewhere,” the lady with the badge at the Burrell Collection said gently. But her kindness didn’t soften it, Boy Three’s face fell. We were crushed. […]