Things are changing, and they're not happy!

We're not a morning family. Our ride to school is generally quiet. We don't talk. Bart commandeers the radio as we make our 30 minute journey to the beat of drum and bass. There's no arguing or fighting. It really is quite peaceful apart from the thud of the radio.

We pass two lollipop people on the way. One elderly man and one elderly woman. The lollipop man always waves as we pass and the kids wave enthusiastically back. For some reason we call him Bob. He's wiry and small and his bike is always propped up against the lamppost. A further 10 minutes into the ride is the other lollipop person. The lollipop lady never waves back. She never smiles. She too, rests her bike against the lamppost. We call her Miserable Madge. The kids think that she maybe blind as she never sees them waving. I've tried to tell them that it would be impossible to have a blind lollipop lady, but they're not having any of it.

We've been doing the same journey for the past eight years, in the same car and not once has she returned our morning waves. Finn tells me to drive really slowly past her so that she can see that we're all waving. I've done this on many occasions but she either turns the other way when we pass, or her arm is hurting from all that waving she must do.

This morning as we got to the point where Bob usually stands corralling children across the busy road, the kids were disappointed to see that Bob was not there. In Bob's place was a much younger man. The new lolliop man waved back just as Bob would, but the kids were upset.

"Where's Bob?" asked Mimi

"Probably on holiday"

"It's not the same," said Finn "can you find out where he's gone, so we can drive past him?"

Further along the road we came upon Miserable Madge. The kids all raised their hands to execute the enthusiastic wave knowing that she wouldn't see them. And do you know what? For the first time ever, she actually waved back and....with the biggest smile I ever seen!

Bart looked at me. "Mum" he said "Things are changing...and I'm not sure I like it!"

Cyber bullying? Where do we go?

I watched something quite awful unfold on Twitter last week, and I began to wonder whether we are being a little bit too open about our personal lives? I have nothing to hide about my personal life (except my identity!), and my personal details are there for all to see. There are "crazies" out there, that we can be sure of, but I never expected to see such vitriolic abuse targeted at one individual. To cut a long story short, an individual, for reasons of their own decided to target a particular lady who had been campaigning and raising awareness for different charitable groups. This lady had been open and honest and had suffered her own personal tragedy, but for some reason " the crazy" had decided that she was a charlatan. Over a period of a week her "friends" had become the subject of a barrage mad tweets and saw the lady being reduced to a quivering wreck and trying to explain to friends what had happened in a very moving audio boo . Subsequent

My au-pair's a dustman...well she's not really... she's a ho!

My au pair Miriam , is a beautiful sultry girl from the Slovak Republic or Slovakia as it is most commonly known. Most of the girls that have lived with us either come from Slovakia or the Czech Republic. I've chosen them in particular because they have the "family values" that I want for my family. I know that I can't tar everyone with the same brush, it's just that it has worked for me. However...Miriam is the exception to the rule. Miriam is sensual; Miriam languishes; she loves burning candles and incense sticks. She loves long, bubbly baths with big fluffy towels. Miriam walks the dogs in stilettos (how?), and loves my red lipstick (on her!) Miriam loves MTV. Miriam loves raiding my wardrobe, and Miriam loves men...all men! As was usual for a Sunday early evening we had all settled down to watch a movie. Mimi was in bed and the boys were snuggled up on the sofa with BH. Ben , (22 and stunning!), was on the other sofa, with his laptop researching with

Katy Acquaye-Tonge24 March 2011 at 12:33
I love this post!! I especially love it when the ordinary do something extraordinary even if it is as simple as a wave and a smile!
Muriel24 March 2011 at 19:33
Things seem to be changing for the better!
Liz Dawes24 March 2011 at 21:24
Lollipop ying and yang. Who knew! Lovely post.
Unknown25 March 2011 at 10:05
A blind lollipop lady - PMSL! I'm a first time visitor to your blog, thanks for the comedy this morning! x
Jane Turley27 March 2011 at 22:21
That's really quite sweet:) I wonder what triggered the lollipop lady into waving? Coincidence or reason? Funny how sometimes the smallest things are the most interesting...

Mummy at the School Gate

Search This Blog