I've just finished reading "The Silent Boy" by Lois Lowry. It was a lovely gentle book about very ungentle things - mental illness, class, teenage pregnancy.
I always struggle with working out what age I'd like my child to be before reading a book like this.
I think I underestimate the amount of ugly things that small children meet in the world and have to think about. I remember really liking books that dealt with big things as a child. The problem is that I hope that children won't have to notice these things yet. If I pretend they don't exist I am just being uncaring really?

Thank you

A big thank you to my husband who let me ignore everything on Saturday while I read HP7!
I finished on Saturday evening after attempting to read HP & watch Dr Who at the same time - not a successful reading method!
I had a lovely day. We had breakfast at Barmuda in Newtown and then wandered up to "Better Read Than Dead" to get our copy. They had a Hagrid entertaining the queues and our small person was very intrigued to find a giant. I had thought that I was being very calm and cool about the release because we didn't line up, pre-order or dress up, but we still managed to get one of the broomsticks being given to the first 100 customers.

serviettes and doilies

Why do some coffee shops insist on providing cake and other refreshment ON TOP OF a serviette (on top of a plate)? When I have coffee and cake, I would like to receive a serviette for the purpose of removing the crumbs from my visage, the jam from my fingers, the crema from my lips... It defeats the purpose to have food all over it to start with!

[ Some places seem to have two classes of serviette - a smaller one that goes under the food and a larger one that is provided to be used as a serviette. I can't decide if this arrangement is better or just stranger. ]

I have concluded that the whole thing is a bizarre conflation of a serviette and the now mostly defunct doily (aka doyley). Paper doilies are ridiculous by nature but, if somewhere feels that one is required, I would like to have an actual one AND a serviette. The functions of a doily and a serviette cannot be amalgamated in this way!

Control Orders

[This was a beautifully topical title when I first planned to write this entry. The entry is composed in my head while showering most mornings but even the residue is gone by the time a small boy is in bed and I get to the computer.]

After I started this blog I was, naturally, fired with excitement about all the things I was going to write about. I have lots of things of a non-world-shattering nature that are still a big deal in my daily life that I want to talk about and think about (with help). I hit a problem: they were all things I would have had a problem with my husband, Eb, posting on his blog.

About a year ago I was concerned about the things he was putting up for all and sundry to read. I didn't 'get' the blog thing. I was paranoid, privacy conscious and generally obstructive and controlling. I may have ranted. At least I managed to realise my double standard before putting things up but it means I haven't posted for a while.

We haven't yet resolved the problem of what things about each other and our son should make it to the world via a blog. I don't think the answer is that just that because I now want to blog too it is all OK. I do have some privacy concerns, particularly when it comes to Son One. By virtue of age he has no say in this, no ability to participate or reply, and a blog could (although unlikely) hang around as a record for some time. I am sure other people have thought about the privacy and family thing with blogging - any ideas?

I have seen a couple of blogs by couples but this isn't going to work for us. Pseudonyms are obviously in use already (no consensus on one for our son though). I know my family will read the blog intermittently and others who know us will too. Strangers might by accident.

As a PK I know how awful it was to worry about having your life appear as a sermon illustration. Are cute anecdotes on a blog any different? Any wisdom gratefully accepted.

Ben's "One Book" meme

Here is my response to the One Book meme that originated here
I haven't managed the one book limit. This may be typically contrary or merely ill-disciplined.

1. One book that changed your life:
Ross Campbell ( ), How to really love your children
Grahame Greene (1940), The Power and the Glory

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
Charlotte Bronte (1847), Jane Eyre
J. R. R. Tolkien ( ), Leaf by Niggle

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
Bible
Collected works of T. S Eliot

4. One book that made you laugh:
The prefaces to G. B. Shaw's plays
Margaret Atwood (1983), Murder in the Dark

5. One book that made you cry:
Richard Trudgen (2000), Why warriors lie down and die
Chaim Potok ( ), My Name is Asher Lev

6. One book that you wish had been written:
Personalised instruction manual for our son and heir (and also one for spouse)
Books need to be produced faster - all my favourite authors need write more quickly.

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
It's tempting to say The purpose driven life but it isn't really the BOOK that I have a problem with. I find most sagas irritating but I'm still glad they are written - I just want more short stories!

8. One book you’re currently reading:
Bunge (2001), The child in Christian thought
Mem Fox (2000), Harriet, you'll drive me wild

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Levin & Pappaport Hovav (2005), Argument Realization
May, Posterski et al (2005), Children matter - Celebrating their place in the church, family, and community

10. Now tag five people:
Ebenezer, Yellek, Katricks, Stinker & Dangersheep (you'll notice I didn't double the instructions for this one)

Beginning

Here is a post so that my blog exists.