The Secret of Eternal Youth ......

I came across a piece in the Sunday Times the other day about what a child should know in order to live independently when they fly the nest.

It went something like this:

By age 7 they should be able to make a sandwich, lay the table and wash up.
By 10 - help change the bed and run the dishwasher
By 13, cook a meal, change a fuse and bleed a radiator(!)
By 14 to be able to use the washing machine, sew a hem, clean a U bend and change a lightbulb.

Wow!

I am all for encouraging independence. My mother calls it laziness on my part and ok I accept perhaps it was a bit unreasonable when I was irritated that my 5 year old had left his jumper, toothbrush and underwear behind when he packed his own suitcase for our holiday.

If my children can do some of these things they are certainly keeping it a secret from me. I have to confess that I only have a vague idea about radiator bleeding and I am quite happy to keep it that way. I do quite often refer to the bleeding radiator when the temperature outside plummets.

As for cleaning a U bend - isn't that what Mr Muscle is for?

Running into trouble

Oh me and my big mouth!
Today was the London Marathon and watching it from the comfort of my armchair I felt quite overcome with emotion to see these people pushing themselves to the limit - many to raise money for charity. I have been to watch the marathon 3 times when my brothers were taking part and felt inspired to take up running - fortunately a feeling that soon wore off.
Once again, as I saw people pounding the streets of London, past the fantastic sights of Big Ben, Cutty Sark and Tower Bridge, I thought I should have a go at that.
Normally I would keep this thought to myself but not today - oh no - whilst enjoying a barbecue and glass or two of wine to celebrate friend Alan's birthday I told every-one - I'll be there next year.
There are some positives in all of this. I've looked at the marathon website and even downloaded a training plan - good news there - it is 26 weeks to train - so no need to start quite yet! I think I might need an MP3 player to keep me motivated on those long training runs - and what to wear - definetely need to go and look at the latest line in sports gear....

A hair-raising thought

All the UK papers seem to be taken up by the news that Cherie Blair ( as in wife of Tony) spent £7700 on hairdressing during last year's election campaign. The costs mounted up after she apparently paid a personal hairdresser £275 a day for a month.

Clearly Cherie's appearance is closely scrutinised and I expect the same papers that remark on the bill would have been quick to remark if she had appeared in the least bit disheveled. It has however made me reflect on my own personal hair care and whether I should be adopting a more high maintenance approach. Currently I run to an 8 weekly wet cut costing £12 coupled with a bottle of hair dye (£3.77) applied at about the same 8 weekly interval. If I am really trying to look good I might co-ordinate the two events - but that's rare.

Why do women in their 40's feel the need to cover the grey - men seem to let it go and - damn them - look great on it. And if you succumb to the bottle - when do you stop and how? I can't recall seeing any 60 year olds walking around with their roots growing out - is there some place they go for 6 months whilst it is all happening?

It's Easter Monday and we have just been out for a long bike ride. The idea is to get a bit fitter - not a crazy fitness regime or anything silly like that - just to be able to break into a gentle run for a bus without feeling like you might die would be good. Came back feeling great - very pleased with ourselves - so much so that I celebrated by finishing off the bowl of chocolate profiteroles which were taking up too much space in the fridge. I justified this display of over eating because I surely must have burnt off at least the same number of calories on the bike ride. Back to square one I guess.

First posting

Wow choosing a name for my blog seemed to be about as hard as naming my children! Everything I chose was vetoed - this time by the computer rather than my husband. Finally got there when son number 2 came in to complain the fridge was empty again and when would I be going shopping - story of my life.
With all the logging onto the net for various things I now seem to have a small book written of user names - I run through the usual favourites and get the 'computer says no' response - the more outlandish I get the more the computer seems to delight in rejecting my offering.
Anyway - I am looking forward to getting to grips with the world of blogging - once I have been shopping to restock that fridge.