Apologies.
Nothing from me here tonight save for this admin post to tell you that there’s nothing from me here tonight.
I have a sick little boy and therefore have other blog-unrelated responsibilities.
More tomorrow.
Category: the parenting bunny
Sweet Peeps and Muse News
After the summery sunshine of the weekend, the public holiday turned out to be a wet and windy disappointment, reminiscent of public holidays UK-wide. Out came the Monsters Inc. DVD, which is kept on standby for such emergencies, and a HUGE bowl of popcorn, which is kept on standby for such emergencies. And thus we were sorted.
Yesterday, as I have already mentioned, was a completely different story as we made the best of the stunning weather and headed down to Maynardville – the local park – which the city council have recently furnished with a rather large jungle gym.
We got a call from Dan Plato, the executive mayor, who asked us if we could take the boy down to give it a thorough test. Apparently, if it can survive him, it can survive anything. Much like Cape Town with Dan Plato, I guess.
All of which gives me renewed confidence in my own invincibility. Anyway, he (the boy, not Dan Plato) thoroughly tested it and it passed with flying colours.
And while he was thoroughly testing it, his sister used the opportunity to be thoroughly cute through a hole in the climbing wall.
Come now, even the anti-child brigade (led by Goblin* together with all her little Goblin minions) can’t deny that she is a complete sweetie.
Even if she is apparently a little lopsided. More pics of the sunnier bits of the weekend on flickr.
In other news, Muse announced that you can pre-order their forthcoming album The Resistance and get it posted over to SA so that the workers at SAPO can have early Christmas presents for their Muse-loving family and friends.
Apart from the safe yet boring downloadable version at £7.99, you can order the standard CD for £9.99, the CD/DVD version for £13.99 or go the whole hog and provide the OR Tambo Post Office staff with enough goodies to last them until Easter with the super-duper, dogs-bits deluxe version for a mere £59.99:
THE RESISTANCE
LIMITED EDITION DELUXE BOX SETMulti format box set containing the following:
– CD + DVD in foldout softpak including The Making Of The Resistance DVD (43 minutes 53 seconds)
– 180g Double heavyweight vinyl
– Muse USB pre-loaded with WAV, Apple Lossless and MP3 320 files plus bespoke audio player
– 12″ Art Print
– **Exclusive to muse.mu** 5.1 surround sound Audio DVD (full bitrate DTS & Dolby)FREE WORLDWIDE DELIVERY
Sadly, as I suggested, the free worldwide delivery so subtly advertised in upper-case will probably only get it to the first sorting office in Mzansi. And I’m not sure I can chuck R800 out (plus the inevitable 14% VAT bill from SARS) when there’s such a limited possibility of anything actually getting to my front door. Especially when the stuff we’ve heard so far sounds worrying like Queen. Dear lord…
* who, in a moment of weakness, has previously admitted that she thinks K-pu is cute.
I’m making excuses…
It’s something that I have won many awards in – or at least, I would have done if there were awards to be won for making excuses.
Which, I guess, is an excuse – I hope that you can see the dedication therein.
I still haven’t uploaded the pictures from London (including those of the pathetic and awkward Michael Jackson tribute in Trafalgar Square) onto flickr and Big Ant is not going to be happy when he finds out. This annoyance has either just begun upon him reading the last line or has already occurred when he ventured onto my flickr and failed to find the images I had promised.
Either way, you probably heard the roar of disapproval.
The excuse is that it’s been so nice and sunny here that I have just been playing outside, with the kids, with the braai and with the new camera.
My intention was to play catch up this weekend. I’ve lost touch with everything a bit: news, sport, gossip, music and everything else besides. However, with the weather being so beautiful and the kids being so… “interactive” (for want of a better word), it just hasn’t happened. So I’m sorry that there is a paucity of observations on current affairs and the like. I would say stuff, but I’m still in holiday mode and I actually don’t know what’s going on. I wonder if this is what normal people feel like most of the time?
Maybe by Thursday, when it’s pitching down with rain (as is more usual for a Cape Town winter), you’ll get the sort of incisive comment which youhave come to rely upon – and which 6000 miles… has become infamous for – on those important matters. Until then, it’s sunny. Sorry.
Right now, I have to go an “interact” with the kids some more – it’s bathtime.
After that, I have big plans to “interact” with a nice robust red wine and – quite possibly – FIFA 08 on the PlayStation 2 (Yes, I like to do things a little Old Skool).
More trivial posts will follow until precipitation arrives. Please feel free to leave trivial comments.
I deserve nothing more.
P.S. Please note the lack of an apology for not uploading those photographs.
I would have said sorry, but I’d already published this post.
Gansey – a parenting revelation
Behold! A picture of Gansey – the beach in the Isle of Man where I spent most of my childhood summers.
Gansey (gets bigger here)
It had everything a young boy could want: ample sand for beach football or cricket, sun, sea, rocks with the essential rock pools, a small river etc etc. It was perfect.
At the time it never really troubled me, but looking back, I wondered how come my parents were so happy to let us spend so much time on the beach each holiday? Finally, as I visited there for the first time as a parent myself, the answer came to me.
It was so bloody EASY!
Even at their young ages, my kids were completely visible, completely safe and completely happy. As parents, we didn’t have to do anything except provide the odd biscuit and relax. And it cost nothing.
This is obviously the Manx equivalent of dropping the kids off at Westlake and getting the police to bring them back.
I’m going to highlight this post to my son when he has his own kids. Because forget all that stuff you learn at parenting classes about diets and nutrition, about bathing and which soaps are best to use for baby’s skin. That pales into insignificance against this sort of information. This sort of information is invaluable. It’s gold dust. It’s priceless. (Pammie – I hope you’re listening)
And relaxed parents mean happier children. Or so I’m told.
Gansey flickr set here.
Great
Important family day today, as we took the kids to meet their great-great-great-great grandfather. A man known to me as my great-great-great grandfather and to my mum as her great – well – I’m sure you get the picture.
James Creer, the Weaver of Colby.
And he is, of course, dead. And has been for a while.
But his memory lives on in the Manx Museum in Douglas:
I don’t think that there are many people who know who their great-great-great-great grandfather is. Or was.
Actually, after today, my kids have one over on me on that one.