Sally's World

I loved when the kids were small, and birthdays were all about cake and balloons.

Now they are all about the right dress and make overs.

Robyn was 15 at the weekend, and no, she didn't want a McDonald's party, or to go to the park or adventure playground, she wanted to shop til she dropped and to have a sophisticated lunch with her friends....

Where do the years go???

Today, I came to realise that I may be too open with the kids. especially Deion, who can't seem to keep his mouth shut about anything!

The kids know what I do, I tell them about some of the kids I see, what they go through, how they live, the trouble they are in and whats ahead for some of them. I don't give them details, especially not when its a rape of murder case, I don't want to to give them nightmares, but it's just so they can see where that road can lead, and perhaps to make them more aware of the dangers around them.

Part of what I do means that I will go into a prison if a juvenile needs to be questioned. So today, I have to go to a prison, be escorted with a kid to the local police station where he can be interviewed, then be escorted back to prison, then I can leave.

Little did I know that Deion happily went off to school telling them that "Mummy's going to prison today!"
of course it doesn't help that he has been telling them that I go to police stations ALOT!!!

They are aware (NOW!) of what I do, thank goodness, I just hope he hasn't been telling his friends the same thing...I don't expect we'll have many friends round for tea if they tell their mum that they want to come to Deion's house, but by the way, his mum is in prison....

Kids!!! still, you gotta see the funny side!

No seriously.... don't..... they have guns now!

I saw a new TV show advertised yesterday, I don't watch much TV, so don't know if its an old or new thing. Basically, the show is about a family who go back to living how they did in the seventies when the parents were growing up.

My kids were horrified at the thought of it, but I thought what a great experiment it would be. Imagine, no video games, no DVDs, video films, three channels on the TV, no mobiles, no money for designer trainers and clothes...

On the advert a boy of about 15/16 actually cries his eyes out when his dad takes his TV and computer games away from him....

I think it would certainly teach kids about real life a bit more. Lets be honest, our kids are a tad spoilt...oh, I know we have no-one to blame but ourselves, but I for one would love to see how my kids react to being a kid in the seventies.

And if it is, is it entirely appropriate?

Robyn was packing her back for school tomorrow and she took the deck of cards and packed them. I asked why she needed cards.

“Because my maths teachers teaching us how to count cards,” she said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“WHAT?”

“He’s like teaching us how to count cards, you know, like in black jack, like in a casino.”

“WHAT???”

“Calm down mum, it’s a legitimate teaching method.”

IS IT????

I never learned this at school, are they supposed to teach them this stuff???

I’m torn between going to see him and question his methods, and booking a flight to Vegas to try it out!!!!

Paris 2008

Florida 2003

2005

Ah, children.

A woman knows all about her children. .........She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

I’m so proud!!! Deion went to bed last night, but he didn’t just waste his time daydreaming about computer games and his Christmas presents. He used his time productively to do maths sums. He was practicing his times tables and his adding up. What a genius.

How proud/smug I was when he announced that he ‘was doing maths sums mum!’ as I said goodnight on my way past his room. No way could I moan at him about still being awake now!

“What a good boy,” I said

“Yep!” I’ve figured out that in my life I’ve had approximately nine thousand seven hundred and forty two poops!!!”

What????

I was speechless, unsure of what to say, I just said, “well done Deion, what good maths.”

He went on to tell me that he timed the number of times he goes with the days, weeks, years e.t.c. then continued to tell me that as I am always telling him he is above average, he added a couple extra…ingenious!

“Do you want me to work out how many times you’ve been mum?” he asked.

“No thanks,” I said weakly.

Well Robyn and Jordan heard, and were falling about laughing, and proceeded to help Deion work out how many times various family members have used the toilet.

Its all maths I guess, but sometimes that’s just too much information. Let’s just hope they don’t announce their results to their Grandma, that should be a fun announcement.

Take care

Sal xxx

A good laugh is always nice

An elementary school class started a class project to make planters to take home to their parents.
They wanted to have a plant in it that was easy to take care of, so they decided to use cactus plants.

The students were given green-ware pottery planters in the shape of clowns which they painted with glaze.

The clown planters were professionally fired at a
class outing so they could see the process.

It was great fun!
They planted cactus seeds in the finished planters
and they grew nicely, but unfortunately, the children were not allowed to take them home.

The cactus plants were removed and small ivy
replaced them and the children were then allowed
to take them home instead.


The teacher said cactus seemed like a good idea
at the time!
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We are moving soon, so I've been packing/sorting/streamlining like my life depends on it. Yesterday, I sorted though a box of pictures the kids have all drawn for me over the years...it's more of a crate really, cos I keep everything they ever made me...But I came across a picture that made me laugh until I cried, I remember the day Robyn handed it to me so clearly.

She was 6, she came out of school, beaming at me, handing me her farm themed picture...I held it up and made all the right cooing noises, taking a minute to figure it out, it was a green field, and had lots of brown splodges on...with legs and tails I think...it was only when I looked at the bottom to how she labeled it that I burst out laughing...she'd labelled it "lots of bollocks" instead of bullocks.

The teacher explained that while she didn't feel it was suitable for the class display, it was too precious not to keep. it was a hit in the staff room, and amongst the other mums...fantastic...

Can someone explain to me how this happens please….

There are five people living in this house, but surely it would take at least ten people to create this much ironing in the space of three days….I strongly suspect my children (especially my daughter) try on several outfits, leaving the discarded choices on the bedroom floor, when asked to tidy, they then place all items from floor, including clean, into laundry…its the only explanation.

Even more confusing, yesterday laundry baskets all completely empty, now today are overflowing, could not possible have worn ten outfits each overnight…

Perhaps it would not be so bad if my children (and by that I mean my husband too) think that the clothes didn’t magically appear in their closets all ironed and folded, maybe they think elves come in while we sleep and see to the piles of clothes left in heaps on the floor.

I'm sick of hearing "where's my pink jeans/blue shirt/black t-shirt e.t.c......?"

I'm sick of answering "where did you leave it?"

I'm sick of hearing "Dunno."

How can they not know....they leave it in the same place every time...THE BEDROOM FLOOR!!!

Little Tony was staying with his grandmother for a few days... He'd been playing outside with the other kids for a while when he came into the house and asked her, "Grandma, what's that called when 2 people sleep in the same room and one is on top of the other?"

She was a little taken aback, but she decided to just tell him the truth. "It's called sexual intercourse, darling".

Little Tony just said, "Oh, OK," and went back outside to play with the other kids.

A few minutes later he came back in and said angrily, "Grandma, it isn't called sexual intercourse. It's called "Bunk Beds". And Jimmy's mom wants to talk to you."

Todays smile!

SCHOOL DAY

The telephone rings in the principal's office at a school.

"Hello, this is Dunn Elementary," answers the principal.

"Hi. Jimmy won't be able to come to school all next week," replies the voice.

"Well, what seems to be the problem with him?" asks the principal.

"We are all going on a family vacation," says the voice, "I hope it is all right."

"I guess that would be fine," says the principal. "May I ask who is calling?"

"Sure. This is my father!"

This was so funny.

I got an e-mail of funny signs, so I turned the computer screen so everyone could see, and we were all laughing and commenting.

When we got to this one, we thought it was funny, ingenious, universal, no one could mistake what it was no matter what age you were, language you spoke or reading ability you had....

But then Deion said, "why is there a sign about a man being kicked in the peanuts?"

Oh dear!

I guess he's at that age where he loves the jokes and outtakes where boys and men get hit in the privates. He'll be beside himself laughing if he's watching TV, a sport or a film and some poor guy gets whacked in the ding ding (Deion's words, not mine).

Well, I still think it's pretty good, and maybe it's just Deion's mentality, but then again, maybe a few confused young boys have been sitting in the back of the car worrying about pulling in at the next rest stop!

KITTENS

A three-year-old boy went with his dad to see a litter of kittens.

On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother, "There were two boy kittens and two girl kittens."

"How did you know?" his mother asked.

"Daddy picked them up and looked underneath," he replied. "I think it's printed on the bottom."

Can you believe this??? It's actually a sport!!!

My kids play this all the time (usually in a battle for who's going to get lumbered with the washing up!) who knew that we may have budding world champions in our midst.

I love how seriously they seem to be taking it, is it so strenuous though, that they really need so few clothes???

fabulous!

Rock Paper Scissors League

This is a sport started on a dare... right? The U. S. Association of Rock Paper Scissors. That's right, U.S. Association... damn proud. The USARPS League is the official Rock Paper Scissors League of the United States. It is sponsored by Bud Light. Matti Leshem is the co-commissioner of the USA Rock Paper Scissors League. The inaugural USA Rock Paper Scissors League Championship was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Following months of regional qualifying tournaments held across the US, 257 players were flown to Las Vegas for a single-elimination tournament at the House of Blues where the winner received $50,000. The tournament was shown on the A&E Network.

Well it looks like another busy week for me, the post has just arrived and in it are no less than seven appointments for Deion, I’ll have to rearrange at least one of them, unless I can figure out a way of being in two places at once!!! Haven’t managed that yet!

This will make you smile to start your day!

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . . .

Take a few minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)


'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'
Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'
Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.'
(what an image) Karen - age 7

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8

And the final one --

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

Well it made me smile

xxxxxxxxxxx