Blogs

Cancer everywhere

Written by Gerard on Wednesday 16 December 2009

Let's come straight out and say it: Lisa's mother has been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. The events that led up to this have been unfolding over the past month, and a fairly concrete diagnosis came something over a week or a fortnight ago.

Lisa, naturally, was devastated. She didn't help herself much by doing some web research into the survival rates and details of the disease. Seems Ovarian Cancer is dubbed the 'silent killer'...

Encourage our children to read more!

Written by bayard on Tuesday 15 December 2009

I think as we parents need to tackle the issue that the majority of children are consuming their time watching television or playing computer games, now, I'm not saying never to allow these past times, but I think that time should be allocated every day for a 'reading' period.

Positive Parenting

Written by snowrose on Tuesday 8 December 2009

In modern Britain when parents are expecting a baby it is quite natural and almost expected that parents will attend anti-natal courses to prepare them for the birth and maybe the first 6 months of their child’s life. Somehow however there is still a feeling in modern society that once you are through this initial stage of your child’s life the rest come naturally and that parenting is an instinctive skill that we should all have.

The Fightfort

Written by Gerard on Thursday 26 November 2009

We went out for Lisa's birthday on Saturday night and had a nice, boisterous, drunken time. Lisa's mum stayed in our house with the kids while we stayed overnight in her house. A brilliant arrangement and we didn't have to be home too early.

The end of the night is actually the most memorable. We initially wanted to get kebabs from a South Belfast kebaberie, but our taxi arrived and offered to take us to a chippie in Andersonstown. We all hopped into the cab and Wooftie and I went in to order.

Not Coping With Grief and Loss

Written by Gerard on Wednesday 18 November 2009

As the regular readers among you will know, my father died in June from lung cancer. I guess the survivors have dealt with the grief in their own individual ways.

For my own part, I was devastated and temporarily paralysed by the grief I felt afterward. A cornerstone of my life...gone. But strangely enough, real life intruded, and I was forced to snap out of it. The possibility of returning to work, as well as dealing with my father's financial affairs certainly kept me grounded. As well as that, my own family needed me.

How my Primary School teacher stopped me from smoking

Written by Gerard on Tuesday 17 November 2009

Seamus was a substitute teacher who taught our class in the last year of primary school. We kind of called him Seamus behind his back because he lived just down the road from us, and that's what the parents called him.

I remember we'd been doing some lessons about the dangers of smoking. It was the usual stuff - rancid, rotting lungs that had been damaged by years of smoke filling them. Do you remember those specimens? The little microscopic bits of lung that were blackened and corroded? Yuck.

But one morning Seamus took the anti-smoking campaign to an entirely new level - he strutted into the classroom and produced a packet of cigarettes. Making quite a display of the next part, he took a cigarette out of the pack and lit it up. The constant background noise of the classroom died away as everybody realised the teacher was smoking in the class!

Halloween story: Collecting junk for the bonfire

Written by Gerard on Saturday 31 October 2009

It seems the lost art of Halloween bonfire building is actually lost. Aside from officially sanctioned bonfires and fireworks displays, there are very few ad-hoc bonfires being built in neighbourhoods. So today I'm going to play old-timer and recount for you how we built bonfires back in the day.

Parent education classes in London, UK

Written by snowrose on Wednesday 28 October 2009

Parenting Books

When it comes to parenting tips, new parents are always on the receiving end. Everyone in their family and friends are with certain exciting tips for them. Especially the older members of the family always have something or the other to tell the new parent. Sometimes the parents themselves get confused listening to all this and just want a guide to help them be the best of the parents.

Six Rules To Raise Your Children By

Written by Familytastic Staff on Thursday 22 October 2009

What are the core values that we should be raising our children to? Psychologist Kevin Leman, there are six simple rules that should be at the heart of each family.

The rules, which may seem a little harsh on first read, center mostly around respect for the parents as heads of the house, and some basic life lessons. Here are Leman's six rules: