Desist!

You must have seen parents on their smartphones when they are meant to be looking after their beloved children. I don't know about you but it really gets my goat. It's as if to say, "Hey, it's great having a child but what is on the internet is much more interesting! Don't bug me kid cos I'm checking out my Facebook page!"

Just in case some of these neglectful parents stumble across this grumbly old blog,  I have created a list of reasons why one should not be on a smartphone when escorting or pushing children round and about. There could be many extra reasons:-

• A wasp might land on your child's face and sting him/her. If you weren't on the phone you would be alert to the unwanted attack
• Your child might suddenly stiffen up and have his/her very first epileptic fit or nose bleed  but you would miss the start of it being too engrossed in Lady Gaga's Twitter feeds.
• A cyclist on the road might lose control and come careering onto the footpath but you would react more slowly than necessary as you chuckle about an Instagram posting. Before you know it, the child is flying in the air with the cyclist's helmet. If only you hadn't been distracted.
• Your beloved son/daughter points to a passing fluffy feline and says quietly "C-at!". His/her very first word but you miss it because you're checking something out on Wikipedia - like the history of the doughnut (American: donut).
• You can't sing nursery rhymes or made up songs to your little child when your eyes are glued to your smartphone so bonding with your child is reduced.
• A beautiful butterfly lands on your child's arm. He/she is mesmerised by the sight - having never been so close to a butterfly before. But by the time you look up from your little screen, the butterfly has flown away. 

What could be more wonderful, more magical, more special than your own living, breathing, developing child.? It is a time to treasure and a time when you have the privilege and responsibility of helping your child to grow. Whatever is on your smartphone is worthless compared with your child. So don't go on the smartphone until someone else has taken over the child-minding or your child is safe asleep in his/her cot or bed. Learn to cherish and not to ignore. Though smartphone makers have designed them to be addictive, you need to be bigger than that and pull away.

Being distracted by a technological device when in charge of a child should count as a crime in my humble estimation.

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/TLwnDyu

Shattered

 I’m getting back to myself, but I must be honest. The physical scar at my abdomen, it hurts to look at, which is strange. That scar enhances my quality of life. No life of wheelchairs and painful contractures. I told the doctor I’ve had this pump almost twenty years. I don’t want to imagine life without it. Who knows if I’d have the strength to blog, to travel, to live a life most like me can only fantasize about. It’s not lost on me. I’m also reminded that physical scars are the evidence of their existence. The ones mentally only I know are there. The physical reminder is one that now fuels my desire to address with truth what holds me back. I will get there. I remember anything worthwhile takes time. My mental health is worthwhile something I didn’t believe. I thought as long my body could be dealt with my mental state would magically heal. Pure folly. I now know better.  I’m good at hiding. Gold medal performances that led to torture. I’m listening to this song now about control. I happen upon its arrival every day. God shows up even when I don’t seek Him outwardly. I hear the song, and His appearance is near. He knows I need Him.  I’m so tired of being dependent, but God says you are.  It’s not something to shrink from. It’s not a bad thing. It’s raw and true. The perfect combination that makes a great follower of mine. Accept the gift. The surgeon split you wide open and put you back together again. I’m about to do that to your broken soul. I do my best work with shattered shards. 

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Training Day

Roger needs a settling in day today. 

The household needs one.

He has no experience of cars and little of being walked on a lead , so that was our first job this morning after his restful night in his crate in the kitchen with Mary sleeping in the reading chair next to him

He hasn’t got a clue with the lead so I left it slack and let Dorothy gallop in front.

With her circulating back and running past him, he soon got the idea that walking forward was the plan  and although our progress was stilted, it was a start.

He hasn’t eaten much, but that doesn’t concern me as he happily ran off with a toast crust earlier and has spent the rest of his time copying the others when they have run out to the kitchen wall to greet Jo ( without her Great Dane) and Islwyn who had come to collect the old washing machine with his brother Eric

Trefor called too, but was too anxious to acknowledge the new guy, he’s got worries about British Telicom 

Which I managed to sort out.

When the Amazon delivery man came ,Roger  joined in with the barking more dutifully than not, and when Albert appeared from his feline slumbers at noon, he made a point of backing up five steps to allow the cat space to reach his food bowl on the windowsill 

He’s brighter than William but seems to have William’s gentlemanly  nature, politely ignoring Dorothy’s regular low growls of mild irritation when he ables too close 

He is presently sat at my feet, next to the kitchen table 

He stinks of kennel so we will all be going into the shower together later.

He’s never walked up a house staircase before either, another skill he will learn shortly when the dogs follow me up in order to watch me make the bed.

I call him by his name frequently and cuddle him as soon as he comes to me 

In typical Welsh style he crossed his front paws around my arm to hold me firm.

The guy I dated eleven days ago has ghosted me which is a shame. 

His loss. 

I’m an acquired taste,

I know that

I’m cleaning out drawers today. Gently pottering as Roger finds his feet 

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