The Purple People Eater!!

Mid-Life Crisis?
You What?
Oh Boy did mine start today!

You see my daughter has, from time to time, had these coloured extensions in her hair - they look great and everyone admires them!

So I thought, Hey I fancy a go at that!

So I did it! I dared myself and now I have two purple hair extensions!!

They sit along the left side and I keep glancing in the mirror to check that they are sitting nicely and when they do they look great but if I dare to move - or even worse, go outside, then it looks like something strange and completely alien is poking out from the side of my head!!

I am assured that once washed, dried and styled then it will be fab - but I'm reserving my judgement! (I'll let you know later!)

Ah - so much for the mid-life crisis I hear you call...

But NO! That wasn't even it!

Even having purple streaks in my previously-unbleached-uncoloured hair cannot compare with the crisis which blew up in my house today!

But what could it possibly be??

My Son! My adorable, huggable so-polite-to-strangers son... who has overnight turned into a HORRID TEENAGER!!!

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

He screamed at me...so I screamed at him...he screamed back louder...and so did I...there was no choice...when a calm voice had tried and failed the only thing I could do was resort to neolithic instinct ... and so I stood firm, took a deep breath and screamed my loudest and longest...and continued to do so until he gave in!!!!!

...and then I turned down my volume...and told him my position in no uncertain terms! Which made him very angry but at least it pushed him to do as I had asked!

But what could have caused this huge explosion?

What could possibly have brought about such volumatic disruption to the calm of a half-term holiday?

I simply asked him to tidy his room! (I see you nodding with total understanding)!

He'd been given notice last week that one day of the holidays would be a room-tidying day, I had reminded him at the weekend and today was the day!

It wasn't even a big request because to be fair, his room doesn't usually get REALLY bad - but the smallish room had a jumble of clean and dirty clothing going on as well as a cardboard massacre ... on top of that it looked like someone had eaten the contents of a selection box and left the wrappers on the floor in amongst said jumbled massacre...

...I'm sure your imagination can assist with the rest!

All I asked him to do was put away clean clothes, put dirty stuff in the wash basket and put the rubbish in the bin.

He could have focused his attention and had it done inside 10 minutes - in fact I could have done it myself in 5!!

But instead he had to push my patience and start shouting ... what is a girl to do?

Anyway, it's done now. Not brilliantly. Not as good as I would have done it. But still done. Passable.

And peace reigns once more...

Sons ... and Daughters!

As I write this I am wrestling with my conscience - dare I admit that I have a problem with my son?

I have been reassured that most lads go through this 'phase' (thanks buddy - you know who you are!) and so I know that I must persist but sometimes it's just so hard...

As a parent you want to give your child every opportunity but sometimes you know that they just don't deserve it - so what do you do?

Well today I denied my son the chance to go on a skating trip - skateboarding is his passion and he loves it - he has improved immensely since the summer when he started and he would have loved to go today but...

He has just been such a selfish, stubborn lad this last few weeks and I have had enough of giving and not receiving!

He gets his meals cooked without even having to wash pots afterwards, his clothes are washed and pressed and he can't be bothered to put them away, I asked him to wash the car but he refused, even saying that no amount of money would make him say yes! I asked him to sweep the leaves in the back garden but again he refused! He also gets regular lifts to skating trips... need I go on?

There is a new movie on at the cinema which we would all like to see and we agreed to go this afternoon - except that his refusal to help at home made me feel that he should not go. So we have all missed out!

My daughter has cottoned on to the 'just do it - you get less hassle' way of thinking and she is great - she even does stuff without being asked!!

Why don't boys work the same way??

So, when the skating invitation came I refused it and said he couldn't go!

I did feel bad - I hate depriving them of such oportunities - but he really has to start pulling his weight! Keeping a family home running is alot of work and it is not fair that he should have such high expectations without putting something back!

Anyway...

... tonight he came to me and said that he had thought about what I had said earlier and was sorry - he hugged me! I melted and then thanked him for his apology (quietly wondering how long it would last!).

10 minutes later he asked if we could all go to the cinema now?

Where's that wall...I may as well bang my head!!