I asked Ellie earlier if she'd like to do a blog about her favourite things in London. She said no as she was watching rubbish on TV, but she drew up her list and said I could post it for her. So, here are her Top 5 Things:
Number 5 - The British Museum. Ellie loves the BM, she says her favourite thing is Ginger I love him too..
Number 4 - The Monument I took Ellie here a few years ago when she was doing The Great Fire of London at school. We've climbed the thing three or four times now and to be honest, I'm sick of it. She loves it and the views are amazing. The last time we climbed it we had a wee laugh at the woman who said she could see 'the aubergine'...
Number 3 - Ellie's listed The Science Museum as her third favourite thing to do in London. The museum causes fights every time we plan a trip to the city.
Number 2 - The Natural History Museum ok, so I secretly put this ahead of The Science Museum. Dippy is retiring soon so I'd best go see him now if I were you.
Number 1 - Ed's Easy Diner Yeah, food. This wasn't a hard one really and there are a few Ed's dotted about the place.
Tuesday 31 March 2015
It's the end of the world as I know it (or The blog which isn't about a trip adventure, but more an adventure in parenting). Also, swear warning.
Yesterday, the world ended according to Ellie. Yesterday, I asked her to wear a pair of jeans and THEY HAD THE WRONG KIND OF SHADING ON!!!
Let me clarify this - as she had to , several times, because I was utterly bemused. Said jeans were more than one colour of blue; they were a faux-faded pair from a high street store which she chose for herself as a part of her Christmas present. After ten minutes of screaming at a level only dogs could hear, door slamming and actual end-of-the-world crying it turns out she no longer likes them because they're not one [uniform] colour and not 'skinny' enough. She's 9....9!!!
Her compromise was to wear shorts with tights which I vetoed as it was too cold and we had plans to be outside with friends. This didn't go down too well either based on the very scientific way in which Ellie checked the weather - sticking her head out her bedroom window and declaring that it was hot (it was 9 degrees centigrade yesterday).
She tried to further compromise by offering to wear the offending jeans for the rest of the week if she could wear leggings. Also vetoed.
After a few more minutes wailing about how I don't love her, she found some suitable jeans (suitably skinny and the same colour all over) and apologised for being 'moody'.
At least I had an apology - I can't foresee many of those in the years to come.
When Ellie has one of her meltdowns I often wonder where they've come from. My childhood was very different to hers for a variety of reasons, some of which I don't care to discuss in the public domain, but there are of course the obvious differences. I didn't have the Internet; I had three/four TV channels with a limited number of hours of programming for children. I didn't have a mobile phone and my fashion choices largely come from Blossom or one of my mum's home shopping catalogues.
I think it's hard to be a kid today. There are so many ways in which you get told how to dress, act or what to like. Bloggers like Zoella are endemic and a huge influence for pre-teen and teen girls (although Ellie hasn't picked up her yet, my year 7s certainly have). I find the Disney Channels are atrocious and sadly to be Ellie's biggest influence. Bombarding girls and boys with their preferred stereotypes, Disney perpetuate a sickly-sweet, canned-laughter view of the world with some shocking racial stereotypes (all their Asian characters....oh my GOD how is that allowed?!). Disney shows don't seem to portray anything that remotely resembles the life of a real child and whilst decades of research shows fantasy and role play are an excellent part of a healthy childhood, promoting emotional and social intelligence I seriously doubt any of the Disney shows inspire anything other than how to look good.
I don't want to bang on about the preservation of childhood....or do I? I can see Ellie's internal struggle with doing what she wants for herself and doing what she thinks other's will find cool or acceptable. After The End of The World, we met up as planned with our good friend and fellow parental blogger Maz and her two beautiful boys. Ellie soon forgot about her fashion woes and started running about in the park with the boys - doing what kids should be doing. Kids - girls - her age shouldn't be concerned about fashion or make up. Clothes shopping for her is hard as largely the shops sell clothes for girls that are miniature versions of women's clothing, some of which I have to say I find wholly unacceptable for children and no, I'm no prude of conservative. I just don't think young girls should look like they're dressed to go to a night club until they're old enough to do so without I.D.
I think it's a tragic indictment of today's society and it begs the question - why do we want our kids to grow up so fast? I don't want Ellie to lead a sheltered life, but on the other hand I don't want having a shit-fit because somewhere along the line she's picked up on what someone else has perceived to be 'the right coloured jeans' at 9 years old. Can we please just slow this down a bit? I'd like my daughter back.
Let me clarify this - as she had to , several times, because I was utterly bemused. Said jeans were more than one colour of blue; they were a faux-faded pair from a high street store which she chose for herself as a part of her Christmas present. After ten minutes of screaming at a level only dogs could hear, door slamming and actual end-of-the-world crying it turns out she no longer likes them because they're not one [uniform] colour and not 'skinny' enough. She's 9....9!!!
Her compromise was to wear shorts with tights which I vetoed as it was too cold and we had plans to be outside with friends. This didn't go down too well either based on the very scientific way in which Ellie checked the weather - sticking her head out her bedroom window and declaring that it was hot (it was 9 degrees centigrade yesterday).
She tried to further compromise by offering to wear the offending jeans for the rest of the week if she could wear leggings. Also vetoed.
After a few more minutes wailing about how I don't love her, she found some suitable jeans (suitably skinny and the same colour all over) and apologised for being 'moody'.
At least I had an apology - I can't foresee many of those in the years to come.
When Ellie has one of her meltdowns I often wonder where they've come from. My childhood was very different to hers for a variety of reasons, some of which I don't care to discuss in the public domain, but there are of course the obvious differences. I didn't have the Internet; I had three/four TV channels with a limited number of hours of programming for children. I didn't have a mobile phone and my fashion choices largely come from Blossom or one of my mum's home shopping catalogues.
I think it's hard to be a kid today. There are so many ways in which you get told how to dress, act or what to like. Bloggers like Zoella are endemic and a huge influence for pre-teen and teen girls (although Ellie hasn't picked up her yet, my year 7s certainly have). I find the Disney Channels are atrocious and sadly to be Ellie's biggest influence. Bombarding girls and boys with their preferred stereotypes, Disney perpetuate a sickly-sweet, canned-laughter view of the world with some shocking racial stereotypes (all their Asian characters....oh my GOD how is that allowed?!). Disney shows don't seem to portray anything that remotely resembles the life of a real child and whilst decades of research shows fantasy and role play are an excellent part of a healthy childhood, promoting emotional and social intelligence I seriously doubt any of the Disney shows inspire anything other than how to look good.
I don't want to bang on about the preservation of childhood....or do I? I can see Ellie's internal struggle with doing what she wants for herself and doing what she thinks other's will find cool or acceptable. After The End of The World, we met up as planned with our good friend and fellow parental blogger Maz and her two beautiful boys. Ellie soon forgot about her fashion woes and started running about in the park with the boys - doing what kids should be doing. Kids - girls - her age shouldn't be concerned about fashion or make up. Clothes shopping for her is hard as largely the shops sell clothes for girls that are miniature versions of women's clothing, some of which I have to say I find wholly unacceptable for children and no, I'm no prude of conservative. I just don't think young girls should look like they're dressed to go to a night club until they're old enough to do so without I.D.
I think it's a tragic indictment of today's society and it begs the question - why do we want our kids to grow up so fast? I don't want Ellie to lead a sheltered life, but on the other hand I don't want having a shit-fit because somewhere along the line she's picked up on what someone else has perceived to be 'the right coloured jeans' at 9 years old. Can we please just slow this down a bit? I'd like my daughter back.
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