Eco-Unfriendly - Are we frightening our children?

I do my bit as I suppose everyone else does.

I reuse bags when I am shopping, I recycle anything and everything I can. I turn off electrical equipment when it's not in use, I keep the thermostat below 20 degrees and I never allow the tap to run needlessly. We've even recently had the loft insulation increased.

It seems that they may have been teaching the children at Amy's nursery school about being environmentally friendly and not wasting water or power. Only Amy is now terrified that we're going to end up with no water or electricity if we keep consuming it on an average day to day basis. She has become so wrapped up in this cause that she becomes hysterical if I turn on a tap (as I may use up all the water) and has taken to switching lights on and off at regular intervals, just to check they still work and we haven't used up all the electric.

I'm all for being economical and saving the world. But passing fear and guilt onto preschoolers?

Maybe it's more a case of the way it's taught rather then the actual teaching. I have seen some information adverts on the children's channels about saving water and energy that would give me the willies, let alone a 4 year old. Some even boarder on brainwashing.

Would this be the same electric that is produced by burning fossil fuels per chance?

I'd hate to think that we're going round frightening children in to saving water and energy because if they don't 'fiery doom shall reign down upon them'.

Hopefully Amy will calm down in time and I shall be able to do the washing up without being accused of bringing about the destruction of mankind.

Fishy Friday

Octopi by Amy aged 4

Is it octopi, octopus, octopuses, octopodes or octopussies? The possibilities are endless.

Every so often, Amy comes back from Nursery with something that simply begs to be framed and put on the wall. The picture above is of a mummy and her baby octopus. The exact reasons as to why the octopuses are missing several limbs and floating in the sky escapes me. Something fishy is going on.

I must say I do love Mrs Octopus's serene expression. "I'm minus four limbs and a 'fish out of water' but hey, I'll just roll with it."

The plurals of octopus are octopuses, octopi and octopodes.

The Gallery - My Favourite Photos (and why)

This week's prompt over at Sticky Fingers is Favourite Photo. An almost impossible task and I am going to be especially cheeky during my first dip into The Gallery and show you two of my most favourite photos.

Taken 15th August 2009 during a trip to Beale Wildlife Park with my parents and the girls. It was a fantastic day and as usually I was there with my camera aimlessly taking out of focus shots of cage bars and odd bits of shrubbery. In short I sucked at taking pictures. The above photograph was a happy accident, but an accident that got me interested in photography as a hobby and spurred me on.

But the above has to be my all time favourite photograph, taken on 16th August 2010 and titled Fairy Princess. It is a black and white portrait of my youngest daughter Amy. A lovely day spent messing about in the sunshine with my camera and a very agreeable model. Who could ask for more?

To see other entries in The Gallery, please go here.

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

I felt much the same upon learning that Tommy Bear the Nursery Bear was to be staying with us for the fourth time. That bear must really love it here!

Good Grief!

There are times in my life when I swear. No, when I know that I must sound like Charlie Brown's teacher to others.

When I speak, what leaves my mouth is a series of intelligent words strung together to form sentences. The very basis of language, a language we all understand. Yet when it reaches the ears of my husband and children, it has along the way mutated somehow into.

'Wah wah waah wawah wah wah wah waah wawah wah wah'





If the video doesn't load watch it on Youtube here.

Herding Cats - Happy Inside

If like me you love cats, then you'll love the Ikea television advertisment featuring them. The brain child of Mother London Ad Agency.

"The idea behind the work is that cats know better than anything what makes them feel happy inside, they live their lives in pursuit of their own comfort," said Feh Tarty, creative director at Mother. "So we released a hundred cats in to the Ikea Wembley store, for real, to see where they went and what furniture made them happy."





If the video fails to load, please watch it here.



If the video fail to load, please watch it here.