Ban the box?

Ban the box?

Interesting news from Australia, where a Government-sponsored report  is saying that children under the age of 2 should not watch telly. My immediate, cheap, thought is that, in the land that gave us Neighbours, probably the Government should ban everyone from watching telly. But actually, I love Neighbours and so do my girls.

I do try and limit our exposure to telly, though – hence the cupboard which I’ve made such a big fuss over and which I am, still, madly thrilled with. Somehow, stopping our sitting room from being dominated by that big, black, blank box has made it a room with thousands more possibilities. I’ve even – gasp – caught the girls reading there!

I remember when I first gave up work to look after Child One full time (initially I’d gone back to the newspaper I was working on for three days a week). I asked one of the mothers in the playground, in a semi-joking way, what on earth I could do to occupy my lovely little one, who was then rubbing mud into her hair with the ferocious concentration that only a fourteen-month-old has. She looked at me as though I was from Mars. ‘Television, of course,’ she said.

I was mildly surprised, but I did remember having read stuff about a new phenonmenon sweeping the nation’s cots at the time – Tellytubbies. I duly sat down with little Child One and we watched. She loved it. She loved it so, so much that, when the baby in the sun said goodbye at the end, and sank down beyond the horizon, she burst into tears.

It showed me how real television was to her and, consequently, how powerful it could be. Ever since then, I have rationed what they see, and still do, even though the cries of ‘oh Mummmmmmm’ still ring out. All their friends, they tell me, watch hours of telly, have TVs in their own rooms, and regularly watch 15 and even 18 certificate films.

Mine have now watched the occasional 15, like Love Actually, and I do adore taking them to mindless romcoms at the cinema, but I am glad I’ve never given in completely to wall-to-wall telly, or scary, violent stuff. I’m very conscious, now, of sounding smug, but I’m not – God knows I’ve made some crashing mistakes as a mother and as for my private life, I’ll just say arrrghhhhhh! But I do believe there’s enough rough stuff going on in the real world without watching it on telly at home.

Other resources:
The layman’s method to find the right family lawyers
Uncommon but effective benefits of hiring family lawyers
The Impacts of Commercial Lawyers in Negotiation Equipment Rental Agreements

Down but Not Out: Simon Brett, Writers and Depression

Down but Not Out: Simon Brett, Writers and Depression

Simon Brett has written over 200 novels, including the very successful Mrs Pargeter, Charles Paris, and Fethering series, beautifully crafted strings of cozy crime novels that I wish fervently I could have written myself. It was humbling to hear of his own struggles and crises of faith over his writing. To me, his way with a sentence is second to none and he achieves a lovely humorous bounce in all his works which I love. True, his actor sleuth, Charles Paris, has had some very dark moments, and even his Fethering muses, Carole the buttoned-up ex-civil servant and Jude, the new-age therapist, both seem either in need of treatment or capable of giving it. The clues were all there, I just hadn’t spotted them.

‘The writer’s life is full of predictable triggers of depression,’ says Brett, and I think that’s true. Sitting in a room alone with your thoughts is not likely to raise the spirits, unless you’re a totally irrepressible natural optimist – and then, why would you want to sit alone with your thoughts?

But to know someone as omnipresent and successful as Simon Brett has had troubles is curiously cheering, in a strange way. As well as turning out those 200 books, he has also produced and written innumerable shows for radio. The Peter Wimsey adptation I’ve just been listening to was produced by him, for example. What a multi-tasker, managing all this and a mental health condition as well. I hope his example will inspire me, next time I’m down.

There are highs, when writing, if a sentence goes right or a suspect behaves in an obliging way (sometimes they don’t). But there are lows, too – the inevitable rejections, when many people fail to recognise the brilliance of your ideas, when you get a mean review, when a book is turned down flat… so many ways to feel bad. But, of course, nothing compares to the thrill of hearing someone’s enjoyed your stories. That’s why we do it, I suppose. That, and the fact that, in my case, the kettle and the biscuits live in the room where I write.

Other resources:
Why You Need an Experienced Commercial Lawyer to Grow Your Business
The layman’s method to find the right family lawyers
Uncommon but effective benefits of hiring family lawyers
Blokes, Beers and Burritos

Blokes, Beers and Burritos

Blokes, Beers and Burritos

I was sent Blokes, Beers and Burritos, to review for you and initially I was a bit dazzled by the vibrant pink cover. While I love chick lit, this was quite full on.

The book turns out to be a fascinating read, though, and shouldn’t be dismissed as just another disposable chick lit novel. Yes, it manages to be lovely and light, and even rather saucy in places, BUT it will also make you think and maybe even teach you a thing or two.

Heroine Cath goes on quite a journey, literally and figuratively, and I found myself enjoying the comic back-packer’s eye view of various exotic countries (Mexico, South America, bits of the Caribbean) almost as much as her misadventures with a bunch of ‘unsuitable’ men.

The writer, Jo Blakeley, admits it’s a semi-autobiographical tale and she has a laudable mission – to stop other drifting 20- and 30-somethings from making her own mistakes. It’s hard to imagine from such a positive and bouncy narrative, but apparently she was full of negativity and had a tendency to choose the wrong boyfriends as well.

I found myself eagerly looking forward to each lesson and thought it seemed a very useful self-help book for people who wouldn’t normally go near that genre, as well as a fun read. I never thought I’d be reading about NLP in a chick lit novel, that’s for sure. If I had one quibble, it would be that the proof reading could have been improved – but I’m an editor as well as a writer so I would say that, wouldn’t I?

A fun and intriguing book which I really enjoyed and read from cover to cover in a couple of sittings. I’ll pass it on to my daughters in the hope that they never have to get up to half the things Cath does in order to attain inner peace and happiness. A perfect summer read.

Other resources:
Ban the box?
Uncommon but effective benefits of hiring family lawyers
Why You Need an Experienced Commercial Lawyer to Grow Your Business