Teenagers

For those of you with teenagers, I LOVED this programme, Four Thought, 15 minutes of utter giggling bliss and insightful joy.  If  you have ever been a teenager, you should listen too - and, yes, I do have my doubts about some of you......

It is half term here and I am stumbling through teenage logic again.  The dishwasher is the latest battleground.  HWISO and I have got kind of used to it being on once a day but with the girls home and their inability to use a glass or a mug more than once, it seems to need to go on about 3 times a day.  It is difficult to empty a dishwasher with one hand - and your minor hand at that (although I am getting better at it!), ergo one would think that help would be offered with alacrity, especially when the dirty plates and mugs are piling up and restricting food prep space in the kitchen?  Well, no.  Apparently, doing half of the job is perfectly acceptable, leaving the other half for the other sibling to do.  As I said, teenage logic - a much overrated concept.

I did a bit of communicating with the outside world yesterday.  My dear friend, E, (the greatest cook in the world) and I mimbled through teenagers, children, Maudsley Carers' Conference presentations, parenting and Ute Frith and her autism work. (It's going to be a morning of listening to the Radio...). We both agreed that responsibility does not sit well on teenage shoulders for longer than a day but at least the experience of "being in charge" makes them appreciate us a bit more when we return and "fix" stuff.

Then I talked to Laura and positively over-encouraged her to post her blog - best title EV-AH! I love the idea that Cindy Bulik, of AN25K, is trying to work out how to get this phrase into her next grant application.  Any ideas?

Meanwhile, my hugely talented friend, Superdewa, has been taken some pretty amazing Halloween photos - I love these.  Her local area lends itself to the story and her use of colour and her beautiful daughter evoke  the story so well and so simply in 4 photos.

Halloween fever has even hit Italy - a coffee for Rachel on her departure back to the US.....