Week 215- bad haircuts and sandals with socks...

There are fewer things more annoying in the world than your child kicking off one of their perfectly good shoes whilst in the pram and then only noticing when you get home.

Pre-children, I'd walk past singular children's shoes sitting on a wall and think, seriously, how shit a parent are you if your child is walking around in only one shoe?

But now I totally get it.

And that parent is probably sitting at home, face in hands, quietly cursing and weeping into their bank statements. 

Or, like me, loudly exclaiming,  'why lose it three days before payday?!'

So now my son has a choice of a pair of hand-me-downs that are three sizes too big or sandals and socks for the next few days. Perfect imminent snow footwear.

With that and the 'About A Boy' haircut I've given him, we're well on our way to winning the Worst Dressed Child 2015 award.

I just won't take any pictures of him for the next few weeks.

Or if I do, photoshop a decent haircut and a pair of Start-rites on him.

Job done.  

Week 214- is James Bond a sex pest?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think James Bond is an employment tribunal waiting to happen?

I’ve no idea what the actual job description for a 00 spy would be, but surely getting off with anyone with a pulse is not on the essentials list.

Seriously, how are they still making these films?

I really wanted to love it, I really did.

Daniel Craig is super hot and I’d gone to the cinema that sells booze so this was a double win; I just wanted to get a bit pissed in the dark and enjoy a childfree night.

But from the moment it started, I just felt massively creeped out by Bond.

He’s all, ‘don’t shit it, I’ll save you, but while I’m here I’m going to whip your dress off and shag you. Don’t worry though, it’s OK, I’ve been doing this since the 70s.’

It’s just not on.

What happens if you don’t want to pump him? Does he leave you strapped to an office chair with a bomb gaffer-taped to you while he storms off in a huff with a semi-on?

He just made me feel mega uncomfortable from the get go.

It’s not cos I’m a prude, don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of on-screen sex as much as the next person. 

I’ve watched Eyes Wide Shut three times for fucks sake.

But let’s get a bit of perspective here; it is 2015 after all.

James Bond is a spy.

A fascinating job, granted, but his responsibility is national security. He enjoys international travel, a limitless expenses budget and gets to drive eye-wateringly fast cars.

All in all he’s got a pretty sweet number.

But instead of just cracking on with the job in hand, of just being the best spy he can possibly be, he massively abuses his position.

He preys on vulnerable women who have, for example, recently been widowed, and whilst the right hand is shooting hit men who are hiding behind your curtains, the left hand is expertly unzipping your dress and pinning you against the wall.

Good for you James. Good for you and your over-active libido.

But not at work. Not when the taxpayers are bank-rolling you.

Pump on your own time Bond.

But whilst you're clocked on, just do your actual job. 

You don't see Jeremy Corbyn nipping off to the loos for a quick hand job between the hours of 9am- 5pm, do you?

Be a professional James, otherwise you're just a really well paid sex pest. 

Week 213- talking, shouting and being called a dick...

My son has started to talk.

Well, when I say talk, I mean making sounds that kind of resemble real words if you were listening to them with ear plugs on underwater.

Like 'oosh' for shoes.

Or 'duddle' for cuddle.

That said, there are words that are very clearly identifiable.

'Mummy.' Which is a one-size-fits-all warrior-like cry, that starts at about 5am hollered from his cot and finishes with a shrill wail between sobs when he's overtired about 6.30pm. 

Another word he says with remarkable clarity is 'dick.'

Repeatedly.

Normally after shouting 'mummy.'

Like, 'MUUUUUMMMMMMMMMIIEEEEEEEE!' 

'Yes sweetheart?'

'Dick, dick, dick, dick.'

Now, I know he's not actually calling me a dick. 

But I'd be happier if he knocked that word on the head, whatever it means.

Mind you, he did call Ben a 'douche' the other day.

 So maybe he's just a massively precocious, hugely sweary 19-month-old.  

How the fuck did that happen? 

Week 212- fancy dress, Billie Jean and biro moustaches...

When I was at university I would always dress up as either a fairy or fella with a 'tash at fancy dress parties. 

I looked pretty fucking brilliant as both to be fair, although was less likely to get off with anyone when I'd biroed on a Craig David-esque tash and beard combo. (Seriously, who biros on their own face?)

These days I get my fancy dress fixes through the children. 

This Halloween my son was a pumpkin, and my daughter a witch. Although I'd found her dress in a bag of hand-me-downs; it was meant for a 2-year-old and as she's a big 4 it was a snug fit. But a passable witch none-the-less. 

And as I made them pose for the five hundredth photo, I thought, how long is it ok to live vicariously through your children? 

Neither of them really wanted to wear the highly flammable, itchy outfits, but I'd bribed them both into it with fun size bags of Malteasers that were meant for the trick or treaters. 

See, it's too easy to inflict your own interests or dislikes on your kids.

I don't like tomatoes so I never give them to the children. Turns out they love them but I just assumed they'd think they were gross too.

My daughter asked me to turn off Michael Jackson's Billie Jean the other day as she didn't like it when we were having a disco in the front room. This is going to be a tough few years if it's not accompanied by an MJ soundtrack and I find it difficult to belief that any child of mine would not whole-heartedly embrace the Thriller album. But only time will tell. 

And the dressing up. I feel like they're kind of humouring me instead of totally getting into it. More seeing a potential opportunity to make a chocolate-based deal to keep wearing the dinosaur/ pumpkin/ doctor/ farmer costume. 

I often, entirely by accident, dress the children in very similar clothes to me. We'll all leave the house in navy and white striped tops, looking like we all work waiting tables in the same pizza restaurant.

So maybe I need to give them a bit of room to breathe. To make their own choices and if they're not necessarily mine then that's fine. 

They have their own take on the world; they may grow up to vote completely differently from me, to like different foods, fall in love with someone I think is a total dick or get a job working for a hedge fund. 

Whatever they choose all we can do is give them the confidence to know their own minds and the skills to back their choices up. 

And if they're not the choices we'd make then we're just going to have to suck it up.

But for the short term I will continue to dress them up and take billions of pictures of them.

And I will always encourage them to love the music of Michael Jackson, because it's just wrong not to want to get up and dance whenever you hear Bad.