PR Mum – Hostage transfer and repatriation completed
Posted on 26. Feb, 2009 by PR Mum in Health, News, People
26 February 2009
As predicted, half term was bliss. The rotters were successfully transferred to the grandparents during a hostage exchange at a glamorous Little Chef on the M4. Once we had waved them goodbye, we sped back to London to enjoy P&Q, nights out and uninterrupted sleep. While our energy levels soared over the course of our blissful week, the grandparents were struck down with a bad cold and laryngitis, and were relieved to see me for the hostage repatriation. The news that colds can be beaten by a dose of winter sunshine came too late for the grandparents who are still in recovery mode. A week without children has the same positive effects, although we were of course delighted to have the little rays of sunshine back.
After a week in the country, the return to urban living meant repatriation with TV and CBeebies. The rotters were disappointed that the usual presenters Pui and Chris had disappeared, replaced by the unfamiliar faces of Cerrie and Alex. Cerrie’s arrival in particular seems to have sparked much interest and debate. Cerrie was born with only one hand and is one of the few children’s TV presenters that I can recall with a disability. In answer to the inevitable ‘why has she only got one hand’ question we simply explained that she had been born that way. So I was surprised to read that some parents had complained that her presence on CBeebies was scaring their children and had prompted awkward questions about how to explain disabilities. On further investigation, I was reassured to discover that this was only a minority of parents and the swell of opinion on the online message boards on CBeebies and the BBC’s disability magazine Ouch! were brimming with support for the employment of a person with a disability, and the way this educated children about diversity.
