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PR Mum – half term bliss

Posted on 10. Feb, 2009 by PR Mum in Health, News, People

12 February 2009 – half term bliss

The Valentine school disco was a big success. The big rotter was dressed from head to toe in pink with bunches, plaits and clips in her hair and spent two hours dancing to High School Musical and Abba, with home-made pom poms and glo sticks. Perfect. Comedy parental dance moves provided much entertainment and I was amused to hear Health Secretary Alan Johnson’s reassuring words that, “The point about dance is you don’t have to be a professional. You don’t have to be brilliant on your feet but it gets you moving and that is what all of us need.” What a relief. His words came on the back of an announcement that he would “dance the UK to fitness” by creating a dance working group to expand the availability of dance classes and tackle obesity. With the school disco and parents evening both completed successfully, the Postie and I are eagerly awaiting the first half term holiday of the school year, as we pack off the little rotters for a week with their grandparents. Bliss.

28 January 2009 – school disco

After a poor start to the school term on the organisational front, the third week begins well. We are up-to-date on school dinner money, remembered the PE kit on Tuesday (although I packed leggings for a one year old, rather than a five year old) and have volunteered the Postie for the Dad’s dancing competition at the forthcoming school disco. However, the latter activity is now causing me concern following the news that stressful experiences early in childhood can have long-lasting effects on health by depleting the immune system. Perhaps I can avert the traumatic effects of the dancing competition by stocking-up the fridge with fruit and vegetables, and ward off the food police at the same time. I was amused to read the news that squadrons of food police will start knocking at doors at meal times to lecture families on how to feed themselves properly and reduce waste. Interrupting the family dinner strikes me as the number one way to waste food.

20 January 2009 – staying calm

It’s only the second week of the new school term and I’ve already missed an ‘essential’ literacy meeting for parents to help with home reading, am behind on dinner money payments and have forgotten the PE kit two weeks in a row. A poor start to the New Year. However, all is not lost, as I have partly redeemed myself by stockpiling old toilet and kitchen towel rolls to be made into pom poms for the forthcoming school disco. My disorganised spirits were lifted by the news that one shouldn’t get too stressed by these small oversights in daily life, as people who are more laid back are less likely to develop dementia in old age. Research published in the journal Neurology reported that those who were calm and relaxed had a 50% lower risk of developing dementia during the six years of the study.

11 January 2009

New Year celebrations were fairly low key in our house this year due to various illnesses over Christmas, so the usual resolutions to drink less and not come home as the children are waking up were not required. I felt fairly smug not to be nursing a hangover and was further cheered by the news that New Year’s resolutions could actually be bad for your mental health, as failure to stick to them can lead to feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem and mild depression. Research by the mental health charity Mind, highlighted that while around seven million people in the UK make a resolution, only one in ten will stick to it for a whole year. Along with the New Year comes a new school term and having happily bundled the big rotter back to schooI, I discover that we are not the only family to have the gift of chickenpox for Christmas. As we battle our way into the classroom, I notice at least five other faces with the tell tale spots. As the little rotter now has the spots, I warm to the news that the Government is considering routinely vaccinating children and pregnant women against chickenpox.

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