Friendship Awards

With the nominations for the Oscars, the recent Golden Globes and our NTA's it's impossible to miss the fact that awards season is once again upon us, and this made me think that perhaps there is a more important set of awards that should be given out but which are being overlooked.  Whilst I am not going to mention any specific names if you think about the nominees in my list I am sure there are one or two who come straight into your mind, so here are the categories for the 2012 Friendship Awards:

School Run Buddy - The person you can organise a rota with or at the last minute ask to pick up or drop off your child.

Emergency Contact - When you are stuck no matter what time of the day or night you know you can call this person and they will always be there to help you out

Coffee Counselling - If you ever have the need to talk something through either to get advice or just to have a rant you know this friend will be always be there with a cup of coffee ready to listen

The Organiser - The person you always turn to when you need a name for a plumber, decorator, tutor or anything else and they always know someone that can help

Lifer - Probably the friend you have had for the longest who you may not even talk to very regularly but you always know they are there

Long Distance - The friend you have met on holiday, who comes from overseas or who has moved abroad , and makes the effort to ensure the friendship stays strong

All Rounder - The friend who encompasses a bit of everything listed above and you couldn't live without

I apologise for any categories that may have been missed but I want to congratulate all the winners as you all deserve your awards and you should know how much your friendship is appreciated

Crime & Punishment

Yesterday after supper my twelve year old chose a chocolate muffin for his treat.  These cakes are very big and he was asked if he could eat the whole thing as he could have chosen to eat half.  Unsurprisingly he chose the whole cake and even more unsurprisingly after a few mouths of it said he was full up and couldn't finish it.  My reaction was that he couldn't leave 85% and would have to eat more.  Naturally this didn't go down very well and there was a lot of moaning and even an offer to pay for the cake.  However the money was not the issue.  We are fortunate to be able to go to the cupboard and have nice food to choose, but it still shouldn't be wasted and greed is not a good quality to have.  In the end he ate rather than left 80%, and I hope that next time he will think more carefully although I do have my doubts!

This incident make me think about the way we discipline our children.  As they get older the naughty step or stopping the bedtime story no longer hold the same sway, but the boys still need to understand that there are consequences to their actions.

My eldest children are 15 and one of their main loves is their X-Box.  Whilst I personally hate it, I do find it a good weapon as a ban from games and playing on-line always seems to hit home! There needs to be boundaries for everyone's sake but as I now have to physically look up to my teenagers it is harder to have that air of authority!  Admittedly there are times when they know they are completely in the wrong and we can sit and calmly discuss whatever the issue is, but this doesn't happen that often and usually I am just being unreasonable and everyone else does whatever it is I have said no to.

I do not think there is an easy answer because if there was we all would have found it by now, and I also know we all have our different methods.  These start from the time we are desperately trying to get them to sleep through the night and continue into adulthood,  but it is interesting to see what works best for everyone so if you have any good suggestions do let me know and hopefully they will work for other parents too.