There’s an old English saying that I often mutter when I’m being worn thin by seemingly excessive demands: “Do you want the moon on a stick?” This week alone, the question has crossed my mind on at least five occasions in conversations I have shared. They (parents) say They (teachers) say They (parents, teachers, students, […]
Sitting down with a glass of wine this week, half-heartily trying to read (Politics on the Edge), I noticed my son was utterly absorbed by something he was reading on the computer. Even from where I was sitting on the other side of the room, I could see he was on Wikipedia. Curious, I asked […]
If I’m hearing correctly, educational standards are worse than ever. Teachers are saying that kids don’t just dislike reading more than a few words; they can’t. They don’t just hate writing more than a few words; they can’t. And even when they do write, you either can’t read it, or the grammar and spelling are […]
I’m “fast awake”. It’s 0600, alarm beeping, I have 10 mins, check phone, 37 WhatsApp messages, 26 emails, 9 Linkedin alerts, triage most of those and then check BBC news, same old, check BBC sports, football, great result for Brighton, cricket not so good, snooker, Ronnie not playing again, check share prices, ticking up, then […]
This morning, I asked my daughter to pick up some biscuits from the shops around the corner. After forty minutes, she still wasn’t back, so I immediately checked where she was via Find My Friend and then called her to see if everything was Okay. Everything was Okay, but…she couldn’t decide what biscuits to bring […]
I may be overthinking things at the moment. Today, I saw a boy sitting alone with his hands holding his head. He’s anxious. He’s stressed. He’s lonely. Of course, I don’t actually know what’s up with him, but that’s what is going through my mind. Life can be hard, and I assume this is another […]
I was recently asked, “What do you regret most in life?” It is the sort of question that young people often ask old people. So, my first thought was…damn it, I’m getting old! I didn’t have a good answer then, but here’s what I might have said if I had more time to think about […]
I met up with an old friend last week for coffee (actually, he’s not that old; it’s our friendship that’s old), and we talked about someone we both knew from our school days who is very successful and a bit of a big shot (as it were). And I said to my friend, “But you’re […]
“I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose” Loki utters these words in the first Avengers film, sharing a belief in his pre-ordained right to power. At the risk of being a spoiler, it doesn’t end well for him. The use of the word ‘burdened’ is used (I think) because Loki […]
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