World Book Day (by sarah)

Jean's school are having their World Book Day celebrations today and this year Jean decided to go as a dinosaur from Harry and His Bucket of Dinosaurs. She loves these books - we met the author last year at Wychwood Festival and she got a signed copy of one of his more recent books - they are really aimed for an older age group than her but she wanted it as a Daddy read (ie Daddy reads it to her when it's bed time!). My friend Ulrike then got her the book she is currently holding for Christmas 🙂

Jean loves books and she loves stories - including making them up - this morning we had a game of what was going to happen to her eggs whilst she was at dinosaur book day - she was taking in the book Cera and Her Bucket of Humans.

But it has come to my attention that other parents may not appreciate World Book Day - they think it is a hassel and just more work for them. I find this incredibly sad and wonder if they feel the same about all dress up days or weather it is just because they don't see the point of books.

We love books so it is unsuprising that Jean loves books but what has astonished me is that she now has an academic age of 8 and a half and a reading age that is higher. I have worked with her on literacy skills and stuff at home as I wanted to give her a good foundation if she turned out to be dyslexic like me.

But there is still a lot of illitracy and stuff in this country and I just wondered looking at peoples reactions weather the schools need to try and include the parents a bit more in World Book Day - unfortunatly that would probably be seen as the schools just being too demanding on time again. This is a double problem as even those parents that do want to be involved will actually be too busy. The normal work regime most families have leaves little time for the fun stuff that is seen as 'optional' or as a pouncy extra rich kids get.

It is all very well for people to say things like they should read instead of watching TV but alot of people are exhorsted when they come in from work and the TV is a relax time - the other issue being what if the parents themselves are not exactly literate?

We are a first world country and yet I come across teens who just scrap by. I'm not sure what the solution is nor weather McDonalds attempt at looking good by putting books in Happy Meals was a good thing or not. The kids seemed happy as it came with a handpuppet.

I think encouraging people into the libraries would be a good thing - but the libraries need to advatise outside of themselves and offer events similar to the litretary festivals where they have people dressed up as the characters and things - but this all takes money and one thing the libraries do not have is money. They are currently an endangered species and if they go then the kids that do use them are going to be even more screwed than usual. And increase in illiteracy means an increase in crime and an increase in poverty gaps which causes an increase in crime.

I do think the libraries are corner stones to solving this issues which is one of the reasons that I am trying so hard to provide books for Jean's school library.

NHS SOS (by sarah)

The NHS is in distress
As politicians make it an even bigger mess
Sneaking in private sector competition
Erosion of the health service is their mission
Drs who say, 'hang on a mo!'
Are told they will have to go
Such cost cutting measures
Will kill this most auspicous of national treasures
Lets hope the politicians stop
Before this nation is left to rot

No Wage Slave (by sarah)

I have been seeing some highly disturbing news reports lately about people being forced to work or having their benefits cut - the issue being that they are not actually being offered jobs but are being put on work experience in places like Tesco and Poundland. Then it turns out that the changes currently being made to things means that disabled people including the terminally ill could be forced to work and not just the eight weeks of unpaid work 'normal' job seekers are given.

Neither of these situations is good - they are basically slavery. I could have probably swallowed the job seekers working on community projects and charity shops as I don't think gaps in CV's or in the pattern of doing a job is a good thing unless absolutely needed but big chain stores? Come on!

Worse this will be reducing the amount of people they are actually paying to do the work! Anyway this along with a few other things has inspired another angry political poem by me which I am now going to inflict on you.

No Wage Slave
Bayed go down the commercial drain
Human rights u-bend
Send wraith of pain
Terminally ill aint catching
Government snatching
Chiold's under the poverty line
Finned for not being on time
Crime swine on the rise
Cries in the night of destitution
Prostitution of limb and maw
Leaving lives stretched and raw
Time sinking backwards
Reeling
Hear the keening
Ghosts that fought for freedom
In and out of this United Kingdom
Sever hand that feeds jowled
Gluttonous banker
Ignored by Political

But who steps to the fore
Who gives the ROAR!
Stop think!
This policy stinks

Don't blame the other
For running for cover
Your hand's are stained no better
And suicide teens don't get much deader
Youth terror
Masked error
As this economic storm is weathered

Sink swim
desperation cling
Shame filled
Pill killed

Work for no wage
The government say

I say
Stand up and be counted
Attrition is mounting

Write that damn letter to your MP
Do it electronically
Again I remind you of
They Work For You and My Society

Cos the word be mightier than the turd
Scream and rant
21st C slavery should be banned
Think you can't change that with words
At least try
Please tell me you didn't just ask why?

There will be audio versions at some point on Monday - baby currently keeps churping over any I attempt at the moment.

I feel this disgusting and is putting those most vulnerable members of our society at risk of being used. It is a highly dangerous step backwards.

September Challenges/To-Do’s (by sarah)

September has snuck up on me and sees me papier mache-ing like a mad thing - my aim? To create a piece of textural science art for the visually impaired and the blind.

This piece of art work does not just involve papier mache though - it involves knitting, sewing, clay sculpting, sugru, polymer clay, wire work, metal casting, wood carving, stone carving, geology and acrylic paints not too mention lots of recycled pots and tubs and our mountain of graze boxes.

This all needs to be ready for the 24th of September for the Centre Arts Exhibition in Braille. And yes I am panicking - it is a play on the tree of life but I have gone for a more coral/byozoan feel and hope to have life in various forms sitting in the polyp tubes (what I have instead of branches). A relief of the scientific creation of life will hopefully be feelable along the base along with an audio poem/story of life.

Apart from that I am researching stuff for my Punk in Pink series and generally trying to take the musical me forward.

What if my child is gay? (by alaric)

It's widely held that it's a scary experience for somebody to tell their parents that they are gay. As a parent, therefore, I began to wonder how I could arrange it so that, if any of my children turn out to be gay, they could be spared any distress in telling us about it.

I surmised that the distress arose because of this pattern:

1. Child is raised by parents with the assumption that they will be straight. This might be a stated assumption - the parents actually talking about "when you start to bring [girl/boy]friends home" or "when you get married and have kids", or simply be signs of homophobia in the parent. Perhaps it could even be that the parents show no signs of expecting their child to be heterosexual, but the child (through other social conditioning) nonetheless assume (correctly or not) that's what their parents expect.

2. Child, at some point, realises they have desires they feel their parents would disapprove of or be shocked by, as well as or instead of "normal" heterosexual desires.

3. Child eventually announces this to the parents.

4. Parents reaction ranges from "Oh, that's nice dear" to "Oh my god! What a shock... but now I think about it it's no big deal" to "YOU ARE NO CHILD OF MINE".

I presume it's either the fear of not knowing how the parent will respond, or suspecting they'll respond negatively, that makes it stressful for people to tell their parents that they're gay, bisexual, transgender, or whatever.

So I started wondering if it'd be best to, at some point, outright say "You know, your mother and I are totally fine with whatever sexual orientation you choose". Maybe that'd be a bit awkward; perhaps it'd be better to just to leave it implicit-but-hinted-at by openly introducing our gay/poly/etc friends to the children as such, and other such ways of showing that we're OK with it all.

But I began to realise that it would be much better if our children never actually had to "come out" to us about anything. Rather than trying to make step 4 of the above list less traumatic, how about if we just make it unnecessary by stopping the process at step 1?

I mean, ideally, our children should be able to bring home same-sex partners or whatever without feeling they have to gain our permission and acceptance first.

For a start, I think people are too enthusiastic about putting themselves (and, worse, each other) into boxes. I mean, I am attracted to women, and have never fancied a man, so I guess I count as straight, but I can find no reason to assume I might never fall in love with a man (I might just be really really picky and have not met Mr Right yet). And what about a bisexual person who has the occasional gay crush, but never really acts on it, and (quite happily) only ever goes out with members of the opposite sex, eventually marries one, and lives happily ever after? There's no problem with that, and their actual sexual label becomes a matter of perspective.

So, sod that. As my children are human beings, I am aware that they might acquire any combination of sexual tastes that humans are capable of; and those tastes are their own affair - which they may or may not choose to discuss with their parents, as they see fit. And what kinds (and numbers; don't forget polyamory) of people they actually bring home to meet us is their choice. And I don't require them to declare a classification up front. I want my children to feel free to bring home whatever partners take their fancy.

Of course, I don't want to deny them the right to stand up and say "Father! I wish to declare that I BAT FOR THE OTHER TEAM!" if they want to. I think that labeling yourself can be an important thing for a young person, learning to establish their own identity. If they want to do that, that's fine, and I'll support them in doing so and treat the event with the gravity they seem to want from it; if they come to me looking like they're after a rite of passage, I'll try to provide one. But I don't want them to think they have to.

But what I really want in the end, I guess, is for my children to feel free to be themselves (at least at home; I can't be responsible for the reactions of the rest of society, sadly), and for them to know that they have my support in whatever they do, as long as they do it ethically.