When I was young!

Just looking at my daughter lying on the sofa. She has the T.V on, laptop on the table infront of her, Nintendo on the blanket next to her and a glass of juice in her hand. Yes, she is off school sick. Now when I was young....... I lay in bed all day when I was sick. No T.V, computers etc. If I was lucky I was allowed to read my book. If not, the rule was, you are sick therefore should not be able to do anything. Yes, it did make me want to go back to school, being ill better than being bored! Should I be harder on my daughter? I don't think so,here is why:-

When I was young school was fun and we were not under continual assessment and exam pressure. The majority of the teachers enjoyed their jobs and passed over the necessary information in a fun, interesting manner (ok, there were some miserable, old teachers but they were generally the ones that must have been at least 112 years old). School inspections, targets etc were not the most important factor for head teachers.

When I was young we had the freedom to race off on our bikes with our friends. We could explore. We could walk to each others houses without adult supervision. We could get the bus, we could go to the cinema alone. We were taught to make cakes etc. without being terrified of burning ourselves or cutting our fingers off. We played in parks where the equipment had not had to pass so many safety tests that it was rendered boring. The parks had concrete or gravel as a surface- not bounce proof stuff. Big brothers or sisters had to suffer us tagging along to the swimming pool with them. So many things that built up character, sense of adventure, independence and taught us many a hard lesson-but we remembered the lessons we learnt.

Today- we wrap our children in cotton wool so they do not hurt themselves or are in any kind of danger at all. This is admirable, but what happens when they go out into the real world? Or will our children never leave home-too scarey out there?

Ok- just off to fluff up my daughters pillows for her, change the T.V channel (the remote is just out of her reach) and replenish snacks and drinks. Gee, she is lucky!

My Grandmothers Cure!

Just got this off my Dad. I know now we have all sorts of sprays, sweets etc to soothe a sore throat but here is a blast from the past.

Hot Lemon and Honey.

Put 3 or 4 slices of lemon in a mug, add a good dollop of honey (let patient lick honey spoon clean) and fill mug with boiling water. Poorly person should sip this to ease their sore throat and boost their vitamin C levels.

My Dad's Mums recipe actually used sugar not honey. Over 18's, at night add a splash of whiskey to the lemon,honey and water.

Off to buy lemons!