Erieversible

In the last couple of weeks I’ve received 3 invitations to join someone’s account on Facebook.  Why?

I must admit that I just don’t see the point in these social networking sites.  While we live a certain portion of our life online, with Erieversible, with the kids having websites, with other ventures, it seems that Facebook is a step too far.  Have these people got no-one more worthy than me to invite onto their accounts?  

Even the kids’ websites are now being reconsidered.  They were set up for distant friends and family, and while the move to the US has brought a lot of those people nearer it has also created a whole new subset for that audience.  However, just how much personal information should be available online?  One visitor to the kids’ websites has emailed to say they enjoy watching the kids grow up.  Pardon????  That could be scary.

I guess it is a time for contemplation about just how much goes into the public domain.  How much is published but secured behind access restrictions.  It is quite scary just how much information about individuals you can find out online nowadays.  Much of that information was always in the public domain but not so immediately accessible.

Time for serious contemplation about how to take things forward….

The kids are off school all week so, for something completely different, I took them ice skating.  Neither of them has ever been on any type of skates before, so it was an bound to be an “interesting” experience to say the least.

Many years ago, when I worked for a college with its own ice rink, I used to skate a couple of times a week and I really enjoyed it and managed to learn a few things.  But that was about fifteen years ago and I haven’t been on skates since.

Considering where we were starting from, I think we did pretty well!  Both kids fell quite a lot, but both got back up and kept trying.  I expected the older one to have a good go, but the six year old surprised me by hanging in there and really have a good try.  She only gave up when she got really cold…her gloves were soaked through and I couldn’t fault her for giving up at that point.

The older one (ten) has more confidence than skill and will insist on bashing away at it until he falls quite spectacularly.  He ended up with more than a few bruises and also three blisters.  The little one has more skill than confidence at this point and prefers to just hold on to me with two hands and squeal.  She nearly took us both down many times and once or twice I was worried one of us might get hurt by flying blades. 

But we managed.  And both are willing (maybe not quite eager) to have another go later in the week.  As for me, I’m dying to get back to skating regularly…if I can find the time and a quiet session for people who used to skate and are now getting old!

The little one has lost her first tooth.  You would think it was a whole leg or something from the way she carried on about it.  Not in a bad way, just in an “over the top” way.  She was very, very excited. 

Of course the tooth had been loose since Christmas Eve, so the anticipation that built up was pretty severe.  And it wobbled and wobbled and wobbled on for the longest time without actually making any real progress.  Then, suddenly, it was lightly bumped and out it came.  (Finally!)

And the “tooth fairy” had to pay a visit.  Now our little one is fully aware that the tooth fairy is her mum and dad, but that didn’t stop her milking the whole “fairy” thing for maximum advantage.  And it doesn’t help that the tooth fairy in other families brings $5.00 bills and the like!  (Or, all the kids actually get is a shiny dime and then the kids agree at school to tell their parents that everyone else gets loads of money?!)

Of course, missing teeth aren’t quite as exciting as a snow day off school…but that is another story!