She might just struggle to pay her bill!

A definite issue has emerged in the last couple of months with Anna and one that I intend to address to try and check. Whenever we go out for a meal (I must confess this is probably too often but we either can't be arsed after a long day to cook and we just love doing it), Anna never eats what she has ordered. It is a source of much frustration to me as the bill payer. I have spoken with her in the past, as she is a grazer and an eater of the wrong things, to be honest and talk things through, rather than order what she does not want. It is a waste of money and a waste of somebody's time in putting the food together! Will she listen to me - no! So, on Sunday, Amy and I have put in place a new tactic and one I fully intend to follow through. Anna will, from this day forth accumulate a bill for all the food she does not eat when we are out, that I have paid for and commencing January 2019, this will be deducted from her pocket money for the year. Sounds really harsh, but I need her to reflect on something and change her behaviour accordingly, just for once! So, Wiggle at the moment you owe us £6.95! I want to drag this one on for a long time and keep discussing this with her and reminding her. If she fails to listen, then the outcome could be quite significant and she could owe us quite a bit of dosh. Our girls are extremely privileged and sometimes do not show the appreciation they should for their positon of fortune. I have in the past, not always followed through on my parental strategies, but Anna takes time sometimes to learn lessons and I think this may instruct her down the right path. Let the battle commence Wiggle!

A posh new haircut and the debate about the fringe!

I am sitting up early on Father's day, with a very quiet house and none of my family awake as yet and I was thinking about Lucy's new haircut and how fabulous she looked. Amy has a new haircut too (looking great and dynamic Mrs Hammond). Anna received countless compliments about her hair and heroic saves at a football tournament yesterday. One parent asking her what her hair product was as she has been diving around all morning and it hadn't moved a centimetre! I bowed to family pressure and went to the same hairdressers as the rest of my crew yesterday. I have resisted this for many months and there have been several attempts to get me to go. I am a loyal person and creature of habit and have been going to the same place for nearly twenty years. However, of late they have failed to cope with my awkward hair - I have no real style and it simply needs a tidy up - how hard can it be! I moved to another and that has not worked out. So I relented and I was suitably impressed. Trying to gain recognition for my great haircut (everybody likes a compliment) and feeling smart and handsome, I asked the girls what they thought. I got the stark reply that 'it looked like it always does!' Charming! A bit disconsolate, I decided I was ok with this having witnessed Amy and Lucy bickering and niggling all week about what to do with her fringe! Who needs complicated hair and the pressure to look great. I am what I am and not really going to be able to change that after forty three years on the planet! Lucy does look great though and on Father's day I can beam with pride at my beautiful girl, who on the day of her birth, triggered my amazing journey as a parent over twelve years ago....

Could the time of the hat be making a reappearance?

I normally don't make much of an appearance in half terms, trying to save my time off for the holidays and finding that balance of bringing the pennies in. However, this half term with Amy undertaking a project, I needed to step up to the parental plate and entertain the girls and contribute. After all there are three half terms a year and I am often not about! I loved it and spent some really great time with the girls. Anna and I had a date watching the champions league final (where I lost money to her and backed the wrong team) and the new start wars movie. A nightly kick about at the park with both girls was the highlight of the week for me and Lucy really improved, scoring many a goal against her sister! It didn't last and the work thing kicked in, but I look forward to some more time like this with the girls again soon. I also got to see my old friend Kate and her lovely family, a rendezvous which Amy normally manages each half term and I miss out on. One wonderful thing returned which is worthy of note is Anna has purchased a hat for the first time in over a year and it was a delight to see her wearing one again. Happy days in the early summer sunshine! xx