Arghhhhh!

My Outlook is still down! How the hell am I supposed to work?!

Latest acquisitions

On a lighter note....

Just bought Olivia Ong's Sweet Memories and Corrinne May's Crooked Lines albums.

A different cover, but same album. Maybe a later press. Light music - mostly old favourites from my school days.

New songs. Devout. Mostly joyous and celebratory, though some of the lyrics makes one think. I believe that was her intention in the first place.













Hope I can get hold of Epica's new album next : )

Grrrr..

Things have gone south.

Apparently, my daughter has not taken my words to heart. Despite talking to her about her sleeping habits and her utter lack of urgency when getting ready for school. She has, for the umpteenth time, dragged her heels this morning so much that she was late.

Which leaves me no recourse but to issue threats and promise harsh and immediate punishment should she fail to comply with my simple instructions of:

1) Getting up when she (a) hears the alarm, (b) gets shaken awake, or (c) gets hauled onto her feet;
2) Eating her breakfast and stuffing her snack-box and water-bottle into her bag in a no fuss, timely fashion (which I have set at a generous 20 minutes); and
3) Getting dressed and leaving the house by 6.45am.

My promised punishments for 1) is a swift whack to the backside, and additional whacks if she proves recalcitrant. For 2), it is setting her alarm (and bedtime) early an additional 5 minutes, thereby leading to a greater potential for violations of 1) and its consequent penalty. Failure to comply to 3) leads to her being late for school, which carries its own attendant punishment from her teachers. Hence, there is no stipulated penalty from me. (Despite my propensity towards physical punishment, I am inclined to the rule of natural justice that precludes being punished more than once for the same offence.)

This will begin with immediate effect.

We'll see how it goes.

Inspirations II

Delivered!

And threw in a movie too. She loved the monstrous aliens in John Carter.

: )

Inspirations

The daughter finds it hard to get up early in the morning, and drags her feet when preparing herself for school. Not a surprise. She is only following in the footsteps of both her parents. Usually, the missus and I have to poke and prod and crack the whip over her head to get her moving. This morning, however, I tried a different tack.

"You're not going to school tomorrow, are you? And the school hols start next week, right? Aren't you eager to have this day over with?"

For some strange reason, those questions worked! She was actually able to get her stuff together faster than I did. As I had pointed out before, children can surprise adults when they are suitably inspired. The last time that she did that, we climbed all the way up the side of Cradle Mountain for a good two and a half hours to reach Crater Lake. And then trudged all the way back down again. While this morning was not on the same scale, it was a good surprise.

Moreso because the missus is not around.

As usual, work has called the wife to exotic, faraway lands. In this case, the Great Southern one. And she'll be away for another two weeks. Which means that she'll be missing the school hols altogether.

Which puts the pressure on me.

Well, I've never been the sort of parent who drives his daughter to achieve goals, or to fill her life with all sorts of activities. Besides, I am well-aware of my own preferences, and would rather not drag her through what she would consider a 'boring' visit to a museum or such. Taking the most direct approach, I simply asked her what she would like to do next week.

Swimming, was her reply. And the Botanic Gardens.

That was easily done, and I promised her that we'll do them both. Hopefully, I can deliver : )