'You've got your hands full'

Inspirational people, by Sarah Aitchison aged nine

I've not written about my husband's illness. I haven't considered this deeply private anguish to be anyone else's business and I don't want to say anything to add to the distress of my closest family, most of all, our beautiful daughters. 

Now I am in shock again. A turn of events last week has been particularly harrowing and a subsequent hospital stay traumatic. I can't find the right words to say what's up. My body and mind is still absorbing this latest news. Alone in my car, I have screamed as loud as I can, or I may offer up a silent scream as my face stings with more tears. I try to let the pain out. It's not enough. 

I've been happy sometimes to share good news -- like when a treatment we were warned had meagre chance of working evoked a 'remarkable' effect.  Or when, after spending more than a month not being allowed to move and having a cumbersome corset brace fitted to support his back, Neil was walking down the aisle - no brace, no frame, no stick. A fortnight earlier he couldn't manage a single step. If friends contact me online to ask how we are doing, I may offer a snippet of news, but I haven't said much.

Yet this week also brought great cause for celebration. Neil's birthday was a wonderful day where our house was filled with friends, family and laughter. 

Among the cards, my sister in law Helen sent us some homework by our niece Sarah as she thought we may enjoy it. I was so touched by what it said, I wanted to share it here.   

Inspirational people by Sarah Aitchison

Why are they inspirational to me?

This week's homework is about inspirational people. I have chosen to write about my Uncle Neil. He is inspirational to me because over Christmas and New Year, he organised a big celebration to show his love for his friends and family, even though he has been seriously ill and has been in and out of hospital.

Our wedding in pictures

I never thought I'd see the day/Save the Children

Along with my partner, I met a new health worker last week – an oncologist.

I felt a now familiar mix of dread and hope as we listened to what he had to say.

His efficient approach was a breath of fresh air compared to the disorganised communication we've had with other medics.

In drought-stricken Eastern Africa, where children are dying, nobody cares much about how doctors communicate.

All that matters is that they save lives. Please sign the petition to help.

I'm tagging Liz, Tara, Becky, Laura and Erica to blog about this too.

Love at first sight...or was it sound?

FIFTEEN years ago a wannabe reporter sailed through an interview at an evening paper in the Midlands.

I should have been there to grill the then BBC radio journalist. But I was on holiday. I must have been a bit nervous. What type of keen but potentially inexperienced new colleague would the editor foist upon us?

A week after I returned, I found out. The successful candidate phoned me. He hoped it would be a good idea to come along and say hello, perhaps I could give him a tour of the newsroom and help him find his way around a bit before he started.

I remember that call like it was yesterday, how lovely this new voice sounded, how quickly I agreed to his polite request and rather inexplicably, how much I was already looking forward to him turning up.

"I'd like to marry that man," I thought when he did.

Halloween, love it or hate it?

I'M not a fan and fully appreciate this makes me a killjoy.

What do you think? I recently posted about this on Ready for Ten and so far the comments seem about 50-50 as to those who say it's a great fun time and others who say no fangs. (Yes see what I did there.)

The parties can be great and there's lots of fab crafts to get stuck into, but it's trick or treating which leaves me cold.

My concerns are about kids thinking they can knock on people's doors fully expecting to be kindly given sweets, or in some cases, money.

I know there are plenty of people who share a sunny disposition and believe this is marvellous. I suppose I just happen to be a miserable old sod who doesn't like the thought of my daughters going from home to home asking for such treats.

Win a walk with wolves to mark 3D release of Alpha and Omega

 
IF your kids are into animals (particularly wolves) then we have a half-term treat for you. On 22nd October Alpha and Omega, will be released in wolftastic 3D in cinemas all over the country. The film is all about Kate and Humphrey, two wolves in the wild, who are trying to get home after being taken by park rangers and shipped halfway across the country.

To mark the release of the film on 3D, bloggers are being given the chance to win a walk with wolves no less via Ready for Ten.

Find out more about the walk, watch the film trailer and enter the competition here.

Some great resources for families with twins, triplets or more

 

THIS is a cross-post from Ready for Ten, where I'm editor and where lots of marvellous bloggers write about life with kids aged six to nine.

We have a twice weekly 'best of the web' post and this week one of these has been about multiple birth families. I hope you find some of the links here useful and that you can check out the bloggers mentioned and perhaps add any details of who I've missed.

I also hope you can check out Ready for Ten in general as it's a lively fun site with some great writing from the likes of Deb, Rosie, Ellen, Liz, Joanne, lovely Jo, Ian, another lovely Jo, Tim, Maggie, Kath, Alice, Cathy, Keris, Camilla, Ursula, Jane and Jan.  

Half a story

  © Copyright Keith Havercroft and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

I'VE been writing a lot about mental health lately on our Breaking the Silence blog as well as for the magazine One in Four.

This has largely involved helping people tell their stories of mental distress.

Posts by Suzie Grogan about her family history and Deerbaby who wrote about a fleeting moment etched on her memory inspired me to find out more about an institution I mentioned in our recent carnival of blog posts about mental illness.

And I've discovered half a story. It's the sort of story the me of 15-20 years ago would have jumped on. I may still do that. Perhaps I could pull a more in-depth report together.

Back on a 'healthy eating plan' - I just can't say "diet"

"I SHED six stone, just look at me now!” scream the headlines and we admire how a champion slimmer conquered a lifetime of overeating to reach their target weight.

But revisit even the most successful dieter’s story later and often some or all of the pounds have piled back on.

I'm one of those people. Shortly before I had my children I'd lost four stone at Weight Watchers. Since having them, it's all gone back on, plus some more. Two years ago I lost two stone quite quickly through "better" eating and going to the gym - which I love once I get there.

Once you have lost weight – whether it’s a little or a lot - it is all too easy to be lulled into a false sense of security. I got stuck in a diet/binge/feel bad cycle and wrote last year about binge eating as well as writing for One in Four magazine about a relationship between obesity and depression.

Why twins' parties needn't be double the trouble

FOR as long as my daughters have been school-age, I've considered it inevitable they'd be invited to different parties, one without the other.

 

This meant that when they were younger, we tended to try and make the time special for our other daughter in some way while their sister was out celebrating.

 

These days we basically just tell them ‘that’s life.’ They both have their own mates after all and we wouldn’t expect other mums to automatically invite their sister.