GrannyRant

Good morning, Granny calling……I am having one of those days, you know, the sort of day that starts out wrong. When you try to put the lid of the teapot on the kettle by mistake (and it falls in) and squirt hairspray under you arms instead of anti-perspirant. I loaded the washing machine put the powder in the wrong hole…you know what I mean, it’s not looking good…

It started when the first piece of toast jumped out of the toaster, white but dry, not even golden, more like stale bread than toast. I tried to butter it, tripped over the cat and yes..You guessed it the toast landed butter side down, with me swearing and the cat squawking because I had stepped on her toes. Valerie, my cat, was not having a good morning either. Having said that, she had slept well, on the corner of my bed, meaning that I had to sleep diagonally across the bed, which is probably why I’m now knackered and stroppy!

By the time I got the toast, I was running late, I had to drop my significant other off to the garage to drop his car off for servicing and then take him on to his workplace, which is 10 miles out of my way, so already I was all behind like a cows tail, the day is going downhill at a rate of knots!

At work, I parked my car in its usual spot, jumped out quickly in a shower, got my bag caught in the seatbelt and the contents proceeded to roll down the car park, lipstick, pens, plums and assorted furry sweets that have been lost in the bottom of my bag for eons. As I scrambled to pick them up, a very hospitable magpie deposited the remains of his breakfast all over the roof of my little car and half way down the windscreen. This was not just any old birdsh*t, this was Magpie Birdsh*t and boy was it ever sticky! OMG where will it end and it’s only ten past eight! I got some screenies and tried to wipe it off but it was like gravy browning, the more I rubbed the further it spread. I decided to let the rain do the job for me.

The rain, that’s another thing. My hair is now stuck to my head, the mousse that I applied when I washed it last night has turned to slime and I already know that when it dries, it will be rock hard and my hair will look like one of those plastic Elvis Heads you see at the seaside.

It is now 10.23am and I am having a tea break, but already I have jammed the photocopier, stapled my finger, stubbed my toe and broken my favourite mug…oh and I can’t remember if I switched the washing machine on, so the laundry is probably vegetating in the machine doing nothing….happy days!

Granny

Today, I am back on the weightwatchers’ plan after my holiday. I’m glad to say that during my holiday (all 4 weeks of it) I only gained 6lbs….RESULT! Eating pancakes for breakfast, drinking far too much delicious beer and wine, barbecues galore and still, only 6lbs!

Right, that’s the positive side of things. On the other hand, it just goes to prove, that 9as a yo-yo dieter all my adult life), I only have to stop eating healthily for 4 weeks to gain that amount of weight. So, if I retired and didn’t have to work, I would be on permanent holiday and therefore would be heavier than ever! Perish the thought.

To try and re-educate myself into healthy eating again, I am now eating cereal for breakfast, weighing very morsel, eating salad for lunch (with copious amounts of salt) and writing everything down. I am even counting glasses of water. I know this works for me as I lost 33lbs before my holiday but it is so difficult to get back to it and motivate myself to eat sensibly.

Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight will relate to that feeling, when you’ve lost enough weight for people to start noticing and telling you how good you look. I have been at that stage for months. The trouble is when you’ve gained 6lbs; no-one then says “oh, I see you started to gain again”! Well, they would be too polite…wouldn’t they, but that’s what I need now, to stop me getting a false sense of security and thinking, that I’m ok as I am, when I’m still at least 3 stone from the ‘healthy range’ and still classed as obese!

So, if you see me in the street, or if you want to say something on my Facebook Wall or on twitter, here are some suggestions of what to say;

• A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips
• You are what you eat so watch what you eat
• Eating all your dinner does not help starving Africans
• Checking your portion size is not a sexual act
• Eating until you’re full does not mean, eat until you’re so full you throw up

I thank you in anticipation of your help, in my quest to be healthy and turning my body into a temple…..Granny!

Good evening, Granny Calling…..Day 16 is the first day of our road trip. Robyn and Adam have been planning where they would take us for months. They are two of the best, a great couple who have kindly given up their holiday time to drive us to some special destinations and we only found out a few days before we left the UK that we would be going into the USA for a couple of nights. How exciting, and how lucky are we to have such special people looking after us.

Due to us losing all our stuff on the raft escapade, we have to sort a few things out before we leave. Robyn said “There is no way I am going on a road trip without a cell phone”, I have to agree, sometimes you are driving for over an hour here without seeing a house, farm, or Service station. Adam’s phone was also water damaged so he was going to get a Blackberry which he has wanted for some time. I think falling in the river did him a favour as his old phone was a bit of a Dinosaur!

I was up a 6am as I had to call the UK to report my phone missing, my debit cards and find out how to sort out money, I lost all my money and my cards to the Bow River. 6am here is 1pm UK, so that seemed to be a good time to ring as I didn’t get held up on hold as you usually do. They said I could get an emergency money fund but it would cost. I decided to go to my online banking page, transfer money to Martin and he could access it from his account. No extra cost…simples ttch!

Blackberry were great, it’s insured they said, ring us when you are back across the pond and we’ll send you a new one within 48 hours, doesn’t it just make your day when something is sorted easily, hassle free…..we didn’t need anymore hassle after yesterday.

We went to a Mall and bought a new camera. Robyn and Adam are going to share it for now, I am going to keep the camera when we go home. Martin has Nikon insurance so he should be able to get his replaced easily. Phew…so much to think about. We got some crutches for Adam from the pharmacy, got a huge filled pita for lunch and piled into van and left Calgary. We were heading south towards the Rocky mountains.

It was a gorgeous day, clear blue sky, warm breeze and around 25 degrees. Everything looks so nice in the sun and we were all in good spirits as we headed out of town. We drove through Banff National Park and into Kootenay National Park and Adam and Robyn described points of interest as we travelled. In the mountain, the roads start to twist and turn, a change from the mile after mile of straight roads in the cities and on the outskirts. We climbed up and down hills as we went further into Kootenay, Robyn driving as Adam’s foot was painful. As we drove along we got our first sight of some wildlife, four deer, two standing and two young ones laid down in the grass, they are really pretty and we all oohed and aahed at the sight. A little further on the road split into two lanes our side and Robyn managed to overtake some slow vehicles as we climbed a hill, she squeezed the van back in between two cars and suddenly, the vehicles ahead started braking and slowing down. What’s going on now we wondered, more road-works maybe? As we slowly rounded the bend a Female Black Bear and cub, were casually crossing the road, I struggled to get the camera, still wanted to look at this amazing sight but by the time I switched the camera on and pressed the button, the delay meant that they had gone over the bank and disappeared into the trees. I am disappointed that we never got a picture, but I still have goose bumps thinking of how close we were to them, I’m not good at distance, but I reckon we were about 4 car lengths away…amazing. Some people I have spoken to have lived here all their lives and never seen a Bear and Adam said it was the closest he has been to one. We were really lucky. Further on we saw some wild Canadian Mountain goats, just lurking in a parking space, like they owned the place. What a great way to start a road trip and there was more great stuff to come.

We drove on towards Moose Lake and Radium and as we turned left into the mountain road (well dirt track really), Robyn swapped seats with Adam for the drive up the mountain. Wow! What a scary drive, Gravel road, very high and narrow in places. I am not happy at height and I hate height and movement, makes me feel nauseous but if you want to see things you just have to grit your teeth and go for it. On the way up to Moose Lake we saw, black squirrels, chipmunks and cows! Yes cows, now that is really wild! At the lake, which is really pretty, we stopped and ate the watermelon we had in the cool box and finished off the ham, salami and cucumbers that we brought from the fridge. We didn’t stay too long as the flies are like bumble bees and they BITE! Martin got bitten and so did I, these bugs like British flesh.

On the way down the mountain, we stopped at a natural hot spring, we paddled in water that was hotter than bath water, the smell of the sulphur wafting all around. Martin tried the cold pool too, not for me though, I have had my fill of cold water for a while. We decided not to get right into the water as we had to go on further and didn’t want to get the van wet or our clothes. What a great day and we have some brilliant pictures.

We got back to the van and drove on to Kimberley, our hotel was fantastic, in fact it was more than that. Kimberley is quiet in Summer as it’s a Ski resort, so we got a great suite, 2 en suite bedrooms, balcony, fantastic living room complete with cooking facilities and the beds were so big, it felt like I was sleeping on my own! You can view the resort at www.mountainspirit.ca What a great place. We ate supper across the road at Kelsey’s which is similar to Brewer’s Fayre at home and the waiter (David) was kind enough to sell us a bottle of wine to take back to our room and he even loaned us a corkscrew, even though it was officially against the rules. When we went back to the hotel, we sat at the high table in our suite, drank the wine, took pictures with our new camera with the self-timer and had high jinks taking pictures, even one of Robyn, fully clothed in the bath-tub! We all fell into bed exhausted, what a day, I love holidays …..

Monday morning and we woke in the huge bed which could easily sleep 8. I was first up, I usually am, I think I’ve been second up twice……. What a woman! I switched on the net-book, we have complimentary wi-fi here and I wanted to message people on Face book, I am now without my usual way of contact (my deceased Blackberry). I messaged Joanne, transferred money to Martin’s account and phaffed about, I also made a pot of coffee, there is no kettle for tea. Adam and Robyn got up and hobbled around sorting out their sore feet and got straight down to finding us a Hotel in CouerD’Alane IDAHO we were going to be in America today, earlier than we expected.

We wound our way through mountain roads, past huge green fields and ranches, over railway bridges and through small towns with just a few houses. The scenery is stunning in this part of the World with huge lakes and rivers that wind through the valleys like big blue veins. We counted down the Kilometres to the border and got passports ready. We all laughed at our passport photos and Robyn and Adam thought it was funny that I said Martin looked like an escaped convict in his!

We passed through Cranberra and we all agreed that it looked a bit dodgy, one of those places you didn’t really want to stop at. Maybe it’s a nice place, but it looked dirty and run down. We passed by Elizabeth lake, went through Moyie, where the lake is enormous and the deepest blue and a little place called Yahk, the saloon there was called ‘The Horny Owl’ I’m curious to know where that came from.

We arrived at the border at 1.15pm local time and we had to put our watches back one hour. When you live in little old GB it seems strange to go through time zones while your still in the same country! The Border Policeman was really surly and snapped off questions really quickly. Have you been convicted of anything are you carrying any firearms, drugs, food and so on. I had difficulty understanding him and he instructed Robyn to take off her sunglasses as he checked the passports. Some people just have such an attitude, welcome to America! He told us to park around the corner, go inside and sign up for our I-94 permits to enter the US. We had to fill in paper work, get our fingerprints taken and get mug shots done. It cost us $12 and he asked for it in America, thank God Robyn had the sense to pick up some dollars at the bank and she could lend us some. By the time we got back to the Dodge we felt like criminals. I’m sure we don’t cause the Americans so much stress when they visit the UK, maybe we’re too soft!

About 3 miles over the border in Idaho, we stopped on a hill to take in the view, our first real look at the US, the expanse of land in front of us is immense and you just can’t quite describe the feeling you get. The way you feel like a dot, in a huge world, insignificant and tiny, as they say in America…Awesome! We drove on and passed small towns, with lovely place names like, Songbird lane, Dusty Lane and Silhouette Drive, stirs the imagination and you start to wonder where the names came from? As we drove on, we came to a huge lake in a place called Sandpoint. This was almost a small ocean and there were boats and jet-skis screaming up and down at break-neck speed. Near Sandpoint Lodge, there is a small ‘beach’ with sun beds, chairs and tables, just like the seaside at Blackpool, but with a lake where the sea should be. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The temperature outside was 32 degrees, so the people on the sun beds must be frying!

We finally arrived at CouerD’Alane at around 3.15pm and found the hotel, it’s not as nice as yesterdays ‘suite’ but the room is pleasant and clean. It has a microwave, fridge and coffee maker and a huge Queen size bed. The air conditioning is really cranky and hums constantly but it’s a muggy 32 degrees outside, so you need it on.

We chilled out for a couple of hours and then went out to ‘The Olive Tree’ restaurant for supper. I had Parmesan sirloin with garlic mash, Martin and Adam had a seafood dish with scallops and shrimp and Robyn had Chicken Marsala, with fried potatoes. They brought us hot bread, coated in garlic butter and a huge bowl of salad before we started and I sampled their signature wine, a Rose blush which was gorgeous. Robyn ordered a cocktail, Long Island Ice tea, but she didn’t like it, so Adam drank it, along with his beer and was just a bit squiffy! He and Martin also had 2 pints of Budweiser and Robyn had a strawberry Dachari which looked like a milk shake with whipped cream! At the end of it we were stuffed and made our way back to book a Hotel for tomorrow night.

We have just left the ‘young people’. Hotel booked for tomorrow, we will be staying in Seattle, but that’s day 18 and another blog post, so for now goodnight….Granny….to be continued………..

Granny calling….I woke this morning with a tongue like Ghandi’s flip flop! It was 10.00am and aunty was already pootling about in the kitchen, water, water, I need water! Martin was still snoring and Uncle wasn’t up yet either, we went to bed as the birds started singing, it could be a slow and easy morning of recovery I think. Aunty and I chatted on the deck and I came to life slowly.

Once everyone was up, we ate breakfast of vanilla yogurt, blueberries and toast with butter. Lots of tea and coffee flowed and we all felt a bit better. Aunty was sensible and had ‘left us to it’ with the vodka, therefore she was in much better shape than the rest of us. Kate was still in bed when we left for our visit to ‘The Western Development Museum’ a museum dedicated to the development of Saskatchewan from around 1910 and it holds lots of old farming equipment, cars and buildings set up as they were back in the day. They employ a lot of Senior Citizens who tell you all about how life was in the early years of Saskatchewan’s history and it was very interesting. We got loads of pictures including one of us sat at the Railway station in ‘Bootleg’ I wonder where that name came from?

Afterwards we went for our first fix of Tim Horton’s coffee and headed off to the ‘Taste of Saskatchewan Event in the grounds behind the “Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon. There a stalls from all the local restaurants and you buy tokens to sample the food, we had Pad Thai with chicken (veggie version for Martin), this consists on egg noodles, fried with bamboo shoots and bean sprouts, onions and chicken and topped with peanuts. We also had some ribs and topped it off with ‘Berry Barn’ Saskatoon Berry tart, pancakes and whipped cream. So much food, we failed to eat it all, we were all stuffed!

There was a live band playing a, called ‘September Long’ Kate knew the lead singer from high School and they were great, I will be watching out for an album which they promise is coming soon. We went to see the ‘Ultimate Man shed’ you could buy tickets to win it, what a shed! Inside there was a sauna, 3 TV’s DVD player, shower, bed, beer fridge, oven, dishwasher and a whole pile of tools that went with it, the only thing missing was a woman, I wonder why? It was huge and we all said we wouldn’t be able to fit it in our Garden’s. The atmosphere was lively and happy and we met some friends of Aunty and Uncle’s all nice people who wished us a happy holiday. There was one guy who was slightly odd though, he was called Wes, and wore huge biker boots, a bandana and looked like a throw back to 60’s USA. Nice guy but a bit of a fruit loop I think. Uncle is convinced that since he stopped boozing, he has gone a bit crazy!

From the Taste of Saskatchewan, we went to Kinsmen Park to watch Katy play ball, she played really well and hit a great strike that created a home run, threw a ball in that got a girl knocked of home base and did a great slide into 3rd base which resulted in grazed elbows and mud all over the front of her shirt, more washing for Aunty. It was great to watch, we plastered ourselves with Mozzie cream and weren’t bitten and Kate’s team won 7-5, a great time was had by all.

Back home, we ate toasted cheese and onion sandwiches, crisps and raw vegetables and dip. Drank lots of tea and water (we didn’t need any alcohol we were still recovering) and went to bed by 11.15 absolutely pooped!

Another great day, to be continued….Granny

Granny calling….getting out of bed later every day, could it be due to the fact that we were late to bed again? Yesterday went by in a flash, as does every day and by the time we had sat on the deck for the morning, shopped for ‘stuff’ to take to Joan and Henry’s for supper, it was time to shower and get out of the house!

During the day we mooched around, it was quite hot and I got burned on the deck, my arms look like striped tomatoes, red, white and freckles in between. Martin has been eaten by the mozzies and we are trying new lotions and potions all the time to try and fight the bleeder off! Aunty and I have been to Body Shop and found some Satsuma Body Butter that is supposed to deter them but I think they like it!

We left for Henry and Joan’s house at around 5.30 loaded with beer, vodka and tonic in ice boxes. We also had a box with Katy’s macaroni salad (she made a veggie version for Martin), chicken wings, Caesar salad, veggie sausage and burgers and huge prawns. The boot of the van was chokka block!

Joan’s yard, is her pride and joy and it’s really pretty. She has lots of flowers, solar light everywhere and some of these lights change colour I think Uncle may be getting some of those, he has to ‘keep up with the Jones’! Hanging on the shed is a bird box and pair of sparrows is flying back and forth dutifully feeding their chicks. Joan is also growing tomatoes, peppers and corn and the grass is cut to perfection. Lot’s of talking and banter and more talk of Corrie with Henry as the beer and V&T flowed. Dave arrived and joined us at the table and then Joan got home from work to complete the party. Fire up the Barbecue and wait for supper.

The food was fabulous, the salad, the chicken, more beer and more vodka and tonic. The ‘boys’ go outside for a smoke and light the fire pit. It was difficult at first but once it was going and we all sat around the fire laughing and telling stories, it was great. Katy disappeared quite early as she said in her best ‘Australian Accent’ I’m tai-ud (that’s the best way I can write it as she says it) and she slept on the couch until we were ready to leave. We must have got home about 1ish, but I can’t swear to that having drunk way to much V&T, we ate pretzels and talked for ages and Uncle checked out the golf on ‘Sports desk’ I can’t remember going to bed, but I slept like a log! Another fabulous day full of lovely memories and really great people……..to be continued …Granny 

According to The Guardian teachers will get tougher powers to deal with unruly pupils in a “zero tolerance” crackdown on nuisance in the classroom……..

Staff will be given powers to search children for mobile phones, music players, pornography, fireworks and cigarettes, extending existing powers that allow teachers to search pupils for knives.

Well, it’s about time some of the power was given back to teachers/lecturers, I know from experience the absolute terror of dealing with an angry teenager, who could threaten others in the group as well as yourself and then suddenly thinking, if I touch this person, I will lose my job!

As a new lecturer (around 10 years ago) my first experience of teaching a group, was with 15 level 1 hairdressing students. A nice group, 13 girls, 2 boys all aged between 16 and 19 years. I wanted to stamp my authority, while being fair, approachable and fun during the session. All was going swimmingly until I asked one grumpy looking student to stop using her mobile phone to text while she should have been practicing her cutting skills on a block (practice head). The conversation went along the lines of me saying, “you know it’s against class rules to use your phone during lessons, please put it away”. Her saying, ” who the F*CK do you think you are, I am 16 years old and you can’t tell me what to do!” Before I knew it she was holding a scissors 4 inches from my face and from the look on her face, she would stick it in my eyes at any moment! They didn’t prepare me for this during my PGCE course. I managed to calm her down and another student took the scissors out of her hand, but I was physically shaken and the girl was subsequently disciplined and expelled from the course.

My point in all this is that at the critical moment my actions could have been instictively to man-handle this obnoxious little she-devil and get her out of the training salon and what would have been the consequences then? There could have been an investigation, which may have resulted in me losing my first ever teaching post and who knows what else as a result?

After 10 years of working in FE, I have seen my fair share of angry teenagers and indeed adults and I have usually managed to placate the person and calm the situation down but the threat is ever present when teaching large numbers of people who are frequently using ‘cut throat’ razors and scissors. At 16 plus, very rarely are parents involved and on the odd occasion that they are, they will defend their offspring vociferously, while never once ticking them off for their behaviour. The attitude of far too many parents, is that they put up with this stroppy teenager and if you are prepared to teach him/her then you have to deal with it too.

Thankfully the majority of teenagers are absolutely fine. They are imaginative, motivated, polite and while having their moments, they usually realise themselves that you reap what you sow in this life and that respect is reciprocal. Those are the people that teachers/lecturers enjoy working with. The satisfaction you get from working with people like this cannot be under-estimated.

Unruly students/pupils who are a threat to the learning experience of others should not be tolerated and parents should support facilitators in their quest to turn their children into well adjusted, employable young adults. As Spiderman once said, “with power comes responsibility”, I would argue that with responsibility, you should also have power!”

Granny calling,

Five days to go and I’m still not organised. I have ordered dollars,
I have finished all the washing and ironing and I am struggling to stay focussed at work due to the fact that I have so much to do and so little time to do it in. Hectic is a good description of how this week has started.

Blogging is also going to be difficult as I struggle to juggle life, travel plans and meeting deadlines for the end of this academic year. I have decided that little and as often as possible has to suffice.

If anyone has any tips for travelling let me know……Granny

I am no football fan, being born and brought up in the South Wales Valleys I was exposed to the other ball game. Rugby Union was the name of the game at my house and when Wales was playing the whole of my small village went silent apart from the sound of Fathers, Grandfathers and Sons shrieking at the Black and white TV with every pass of the ball and calling the referee names that cannot be repeated here. The one thing that stands out in my mind, is the passion that surrounded the game. These players played for little or no money and often trained after working shifts in the coal mines, the foundries and other manual occupations.

This was not only the case in Wales but was repeated all over Scotland, England and Ireland. They played for the love of the game, the pride in their country and the friendships built on discipline, respect and trust.

Turn the clock forward 40 or so years and look how things have moved on. Rugby players are now professionals, they earn money from playing and no longer have to work underground to support their families, progress indeed. That, however, is where the similarity to Football, the so called ‘beautiful game’ comes to an abrupt halt! Players earn rediculous amount of money, from a very young age. they have no respect for themselves, their team mates and certainly not the referees and official trying to police the games.

Rugby players know that if they were to act as footballers do they would be in the dog house from all sides, coaches, fellow players and fans. Referees are ‘wired’ for sound and you can hear the conversations, very rarely do you hear rugby players swearing or arguing with officials and if they did they have the sin bin to look forward to. They still have passion for the game and perish the thought that they would one day earn so much money that they would become spoiled rich kids with more money than sense.

After watching the farce that was Englands performance in the World Cup and even as a person who does not follow football, it was obvious that the team were not playing to their full potential. They were half hearted in their commitment and they left their loyal fans with a lot to be desired. They should be ashamed that they let everyone down, they should forfeit their fees and they should apologise to fans for their lack of professionlism and effort.

They could also do themselves a favour by taking a leaf out of the rugby book of life. Then maybe they would earn the respect of the nation…but I doubt they would ever be able to justify the obscene amount of money they earn whilst showing such a lack of respect for the game, the fans and the ethos of sporting behaviour…….Granny

Imagine this, you wake up one morning and you are suddenly a ‘teenager’. You are no longer 12 but 13! When you went to bed last night, you were treated like a child. You woke up this morning and you are expected to behave like an adult…overnight! Oh, but you must still listen to what adults say, you still can’t make any decisions, you still have to put up with rules and regulations, except now you are expected to think like an adult and act like an adult, even tough you are still treated by your parent, as a child? Confused, well I know I was at this period in my life?

In their teens, kids experience a growth spurt that causes all sorts of problems, e.g. my son went from a size 4 shoe to a size 11 in 3 months, causing a financial headache as we struggled to afford new shoes every 3 weeks or so and his trousers always seemed to be a half mast. Some boys can grow by as much as 9cm a year and girls at a rate of 8cm a year. Is it any wonder that teenagers are awkward or clumsy and self-concious at this time? They don’t know from one day to the next what will fit them. Another problem is that as a teenager, your brain doesn’t seem to keep up with this growth spurt and hormones rage through your body causing all sorts of mood swings and attitude issues.

As a 15 year old I caused my parents all sorts of problems but the problems started much earlier. At 13 I was a nightmare to live with and can vividly remember screaming obcenities at my mother because she wouldn’t let me wear makeup to the school party! It seems trivial now but at that time it was a matter of life or death that I looked older than my years and it was for this very reason that I took up smoking! Rebellion was high on my agenda! My hair was down my back and was my Father’s pride and joy, so I got off the school bus and had it shaved off and bleached! I bought 18 lace-hole Doc Martin’s, stay pressed trousers and a Ben Sherman check shirt and became the first Skin-head in the village. My Mother almost fainted when she saw it and I got a clip round the ear and was grounded for a month until it grew back (my hair has been short ever since). Rebellion is nothing new as this was 1973!

My point in all this is that teenagers have always been the same and puberty has always been a problem so why do the vast majority of people over the age of 35 seem to have a huge problem with them? they are just the next generation of ‘Teddy boys’, ‘Mods’ and ‘ rockers’, aren’t they?

I am lucky I work with teenagers on a daily basis and I think for the mostpart I understand them but when I don’t I accept that they don’t understand themselves yet. At this moment in their lives, they are working hard internally and externally, on trying to ‘morph’ into the kind of adults that adults find acceptable and that’s a huge ask! If they make mistakes, often they are not allowed to forget and move on, anyone who ever made a mistake, (and I made loads), will remember this feeling of despair as your family heap on the disappointment and guilt, is it any wonder that they become disillusioned with adults?

So next time you feel like giving your teenagers a hard time, remember that not so long ago, you were the teenager and while these young adults should be guided and advised, a little bit of mutual respect will go a long way. Treat your teenagers well, they will one day choose your nursing home! Now that is a scary thought……..

So what is it that people hate about swearing, after all, you can say all manner of words, but if you use them in a certain way, they can be described as offensive. These are the type of things I hear people say regarding swearing. It reduces respect people have for you, It shows you don’t have control, It’s a sign of a bad attitude, It discloses a lack of character,It’s immature, It reflects ignorance…..I have to say, I disagree for the most part. I am very much of the ‘school of thought’ that says all words are just that, words, and as long as they are used in context, then so be it. The only time I have a problem, is when words are used in a derogitory way, or in an aggressive manner!

I am old enough to remember my own Grandmother asking God to forgive her for using the word ‘Damn’ and woe betide her if she ever said , bloddy or bugger and I suppose they were the ‘F’ words of post WW1 Britain. Surely then the natural evolution of language, the media and the influx of migrants have led to a dilution of the English language and far more tolerence to improper English, dialects and swear words etc. These days expletives are all over the TV and increasingly swear words are being heard before the 9 0 clock watershed. So does it signify ignorance, lack of vocabulary or disrespect?

Oscar Wilde once said

With swearing, context is everything

I have to say, I agree; the one thing I cannot stand is to hear someone, no matter what age, swearing every other word and using swear words as part of every day language. I believe there is a time and place and in general most people respect this in that they don’t swear constantly at work in an office, they would not usually swear in Church or in front of parents and children, though they would swear socially with long standing friends or peer groups and also if they worked outside e.g. on a building site.

“Global changes have made a huge difference, with language barriers being overcome by finding common words that can be understood by diverse culture groups this is obvious if you listen to Rap music, and street talk amongst different groups. I think in some cases, the swear words are dumbing down slightly, for instance,you are far more likely to hear the word ‘crap’ as opposed to’shit’ and ‘shag’ as opposed to ‘fuck’, and so on. then there is every woman’s nightmare…the dreaded C*nt word! Why can’t I even bring myself to write it down in full, I hate the word, although I occasionally use all of the others. I honestly think it’s instilled in me that it’s so bad, that I may go to Hell in a handcart with my Granny who said ‘Damn’!

One thing is for sure though, I never use swear words in an offensive or aggressive way, I am far less likely to swear during an argument than I am while telling a joke, or laughing with friends. I am more likely to use swear words in a jovial way, therefore it is never meant as an expression of anger or disgust.

So if I swear at you on Twitter, Facebook, GrannyRant or any where else for that matter, it will mean that you are in the circle of people with whom I feel comfortable to do so. I chose you as a friend and to any one else who takes offence, they really don’t know me and I couldn’t give a flying fuck!….Now, Where’s that hand-cart??