The Joys of Being a Grandmother

Miles (4) and Zoe (2)

 

In the past few years, as social patterns have changed, grandparents (and grandmothers in particular) have become very significant providers of child care.  Since moving to Townsville two years ago, I have joined their ranks and I now have two small grandchildren - Miles (4) and Zoe (2) - spending a good deal of their time with me.

During my lifetime I have performed a number of jobs that have carried a lot of responsibility (including, of course, the unpaid but vital jobs of being a wife and mother) but this particular task is up there amongst the most important.  The childcare I provide consumes two to three days of my week but I give this time willingly and with a strong conviction that it brings benefits to many.  

Firstly, I believe it is a significant part of my grandchildren’s lives, being based on a relationship quite separate from their immediate family connections and their more formal childcare and kindergarten arrangements.  I had a very close and loving relationship with both my grandmothers and I hope that my grandchildren will have the same affectionate and respectful ties with me.

Secondly, I know that my contribution makes a real difference in the lives of my daughter and her husband, both of whom are busy professionals.  They each  enjoy their work and they often tell me how much they appreciate being able to work in useful, satisfying jobs, knowing that their precious children have access to good childcare in a variety of settings, including with me.  Their acknowledgement of the importance of my role means everything to me.

Thirdly, my society benefits.  Here is a vital service given lovingly by a flexible, reliable  provider to two members of that vital part of out community - the young - who hold the long term future in their hands.  Childhood specialists have left us in no doubt that early nurturing is absolutely essential to the development of robust personalities in later life.  I like to think that my caring role will help to create two good citizens for tomorrow. 
 
And fourthly, I gain a great deal from this arrangement myself!   Here I am retired and in my late 60’s with time that would otherwise hang heavily now available to bring to my important new task.  Of course I enjoy other aspects of my retirement (including JN1001!) and I am glad to be sharing my twilight years with my much loved husband but I find that looking after my two little grandchildren and sharing their fleeting childhoods gives me enormous satisfaction and happiness.

Was she Great?

 

 

When Margaret Thatcher was buried with much pomp and circumstance at St Pauls in London on 17^th April, 2013, she took with her the respect, if not the love, of the British people.

She had been Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and her political demise came about because of her strong conviction that local government should be supported through a “Community Charge” or “Poll Tax”.  The Tax was widely unpopular but she remained immoveable leading to her unceremonious removal from office by her nervous Conservative colleagues.  It was a high price to pay for a strong and very determined woman.  But it was probably inevitable given her famous declaration that, when it came to tough decisions, she was definitely “not for turning”.

Perhaps we need more “conviction” politicians like Margaret Thatcher.  At least, with people like her, the populace know where they stand with those they have elected to high office.  And, they also know that, if their politicians displease them seriously enough, there is always the option of voting them out at the next election.  It is generally accepted that it was the only the more moderate policies of John Major’s Government (on top of the economic gains brought about by previous Thatcherite interventions) that stopped the Conservative Party being thrown out of power in the General Election of 1992.

But even so, Margaret Thatcher’s legacy can still be found in a Britain that is more economically secure than it was, more independent of Europe than it would otherwise have been, and more accepted in powerful international forums than it was when she took the helm.  Who else could have worked so well with the then President of the USA, Ronald Reagan, and the then President of the USSR, Mikhael Gorbachev?  Who else but Margaret could have helped to bring down the Berlin Wall?

Yes, Baronness Thatcher, you upset a lot of people but, on balance, you left your country (and indeed the world) a better place.  And when all’s said and done, isn’t that the true mark of greatness?

Thrills at the Museum

The Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville is a must-see for locals and visitors alike. 

The holiday programs conducted during the school vacations are particularly popular with the younger fry.  Here are some glimpses of attractions at the Museum during the current school holidays.



The Museum of Tropical Queensland 

Come inside for a great experience!
 

Ranger Dan and his creepy crawlies

 



 

Blue Tongue lizards

 

Green tree python
 



                                                                           A bit scarey but they're not real!

 

Exciting plasticine creations

                             

 

                         Peaceful view from the Museum

The Museum has wonderful offerings that all children, as well as adults, enjoy.  What a wonderful place to give holidaying children adventure and the opportunity for learning. 

The eyes have it.

Brooke Eggerling

First impressions do not always give us the whole picture.   

For anyone meeting Brooke Egglerling for the first time, she impresses as the epitome of the confident, adventurous life traveller.  At only 19 years, she speaks enthusiastically of a future in which she will be able to travel overseas, armed with a great profession and free to discover whatever the world has to offer her.   

But for those who know her a little better, her lovely eyes betray a deeper side of her character – a sensitive, vulnerable side which has not always made her life easy.  She remembers, for example, her unhappy experience at the Rockhampton Grammar School where her life was made wretched by bullies.  This clearly had a profound effect upon her but, significantly, Brooke does not try to erase this painful memory.  “It is part of who I am,” she says.

For many, this experience would have entrenched a victim mind-set which would have made it very difficult to progress but this was not Brooke’s response.  Having moved to a smaller local school, St Ursula’s College in Yepoon, she set about completing the remainder of her high school years, and then took the plunge, in her “gap” year, into further schooling at Hak Judenberg in Austria.  Many of her subjects were delivered in German and she clearly returned to Australia at the end of that year with a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Brooke was to be one of the first in her family to take up studies at university level.  She enrolled in J.C.U. but here again she was to find two big challenges awaiting her:  the first, the discovery that the course she had undertaken was not really “right” for her; and the second, her feelings of discomfort when faced with some of the traditions of life in a university college (including the time-honoured initiation rites inflicted on new students).

Brooke could have given up but, typically, she did not.  Undaunted, she has re-enrolled in this, her second year of tertiary study, in a multi-media degree course that she feels is much more in keeping with her interests and abilities, and she has moved into a little town house where she resides happily with two other young people. 

For Brooke, her increased independence of spirit is helping her to forge a new, and stronger, sense of self.  She is tackling her university studies with gusto, working hard to gain her Certificate in Tourism through the Flight Centre Academy and embarking upon paid employment as a bar tender.  She has shown great courage and determination and these qualities are as important to an understanding of her character as the pain her earlier experiences imposed upon her.

Brooke’s eyes in fact reveal that she is a sensitive, gutsy, person whose grit  has been forged in the fire of some real adversity.  Now the girl who was once bullied by others is firmly setting her compass to a future of her own choosing - a life of adventure and discovery. 

  

A news story from a narrative tale...

Cardboard games arcade launched

A nine year old entrepreneur, Caine Monroy, is wowing East Los Angeles with his home-made  games arcade set up in the front room of his father’s used auto parts business.  The arcade, which was originally organized during the school holidays, is made entirely of cardboard boxes.  Caine is responsible for the management of his business – right down to the setting of the very modest playing fees and the provision of prizes.

On Sunday afternoon, 2nd October, 2012, Caine was thrilled to see an estimated crowd of a hundred enthusiastic gamers waiting outside his business.  They had been lured there by Caine’s first (and for some time, only) customer, Nirvan Mullick.  Unknown to Caine, Nirvan had issued an online invitation to the citizens of Los Angeles to visit the arcade.

Caine, who has the whole-hearted support of his businessman father, has charmed the world in the eight minute video, “Caine’s Arcade”.  The video, which has been produced by his fan Nirvan, can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/40000072.  It has now gone viral.

 

A story with a positive agenda

 

All human beings have their own agendas.  Journalists are human, too, and their articles always display their agendas - whether this is consciously or unconsciously intended.  

Take an article published in The Townsville Bulletin on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, (p. 5) headed "Genetic test for babies is due". 

Written by Sue Dunlevy and Jane Armistead, this piece begins with the following paragraph: "Parents will be able to learn all their newborn baby's potential health risks from a genomic test conducted at birth within the next five years". Apart from the implication from the headline that the genetic test is awaited keenly, there is little so far to indicate in what direction the writers of the article are going to take us.

The agenda of this article begins to become evident, however, in the quoted views of an expectant Townsville first-time mother (26) who says she would welcome the chance to take advantage of genomic testing for her child.  The agenda is further developed via the reported prediction by "genetic expert" for the Royal College of Pathologists, Professor Graeme Suthers, that the sequencing of the six billion neucleoids of individual human beings will be available for under $1,000 within three to five years.

Further expansion of the agenda occurs in the statement that, with early awareness of gene mutations, patients will be not only fore-warned of their susceptibilities but will also be advised of appropriate preventative health measures to deal with them.  The article also cites the view of Garvan Institute chief, Professor John Mattick, that this information could be advantageously attached to individual e-health records - presumably for efficient access by other health professionals dealing with individual patients.

The important thing to note here is that, although there is mention of some concern on the part of the expectant mother that early knowledge could make parents unnecessarily anxious about their children's future, this article appears to be largely supportive of the merits of genomic testing.  This is evident in the highlighting of the advantages of this remarkable new technology: the ability to foretell potential future problems, the relatively low financial cost entailed in doing so, and the associated benefits for future health service provision via efficient preventative strategies and the inclusion of genomic information on e-health records.

This article does not, however, mention the counter arguments which have been raised by ethicists and others including the great risk of unwarranted invasion of confidential, sensitive, patient information by a vast array of people including: anyone using e-health records; insurance companies, prospective employers, and "enemies" who have a vested interest in knowing about possible future scenarios; and patients themselves who may experience very mixed feelings about facing negative information about a sometimes distant future.  These, and other, arguments provide a basis for an alternative, and equally legitimate, story.

In Praise of Brevity

For this writer, getting to the nub of things in a complex issue is a challenge. I need inspiration.  Perhaps I should pin the photos of two wise men above my computer. 

 Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

In August 1940, when Britain was struggling through the Battle of Britain and was about to confront the Blitz, Churchill, the then Prime Minister, issued a memorandum to his War Cabinet in which he stressed the need for brevity.   He said:

To do our work, we all have to read a mass of papers. Nearly all of them are far too long. This wastes time, while energy has to be spent in looking for the essential points." - W.S.C.


William Shakespeare















Many years before (in 1599 to be precise), Shakespeare used Polonius, a normally garrulous character, to make the same point when speaking to the King and Queen about Hamlet's difficulties:

Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief.  Your noble son is mad.                  

Hamlet Act 2, scene 2

Enough said.