29 Gifts Continued

Today we raised almost £10,000 at the inaugural NSPCC Sporting Lunch in aid of the Manchester Child’s Voice Appeal.

I bought a book in the auction for Anthony signed by Michael Vaughan and Ian Stafford.  (I’ve been so busy lately and hardly been home so it was his good luck gift for starting his new job on Monday.)

Both Michael and Ian were really lovely and highly entertaining and both gave their time freely for the benefit of the charity.

A long and tiring day. I am exhausted and my feet are throbbing, but today’s gifts were pretty nice.

A Gift for my husband

I’ve been a bit quiet on the 29 Gifts front.  The past couple of days have been all about my mum, so hence the silence.

Until tonight.

I need to share the build up to tonight’s gift for you to realise just how much of a gift it is.

So, after a very late night last night and a long day today, I pick up Natan from swimming with grandma.  He is absolutely exhausted.

“Don’t whinge please Natan. I can’t stand it,” I say as we get the car.

“I am not whinging mummy.  I am just speaking like this,”  he whinges. I try to keep a straight face and fail.

We get home. I bath him and finally get him to bed.

I put a wash on.

I clean up from dinner.

After dinner I go to make the decaf coffees.

No sugar.

Now I never take sugar. Ever. But Anthony does.

“Anthony, we’ve got no sugar.  Why didn’t you tell me to get some on my way home?”

“I only found out when I got home.” he replies.

This is obviously an emergency.  So for the first time in seven years I get an empty cup and I knock on the neighbour’s door.

No answer.

I knock on another neighbour’s door.

No answer.

I put my shoes and coat on. I get in the car. It’s cold. It’s dark. I am so tired. I drive to the garage. I buy the sugar. I come home. I make my husband his drink with two sugars.

Never mind gift of the day. That should put me in the good books for a year I’d say.

Congratulations mum

Today my mum received her MBE at Buckingham Palace from the Princess Royal for Services to the Community of Greater Manchester.  It was a day that none of us will ever forget and certainly something to tell the children and grandchildren in years to come.

Last night we had dinner at the House of Commons with the MP who led her nomination and then went in to watch the last hour of Parliament in session.

I’d never been inside the Houses of Parliament or Buckingham Palace before. What an amazing couple of days it’s been and what an honour to be part of it all.

Congratulations mum.  We are immensely proud.

29 Gifts at the weekend

Me with my brother at the match

This weekend has been a lot about getting ready for Natan’s 4th birthday next Sunday.

We spent this morning in Toys R Us.  Uncle David let him choose his birthday present.

He wanted basically everything in the store and it was hard to reason with him as it seemed that every family in there was piling their trollies high full of Christmas presents.  Oh how I hate this time of year – the stress of it all.

Anyway, he came away with a huge Power Rangers set, which seems to have been a big hit.  He and daddy spent most of the afternoon playing with it. The Power Rangers all fit together to form one enormous robot like Power Ranger thing.  The giant robot type Power Ranger watched him have a bath and then went to bed with him.  Before bed, Natan said simply;

“But mummy. I love it.”

I managed to buy some sneaky birthday presents in Toys R Us too without him seeing.

This weekend has also been about football.  Yesterday we made the trip to Anfield to see City draw against Liverpool.  It was a great day out.  My brother stepped off the overnight flight from the US and came straight to the match with us.

I could go into how poor our defence is or how we seem unable or unwilling to shoot at the goal when the opportunity presents itself and prefer however to faff around outside the box.  I could go into that, but I won’t.  That would be uncharitable.

My gift for the day was allowing my Man United supporting husband to come with us and also allowing him to be an honorary City fan for the day.

I’d say that was quite a huge gift as it goes.

29 Gifts – Day 4

Well today is an easy one.  It’s Children in Need.

Natan was very excited to go to nursery this morning in his Ben 10 pyjamas and slippers.

I explained to him why he was able to go dressed like this and we put our donation in the collection box.

Tomorrow’s gift may be harder. Natan is off to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa and Anthony and I are off to Anfield to see  Manchester City play Liverpool.  I hope to watch in dignified silence (unlikely) and be understanding and friendly to the Liverpool fans (even more unlikely).  My apologies in advance for tomorrow’s behaviour.

29 Gifts – Day 3

This evening I came home from work exhausted. It’s been a stressful couple of months. There are changes afoot on that front, but more of that in January.

On the way home I stopped for cat food as otherwise the cats would starve. Could this count as my gift for the day?  Not really meaningful, so probably not.

No, I think my gift for today was dragging myself back out again even though I was exhausted and wanted to collapse in front of the TV after I’d put Natan to bed, to go to the  PTA meeting at nursery.  There were only a handful of parents there and you know what, I am glad I went. It is nice to feel like you are taking an active interest in nursery life and to feel like you belong.  I also feel like I’ve got something to add and can help.

I shared the 29 Gifts concept with the meeting and the pre-school children are going to take it on as part of their learning too.

So there you have it, that’s my gift for today.

Today I feel like a contributed to something important to my little boy and to his friends and the community in which he lives his life.

That felt good.

29 Gifts – Take the Challenge

I received the following email from my niece and I hope she won’t mind me sharing it here:

“Hello all,

“So I wanted to tell you all about the 29-Gift Challenge that I started today, and I’m hoping you might join me.

“My favourite number is 29, so when I came across the book 29 Gifts in Borders, I knew I had to buy it. Basically it’s the personal story of Cami Walker, who after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, was given the prescription to “Give away 29 gifts in 29 days.” As Cami was beginning to see her life change drastically before her, she was challenged to focus on what she had to offer others, rather than the things that might be going wrong in her life.

“Whether you decide to read the book or not, I think the 29-Gift Challenge idea is a beautiful concept. I was so excited about the challenge that I decided to start this morning, when I was only half-way through the book.

“I hope you might embark on this adventure with me.   For more details on how the challenge works, go here. There is no commitment, other than to yourself.   Here are some basic things to think about:

1. The gifts should be authentic and mindful.
2. They can be anything from a material gift, to donating money to charity, to calling up an old friend just to catch up. Anything counts as long as its purposeful and you are satisfied with your gift.
3. The Challenge suggests that you keep some sort of a journal, which is completely up to you, but you can also blog about some of your gifts on the website if you choose to do so.
4. If you forget to give one day or seem to be stuck in a rut, you can just start over at Day 1 the next day, or continue where you left off.

“I don’t know whether I’m just noticing the little things, but when I went into Palo Alto today, the most perfect parking spot opened up for me (which is very unusual), AND I parallel parked perfectly on the first try for the first time in my life (and I have a witness!).

“At the end of the day, trying out the challenge can’t do any damage, and it might just put things into a new perspective for you, and significantly change the attitudes and lives of the recipients of your gifts.

“If you decide to join me and ever want to share stories, I’d love to hear them You can also share your stories on the website and read others’ stories of giving.

“Hope all is well!
Love,  Jemma”

Jemma, I am really proud of you and thank you for sharing this.  That’s a gift in itself.

I’m always up for a challenge and this one is one that I will happily undertake. I will keep my 29 Gifts diary on here for all to see.  And by the way, Jemma, 29 is Natan’s favourite number too so I have to do this!

Day One – 17.11.09 – Natan and I dropped our box off for Operation Christmas Child.  We carefully wrapped the shoe box and discussed what to put inside for a child of Natan’s age whose mummy and daddy did not have the money to buy him a present at Christmas.  I showed Natan the film online of where the box will go and how happy the little boy will be to open his parcel and know what it is like to be excited and happy.  I think he kind of got it.

Day Two – 18.11.09 – I got a text out of the blue from a friend in need.  Even though I was busy at work, I called her back straight away and listened to her while she shared everything with me.  Strange as I hadn’t heard from her in months, but I hope I was of some comfort to her.

What will tomorrow’s gift be?

Visit 29-Day Giving Challenge

Lest we forget

I tried to explain Remembrance Sunday to Natan today.  How do you explain it to a nearly four year old in the simplest possible way?  Well here goes. I began:

“Nati, today is a very special day.  Do you want to know why?”

“Yes mummy.”

“Have you seen those red flowers that people are wearing on their clothes?”

“Yes mummy.”

“Well, they are called poppies and we wear them to remember the good people who died fighting in the war to save us. Today is called Remembrance Sunday and we remember all those people today.”

“Because they died mummy?”

“Yes darling.”

“Did they have guns?”

“Yes darling.”

“Did they fight the baddies?”

“Yes, that’s right?”

“Oh.”

“Grandma and Grandpa went on a special march today to remember all those people.”

“Oh. They marched?”

“Yes darling.”

(A few minutes later.)

“Mummy? How many people died?”

“Lots and lots of people darling.”

“Lots? Twenty?”

“Much, much more than that darling. Millions.”

“Was the war a long time ago mummy?”

(That’s a tough one. I go for the easy answer.)

“Yes it was.  But some people are still soldiers today and still have to fight the bad people.”

“Oh.  Mummy?”

“Yes darling.”

“Can I watch my programmes on the television now?”

I guess it is a hard concept to grasp when you are nearly four.

It is important to try and explain though even to one so young.

Regimental Sergeant Major Chant was among the five British soldiers murdered at their base in Afghanistan on Tuesday.  His 16 year-old son put the following message on his Facebook page as a tribute to his dad:

“I’m so, so, so proud of you. Just want you to remember you were the greatest dad, soldier and person anyone could ask for. I’m guna miss you shouting at me telling me to get my hair cut… you were my all but I know you died doing something you loved, which I respect dearly.

“The times I was with you were just the greatest… theme parks, walking the dog, arguing constantly, they were the times aye?

“You will be with me always and we will meet again soon. Your comrades respect you and I wouldn’t be lying if I said you were the best soldier the British army ever had. I love you with all my heart and never forget that dad. I miss you so much and wish you were here. Permission to fall out sir, Connor.”

Lest we forget.

We will remember them.

RIP Lord Steinberg

I went to the funeral of a very good man on Wednesday.

He died suddenly and will be sorely missed by all who knew him and all who’s lives he touched.

RIP Lord Steinberg – father, grandfather, brother, family man, businessman, community leader, philanthropist.

Stop the world. I want to get off.

I have had better weeks.  A sample of my expensive week follows:

1. I got another completely flat tyre. Another  nail meant it was not fixable. New tyre fitted on Friday.

2. Tumble dryer blew all sockets.  It’s burnt out one of the plug sockets completely. New tumble dryer ordered and electrician coming to fix said socket next week.

3. Leaky downstairs toilet. Plumber also coming next week to fix.

4. Someone went into the back of me on the same day as flat tyre and seems to have warped my bumper.

5. Natan seemed to grow out of his clothes overnight and needed a completely new wardrobe.  I had to put a stop to sending him into nursery with a hole in his shoe and trousers above his ankles!

Any more for any more?