I AM A LUDDITE AT HEART.

Probably a 'selective' Luddite but I do believe I have Luddite tendencies.
I started a computer degree in 1991 and whilst I enjoyed the law,accounts and economics that we did as part of the degree,I have to admit the computer part which of course was the majority of the course, drove me scatty.
As a science, I believed it was meant to be 'exact' and it wasn't and my fluffy brain could not deal with that so I completed the first year and moved on and did a degree in Welsh and History at Cardiff University.
Since Christmas our house has upped its technological compliment by a NABI tablet, a Kindle Fire HD , a Leap Pad and a temporary Galaxy phone and they are all conspiring to make me want to go off the grid!

Not only do I have to make sure they are charged but I have to make sure the Parental Control is working and Missy hasn't managed to bypass it and made her way back to Youtube or Naughty Tube  as I so nicely refer to it.
And yes she has found a way to bypass the parental control on the Kindle Fire and I haven't figured out how she does it yet.
I think that what is happening is that when she puts something she shouldn't have into the search engine, it momentarily comes on the screen before the parental control screen comes up and if she is quick enough she is actually getting through to the 'off piste' sites.
There seems to be no other way that I can see but then this is a Luddite speaking.
The difficult part for me is that no matter what I say,she will go back to the 'poops' on Youtube and totally disregard what I have said.
Big Grrrrrrrrr!
She wants to watch it and watch it she does whenever she can manage it.
BUT could I live without them ?
And the answer is YES, if I had to but life would be a lot more miserable without them.
For Missy it is an amazing educational tool and even though it sounds like she is sat at a screen all day , this is certainly not the case.
She acts out what she sees and she also sings and dances , Missy finds it difficult to keep still for longer than a minute.
And as far as I am concerned as well as being the best teaching tools I have, they make a wonderful baby sitter :)
Oh and by handing her one of the above, I may not get any more sleep first thing in the morning, they certainly increase my chances of a 15 minute lie-in .
The Luddite conflict I have is like the short discussion I had on facebook yesterday about convenience food, 100% convenience food would definitely not be good for you but using convenience food as a limited part of your diet  certainly makes life more enjoyable.
I love to bake from scratch and craft and knit and sew etc, and in lots of ways I love traditional things but when I choose to do them is what is important.
If I had to make everything myself then I know I would not be a happy bunny and that is what I think is the problem I am experiencing with technology at the moment.
I am experiencing technological overload .
Already the taking photos and photo journaling EVERY aspect of our lives with the Leap Pad  has eased up which is good because I was charging the batteries daily but I think the Kindle and Nabi use is going to take a little longer as she is reading her way through a sizable library and still enjoying learning new games.
I see a need for some trips to the park and the bay, leaving our technological friends at home and perhaps doing some baking to increase the separation from the technological reliance.
Building a snow man this weekend would have been good but all we managed last night was a little sleet.
I can feel a crafty evening coming on,  Missy is always happy to take technological time-out for crafting.
Valentine Cards I think :)

EARTH TO PLANET AUTISM......ARE YOU THERE ?

I just spoke to Missy and told her we were going to the shops.
Trying to engage her and start a conversation I said,

' What would you like to buy at the shops?'.

Missy's reply was ,'FISH!'.

Now I have can honestly say that I do not know where that came from.
What other 12 year old asks for fish instead of sweets or toys or comics ?
I can honestly say I am stumped as to what was going through her head BUT to be sure,
when we get to the shops, we shall buy some FISH :)

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

So this is Christmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one just begun
 

 

A very merry Christmas

And a happy New Year 

 

Let's hope it's a good one

Without any fear

 



Have a wonderful year everyone, hugs and kisses from Missy and Me.

 

To welcome in the New Year, Missy has a seriously bad cold and her face and eyes are red and puffy and her eyes and nose are constantly running poor thing.

Missy hasn't slept properly in the last few days due to her lovely ,bubbly cold so yesterday evening we were both so tired that we went to bed early.

However, we we still lucky enough to see in the New Year as our neighbours have an old tradition of beating on saucepans at midnight to greet in the New Year and it is also meant to scare away the devil as he is not meant to like loud noises.

Even with double glazing we both managed to wake up but we were both so tired we went back to sleep almost straight away.

BUT......I do remember Missy opening her eyes at the noise, smiling and saying,'Noisy' !

Just a random thought, when I was younger I can remember religious people saying that Rock concerts were not a good place to be and that the devil was at events like this to tempt people to be 'naughty'.

Well.......if the devil doesn't like loud noises, then that should mean that the devil stays away from very noisy events .

Interesting thought :)

 

My mother always believed that it was bad luck to do washing on New Years day and whilst I am not really into Pagan ,or religious superstition for that matter, I feel that a lot of superstitions have basis in common sense.

A bit like eastern religions banning certain meats which was possibly due to the fact that meat goes off really quickly in hotter countries.

So , I am quite happy  not to have to do any washing on New Years Day BUT my favourite superstition has to be to make sure there is plenty of food in the house on New Year's Eve so you will not go hungry throughout  the coming year.

Missy and I made a large stew last night and Missy really enjoyed cutting the vegetables though I have to admit that bit made me very nervous, Missy and a large knife is quite scary to watch but she has to learn!

We had the stew for supper last night and lunch today and there is enough left for another meal later.

Preparing in advance and in bulk meant the meal cost approximately 50p per person per meal.

I am hoping this start at organising is a good sign for the coming year......not that I am superstitious of course :)