The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet - Aristotle

My son, who for the purposes of the blog wishes to be known as Will, went off to university a few weeks ago. He seemed concerned that there would be a tearful parting when we left him to settle in to his new halls, but I'm an old hand at this now, his older sisters thrived at university and I am sure that Will will do the same. He seemed a little disappointed when I reassured him that there would be no tears, just a hug and pleasant thoughts of a tidier house! 

The week before he went to university was busy uneventful - at at least that was the case until the Wednesday evening. We'd had a very nice family meal at the Chinese restaurant, to say goodbye to Will. I ate too much and by the time we got home I was starting to regret it but it had been a lovely evening and I felt happy and contented when we got home. 

I should have known it was too good to be true! Will vanished soon after we got home from the meal, he said goodnight, took his things and went upstairs leaving Robbie and me in the lounge. I thought no more about it until later on when I decided to go to bed. I'd been putting off going to the the loo until that point so I needed to go quite badly. I went upstairs with some degree of urgency and straight into the bathroom without putting the light on. As soon as I sat down I realised that the seat was sticky and I jumped up wondering what on earth it could be. When I turned on the light I saw what looked like the aftermath of a bad case of dysentery! On closer inspection I saw the tell tale signs that Will had dyed his hair, box sticking out of bin, container still on sink and dark brown marks everywhere! The white toilet seat was marked with abstract streaks reminiscent of zebra stripes and to my horror I realised that a mirror image of the design was imprinted on my rear end!! I tried my best to restore my skin to its usual colour but without success (it looked like a henna tattoo but it vanished after about a week) vanish very soon. I got Will out of bed to restore order in the bathroom. He had the good sense to be very apologetic so I managed not to harm him but it was a close call!

Will spent a large chunk of the next morning in the bathroom scrubbing, the marks clung stubbornly to the toilet seat, floor, walls and door. I had to deal with it myself, but it did me good to see Will scrubbing the floor!

Apparently these were essential supplies for uni! 

The remainder of the week passed in a blur. I ironed 13 shirts, 14 pairs of chinos, and countless t-shirts and sundry items. I replaced missing buttons, altered jeans, sewed decorative patches on his onesie, collected his suit and coats from the dry cleaners and folded and sorted all his clothes ready for packing. By the time the car was packed with food, cleaning stuff, iron, assorted gadgets and their chargers, books, stationary, bedding, clothes and random clutter I was exhausted. There were no tears as we drove away from the halls just a huge sigh of relief and a feeling that like Will, Robbie and I are also starting on a new chapter of our lives. 

The sea hath no king but God alone - Dante Gabriel Rossetti

We had a beach day today, it was lovely. The sun was out, there was a gentle breeze and the only cloud on the horizon was the man next door. The sight of him in Speedos (again!) was more like a total eclipse than a cloud but we did our very best to ignore him. The beach stretches on as far as the eye can see, so when we went down to the beach and spotted him in the sea we took a brisk walk in the opposite direction and we found a nice section of beach all to ourselves.

Robbie sat and watched while I wandered around taking photographs. He was enjoying the sun and for the very first time this holiday he allowed me to take a photo of him. He is very unhappy with his hair at the moment because he was so busy before we came away that he didn’t have time to have his hair cut. Hopefully we will put that right in the next few days .


This evening we popped into Tesco for some milk, but Robbie really struggled to walk around the shop, the pain was almost beyond endurance and it has continued to be really bad all evening. He tries so hard not to make a fuss, but you can see that he hardly knows how to move. I wish I could do or say something to make him feel better, but it is usually better to say very little and not to make a fuss, the last thing he wants is sympathy. He will have to go back to the doctor when he gets home, he can’t go on like this.

A Night Out

In our house even little jobs seem to take forever and on Friday morning I still had lots of housework to do. I worked hard and by just after lunch it was done ready for Laura and Emily's friends to come and stay. It was Laura's 18th birthday night out with her friends and the afternoon saw the girls painting nails, straightening hair and doing all that girly stuff that makes me cringe. I took myself off to a quiet corner to get on with my writing work. Laura looked very nice in her new dress, in fact they all looked nice and they all looked very bright and cheerful the next morning considering that they didn't get in until half past three in the morning.

Headline News

I had expected a last minute objection from Sam when it was time for his haircut on Saturday morning, but he went off willingly with Robbie without any sign of reluctance. From my point of view it was a win-win situation, an hour of peace and quiet and smart hair cuts for the men in my life. When they returned I was pleasantly surprised, Sam no longer had that annoying floppy fringe, his hair had been thinned considerably and it was cut into a nice shape at the back. What a difference a girlfriend can make!

Robbie's hair seemed to have been thinned considerably too - but that's a different story! He told me that according to his hairdresser his scalp is showing signs of stress. That doesn't surprise me, as well as the concerns and complications relating to his work, I know that he worries about his legs misbehaving. Recently he has started to suffer with very bad cramp in his legs which leaves him with muscle pain afterwards. It just makes life that bit more complicated, but I have finally extracted a promise from him to go to see the doctor about his legs. I think he has decided that he may as well deal with it because I am not going to give up!

Moving the Goal Posts

Men! Just when you think you have got them worked out they change the goal posts. Sam has always objected strongly to having his hair cut, when he was a little boy he would scream the place down as if he was being attacked. As he got older the difficulty was getting to the hairdressers in the first place because he flatly refused to go. Each time he needed a haircut, I had a feeling of dread, because I knew it would involve a fuss. Robbie and Sam usually go to the hairdressers together. While Robbie isn't yet having to pay a 'finders fee' to the hairdresser his hair is significantly thinner than Sam's thick mop of hair, so much to Sam's annoyance his haircut takes considerably longer than Robbie's. In the last few months he has taken to wearing a ridiculous hat, so it was possible to ignore the problem to some degree and to put off the dreaded moment of the haircut. When Sam came to me yesterday and asked me to make an appointment at the hairdressers for him I nearly died of shock. When I recovered my power of speech I asked why he was suddenly willing to have his hair cut, the answer was simple - his girlfriend wants it cut! Maybe I could give her a list of other things to work on!

Off Colour

Last night was so stressful! I am sick of Robbie counting my grey hairs so I decided to use one of those hair colours that washes out after a number of washes. I asked Robbie if he could help me to put the stuff on my hair so that I didn't get it on my skin. That proved to be a big mistake, he was really rough and it hurt so much when he rubbed it in that I was crying out in agony. I can't bear people to touch my head at the best of times and he seemed to be taking a perverse pleasure in my plight, clearly the power had gone to his head. I had to leave the colour on for 15 minutes and Robbie timed it to the second, I really didn't realise that one person could cause so much irritation in such a short time!

When my hair was sorted out I went to bed to calm down and do some reading. I must have dozed off because the next thing I remember is Robbie talking to me and trying to wake me up. I wasn't too keen on being woken and I tried hard to stay asleep, but Robbie had other ideas. He climbed over the bed and trod on my leg, then he put his bedside lamp on, it is like a search light and there was no way I could sleep with that thing dazzling me. He then decided that this was an appropriate time to sit up in bed and eat Minstrels. The noise of him chasing the sweets around his teeth was bad enough but the chomping was intolerable, I threatened him with dire consequences. I thought seriously about sleeping on the sofa but I just buried myself under the covers and I must have dozed off again despite the adverse circumstances. I woke suddenly to find the bed frame being bashed low down on my side of the bed. I found Robbie, naked on his hands and knees looking for an invisible cat under the bed! Words were exchanged and he finally got back in bed and was instantly asleep. Sometimes I wonder how he has managed to survive for so long!

Tintin Meets Jimmy Neutron 02.02.07

There was high drama in our house this morning. Sam went upstairs to do his hair and came down again looking like Cleo Roccos on a bad day. I turned him round and sent him back to rectify the problem and he stomped off ranting about his human rights. He returned looking like a cross between Tintin and Jimmy Neutron but there was no time for another redesign and so set out for school, with his hair gelled so firmly that I wasn't sure if we needed a hairdresser or Pneumatic Drill to tackle the problem! As soon as Sam (who by this time was giving me the silent treatment) was safely despatched to school, plans were made for Robbie and Sam to go and have their ears lowered tomorrow!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

A new mirror and storage cupboard for the bathroom will be delivered on Saturday, after that we can put the finishing touches to the decorating and get everything put away properly. Since we started decorating, a number of items from the old cupboard have been in a crate. Among these items was an expensive looking green box containing ampoules of hair restorer. Robbie had bought this during one of his visits to the hairdressers, I can't imagine why as he has strong, thick hair but men are unfathomable sometimes!

This morning I happened to look in the box, ten days ago it was full but now there were 6 ampoules missing. It didn't require Hercule Poirot to deduce that this had something to do with Sam! I was furious, that boy can't resist meddling with things. After school I tackled Samuel, he admitted it immediately and went on to explain that Robbie didn't need it because he has loads of hair and so does Grandad Burgess, so he was actually preventing Robbie from wasting his time. I pointed out that Sam also has plenty of hair and does not require the treatment either. He pointed to an alleged bald patch (actually it was his crown) and quite reasonably pointed out that his grandad has very little hair, so this was an insurance for his old age! I didn't have the willpower to explain that his grandad is my stepfather so there is no genetic link!

Thankfully Robbie was out at a gig this evening so I could deal with the situation without his input. He is brilliant with the children, but at times of tension he tends to forget that he is the adult and he gets drawn in to silly arguments. Emily nearly crowned him with a frying pan the other day all because he tried to tell her how to wash up! Seventeen year olds should be approached with caution at all times, but especially when armed. Anyway Sam has to do chores at the weekend to earn money to replace what he used - he is already bleating about exploitation.