What can we do today?

Now that the festivities are over, the left overs are either eaten or in the freezer and we've found a home for all our new goodies my daughter is BORED!  Her constant question is "what can we do today?"  I wish I could come up with loads of exciting, creative things to do but my mind goes blank and I can usually only manage "read a book" (she would rather poke herself in the eye than read a book!), "play on the computer" (oh no she can't do that I'm on here!), "go and play with a friend" (they are all off skiing or similar!) so we end up either hanging about getting on each other's nerves or going somewhere that requires me to spend money.

Why can't I think of more interesting (and cheaper!!) things to do?  I think the problem is when I was her age reading a book was something I loved to do.  I can't understand why she won't sit and read.  Every now and then she will pick up a book and read but only a few pages and she stops.  She did once finish a book and say she'd got involved in the whole thing and it had felt "real" which is what I believe a good book should do but for some reason Allie can't quite get involved in a book like that normally.  I think part of the problem is that she does have such a vivid imagination that any books don't quite meet up to it plus it all has to be done quick - she can't get to the end fast enough because she just can't physically read that fast.

So what can we do today?  Well at 10.30am she's still fast asleep upstairs LOL  But when she does get up I have nothing to offer other than a trip to the bank to pay in her Christmas and Birthday money.  OK that will be fun for about 10 minutes but then we are dangerously in town where she could spend money (and it won't be her money safe and sound in the bank!).

Was it easier when she was little?  I don't think so.  I signed her up to Stagecoach not because I wanted to create a little stage star but because it gave her something to do for a few hours on a Sunday.  She's an air cadet not because we want her to be a pilot but because she gets away from the TV or computer at least twice a week (and weekends when there are camps on).

I've tried the "planned" days out with picnics, visits to parks, gardens, stately homes etc and yes we've had fun but usually I've had to pay out money somewhere (even if it is just for an ice cream LOL) and Allie never seems to have had as much fun as I had hoped.

Am I missing something on what teenagers do with their spare time these days or am I setting my own expectations too high for her to have a good time?

Well she's now out of bed and prowling the kitchen like a hungry bear so I'm off to find her breakfast (should that be brunch?) and then I am sure her next question will be "what can we do today?".............

Let's try that again...

I am so bad at keeping up this posting lark!  My friend Karen has really put me to shame this month by journalling all the fantastic things she's being doing in preparation for Christmas with her two children and I envy her blog .... is that a new "sin" - blog envy? LOL

So I am going to make a New Year resolution to attend to this blog  much more, take more photos to blog about and write more about what's going on in my life to remind me when I'm older.

One thing that made me think about having reminders of my past is visiting my grandparents who have recently moved in to a care home.  They used to live with my parents and since they couldn't take a lot of stuff with them to the home my mum and dad have spent the last month trawling through masses of papers and photos (my grandad is a bit of hoarder to say the least - we even found the notes he made about how to use the guns whilst on board ship during WW2!).

Dad has gone through literally thousands of photos all neatly stacked in their little packets - mainly of back gardens in houses none of us remember, cakes and meals laid out for special occasions we can't remember and the odd one or two of people who we don't know the names of.  In the end he kept the ones of people we did know and just had to throw out the rest.  However, photos are still a big part of our family and as a Christmas present for my grandparents this year I have made them a little stand with pages of photos that flip over so they can see different pictures whenever they feel like it (bearing in mind they don't have much room in their new home to display many things).  I went through my photos on my drive and picked 12 that span mainly over our daughter's life (14 years now!) making sure they all had family members in them.

When we visited Gran and Boo Boo today he liked the photos but my Gran seemed fascinated by them.  She suffers from Alzheimers and her memory has been getting steadily stuck in the past - she took these photos and looked and looked and looked - every time she got to the end, she went back to the beginning and went through them again. She didn't ask any questions as to who the people were so I think she recognised them but it was as if she was willing herself to remember the events around the photos.  it made me realise how fragile our memories can be and how important it is to scrapbook, journal, blog and write about what we are doing now so we can remember it in the future.  Our lives are made up of moments that make us smile, laugh, cry, come together as family and friends or just be alone with beautiful views and thoughts but if we don't capture them what is left?

Allie with Gran Gran

Allie with Boo Boo