Wednesday media round up

There's a few things I'd like to talk about before my next entry sometime next week and I think the first thing is I enjoy light hearted social interaction, it may be a laugh and a joke on a Status update, a journal or say in a chat room.

This week I've been thinking back to my past and the things that were in them  and one thing that certainly was were comics.

Most of the popular comics we had tended to show more co-ed education because I guess they were more for both sexes and that was easier but outside the toppling duo of the Dandy and Beano you moved more into the world I felt more at one with, the girls only comic.

The staple of them was typically at least one all girls boarding school story but Judy had an interesting story of a world where you might be the only Girl admitted to what was a boys school perhaps because it may of been more convenient for your parents.

Just how might such a world of worked out when came to things like team sports given boys schools always did Rugby, Association Football and Cricket.

Could you imagine being in a rugby scrum with a load boys all pushing and shoving trying to get that ball off you?

These kinds of things intrigue me as much as in some ways I 'trailblazed' some changes in real life school and work settings when I'd been very much in the minority.

It's a bit like how in Scouts over here in time it's gone co-ed requiring thought about how to run activities such as Camp.

Bedtime

The battle for sleep has always been there regardless of generation and with each generation of parents holding some part of popular culture responsible for that reluctance to get to bed and having got there, to stay asleep.

It's quite possible that with the reduction at least over here of house sizes, there has been more of a push for many children's toys and effects to be moved into the bedroom so in some ways it becomes an entertainments room that you sleep in so that you're getting that switch off you did when we were "It's time for a bath and bed" even if things may of been harder and perhaps you shared a bed as well as the room with at least one other sibling.

I grew up with blankets in what was our icicle covered window in the winter bedroom whose amounts were regulated to the season and being expected having being given a pile of them to make owns one bed.

If that wasn't enough then that handiwork would be inspected apart from the general state of your room and your behind would know it if indeed it was a state.

Sometimes I do miss that ability to tailor the bed linen to the weather being the sort who gets warm very quickly rather than having all or nothing.

Being little Wednesday

Hi it's the what's Jo gonna post Wednesday here edition after a few concerns about an Aunt of mine who had Covid and having quite a laugh in littles chat on Tuesday.

 First off of the bat, Dad got a build a bear jacket for a bear and gave me the hanger expressly to put on the my door handle which kinda signifies I'm a little.

The other is I actually love being at the shops and helping out in the kitchen with mommy even if I have tomboyish streaks as its fun to make food and it's pretty important to know how to fix your own if you don't want to living off tv dinners and the like which aren't that healthy for you.

Learning what is what, dates on foodstuffs and what you can put together is pretty important so why is rocket science seen as more important than domestic science?  Don't those people eat???

Why not tie that in making that a wear your pinafore dress time to help bring out the more feminine side of me while we're at it?

Because the kitchen has been seen as the province of generations of women doesn't mean men shouldn't help out stacking the dish washer and that boys ought to help out too even though naturally we're eager to do what our mommies do and they need to show us "the ropes" so we can look after ourselves and any partners we may have

I also found out the name for the problem I have around hearing and being understood - it is apparently Auditory Processing Disorder - and it does tie in with developmental dyslexia which why it may of been overlooked when I was younger.

New Year Covid Changes

There are reasons why I do get cranky which does tend to lead to the ow ow ow posts on this blog but sometimes its a less personal thing that really messes my head up and that's a topic I'm returning to today.

Many of us are familiar, perhaps too familiar with the Covid-19 pandemic that's in much of the World and while the accompanying restrictions do vary depending where we live but the basic principals are the same: keep your distance while interacting with others, wear a face covering in shared often indoor settings like shops and keep strict hygiene with your hands including visiting a shop.

After an increase in the infection rate otherwise known as "The R number", many of us in England (the different parts of the UK such as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules) found ourselves put in areas with greater restrictions following the relaxations from around Fall.

One problem has been the discovery of not one but two variant strains that are more adapted to increase the rate of transmission and following a short-lived change as of today we're being told in effect to stay at home followed by a series of permitted exemptions and breaching them will break civil law so you may be fined and ultimately sent to prison if you don't pay up.

Nothing in this is remotely perfect take for instance the substantial closure of schools open only for "Key Workers" like people in the health service so parents can still work while children are looked after or children who would be more at risk of parental abuse without someone keeping an eye on them.

For all others "Online learning" is meant to be offered of which the quality of teaching varied hugely and over a third last time were not able to learn due lack of equipment, internet connections or a suitable space to learn without detractions apart from how adults told to work from home are supposed to do that AND supervise children at once? 

The other thing with these restrictions concern being out of doors as we've been told we "should" only go out to exercise for no more than an hour once a day which doesn't include walking the dog and say powerwalking or cycling.

For many of us being out of house, away from the constant messaging, mentioned endlessly on tv and radio being able switch of is vital not least if like me you have anxiety issues rooted in childhood incidents and abuse and yet it's to be rationed in a crude way.

Of course trying avoid busy spots and times matters to cut person to person potential contact down but if you can't shop by yourself why should you be restricted to being out once when a person that can (and people in shops don't always follow the rules like being only two inches away waiting at the tills with no mask on!) can be out to shop and out to exercise on the same day? 

Are we not capable of making sensible decisions?

New Year Edition

No one can deny this last year has been tough on everyone cutting through so much everyday stuff, with things cancelled and for some of us parts of our needed lives cancelled as we couldn't meet others.

This nasty virus really has messed up my mental health left me rather more crankier than usual so as soon as possible things need  to resume to help me to avoid lashing out at people and continue to learn to be a responsible adult middle girl.

lt may not seem like fun but with me it's the only way you'll get the battle won with me being the very best I can.