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This will be short, I promise.  Last night after having been out playing football in the garden with his two brothers, number three son was in a state of extreme tearfulness.  The reason for this was that he was worried about dying young due to eating poorly.  Fact is that we as parents must bear a good deal of the blame for  his feelings.  You see the thing is, the wee fella was always a bit of a fussy eater, not keen to try new things and only really happy with bread and / or cheese based meals.

When he started to eat more varied fare such as lasagne and toad-in-the hole we hit on this and were happy to eat him have these.  The fact that he wouldn't eat much in the way of veg passed us by.  We'd cook lasagne and serve it up with broccoli, green beans, carrots and all sorts for us and the other two.  He'd be happy-ish to eat carrots but no much else in that way.  Not wishing to make food an issue with him, we'd not insist, just happy that he was eating (slightly) more varied food.   However, yesterday he resolved to change, to try different things.  He had a banana when he came home from school, ate broccoli with his carrots and lasagne and then ate and apple and a half for his afters and supper.  Making his butties for today, he passed up on a chocolate biscuit!  Way to go boy.

I had it in mind to write a devastatingly pithy blog post for you as I sat watching Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium just now with my wife and two youngest boys.  It was a film that had a really uplifting message, so if I give you a bit of a stream of consciousness then the message and hence original idea for my post will come to fruition.  Or maybe not.  But no matter, bear with me...

It's been an absolutely glorious day here in Shropshire, the sort that makes your heart sing.  Yesterday was a very similar day too.  It is going to be a real downer when the winter starts.  Of course that's a negative message, so I'll focus instead on the positive.  The last two days and in fact the last couple of weeks have been a real bonus on the and of what actually been a decent summer.  Not scorching but we've not been soaked through to the skin that often either

OK, I think I've remembered where I came in here - the old stream of conscience has done its trick.  Let's get back to MMWE.  As with a lot of films of its ilk, the message is one of self improvement or even self belief without the need to improve.  You have it within you, if you would only look deep enough.  Relationships should be cherished and friendships allowed to blossom - don't be prescriptive and do all that you can to allow others to be a success.  That way, you'll be one too.  In my current position of being unemployed this is a message that I've not adhered to often enough.  So, knowing that today is the first day of the rest of my life, I'm gonna do everything that I can to make it take off in the direction in which I want  it to.  Stagnation and regret are no longer going to be given head room in my life.

I was sat in the dentist's waiting room this afternoon watching the traffic. Off to the right was a sweeping left hand bend, around which I watched a bus swinging. It occurred to me just how well engineered both the bus and the street layout have to be in order for the manoeuvre to be carried out safely and even more interestingly (yes, interestingly) I remembered times sat on the tops of double-deckers watching the implausibly tight angles around which such a vehicle can be bent.

It wasn't me having the dental work by the way.  It was number one son, having number 2 filling in his 15 year old mouth.  Somethings never change, I must have about ten of the things and I remember not cleaning my teeth for weeks on end.  Will he learn the lesson that I singularly failed to grasp?  Watch this space, but don't hold your breath.

Saw this today. After having devoured the books and thoroughly enjoyed all of the previous films, I was left a little underwhelmed at the end. I can't quite put my finger on why this should be, but for now, let's just leave it at that...

They seem a pretty phlegmatic bunch those Norwegians don't they? They suffer a tragedy like yesterday and the bottom line of what the Prime Minister says is basically, 'We will be an even more open society'. I think that is such a refreshing response (patronisation alert) to what must be a crushing tragedy (you don't say). It's much better than the George W. Bush retort to 9/11/01. Fighting fire with fire, surely, only makes the flames lick higher.

As for Amy Winehouse, well that's perhaps not such a great shock as she always did seem a little flaky mentally. But it's still so sad. I have to confess that I've never bought any of her CDs, and I only have an .mp3 copy of her stupendous cover of the Zutons' Valerie but it was clear that she was quite some talent. Another star in heaven is shining bright tonight. Or it will be when it goes dark.

Don't scoff.  I only ask because I am seriously looking at taking a job in the Gulf.  You might remember, if not - KEEP UP, that I have recently finished my PGCE, but I can't find a job in the UK, well at least not where I would like to work.  So having looked on the TES website at the list of job on there (like I said very few in the UK) I noticed one or two in the Gulf.  This morning, I have spoken to a lovely lady who works at putting UK qualified teachers in touch with schools in Kuwait, Oman and other far flung destinations.  So what do I do?  Do I take the chance to go out for a year (10 months actually) and get my NQT year under my belt in a British school in the middle east.  Or do I bite the bullet, tighten my belt and stick it out in Blighty until something comes along?