No means No

No means no right? Why is it that for some people no simply means try again and again and again.

My son has a friend who is an only child, he is a nice boy but because he doesn’t have any siblings he needs to be constantly doing things, going places so that he doesn’t get bored. That is all fine, but he needs company all the time.

I try to say yes as much as I can but sometimes keeping up with this friend can be very expensive, especially since I have three children and not one. Other times like now with Christmas looming dangerously close, and the deck no where near finished, and the christmas lunch still in planning stage, I can’t find the time or the energy quite frankly, for my son to keep up with his friend’s schedule.

As sweet as his mother is in offering to pick my child up and drop him back off, sometimes it just feels more of an imposition than a helping hand. No he can’t come roller skating on Wednesday I have a work dinner that night and my husband is working late so I will need to take the kids to mum. No we can’t do movies tomorrow, hairdresser appointment for both boys and carols by candlelight for the twins, and no Friday is fully booked also, dinner at my sisters ,and so on and so on and so on.

It doesn’t matter how many times I say that after Christmas would be a much better time for me to catch up and do all these sorts of things the message just doesn’t seem to get through, and I’m left feeling bad for saying no.

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My Bird Hates Me Again

So my bird hates me again. Every year around this time just before spring is here Stan’s hormones kick into angry bird mode and my beautiful loving little Quaker turns into a mad little biting machine.

If you have birds you will know exactly what I am talking about, his whole demeanour changes, there is a look in his eyes a certain way that he moves, he is reluctant to come out of his cage, very vocal, there may be beak clicking or tail wagging, but if you miss all those signs you won’t be able to miss the excruciating bite that is no doubt heading your way.

Much like the self absorbed teenager, a parrot too becomes self absorbed and defensive around this time of year. Try not to be too hard on yourself or take it too personally.

So what can you do to snap you bird out of this phase? well nothing really, you just have to ride it out. Thankfully this uncharacteristic mood change does not last long and just when you think there is no light at the end of the tunnel that you have lost the love of your beloved friend for ever then suddenly he is back often sweeter than ever, calling out to you to come and play, giving you kisses, singing and talking happily again.

Unfortunately for me Stan’s transformation from loving bird to angry bird is only just commencing but I know that before long angry bird will be no more than a distant memory, and my beautiful boy will love me again.

Chivalry may not be dead

Chivalry is not dead today on my way back from a meeting the car in front of me broke down. A young lady got out of her car obviously distressed and gazed under the hood perplexed. Instantly I watched as two men simultaneously stopped their cars and came over to the rescue.

My initial thoughts were how chivalrous and lovely that both men were so willing to aid this poor woman, but this thought was quickly wiped out by a second thought. Would the guys have been so quick to offer assistance if the lady was not so young or so attractive?

I hate that we have become so cynical so distrusting that we can no longer just accept a good deed for what it is and instead question every thing, good or bad. I guess the older I get the more experience that I have with people and life the easier it is to become disillusioned.

The trick here then is to somehow rise above the negativity. The reasons behind why these men stopped will never be known to me, but I am happy they did and I know that girl would have been very grateful for their help as well, so I guess that’s enough.

Nail Clipping for Dogs

Turns out dogs nails need to be trimmed almost weekly to ensure your dog remains in tip top condition.

If like me you did not realise this, chances are your beloved friend has been in discomfort with over grown nails for some time.

Another thing you may have not realised is that along with the nail the quick can also grow. In some cases the quick can grow so long that it becomes virtually the same length as the nail making nail cutting incredibly difficult. Fortunately with regular clipping the quick does recede again.

My dog Dexter who is a Dalmatian cross King Charles Cavalier has both black and white nails. The white ones are easy to cut as the quick is easily visible but the black ones can be quite harrowing.

Always make sure you have some styptic powder on hand in case you do accidentally cut the quick because it will bleed a lot and ensure that your nail clippers are nice and sharp.

Another handy piece of information is to try and cut your dogs nails after they have had a bath as the nails will be a lot softer then.

I did hear a handy trick that for safely cutting black nails was to get someone to shine a torch on the dark nail and this will help to show exactly where the quick is and prevent any nasty accidents, however if your dogs nails are as dark as my Dexters’ this does not work.

Despite showering him with treats and affection galore nail clipping is not something Dexter nor I particularly enjoy but it is necessary for his health and in turn my happiness.