Helen Plus Three

Finally getting away, further than Malaysia with the kids. Savings ? Never enough so why? You take the  load with the kids while it 's school term - push push, clear books, tidy bags..work through maths problems or project issues after work, a continuous cycle, of pushing, driving, moving them forward... until the exams are over. And then it is not just they who need the break but me too. T ake a break or get broken!   I can feel it happening... Just got tired and decided , let's go somewhere different, so borrow a little and let's get back to working your &*&*.. off once you get back. Nothing will change but at least I will take this window and create some new memories in it to carry me through the next few  years (you think?) . Life is unpredictable.

When you are in your 40s and 50s and you think back to your younger days, what 's really important, what is it that matters the most in those memories? Is it the time you spent studying or is it the time you spent life in other ways? With friends, doing things with your hands or the activities with family. If the current outcome of your life is success and happiness borne out of that time mugging away, perhaps that study may seem important but is it what that matters when you recall that life. Do you wish you had lived life a little differently and derived more enjoyment from it, exploring more than you had done before. So what really counts? There's no turning back the clock, but I can use my lessons for my kids. As I look at my kids now, and even as  I encourage them ( nag) to study etc etc, I also want them to have more to remember of this time in their life besides the school stuff. Sure grades are important. I want them to ensure they are doing their best  and yet ...

I'm reading Future Minds at the moment and oh my goodness, I think Richard Watson is describing my youngest ..... the attention deficit, hyperactivity fleeting from subject to subject, unable to entertain themselves, bored always bored when there are a thousand things to do ..... . Are you afraid of leaving home without your cellphone? While we are at instant coffee, they are at instant answers. While we enjoy and can savour our tea, they can't slow down to do that, much less think and reflect for deeper and wider issues. Do they realise you can reset to solve problems. If they are hooked to the screens, it's difficult for them to read or to want to read... cos it's slow, it's boring, it's not interesting There's little practise to engage from their part, because the screens always engage them. Traffic is one way What's happened to imagination. Has the brain already been re-wired, am I too late, it's scary. Holidays are coming SOON. First...