I’ve given up on working out how long it is since I last updated my blog. The world has been a busy place and days have flown by. Easter holidays take up an extraordinary amount of time. The kids were off for 2 ½ weeks and had a pretty good time it seems.
For the first time in about 2 years I managed to have all my daughters in one place at the same time which was marvellous and a great way to kick off the holiday period. My future son in law came too and they all went off to London for the day.
It has struck me over the last couple of weeks just how many incentives and deals and opportunities there are for all kinds of things if you know where to look. On that day they took the train on a family railcard that saved a small fortune. They went to see the changing of the guard which is a great free show every day in summer right in the centre of London. They travelled by tube still using the family railcard to the Tower of London where they were able to take advantage of two for one tickets that I’d downloaded from the internet.
Next stop was a walk along the Southbank which affords some of the most amazing views of the capital followed by a visit to the Tate Modern (free entry of course).
The day was only let down by a visit to a chain restaurant where they had a less than great meal at an average of over £10 a head. If we had used some foresight they could have also had a deal on the food front.
This was just one day out in London. People moan about the price of modern living but there is still plenty of value to be had if you know where to look.
That’s it for now. No further pearls of wisdom but certainly a greater resolve to seek out value for money in future wherever I can find it!
Bye bye
Friday, April 21, 2006
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Bah Humbug
Once upon a time a birthday party consisted of having friends back for tea after school. It was a special kind of high tea with cake, sandwiches, sausage rolls, cheese and pineapple sticks and cocktail sausages. There were crisps, twiglets, jelly and ice cream and a birthday cake. Everyone played games, gave you a card and a present and were then sent packing with a piece of cake if they hadn’t had any into the early hours of the evening?
Oh how times have changed! Without meaning to sound like a miserable old git who had it better when he were a lad I struggle to get to grips with current ideas regarding Birthday Parties.
My 12 year old daughter’s recent birthday took on the scale of a three day event! First there was the ice skating trip, followed by a sleepover for 6 pre teen girls. Next day was the family lunch etc and the day of her birthday itself another trip out this time with a carefully chosen friend for a meal in Brighton. For the first time the party didn’t involve the giving of party bags. Previous years have seen agonising decisions over their contents.
There is now a whole industry dedicated to the provision of tat in a bag at the end of a party which I can only imagine to be the 21st century child’s version of party favours. I see little point in an exercise designed to show nothing more than largesse and another opportunity to suffer the “keep up with the Joneses” angst that we face on an everyday basis.
Party bags are just another example of a badge we need to wear to let the world know how special we are when we would all be far better off and far better thought of actually being nice to others rather than trying to buy their “party” favour.
So next time we’re offered a party bag will we turn it down? Will we heck! And by the way it’s the cat’s birthday coming up next. Do you think there’s a feline version of the Hawkins Bazaar catalogue?
Oh how times have changed! Without meaning to sound like a miserable old git who had it better when he were a lad I struggle to get to grips with current ideas regarding Birthday Parties.
My 12 year old daughter’s recent birthday took on the scale of a three day event! First there was the ice skating trip, followed by a sleepover for 6 pre teen girls. Next day was the family lunch etc and the day of her birthday itself another trip out this time with a carefully chosen friend for a meal in Brighton. For the first time the party didn’t involve the giving of party bags. Previous years have seen agonising decisions over their contents.
There is now a whole industry dedicated to the provision of tat in a bag at the end of a party which I can only imagine to be the 21st century child’s version of party favours. I see little point in an exercise designed to show nothing more than largesse and another opportunity to suffer the “keep up with the Joneses” angst that we face on an everyday basis.
Party bags are just another example of a badge we need to wear to let the world know how special we are when we would all be far better off and far better thought of actually being nice to others rather than trying to buy their “party” favour.
So next time we’re offered a party bag will we turn it down? Will we heck! And by the way it’s the cat’s birthday coming up next. Do you think there’s a feline version of the Hawkins Bazaar catalogue?
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