The best of the rest

Several things have caught my eye today.

Firstly, how about this great story - a Bridlington home educated filmmaker, Lewi Firth Bolton, has to turn down an offer of a job with the Oscar-winning creators of Wallace and Gromit - because he is only 14!

Or how about this - a blog I came across thanks to a post on one of the HE lists. "Notes from the Trenches" has a great entry about "Love Is".. read it and weep/laugh/nod furiously! My "love is" moment today came after two mini wars amongst the boys. First William ripped the motif off of Samuel's beloved Robot Wars t-shirt (and got hurt in return) then he and Samuel jumped Joshua (and William got hurt in return). Honestly, it looked like world war three by the time I got into the room. We had a huge "let's sit down and listen to mother" moment, with me making all three boys hear what I said to each other (Joshua often feels I don't tell the other two off, so it was important he heard that I DO). But the "love is" bit came at the end: I'd pointed out to Joshua and Samuel that William learns his behaviour from them, the tv, and the outside world, which means they have a responsibility for how he is. I then asked "if I expect Samuel to behave better than William, as he's older, and Joshua to behave better than you both because he's the oldest - who should behave better than you all?" Answer - Mum and Dad. I then made it clear that I have a responsibility overall, with their Dad, for how they behave so it was up to me too to apologise when things like that happen.

Love is, therefore, being honest, even when it costs you.

Lastly, I'd seen on the news this week about the History Matters - Pass It On blog idea. 'One Day in History' is a one off opportunity for you to join in a mass blog for the national record. They want as many people as possible to record a 'blog' diary which will be stored by the British Library as a historical record of our national life. You can write your diary here reflecting on how history itself impacted on your day - whether it just commuting through an historic environment, discussing family history or watching repeats on TV.

Sounds a great opportunity for as many UK HEers as possible to influence this recording!

Oh, and a new site for the day - been a long time since I mentioned one, so here is today's little find: Dairy Crest Fun Stuff for Kids!