Sunday 20 May 2012

A Job as a Dishwasher

16-05-2012

A week or so ago Jack rather unexpectedly said,

I'd like to do some things to help around the house. Maybe earn a little money.

We've put this down to a story that Jack likes where a boy saves and saves his money to buy a special toy. Jack has been trying to save his money for a little while but he has a hard time resisting things like Moshis that are always within his price range. It seems that his solution to this problem is to get more money.

This is something that Helen and I have been thinking about for a while. He's six this year and could really start doing some chores and should maybe get some sort of allowance.

So we thought up a quick plan.

We employed Jack to wash the plastic dishes, these are the dishes that are washed by hand every day because they are used every day, and the don't do well in the dishwasher. The terms of Jack's employment were laid out and agreed to by both parties. Jack would wash these dishes every day for a daily salary of 20p. Every Sunday he would be paid a lump sum, and if there are no incidents, such as complaining or having to be told more than once, then he would get a small bonus of 60p. Failure to complete the task will result in the loss of that day's wage, multiple failures will result in termination... Excellent performance will result in other positions being made available.

Jack has taken to his job with enthusiasm. He's been doing the job for a week now and we've not had any problems. He got paid in full on Sunday and got his bonus. He was very proud of himself. He says he's saving up for an Ultimate Optimus Prime but we'll see how well he can hold on to his cash with all those Moshis around.


Sunday 13 May 2012

They're heeeere. Or at least they were.

09-05-2012

They took him on all the rides, again and again and again
My parents (mother and step-father) came over from the states to visit for a week.

It's been more than two years since Jack has seen them in the flesh. We Skype almost every week when they read him bed time stories, but virtual hugs aren't as good as the real thing.

There were a few problems but nothing that wasn't to be expected with them being in unfamiliar territory, driving on he other side of the road and having been awake for over 24 hours.

Grandma set right to it with Jack telling him all the jokes that she'd been storing up.

She showed him her magic tricks.

She promised him a present every day of their visit.

Marc was something more of an opponent, which was nice for me, normally I'm the punching bag. The new weapons got tested out on Marc and he readily joined in all of Jack's games on the playgrounds.

Went to Lego Land, Warwick Castle and Twin Lakes. They got to spend a day with just the three of them at Hoo Farm. We played games, went to dinner, went shopping and even witnessed an good old fashion attempted mugging. It was non stop action.

I think a bond was forged.
C'mon Grandpa there's a slide.
Met the police force at LegoLand
Sunday there was an easter egg hunt. Jack knew about the hunt and was out of be spritely and headed downstairs where the eggs, and Grandma, were waiting.

Jack had the time of his life. By the time they left he'd concocted a plan about travelling back to America with them in their suitcase. He explained to them that he preferred America because there were more fun things to do there. In England there are only four fun things to do and in America there are lots and lots.
Doing a little time for their shenanigans.

Right after Easter lunch, we said goodbye and sent them on their way down to London. Jack missed them immediately. He set to planning our next trip over there trying to establish some sort of time scale, he's desperate to get over there before he turns six, we've explained to him that it's pretty unlikely but he still hopes.

The evening after they left Helen and I were lost about what to do. We'd become accustomed to the nightly games, both Marc and I are exploring some way we can have game nights across the sea, but it's slow going.

Jack still talks about the visit from time to time. He'll recall somewhere we visited or something we did and ask when we can do it again.



Tuesday 1 May 2012

Sorry for my tardiness.

I haven't posted anything on here for a few weeks now. But I haven't given up.

Writing just isn't coming as naturally to me as it normally does and thus I've been finding it difficult to sit myself down and write.

A lot has happened over the last few week, hopefully I'll get the chance to write about them before my recall gets too jumbled up.
My parents came to visit.
My HND is coming to a close and so I've had shedloads of work to complete over a timeline that was shortening at both ends. I've managed to complete it all, on time and just have a couple more things to wrap up before I's done bein edjamacated fer the year.
There was a funeral, surgery, rehabilitation and just generally a very busy few weeks, but it's all wrapping up now and I'm starting to feel the old writing urge come back. So hopefully soon I'll have some stuff up about these events.