Hello, my name is Doris and I'd like to make a complaint.

Two of my five children are addicted to Skype.  They get home from school and then Skype the same friends they just said goodbye to on the train 30 minutes earlier. Lately I've been struggling with the concept that there are usually two extra children in my house at night.  Note that I have not written that I've been struggling with the concept of my children spending hours on the internet - I gave up worrying about that about a year ago for the sake of my sanity.  Last night I was standing in the kitchen eating a toasted sandwich while I picked my nose and read the newspaper.  A large glass of wine was within easy reach.  George (12 years) walked out into the kitchen with his computer in one hand chatting away to his friend while he got himself a drink from the fridge.  When I looked up his classmate was staring straight at me out of the little window in his screen. My house is a pigsty mid-week.  Crap everywhere.  I'm sure these friends don't care, but they get a

I'm packing it in at page 215.  I know I'm way behind the eighth ball when it comes to getting around to reading this book, but there is absolutely no way I can read any further.  "Fifty Shades of Grey" makes me angry. Here is what I have gleaned so far: So Anastasia is reading "the contract" with a view to signing it to give her more time with the mysterious and horribly attractive Christian. Anastasia - about to finish University, majoring in English Literature; modern; intelligent; never been drunk; never had sex; never had a boyfriend.  How convenient.  Meets Christian - fabulously wealthy; high-powered businessman; sexually intoxicating; control freak; sick sexual master-servant disciplinarian.  Christian spent his adolescent years as a Submissive wearing a dog collar and being led around by his aged girlfriend.  Umm, he's switched to Dominant now and prefers women younger than himself. Encounter # 1.  Christian shows Anastasia his Red Room

Pulling balls = very hard work indeed "In my opinion".  It's always important to say that.  In my opinion, certain personality traits are easy to pick up on just by reading a man's profile on an Internet dating site.  Quiet bits of information that can be gleaned from the information provided. Whether or not I'm correct, playing this game of deeper meaning makes the screening process a bit more fun.  What music do you like?   This seems like an innocent enough question.  In my opinion, this question isn't so innocent.  Men who still list the same bands and songs that were popular when they were teenagers have failed to progress and grow.  25-30 years have passed since they were at university and you can't tell me that in all those years they are unable to come up with a few new tunes that take their fancy.  My guess is that they still have exactly the same opinions as they had back then.  Harsh aren't I?   Yes, yes, I'm getting to the st

You know those people with you see at the shops with hunched shoulders, cross eyes, pigeon-toes and shuffling feet?  These poor individuals undoubtedly had parents who chose to deal with their children's problems by saying things to them like "Well, there's no use complaining about it Jamie" or "Keep calm and carry on Julia".  In my opinion, unless poison has a way out of the body it tends to settle in the shoulders and the knees, the feet and the eyeballs.  That pent up complaining can also manifest as serious, albeit less obvious illness.  Mental illness is rife among those who choose to put on a constant happy face. ( click for reference ) Clogged arteries, strokes, heart attacks - no thanks.  Complaining...well as long as it's good for my appearance and my health, I'm happy to oblige. My last entry focused on Internet dating and my complaint was loosely based on the fact that I was compatible with so few men that I was very probably going to

I received an email from the teacher of my son in year 6 last week just reminding me why he hadn't sent homework home for the class.  Instead of sending their homework "contract" home, he wanted his class to spend their time completing their assignment on Australian immigrants.  Hang on; probably better if I just show you the email: I wanted all boys to use the time to get going on their recount story of an immigrant to Australia. They have a planning sheet with their questions and room for dot points which will be composed into sentences. They also need pictures to help tell the story. This story with pictures then will be  transferred either onto Photostory or Powerpoint.  If your son cannot find someone to interview then he can go to google –type in Australian Immigrant stories and many sites are available. Two that are good are ...  This recount will be our major piece of English writing assessment for this term. They will be telling this person’s story. I t

I suffer from insomnia.  God knows why.  It's been going on for months now.  I go to sleep ok and I sleep soundly for four or five hours and then I just wake up.  Half of me blames my iPhone.  I roll over to check the time on it and then those buttons just lure me.  I check my emails, I check out my stars for the day, my calendar, I add to my calendar...it just goes on and on until dawn.  I took up Spanish six weeks ago because I thought I could put these hours and hours of ghastly sleep deprived time to good use.  The problem is that whenever I turn the reading lamp on it just seems so damned bright. Why would I turn the lamp on if my ultimate aim is to go back to sleep?   So as I slowly slip behind in my Spanish I've been giving some serious thought to what I can do with those hours that could possibly be constructive.  I finally decided on this blog. Many of my faithful followers to my  previous blog  "Vietnam - travelling alone with 5 children" (all 17 of you -