10 Things that Make Me Happy

...internet obviously!

10. My Son

Well he has to be included in ten things that make me happy! It's pretty amazing that I created life really. He's a total ratbag that runs me ragged but hey, I love him. It never ceases to amaze me when he learns new things despite the fact that it's pretty much a given that young kids'll learn certain things regardless of their future potential or the way you bring them up (unless they ...
...speech; you know they'll learn to speak at some point but you just don't see it coming and find it amazing when they do. My little boy was a bit of a girl development wise; late to walk, early to talk. He's 19m now and speaks in short sentences already! "Go for walk", "I did it", "Where's my 'ookie monster?". It's just so bloody fantastic!!! It's the adjectives like "its", "a" and "there" ... more

1. UK Roads

Despite the fact that we still experience traffic jams from time to time and the occasional annoying road closure; overall I'm really pleased with the road system in the UK. Round where I live I find that I can travel to most major cities and towns via smooth, effecient dual carriage ways and motorways. If I go on holiday, I can be sure that there are sufficient motorways and A roads to see me through most of my journey and all are usually well signposted with exits clearly marked three hundred yards in advance. I think the road networks are a job well done overall.

2. Home Start UK

Thank god for charitable organisations like this. Don't confuse these guys with Sure Start which is a government funded project with entirely different goals. Home Start is an organisation that has various branches in towns up and down the country. My local Home Start has been a great support to me, most recently stepping in to help rebuild communications with my ex which I was finding difficult to do alone. They're there to support anyone who has a young child and is finding things tough regardless of their marital status or income etc. If a volunteer is available for you then they're on hand to support you for 2hrs a week which doesn't sound like much but can really help. Some people need the time to make phone calls or do the dishes or even put their feet up with a magazine while the volunteer plays with their child or they can help them get things done that would usually require two people like going swimming or taking three lively youngsters to the park (possible alone but usually difficult).

There's also a weekly Home Start playgroup in my town which is free of charge. They put on activities for the toddlers like painting or play doh plus they have toys and books out for them to play with. Once a month a volunteer cooks lunch for everyone and at the end of the session they either do some singing or put the toddler bikes outside. At Christmas, a local trust donated money so that all the families could receive a £10 Tesco voucher which was gratefully received by all. There was also a visit from Santa and a free toy for baby or toddler (suited to age and sex - my 12m old got a plastic toy phone with sound effects) and Parents got a mini box of chocs. You don't have to be poor to be a home start family but when you have young kids, you usually are regardless of your income!!! They also organise trips twice a year; a panto at Christmas and a day at the seaside in the summer. I'm lucky to have a car but think how many families with young kids don't. That day at the seaside will be gratefully received by many a youngster. These trips cost but are largely subsidised by the charity to enable people on Income Support to afford them. For example, the coach trip to the seaside this year is just £4 for adults and £2 for children. I can't praise this organisation highly enough.

3. The New Tax Credits System

Okay, now I sincerely apologise to all those that this will upset as I am well aware of the problems people faced under the old system. However as a Mother who started claiming in late 2005 I have only positive things to say about the new system. When you first file a claim it takes the usual 4 - 12wks however thereafter, it is very simple to adjust your exisiting claim and this includes adding working tax credits and childcare credits to your existing child tax credits claim. Whilst everyone else f***s up around you, you can be sure that if you start working and need to adjust your claim the money will simply be added to your existing child tax credits claim and arrive in your account the following week. I have also found that when you ring them, they actually know what they are talking about and the rules are relatively simple. If you earn this, you get this. If you do that, you get that. That's the way to do it thanks.

4. Digital Television

I know it will cause problems for some when we make the switch over but in this diverse day and age it's brilliant to be offered so many channels free of charge. I love being able to watch telly no matter what hour of the day it is and it's great to have the variety we do. For my son there's CBeebies which is superb. I don't let him watch much telly because it hinders speech development if you have on it constantly but when I do put it on, I know that there will be something for him to watch. I just hit channel 71 and there it is! I fully admit to using it as a babysitter from time to time too and there's no shame in that. Sometimes us Mums just need twenty minutes peace and quiet! It's great to know that with the channel being specially designed for his age group I can just switch off and read the paper for twenty minutes or go and wash the dishes without worrying. For me, there's E4 which is possibly my favourite channel. I don't watch all that much telly either and only one or two regular programs so it's great I can flick on when I want rather than when a regular program is on. I tend to feel in the mood to see what's on telly rather than follow regular programs so it's a great thing I have so much choice.

5. Learn Shops

Finally, a government initiative that works in my favour!!! Learn shops exist up and down the country to enable people in need of computing skills to sign up for a range of courses. They were initially aimed at the unemployed but can be used by anyone. In the early days, you only had to pay £10 a year plus exam fees but now you have to pay proper college course fees which is a shame for some. However, if you're on a low income and claiming IS or WTC then you are fee exempt (woo-hoo for me!). I just passed my Level II City & Guilds diploma including Word Processing and Spreadsheets modules with Distinction - free of charge. I only had to attend for 4hrs a week and was allowed to work at my own pace too. The recommended duration for this award is one year however being allowed to get with things in my own way meant I completed the course in just two months which is how I like to work best. This new qualification will really help me with my current search for a full-time admin role as it shows prospective employers that I can use Word and Excel etc when considering me for interview.

They don't just offer computing qualifications for people like myself who want to further their careers; their initial objective was to give the unemployed basic working skills and they continue to do this. So for example, single Mums who've been on IS for ten years can start with the very basics (intro to IT) and work their way through the variety of courses to obtain employable skills with a view to returning to work. They have a big audience with pensioners looking to learn how to use the internet and email as well as offering things like Web Publishing courses which are popular with students. Like I said, if you have a decent income it will cost but if you don't, you can attend free of charge. It's a great initiative that helps a wide variety of people.

6. The Kindness of Strangers

It still exists you know and that's something we should take pride in. When you see an old lady struggling with her shopping then there's no harm in asking if she'd like some help. Okay, she might be afraid and hastily decline but it still doesn't hurt to offer. If I see a situation where I think I could ease someone's suffering then I take action. As an example, I saw a young pale ginger girl scratching her arms to pieces a while back on a hot day. I went over and asked her Mum if she minded me giving her daughter a little bit of my cream and Mum was only too grateful. The cream in question was hydrocortisone cream because I realised instantly that the girl had heat rash, something I too suffer from! Two minutes later, the little girl was smiling away and ever so grateful and Mum had written down the name of the cream to get some from a chemist ASAP. The woman felt awful and admitted she'd never realised how bad the itching was and that it was treatable before.

On the flip side, my car broke down on a busy A road recently just round the corner from a blind bend. I had chugged away from the bend as much as possible but couldn't go any further or move my car manually. I was all alone and had to stand on a narrow muddy bank full of nettles with a 16m old who didn't understand why he couldn't run out onto the busy road. I rang the RAC and my ex in-laws but thought I'd be stranded for at least an hour and was pretty scared about it. Then, a car pulled over and a bloke hopped out. "C'mon then love, let's get this sorted" was his opening line. I had a spare tyre but no jack (and yes I now do own one after that!) so he got out his own stuff, changed the tyre and got me back on the road in under ten minutes. He even deliberately parked his car behind mine, about ten feet back, especially so I could strap my son back in his car seat without fear of him being smashed to death by someone taking the bend too fast. What a star eh? We have to do our best to work together and despite all the crime that goes on in this country, I've had more experiences with kind strangers than criminal ones.

7. Ethical Companies

Few and far between I know but they do exist. One that I'd like to mention here is Sainsburys. I personally shop at Tesco and feel bad for doing so! But there's no Sainsburys a reasonable distance from where I live. The one thing I have to say about Sainsburys above all else is that they look after their workers. Unlike other leading supermarkets, Sainsburys will pay liveable wages to their workers and offer reputable pension schemes. When a local branch shut down, all of their workers, including warehouse staff and drivers etc, received healthy redundancy payments. I knew two people who'd worked for them for over twenty years and one of those received enough of a pay out to pay off his mortgage with which was a godsend considering he was close to retirement age. I also note that Sainsburys do their best to source genuinely healthy produce where possible and that they are clear and conscise over what is unhealthy and to be enjoyed in moderation and what is suitable for everyday consumption; take their new traffic light labelling for example. I don't believe Jamie Oliver (as much of a pillock as he is) would be doing their advertisements unless he was genuinely satisifed that they are offering plenty of healthy choices and quality products to the general public.

Another company I believe are really ethical are Original Source, The only toiletries range to be endorsed by the Vegan Society, they endeavour to produce a beautiful and natural range of shower gels, shampoos and conditioners that have been made from ethical, mostly natural ingredients causing minimal damage to the environment and supporting cruetly against animals by excluding it at every stage of their production.

By no means are these the only two ethical companies in existance, but these are the two that spring to mind in writing this. Feel free to list more ethical companies in the comments section - let's give credit where credit is due.

8. Dorothy Perkins

Well it's about time a store decided to move with the times. When you shop online or visit a DP's store you will find beautiful, affordable fashions in sizes 8 - 22 no less. Yes that's right, they not only stock up to a size 22 but you can find it too. Unlike the few fashion stores out there that do stock over a size 16, DP's aren't ashamed of doing so and proudly display all their sizes together in ample supplies of each size. As a size 18 shopping can be very upsetting for me sometimes and stores like Top Shop and Miss Selfridge, even Primark these days, don't cater for my size. Sorry I got fat, I am losing the weight I gained through extremely traumatic life circumstances, but in the meantime - I'd like to wear something comfortable and flattering if that's okay with everyone. In DP's I managed to buy THE prettiest fit n' flare summer dress which looks gorgeous on my full-busted figure as well as three lovely summer tops that are fashionable, comfortable and flattering as well as reasonably priced. People these days come in all different shapes and sizes and I don't see why more mainstream stores can't stock a size 8 - 20 possibly adding a 6 and a 22 if the demand in the area is high enough. Fair enough to say over a 22 is specialist store time because over a 22 really is massive (I know, I crept up to a 22 after I got PND) but 22 and under is a perfectly acceptable size to be. I hasten to add that I don't look fatter as a tall size 18 than a short size 14 does thanks! Stores like Top Shop that are "protecting their image" should realise that dumpy, badly made-up pre-teens make their clothes look worse than large, stylish ladies do...

9. The Phone Network

Okay, so BT charge us an arm and a leg to subscribe to their services but the way in which the phone network works is really quite amazing when you think about it. Nearly every home in the UK has a telephone and you can simply dial a number to get connected any time of day or night. Can you even imagine what you'd do if there were no telephones and your child fell sick in the middle of the night? Thanks to telephones you can contact doctors, dentists, the police etc at any time of day or night. You can contact friends or relatives if you want to chat or need some advice and you don't have to rush around visiting businesses in person or writing letters when you need to make contact. No, you just pick up a phone and punch in some numbers. Amazing when you think about it. Same goes for internet obviously!

10. My Son

Well he has to be included in ten things that make me happy! It's pretty amazing that I created life really. He's a total ratbag that runs me ragged but hey, I love him. It never ceases to amaze me when he learns new things despite the fact that it's pretty much a given that young kids'll learn certain things regardless of their future potential or the way you bring them up (unless they have a disability of course). I mean things like speech; you know they'll learn to speak at some point but you just don't see it coming and find it amazing when they do. My little boy was a bit of a girl development wise; late to walk, early to talk. He's 19m now and speaks in short sentences already! "Go for walk", "I did it", "Where's my 'ookie monster?". It's just so bloody fantastic!!! It's the adjectives like "its", "a" and "there" that I find most amazing. How on earth has such a young child, one that can't even put his own shoes on, learned the correct contexts in which to place such complex words? Think about it for a minute, unlike juice or shoes, they're not physical things like nouns or actions like verbs so they have nothing to validate them besides the context in which they're used. How has such a tiny thing, that I created, come to know so much so soon?

When I became a Mum I was told babies didn't do anything much until 6m old but I was amazed to find my baby could actually do quite a lot from birth. He would grizzle and try to eat his sleeve when he was hungry and could lift his head off my shoulder from DAY ONE despite being born four weeks prematurely. He was seen sucking his thumb in my womb even! He was yanking his Dad's hair (it was long) from a week old and responding to my voice from two weeks old. At nine weeks old he chuckled for the first time and he still has the same gorgeous little chuckle now. I can remember holding him at about three months old and he was howling, then suddenly he stopped, peeped at me from the corner of his eye and smiled slyly. I couldn't believe the little beggar - three months old and practising crocodile tears!!! I just didn't realise how early the thinking process began but sure enough, he'd actually thought through and realised that if he cried, he got attention and was practising!!!

I remember so many great times just like all those above. Our first "conversation", the first time he used facial expressions alongside his baby talk, the first time he piayed a trick on me! It's not just my kid that's fantastic, I'll bet most people feel that way about their own kids. I guess it's being a parent that's so brilliant. 

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