Today began early with Grandson Number Two dropped off at our house before 8.00am, so that I could take him to a half day in the primary school reception class which started at 1.15pm. He’d already done a couple of morning sessions, today and tomorrow were scheduled for the afternoons.
So we played with dinosaurs, we had a late breakfast / early lunch and everything seemed to be going smoothly. We had a bit of time to kill before getting a lift with the mother of one of his small classmates so reluctantly I agreed that he could watch a couple of episodes of the sort of strange TV cartoons that little kids like. We had an agreement: two episodes and then we’d get organised, put on our shoes and coats and head down the road to the pick-up point! Fine in theory but in practice switching off the TV set led to a rather tired small boy having a bit of a melt down. We got through it but, boy oh boy, temper tantrums are tiring … and quite embarrassing when you have someone waiting to give you a lift. You can’t really make bargains with 4 year olds!
I collected him and his big sister a couple of hours later and all was sweetness and light. We caught the bus. They did some craft stuff. We all had eggs for tea. Tomorrow his mummy doesn’t work. She’s in charge of dropping off and picking up. I think I’ll be putting my feet up.
Other people have more complicated things to worry about. Here are a few borrowings from social media:
- A quote from Will Rogers (an American humorist and social commentator known apparently as known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son"):
”Ten men in our country could buy the whole world and ten million can’t buy enough to eat.”
As he died in a light aircraft crash in 1935 it’s likely that the figures are not quite right but the idea is still relevant today.
- A Michael Rosen comment on social media:
“More effort needs to go into ignoring what the hostages' families in Israel are saying about what their govt has done and is still doing. If the kind of criticism that they're voicing, is heard too much, it could be disastrous.”
- And another:
“The best possible outcome from an Israeli point of view is if people argue about the numbers of people killed in Gaza. Then it means people can sit about scratching their heads wondering if anyone's been killed. Perhaps it's no one. After all, Neil Armstrong didn't land on the moon, did he? We proved that one.”
- From Jewish Voice for Labour:
“As Jews, our tradition teaches us b’tzelem elohim — every life is precious. Every person is an entire world, and every death is a world extinguished.
This past weekend, 106 people were killed in Palestine – 100 of those were Palestinians, and six were Israelis.
We mourn each and every life. That’s why we’ve spent eleven months mobilizing our immense grief into action.
Because every life is precious — equally so — we refuse the systems that treat some lives as more worthy of grief and protection than others. This past weekend, Biden spoke only of six Israeli deaths, and said nothing about the daily genocidal death and destruction the Israeli military is carrying out on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The mainstream media followed suit. Every life lost is a tragedy — but from reading the news, one would think that the six Israeli hostages were the only people with grieving families.
The Palestinians that Israel is murdering daily do not make U.S. headlines. President Biden has made no mention of the eight Palestinians Israel targeted and killed yesterday as they were queuing for bread in Jabalia refugee camp.”
That’s all.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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