Monthly Archives: February 2010

The school-run: daily duty or fashion parade…?

Posted by Wendy on February 24, 2010 2 comments

elleHow many of us can get away with looking like Elle MacPherson on the daily school run…? would you dare to do the ripped-jeans look and be confident of carrying it off as you walk into the playground? surprisingly some women would think so and you only have to see the way some women are decked out just for the purpose of collecting the kids from school in the afternoons to know this.

I collect the boys every afternoon and one thing I notice is that some women are definitely vying for the Most-Fashionable-Mum trophy and even this bitterly cold weather does not seem to dampen their efforts to out-do each other. One very determined Mum never, ever turns up at the school in anything other than a) a mini skirt, stockings and black stilletto boots…or b) hot pants, stockings and black stilletto boots. I get frostbite just looking at her! what is she trying to prove…?

Then there is another Mum who must have the clothes budget of Coleen Rooney because to date she has never worn the same outfit twice – and has a different handbag for each day of the week and toddles in on heels so ridiculously high that I would get vertigo if they were on my feet – I wondered how on earth she worked all day in them until one afternoon I saw her parked around the corner of the school and saw her slipping off her ‘sensible’ shoes and slipping on the killer heels before parading into the playground in them (I do supervisory duties in the playground at lunchtimes and notice her child is not as fashionably turned out as she is -  the poor kid never has a warm jumper to wear…)

But my partner saw a sight the other week when it was his turn to do the afternoon-run that must take the medal so far – a Mum in black, shiny rubber trousers (yes, rubber) and glittery disco top in minus temperatures. That does it, tomorrow I get out my Tina-Turner leopard prints and off I go!

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

Impress the kids and Anime yourself!

Posted by Wendy on February 22, 2010 No comments

There are so many new trends hitting the online world now that it is hard to keep up with it all. Not so long ago we were reading about virtual worlds and avatars – not that any of it made any real sense to me – and here we are seeing what it all means in James Cameron’s new flick ‘Avatar’ itself. Is that what all the fuss is about…? blue fairies and things…whatever you make of it you have to admit that it is all very clever. As far as virtual worlds go I don’t have any time for creating alter-egos and spending time in parallel twilight worlds online because I have so much going on in the real-life one – and from what I have read getting too caught up in these activities can really mess your mind up and cause you to lose grip with reality. My son was telling me that he had read of people committing suicide because they had become depressed after seeing the film ‘Avatar’ and being so thrilled by it and then so defeated because they knew it was all just fantasy in the end and they could not deal with that. Very sad…

One trend that seems to be outlasting others is the Anime thing, my son is really into this right now along with Warhammer – both cost me a packet to finance but the advantages are that they encourage creativity and imagination, I don’t understand much of it but I try to read up so that at least I can discuss characters and that sort of thing with him. It keeps me in touch with his world so to speak – here’s something  though that should excite your anime-devotee…a toolbar that can transform them into their own anime character…you Anime Yourself!

animegirl

Quite simply you go to the Zwinky website where you download the toolbar and then create your own little character out of the selections available. You can download your character to Facebook and Twitter so you can share your new ‘you’ with all your friends.

This article was sponsored by Anime Yourself.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

It has not been a good week for children…

Posted by Wendy on February 19, 2010 No comments

The past week, or ten days to be more exact, have not been particularly good days in terms of child welfare in the UK. A total of four small children have all died from being harmed in one way or another – and all at the hands of a parent.

We had the little girl, Alia Ahmad Jama, 3, who was killed by ingesting acid forcibly – her mother has been charged with her murder. Then the heart-wrenching case of yet another child killed in an attempted murder-suicide by a father; five year old Gabrielle Grady (below) and her brother Ryan were pulled from the car after their father had driven it into the river Avon. Ryan had been rescued in time but Gabrielle took longer – she held on but died a couple of days later. The father, Chris Grady, has been charged with 2 counts of attempted murder.

gabriellegrady

Another little girl 2 year old Jasmine Bellfield, has been found dead in her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire today. The mother has been charged with her murder. This place was made infamous as it was the home of Shannon Matthews, who was abducted by her mother and her relative.

And poor little Jackson Taylor, nine, whose own brother stabbed him to death last night. His eighteen year old sister was also attacked  while trying to protect him but survived. Jackson is said to be from a very dysfunctional family whose house was often visited by police.

Just another week in Great Britain…

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.