Recent statements by the Tory leader David Cameron, have suggested the Labour Party has brought us into a social as well as economic reces
sion. He is recorded as using certain high profile crimes such as the recent case in Doncaster involving two young boys seriously assaulting two other children and the Baby Peter case, amongst others, as examples of how social breakdown is occurring in the UK. Both the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats have criticized this. One of the main messages in the Tory election campaign has been getting back to supporting the family unit, marriage and correcting the wrongs of the justice system.
Do we think that maybe Mr Cameron has went too far in his campaign to emphasize the importance of ’social values’ and ’strengthening families’, by using individual crimes as evidence for social breakdown? It may seem a little naive, but do horrific crimes not happen every day all over the country, regardless of who is in government? I do not question the importance of good policies and a strong government, but we need to put that in perspective. If I learn’t anything from my Gender Studies Course (yes, it was the minor part of my degree), it is that legislation doesn’t change people or their attitudes. I would go further and say that in my personal opinion nothing will change a person deep down except the saving power of The Lord Jesus Christ, but that’s a topic for a different blog post.
Anyway, my point is I think he has made a big mistake because first of all, every other party is going to criticize him for saying it. As I may have mentioned before, ‘Throwing mud at other people is good way to make yourself look cleaner’ (Its very sad that I’m using this as if its a proper quote - I made it up myself lol). Secondly, the upstanding part of the British electorate could easily be offended because he has basically said that the whole of the UK has sunk into social decline, based on a few horrific crimes. Thirdly, the more cynical part of the British electorate will accuse him of bad political games, particularly when he is using some very sensitive and heartbreaking crimes as examples of the breakdown he so earnestly seeks to portray. Finally, I think his repetitive pattern of dragging up everything that is bad about the current situation we live in and blaming it on Labour before he starts the lecture on how the Conquering Conservative Party will turn the country around and put it back on the path of the rainbow towards the pot of gold, is really annoying!
I’m glad I don’t have to decide between the Lab, Tory, or Lib Dem Parties, because I am just as cynical about them all. While they all have the potential to run a successful government, the hypocrisy and corruption within all of them far outweighs any good they may do in the future.
I was watching a daytime talk show last week, where they were discussing the changes children make to our lifestyles. One mum said, ‘our children should fit into our lifestyle, rather than us changing our lifestyle to revolve round them’. This is an interesting concept. When we have a baby, it goes without saying that life is never the same again, but to what extent does it really change? Is it possible to just slot your child into your lifestyle without making major adjustments?
Personally, we have made some major adjustments, but we don’t mind. Not having as much freedom to go where you like, when you like, is a big change. From experience we have learned that there is no such thing as just jumping in the car with the baby in the back to go shopping. You have to plan the time of day you go, depending on when the baby will be eating and napping. You have to pack a bag with all the things you could possibly need, which is quite a lot of stuff. Going out for a meal can seem pointless because if the baby decides it wants attention, then one of you will be eating with one hand, which isn’t the nicest way to enjoy a meal out. I really don’t understand how a parent could just ‘fit their child into their lifestyle’. They should really share their secret with the rest of us! Actually, on second thought, I wouldn’t want to know, I’m loving life just as it is now 
I found it interesting to read that there is a loophole in the law, which permits the smacking of children in schools that are classified as ‘less that part-time’, that is less than 12.5 hours a week. Given that smacking is banned in all other forms of education, it will probably not be long before this loophole in the law in corrected. But it did get me thinking about the way in which discipline has changed in education over the years. Parents or those with parental responsibility are (by law) permitted to give a ‘mild smack’ to their child. I’m sure at some point in the future this will also be changed, but I was wondering, how important was or is smacking now in terms of discipline?
Theologically, I believe that there are references in the bible to smacking children, as a form of discipline. Sadly, as with many things in our society, sin has distorted this, with many people using it as a justification for outright abuse and assault on children. Personally, smacking would be a part of the way I would discipline my child, but not the main way or the primary way, and certainly not in an abusive or sinful way. We will all have different opinions on this, and as I have said many times before, we will all have different ways of raising our children, so I would never seek to push my opinion as the truth, it is merely my way of doing things, and I respect your way if it is different.
However, in light of this new loophole in the law, I cant help but wonder whether schools benefited from the right teachers had to smack children? more…
Just to back up a point I made in an earlier post, I got Andrew to take a photo of Tamar and I having lunch in a local cafe this week. It may surprise you to know that I am feeding Tamar! Yes it may look like she’s sleeping or being cuddled, but she is in fact having her lunch too! Proving the point that breastfeeding can be extremely discrete and most people don’t even notice it happening.
After an evening of Bridal shopping with my sister who is getting married next year, I’m feeling all reminiscent! Although we have been married for 18 months, and now have a baby, it is all still quite fresh in the memory. The preparation seems to take over your life for about a year before wedding, with a roller-coaster of emotions. One minute you are so excited, can’t get off the internet looking for ideas, and just bore everyone around you with wedding plans. The next day your stressing over money and re-calculating over and over again. I would say to anyone planning a wedding, try your best to enjoy the preparations, you only get married once (hopefully) and you need to make memories of it all, rather than being overwhelmed and not enjoying it. Here’s a few tips
- When booking a service or buying a product for the wedding, ALWAYS barter with the company. You may feel shy about it but trust me, if you do it right, you will save a fortune! I’m not exaggerating.
- Learn from other people. Of course all the decisions about your wedding should be your personal choice, but don’t be afraid to ask other married couples what they would do differently, or what they would change about their big day.
- Both of you can’t be in control of everything. What I mean is, some things are better left to be organized by one person. Such as, the woman takes care of dresses, flowers, accessories etc. But the man is in charge of entertainment. (These are just examples) When I say ‘ in charge’ I mean, once you both decide what you want, only one person contacts the necessary people, arranges details with them, and pays them. If the two of you are trying to communicate with outside agencies and making arrangements it only adds more confusion.
- Prioritize what is most important to both of you. This may be that you want a really nice honeymoon, or really high quality wedding rings. This will determine how much money you spend on different parts of the big day. So for example if you both aren’t too fussy about flowers, you can just have a small amount of them, at a small cost, and spend more money on something special.
- Generally speaking, if you can do or make something yourself, it will always be cheaper. By this I mean, the stationary, the flowers, the favours, the cake etc. Even if you don’t personally do all these things, you should ask around family and close friends to see if there is a reliable person you could ask to help you, who has experience in these areas.
- Make sure everyone in the bridal party knows exactly what should be happening and when throughout the big day. You could go over this with everyone at the rehearsal, or even type it out for everyone to read over before the wedding.
I know that Iris Robinson had a lot of publicity last year over her comments about homosexuality and while many of us agree with her, there was a lot of opposition to her standpoint. As is the case with moral issues, there are always differences of opinion (which is allowed – we all have a free will to make our choices, some chose the The Way, The Truth and The Life, others don’t). In light of the events revealed this week, there have been many accusations that she is a hypocrite because she had opinion on homosexuality while she was involved in adulterous behavior herself. It is a fact that adultery is breaking God’s law, as outlined in the ten commandments. As a Christian, I do not judge IR for her actions, but I recognize it was sinful and I believe she needs to repent to the Lord, and receive forgiveness. However, this does not mean that all other opinions she expressed, based on her religious beliefs, were wrong! That would be like me saying because I acted disrespectfully to my parents as a child, that I have no right to teach my child to be respectful to me!
More importantly, why are people judging her as a Christian? So much of what I’ve been reading online has focused on her faith rather than her shortcomings as a politician. Honestly, it is none of our business whether God has forgiven IR or not. There are already blog posts reporting how pastors and ministers are confirming that IR will find forgiveness from God, and this true, but what on earth has it got to do with the electorate or the media?! Should we not be looking at the situation from the viewpoint that she was elected to public office and acted deceitfully with her finances? Is it not more of an issues that our First Minister may have turned a blind eye to this and not fulfilled his lawful duty to report it? Above all, why is there not an almighty concern for the consequences of this on the stability of our government?! This should be the main concern, not how IR stands before God, that is her business, hers alone.
The information revealed on BBC Spotlight yesterday evening, has given us a lot to think about. As I imagined, the sympathy for Peter Robinson has been short-lived. I predict that there will be a lot of tension within the DUP until Peter Robinson resigns. No matter what the findings of a private inquiry will be, there is no way he can come through this scandal and expect to maintain the support of his party or the electorate. Personal problems aside, the fact that he didn’t make known the inappropriate financial situation his wife was involved in, is unacceptable. Think of it this way, if Mr Robinson had known that a member of another party (TUV, UUP, SDLP or SF) had acted the same as Iris and not declared this money, do you think he would have been as silent? Of course this is hypothetical and we will never know the answer, but it is food for thought. Should Peter’s loyalty to this wife be more important than his loyalty to the position of office that he holds and the powers that govern it?
On UTV news this evening, Prof. Rick Walford (QUB – one of my old lecturers, very smart gentleman) made the point that other parties will have a field day with this story. We must be careful not to be sucked into the campaign that has already begun to unfold from the other parties. Throwing mud at other people is always a good way to make yourself look cleaner. It would be easy to give our vote to another party or not bother voting at all because we feel even more frustrated with the politics of our country. However, we need to remember that it is the individual candidates that we vote for, and we should want to vote in the people that will work most effectively for us. Although they are a member of a party, they are individuals.
I am truly saddened by this whole mess, it is only going to have a damaging effect on our already fragile devolved government.
The political news in Northern Ireland today, has revolved around a public statement by the First Minister, Peter Robinson. He regrettably announced that his wife had had an affair, consequent depression and had made a suicide attempt in March 2009. For those who watched Mr Robinson make this statement, it was a very moving and emotional couple of minutes, where the viewer could really have sympathy for the man. It was an obvious reminder that no matter what we see of people in their professional capacity, they are still human beings who have normal problems like everyone else.
As easy as it would be to jump on the high horse and judge Iris Robinson for her actions, we would all do well to remember the verse in Matthew 7v5 which says “Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then thou shalt see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brothers eye”. Although many of us have never committed adultery, we should remember that we are not without sin. It is easy to cast the first stone. We may think that holding a position of public office carries some responsibility to set a good example, and maybe that is true, but we cannot judge.
The honesty and humility shown by the Robinsons deserves some credit. There aren’t many politicians who would honestly admit what had happened. Despite their honesty, there is no doubt that it will cause problems for Peter Robinson in the political sphere. I know that the official party line is sympathy and support for Mr Robinson, but in reality we know that this won’t last long. Elections being held this year and deep down no-one in the party wants the Robinsons marital problems to cost votes! Sympathy is all well and good in a perfect world, but we are all too aware that politics doesn’t live in a perfect world and scandal equates to bad press, and bad press equates to losing votes and public support.
No doubt the media will have a field day exploiting this story for a while yet.
We always want the best for our children. Like many new mums, from the day I found out I was expecting a baby, I was searching baby websites reading about the development in the womb, buying books on what to eat and what not to eat while pregnant. I made lists of things we needed to buy and we went to Parentcraft classes in the hospital. Preparing for the arrival of your baby is an exciting but also a daunting time. One of the main pieces of advice I was given was that breastfeeding was the best source of nutrients for my baby.
Scientific fact shows that breastfeeding protects a baby from many illnesses and also decreases the mothers risk of contracting certain cancers. The evidence for this is clear and cannot be argued against. So why do statistics show that a very small percentage of babies are breastfeed in UK? In comparison to many other European countries, we should be ashamed!
The Office for National Statistics performs its Infant Feeding survey every five years. In 2008, the figures for the survey in 2005 were published. Although the data is now a little dated, it gives us a general picture of the situation and we can assume that the statistics won’t have changed dramatically since then. They recorded “only 35 per cent of UK babies are being exclusively breastfed at one week, 21 per cent at six weeks, 7 per cent at four months and 3 per cent at five months”.
As a breastfeeding mother, I feel that the reason for these low figures can be found in societal attitudes towards breastfeeding. I believe that the corrupt and sinful way in which a woman’s body is objectified in the media and through other sources, has distorted and sidelined the original intention of a woman being formed in the way she is. The ability to give birth and being able to feed her baby are the reason that women have a different type of body to that of men, this is how God created us. I think that if more people in society were to remember this, then there would be a much greater acceptance of breastfeeding rather than a stigma attached to it.
Although it is a very natural thing, we should never assume that this makes it easy! Learning how to breastfeed is one of the most difficult challenges for new mums, which is exactly why we should be as supportive as possible! There should not be a fear of going out in public just because we worry that the baby may get hungry. A baby has just as much right to eat as everyone else does and a mother quickly learns how to do it discretely so as to save the embarrassment of others. By talking about it and making it a normal part of having a baby, we are making it easier for mothers to feel comfortable about doing it in public.
The World Cancer Research Fund lists breastfeeding as a PREVENTION for breast cancer. Imagine how many cases of breast cancer could be avoided if every baby in Northern Ireland were to be breastfed up to six months? We all have a responsibility to make this happen and it is within our power. Its all about our attitudes. Are we encouraging or judgmental? Accepting or narrow-minded? Each one of us needs to make a choice, and make a stand. Don’t sit on the fence.
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