I’ve been following the news reports on the cot death convictions fiasco for a while now but have felt reluctant to comment on it. What possible insight can I possibly have on these women’s pain? I have never lost a baby or even suffered a miscarriage, let alone been accused of being a murderer to boot.

The story on the Today programme this morning was heartbreaking though and brings up a distressing moral dilemma. It was an interview with a woman whose baby was removed from her at birth over fears that she had suffocated her first child. At the time of the court case, there were seven expert witnesses brought in to give evidence and only two were of the opinion that she was a danger to her child, yet these two witnesses were given more weight by the judge and the baby was taken into care.

Now the little girl is four years old and the mother is calling for a review in the case. But what happens next? As the girl’s mother herself said, her daughter doesn’t know her as “Mummy” – it would be horribly traumatic for the little girl to be taken away from her “parents” (who are currently in the process of adopting her) and yet what will be the emotional impact when she finds out when she is older that she was removed unnecessarily from the care of her natural mother? And what of the natural mother’s anguish in the meantime?

I don’t know what the “right” solution is – I’m not sure there is one. However, there is no escaping the fact that hundreds upon hundreds of lives have been ruined on the basis of unscientific testimony.

I don’t think any of us not directly involved can ever truly appreciate how deep that pain really is.

The language learning of a toddler never ceases to amaze me. Akra Jr’s conversational abilities comes on in leaps and bounds each week. This weekend we were discussing if Daddy fell off the ladder (he was decorating) and got broken, would we have to throw him in the bin? In the end, Akra Jr decided not, as Daddy would get dirty in the bin.

What amazes me most though, is his vocabulary and pronunciation. He has a growing collection of plastic dinosaurs and he can pretty much name each one. I swear that he can pronounce “Styracosaurus” and “Parasaurolophus” better than I can (I stumble over the words every time!) Also, thanks to Dora the Explorer he can now count to four in Spanish.

And yet, no matter how much we try to correct him, this linguistic marvel still thinks Father Christmas’ sleigh is pulled by a red-nosed radiator…

Well, the site made me giggle anyway.

I’ve been a silly girl… I’ve managed to slice a big chunk out of the top of my thumb while peeling potatoes. Don’t worry, I was very careful and the roast tatties will not have a pink tinge at all. The only pink tinge present is the increasingly dog-eared plaster clinging to my thumb against all odds.

Why oh why have they not managed to invent a plaster that fits properly on a finger of thumb? Of course, I know that by posting this, I’m now going to get a flood of comments with links to ingenious plaster manufacturers…

I had to laugh at this latest news report about ‘Couch Potato’ Toddlers especially when for the last couple of days I’ve been trying to take a picture of Akra Jr running for this week’s Photo Friday theme of “Motion” – he’s too fast for me.

I don’t know any lazy toddlers at all – and I meet a fair few during the week. Okay, they may watch more television than they ought to during the day (I’m as guilty of that as many parents, I’m sure) – but that’s definitely not a stationary activity, at least not in this household. Dancing around, following the actions on Dora the Explorer, running upstairs to get his Bob the Builder toys so he can copy the story, just getting up and running for the hell of it… I really don’t know where Akra Jr gets his energy from (but he certainly didn’t inherit it from his parents!!)

Where on earth did these scientists get these sedentary children FROM?! I think for many parents of toddlers, if their child sat *still* for 20-25 minutes a day then they’d assume they were going down with something – the idea that they’re only getting 20-25 minutes a day of moderate exercise seems completely implausible.

I wonder what they put in that stuff they gave the kids to drink to measure their activity levels… and if it’s available over the counter… *grin*.

We have a great Neighbourhood Watch system around here. I know this because he’s 2.5 years old and lives with us. Yes, Akra Jr is an avid watcher out of windows. We spent this morning standing on the windowsill (okay, okay, I didn’t fit, I was too big … he stood on the windowsill, I cuddled him there so he didn’t fall) watching out for the bin men to take our rubbish away.

Full marks to Worcestershire Refuse Services too – they all grin and wave at him when they see him (I imagine that Akra Jr is not the only toddler to be fascinated by the lorries and quite enjoy the fame and adoration). Not everyone is as generous with a child’s undivided attention.

Akra Jr doesn’t do this with me, but apparently when Daddy takes him to the supermarket, Akra Jr greets everyone he walks past with a cheery “hello” and a smile. Considering it’s a major store, that’s a fair few people. Unfortunately, only a few smile and say hello back. Such a shame – it’s not as it 2 seconds out of their time is going to kill them, and it really makes a small child’s day.

Akra Jr is certainly looking forward to next week’s rubbish collection…

It’s been a tough few days. Akra Jr has had a cold – not a particularly nasty one, but it’s made him very grumpy and whiny which drags everyone down very quickly. The sort of grumpiness which means he throws a strop because Daddy doesn’t get breakfast ready quickly enough, tears come as he decides he doesn’t want it when it finally gets there, and then a major tantrum ensues when the breakfast is removed as he didn’t want any of it.

Today, it took a friend, and one of the staff to hold him down after Parent & Toddler Group so I could strap him in his pushchair – this was following a strop because he wanted to go home. Whatever I do I can’t really win.

One of those sort of weeks.

I’m feeling permanently exhausted and strung out. I can pretty much hold together, be cheerful and interactive with the occasional reliance of Cbeebies to get through to Akra getting home, but by the evenings I’m so lethargic I can’t even be bothered to veg out.

What’s the solution? Comfort Food. It’s that sort of time of year, isn’t it? The nights still draw in early, it’s wet and dismal outside… you need a little bit of a boost. I’ve been in a bit of a Nigella Lawson mood at the moment, dipping into The Domestic Goddess book to drool over the pictures and even occasionally cook something. The lemon-raspberry muffins were particularly yummy.

Tonight, I am going to try a Nigel Slater recipe from this month’s Sainsbury’s magazine. I’m probably completely insane, considering Akra Jr’s whinginess at the moment, as it’s going to take a good hour and a bit to prepare and cook, but the pictures just became too tempting: parsnip cakes with a rich onion gravy. I’ll let you know just how delicious it was later… if I have any energy left.

Verdict:Onion gravy to die for. Parsnip cakes… hmm… came out a mixed consistency (I obviously didn’t make them well), were way too faffy to make and after two mouthfuls were a bit boring. Would make the onion gravy again but accompany it with good old bangers and mash!

… I’d gone through all possible birth options, I find this. Warning, probably not a great site to visit if you’re either eating something or even slightly squeamish.

*shudder*

Okay… a hypothetical tech query.

Just supposing someone non-net savvy went on an extended holiday (I won’t say who in case she ever finds this blog and I get into a lot of trouble!!). And just supposing that someone somehow managed to completely mess things up and send you 63 copies of an email message. Hypothetically speaking, your spamfilter (Mailwasher) may inform you that said sender was now blacklisted by Spamcop’s List. Does this mean:

a) She also managed to send it to lots of other people and one of those people reported it to Spamcop?
b) She actually sent a lot more than 63 but somewhere along the relays noticed and stopped them, marking her as a spammer in the process?
c) She won’t have her freeserve account left by the end of the week?
d) All of the above?

*shakes head in complete disbelief and wonders how someone could get email so tragically wrong*

No, I haven’t forgotten all about this and my promise to get it into printed format for souvenir copies. It’s just taking rather longer than I expected to get it all sorted out!

I had a faff around today getting it into a proper paperback 5″ by 8″ format rather than the standard Word document. It’s a very odd feeling. When it was just 25 separate chapters in individual word documents it didn’t feel that substantial. Now it’s one document that looks like a proper paperback and is 226 pages long, I feel like I actually wrote a proper book now!