Flat Land Andy's Goffer

I spoke to a friend today who told me that her 10yr old son, who is a close friend of Little mans and who spends a lot of time with us as a family(holidays included), had had his head smashed against a fence twice, punched in the face and then kicked in the stomach. He, being a strong boy both physically and emotionally, actually dealt with it very well and laughed at his attacker and ran away. His attacker is also 10 and has been in the same class at school with her son since they started school. I know both boys very well as my little man also used to go to the same school and was in the same class until very recently when he changed schools for the final year (Yr6) It then transpired that my friend received a phone call from another child telling her what had happened and that her son had run from the scene, but that the other boy was looking for him and he had a knife. She obviously went out looking for her son, but met up with the other boy before catching up with her son. I think she handled it better than I would have done in the circumstances and basically told the boy that if he had problems with her son, that fighting was not the answer and to calm down and sorting out was the best way to go. The following day she had a word with the teacher of the boys, basically just advising that there had been a problem, she was not sure what had caused it, but she would appreciate it if they could keep their eyes open for anything and keep them apart for a short while until they had managed to sort themselves out. It then transpires that the "attacker" was suspended for a week because he had taken the knife into school that day, for what reason we are unsure but that he had taken it in intentionally and he had said that he was going to "hurt" someone. This child is 10. What on earth is going on! My little mans friend is okay about it all, but I am not so sure that I feel that calm about it and our family were not involved in it. I'm just in shock to be honest that a child of 10 could do this?!?

Lots of things have happened since my last blog. We eventually decided on the 3 choices for little mans secondary school, not withstanding a lot of stress and trying to fight our way through the mindfield of which school would be best for him as an individual. <_< We wont be told until 1.3.07 which school he has been allocated by the LEA, but regardless I hope that the 3 choices are the "best" ones for him. He did so very very well in his 11+ that the choice was made slightly harder as it was obvious that we needed to make sure they were going to stretch him, but he is such a deep child that we needed to make sure that it also had the right pastoral care for him. As we have moved we are having to change GP's surgery and I hate having to go through the family history of cancer, my medical history including the cancer, the genetics testing etc etc. Some doctors just look at you so matter of fact as though it is absolutely normal and others seem to understand the pressure that nursing all of your family members until their deaths of cancer and having cancer yourself can have on you. Still waiting our genetic results, believe it ir not. It's only 3 years now! We did receive a letter from the hospital saying that we could pay $3000.00 to have them tested in the USA nad we would have the results in 3 months! :unsure: Is anyone else out there into Strictly come dancing. I have to say I am hooked, especially after the fireworks last week! It is complete escapisam for me from the stress of work, things have been so difficult that I needed to find something that I could switch off with. Little man is on steriods at the moment as he had a bad asthma attack on Friday 27.10.06 and despite nebulisers and inhalers at least 4 times a day, he was still struggling a little. Amazing isn't it. He has walked 290 miles, climbed the 3 peaks in 22 hours, almost weekly swims 1000 metres and nothing..... no problems at all. He stay's at a friends for the night and they land up having to take him to hospital! Well at least he is on the mend now. I have to say I was really really worried about him , but as always he has bounced back as quick as he became ill.

We actually got little mans official pass mark today for his 11+. The required mark to reach was 220 and needless to say when we were told that his was "phenominal in comparison to his peers" I was obviously proud. :unsure: Having phoned the grammar school where he actually sat the exam and got his mark I wasn;t just proud I was ABSOLUTLEY BLOWN AWAY! I have always known that he had the potential to do well, but this was "phenominal" as described by his new headmaster. We have decided not to tell him what his actual score was just that he has done VERY WELL <_<

Sorry to hear this sad news. Hope you are ok

Well we have just come back from our favourite chinese restaurant. Little mans Nanny and Great Nanny and Uncle Chris came with us. It was his nannies birthday on 12th so we had booked the restaurant initially for that, but also for the fact that we were expecting to get Little Mans 11+ results today and we were hoping that he would have passed. Well I am not sure who was on more tender hooks waiting for the postman this morning, me, Andy or Little Man. We received a phone call first thing this morning, from one of Little Mans friends. His Mum was absolutely beside herself with pride and decided that she could phone and tell us he had passed without worrying about whether we had received our results or not because she was absolutely sure in her own mind that our Little Man would have passed! I wish we had had the same confidence. We eventually received our post this morning at about 10:30am, over 2 hours earlier than last week thank goodness, and despite the letter being addressed to Andy and I we obvioulsy allowed Little Man to open it. Needless to say he PASSED!!!!! <_< :unsure: We are so very very proud of him and are going to treat him to something nice. I know it is only an exam, but what the heck I am allowed to be proud. This exam was not easy.

I have been suffering with a bad cold for a while now and am feeling somewhat under the weather. Can't taste, smell or hear anything and I am still on a no fat diet because of the pancreatitis and the pain that I get if I eat anything remotely fatty. :lol: Have been on this low fat diet now for 7 months and I cant see the end in site. At one point I couldn't tolerate too much sugar either because my pancreas was struggling to control my insulin levels. Have you ever tried shopping for "treats" with no fat or sugar in them? Hmm Little man is trying my patience as well because he wants more independence, but I am not prepared to allow him to go up to the park on his own for example. It's mainly a safety thing, but it is causing real tension between us as he sees all of his classmates being allowed to do these type of things. We are supposed to get his 11+ results next weekend(14th) so we are still doing the rounds of school hunting. I never realised that choosing a secondary school could be so stressful. :o The headmaster of his new school spoke to me the other day and said that although Little Man had only been with them two weeks it was very evident that he processed information differently to any of the other children and he was "not a normal boy" :lol: I wasn't sure how to respond to this and am making a note of things ready to tackle him with them. He did say that he would get Little Man's file photocopied for me to help me with some information in trying to choose the correct secondary school for him. Anyway we'll just have to wait and see.......................

Can't believe it has been so long since my last entry. I have been reading everyone elses blogs but have not done anything on my own. :o Really this is just a quick note to say that Little Man has finished his 11+ examinations and now we can all relax a little while. He has changed Primary schools as well and started at the local primary school on 6.9.06, so its all change! Quite stressful as I am not sure that changing for the final year of Primary school was a good idea, but he seems to be ok and within 3 days of being there gained a school award for being an "absolute asset to the school". Time will tell and we will have to wait and see what parents evening brings. I am going to the PTA meeting tonight as I am a firm believer of helping the school that my child attends. We went to a family wedding on 15.7.06, Sport Relief day. The bride is a triatholon athelete and the groom rows, so we half expected then to run the mile for Sports Relief to the church, but alas it was all very "normal" however I have to say it was a beautiful wedding and absolutely lovely. Everything was perfect. :lol: Little man made a friend, the bridesmaid and since 15.7.06 they have phoned each other on a regular basis, written to one another and texted one another. During the summer holidays we picked her up twice so that they could spend the day together doing something that they wanted to(Bowling, pizza, Big Sky etc etc). On 2 other occasions we all went out for a meal and we took her out for the day on another occasion on a Sunday. She has also been here for a weekend and had a sleep over and they are now planning a trip to Woburn Safari park this month to celebrate the end of their 11+ exams! Isn't young love special. . . . . . . only joking they have just hit it off and have become friends. She also invited him to her brothers christening and we spent the day with her family and they went up the park aswell. When I turned to see where they were and what they were doing, they were both lying down on the roundabout, whilst it was going round, looking up at the clouds in the sky! The funniest part was the fact that Little Man was embarrased to ask when he initially wanted to phone her and asked if I could speak to her Mum first as he didn't think it was polite if he just phoned and asked to speak to Danielle . He said that it would be better if he got her Mums permission first and then her Mum would know who she was talking to, that it was safe and that he was being sensible in asking for permission first. :lol: Anyway got to go. Still waiting Genetic testing results. Should be December now.

Moving is always stressful, but I felt that this one for me was more stressful because of the added importance of the impact on little mans secondary school choices, so I understand how you feel with little fellas school, but I am sure everything will be ok in the end. It will just need you to be strong and organised whihc I know you are so don't stress too much

Well he did it! But what I am more proud of is how he did it. Little man was just so focused on what he had set in his own mind was required of him to complete this challenge. His schedule was as follows: 5 hours to climb Ben Nevis, 4 for Scarfell Pike and 5 for Snowdon with 10 hours drive time. Little Man climbed Ben Nevis in 4hrs 41 mins & 24secs, he came down and stretched off his muscles( without be told to), got in the car, took his boots and socks off, ate a pot noodle and some other snacky bits, had a drink and then it was like he just pressed a button and he went to sleep. At 3am I woke him and I thought I was going to get "Oh just a view more minutes mum" but nothing of the sort. He just sat up, asked where we were and how much longer before we got to Scarfell Pike so that he knew how long he had to have something else to eat and drink and check that his back pack was ok for the next mountain. We arrived at Scarfell Pike, he got out of the car, stretched and warmed up his muscles and was off! He climbed this mountain in 3hrs 19 mins & 30 secs and then went through exactly the same routine again when he got back to the car, with no prompting or questions. I woke him at 11am when were near Snowdon and he did exactly the same, without any hesitation, questions or moans and climbed in 3hrs 47 mins & 15secs making a total challenge time of 22 hrs 3 mins & 30 secs as this drive time was 10hrs 15 mins 21 secs. I am just amazed at the focus he showed and the fact that without any input from us he knew exactly what he needed to do and when. If he can show this mind set and attitude as he matures and on into his career then I am sure he will achieve whatever it is he wants. I just cannot believe that my little man could be so convincingly "grown up". I asked him if he had any thoughts about what his next challenge might be and he said either the 4 peaks in 48hrs, but he would love to do Kilimanjaro. All I can say is WOW and I don't care if I sound like the over proud Mum because I am and if you had been there I am sure you would understand why.

Little Man has been in training for his 3 Peaks challenge and climbed Snowdon twice at Easter and Scarfell Pike on 28.5.06. This week it is all preparation for his Carbohydrate intake, sleep and general relaxation and retaining as much energy as possible. He his also sitting his practice 11+ exams and in general has an awful lot on. I am really concerned that the sponsorship for the 3 peaks is basically non existent and I am annoyed that people are just so complaicent about his efforts. I don't know how to articulate how big a challenge this is and therefore that he should be recognised for his efforts for other families. The local paper ran a story on 2.6.06 and Adam went into BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on 3.6.06 and did a live interview, but so far we have only had 6 hits on the website, no emails of encouragement or acknowledgement and no sponsorship. I really don't know what else to do. Maybe if people had lost all of their family to this disease and had the disease themselves and had had to use the services of Macmillan Cancer Relief to be able to cope with caring and supporting dying family members or for your own support and understanding of the effects and consequences of the disease ,then maybe they would appreciate why Adam is doing what he is doing. It's not as though he is just doing a sponsored silence or something, not that I think any kind of sponsorhip event or support of any charity is unworthy, it is just that he is undertaking another enormous challenge as he hopes that this would hilite the charity more because of the enormity of his challenges, but this does not seem to be working. Anyway enough of my moaning, its just that I don't wnat him to be disappointed and his confidence and enthusiasm knocked.

On she's so gorgeous Katie, anything is worth putting upwith for that.

A little while since my last blog and I am not sure I can remember everything that has happened, but the most recent and disruptive is that on Friday 5.5.06 I received a phone call from an estate agents asking when they could come and take photographs and measurements as the landlord was selling the house. The letting agents had not advised us and to be honest I was a little annoyed! We have been here 5 years and they didn't even have the decency to tell us! It was the estate agents that told us they had it on their records that we had to be out by 4th July. Consequently both I and the estate agents tried to get some response from the lettings agent and eventually, after numerous phone calls and emails, I received a phone call 5 hours after the estate agents phone call, confirming that we have to be out by 4.7.06?!? Considering the fact that little man has had exams this week and next I didin't want to tell him until these were over because he is quite sensitive about these things, but hubby told him and so I have had the constant round of questions about where we are going, why and when. Little man also has his prcatice 11+ papers in June and climbing the 3 peaks in 24hrs on 10.6.06. We appear to have found another house which we viewed on 11.5.06,(the only one we looked at) just waiting for confirmation of a date to move in and the exit inventory/exit inspection/deposit transfer etc etc. The house is in a nice area, walking distance of the local primary and secondary schools, the local shops and swimming pool, but it is in another county, near hubby's work, but it could be a problem with Little Mans school. Hubby and Little Man have both said it would be easier if he changes school for his final year at Primary school, but I am concerned that all of this change will be too much too close together as he would start in the 6th year on 6.9.06, have to sit his 11+ exams on 9.9.06 and 16.9.06 whilst settling into a new school with no friends. Also he will then have to sit his most important SATS in May 2007 only having been at the school a few months and then have to change schools again. Little Man finds it hard to form relationships with children his own age and after 6 years(incl reception class) at his current school has only just formed a couple of good friendships with 2 boys. Hubby believs that Little Man is good whenyou give him a challenge, which I don't dispute if it is "climb that in 4housr" or "do that for your cubs badge" but I am not so sure about this sort of challenge. I just want to make sure that we make the right decision with regard to Little Man. Little Man is not recognised as having Aspergers Syndrome, but it is believed that if I got a formal "diagnosis" that he does show these tendancies and that it is a possibility. Amongst all this I am waiting for important test results regarding cancer and awaiting dates for 2 major operations. I really could do without having to move from a large 3 bedroom house to a house that would fit into my current home, twice over but hey ho here we go!

great start to the day clear skies, overnight low 2.4C, as the day progressed it slowly clouded over, day time high 22.6C, wind fresh breeze, temp now 13.8C looks like rain.

Got home at 5.45pm yesterday after spending the weekend in Wales where little man and hubby climbed Snowdon on Saturday and Sunday as a training excercise for the 3 peaks challenge. On Saturday they began climbing at 1.15pm and reached the summit at 3.45pm and had descended by 5.25pm a total of 4hrs 10mins accent and descent. This was partially up the watkins path and then along the ridge with a descent down the path next to the railway. The summit was extremely busy and they had no opportunity to take a photo at the triangulation point, but did take one near the cafe at the top( which wasn't open). On the descent they found a cafe open half way down and treated themselves to some chocolate. Both were really impressed with this days walking and pleased that they had completed such a difficult route up in good time. It was a beautiful day but both had got quite hot and sweaty and so I had to make sure that they took enough fluids on board otherwise they would struggle on the next days climb, being dehydrated. On Sunday they began at 7.46am and descended at 12.06pm a total of 4hrs 20minutes. This was along the miners track at Llanberis. Both were disappointed with this effort but considering that they had to keep stopping to take waterproofs on and off etc and the conditions were changeable, it wasn't that bad to be honest. They started in cloud, the conditions got steadily worse and then on the descent the sun came out, so they had a bit of everything. There was only 3 other people at te summit so this time they had the opportunity to take a photo at the summit. Little Man held up well but I need to force more high energy food into him for the 3 peaks as I am concerned that on the second days climbing he said he felt that he had no energy. Hubby was fine except for the fact that he had a crease in the tongue of his boot and this caused some discomfort in his foot on the descent. Also after this second climb he was ok walking up hill but struggled down hill, he has said that he has got to loose some weight and get fitter because he doesn't want to struggle. The journey home led to an argument about navigation as the journey there had so this is something that I need to address because if I am driving between the summits I need to ensure that I have a defined and clear route to each mountain. Anyway now today I have a couple of Little Man's friends here and I am trying to catch up on all the washing form the weekend. The campsite was ok, we had stayed there before but again it begs the fact that we need to amke sure that we have accommodation at the start and end of the 3 peaks challenge so that we can all be well rested before the start of the challenge and have somewhere comfortable to collapse afterwards.

lovely start to the day, overnight low 2.1, wind has been increasing all day now moderate breeze, temp 14.8C but feels a lot colder in the wind, sunny with light cloud.