Spongebob Squarepants or Al Jazeera?

It's so amazing the way a child takes a stand and "dictates" the control of "television programming" in the home. My 2 daughters, Abigail (6 yrs old) and Miranda (2.5 yrs old), appreciate the fact that, though they can operate the TV remote control themselves, they will still ask either their mum or myself to change the channel for them, to whichever they want...

The norm these days (well, actually has been for the past couple of months) is that the girls get to watch their cartoon channels for the greater part of the day, and then enter Miriam and I at about 5 or 6pm- for the series/entertainment/reality/news channels etc...Nonetheless, we still do come in time and again mid-way thru' the children's programming, to catch a bit of mid-day news or a brief check on the different channels.

One such "programming" moment was in progress last Saturday evening- I thought I was doing the girls a favour- Abigail was off nearby playing with her dolls; Miranda was hanging with me though apparently not into cartoons at that time. To my surprise and utter astonishment, Miranda literally "directed" me to remove Spongebob Squarepants, and instead select "Al Jeera" (a.k.a Al Jazeera)....thank God the news item was not showing some gruel scene of an accident etc...

So, now I think, perhaps my girls will grow more interested in following news than myself at that age!! And yet, we grown ups can still watch a cartoon or two, and share a laugh.

Xmas '11 Hols and then back to work...

Wow, for the first time in almost 2 years I was able to secure leave and actually enjoy the Xmas holiday with my family. For the job role that I hold, I have to provide consistent and continual financial, administrative and logistical support to clients running various health programs. 2011 registered in my books to be the most hectic of work years to date, with so many changes happening- both within and away from the work place. I just couldn't afford to "pretend" to stay in office thru' Xmas, otherwise it would mean "Burn-out"!

Thank God, I was able to take off 5 paternity days, early Dec.11, following the birth of my cute baby son, after which I resumed work and delayed-not in applying for annual leave thru' the Xmas season. It was granted and the rest is history. I had a swell, fantabulous time with family and friends, and was actually able to adjust my waking up time to about 8.30am everyday. I thank God my girls were well aware that now daddy was not going to work- they let me sleep in til' late; no pitter patter or knocking on doors first thing in the morning...

And so, god saw us through the Xmas break and into the new year 2012..just had one day to count free, and then 2nd Jan.2012 was resumption of work!!! I almost failed to wake up because of the trend of just "sitting back and relaxing" for the past 10 or so days.

Nonetheless, I thank God that I've got a job to wake up to at 6am, and the best family to run back to at 5pm! There's a time to rest and a time to work. Whatever the challenge, there's nothing too big for God...and so we keep on nation building a.k.a working!