Ramblings

Well here goes!!

After some bad news at the beginning of the year I have been reflecting a bit on who I am and what I do, and following the suggestion by a very good pal of mine I have decided to take the plunge and start a blog. "But what can she possibly have to say?" I hear you cry! Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure, but as with many aspects of my life I think I'll be alright making it up as I go along.

Introductions first...

What would I like you to know about me? 

I like at least two cups of coffee in the morning (milk no sugar).

I hate minced meat (all varieties, including vegetarian, it's the texture - but I am skilled in making it look like I have eaten some when it has been served up at other peoples houses).

I enjoy food, wine and the company of good friends.

I am a bit arty and recently started making pictures from buttons (they look much better than that sounds).

I love musicals and in another life I would be a professional ballet dancer (a job only stopped in this life by lack of any ballet lessons as a child - or skill).

I am a former teacher "primary or secondary?" secondary "ooh I could never do that, what subject?" Religious Education and philosophy "oh!" (this is generally where this sort of conversation ends, with the other person turning to my husband to ask him what he does and a 30 minute dialogue ensues).

I am easily distracted - I have made the two cups of coffee mentioned above, taken down a few Christmas baubles and half loaded the dishwasher since starting this.

I have been married for 13 years to a great guy called Neil (he is much cleverer than me, but I can generally solve murders on Lewis before he can), he is an ex scientist turned computery person (I don't really understand what he does) who commutes from the green green grass of Essex into London town. We have 2 sons who are 8 and 5 and generally have a pretty marvellous life.

As you will have seen from the title one of my son's is visually impaired - I try not to make this a fact that defines him or us, but for the plans I have for the future of this blog I have included it. Let me tell you about Ethan.


Ethan our first born and next in line to the Peacock throne turned 8 on New Year's eve. He is funny, clever, loves drawing, music and sweets. He can describe most of the world's flags (I'm sure there must be some sort of TV show we could exploit this talent on) and his favourite topic is geography. His top 3 bands are Kraftwerk, the Pet Shop Boys and Daftpunk (blame his father). He has an incredible memory and imagination, and although he can be a pest at times - he brings us a lot of joy. Ethan was born with his retinas not properly developed (due to a freak genetic mutation - think along the lines of Xmen), he has no sight in one eye, and peripheral vision in the other. He is able to navigate round fairly well and is learning Braille.


The fourth member of the Essex Peacock clan is Jasper. Jasper (or Jasper Lego Peacock as we have recently taken to calling him) has one main love - can you guess? Lego. He is obsessed by the stuff and disappointingly for me is now able to build all the models by himself. Jasper is a bright (I a quite biased about my boys!), funny, sometimes shy boy who also loves drawing. He is less into sweets than Ethan, preferring hula hoops. He enjoys films, books and the Kethup Boys (his name for the PSB). He is always hungry and seems to be going through his teenage years early, but again, just like Ethan he brings us a lot of joy.

So...

Not sure if I needed to introduce myself in such detail - but hey ho! So my plans for this blog are to look at some of the aspects of having a child with a visual impairment and how to help them 'fit in' to everyday life. I will be reviewing products and experiences, and hopefully they'll be stuff in here that will be of use to people! Until next time, au revoir!