Sticky Finger Syndrome

We are loving this hot weather!!!

But even Sime was finding it a bit too hot this morning...

And unfortunately, work keeps getting in the way, but we are managing to eat outside & grab a few minutes here & there in the sun - it's wonderful!

The holiday makers from hell have been & gone, leaving a trail of rubbish & finger prints for us to clean up.

One of the houses we look after has recently been refurbished & kitted out with Laura Ashley soft furnishings & bed linen, but their first guests - a family with 4 boys under the age of 7 have more or less wrecked the place!

It never ceases to shock us how disrespectful some people are & we feel terrible having to report the damage to the owners, though they just don't learn - if they're going to rent their homes out through an agency, they really shouldn't leave anything of value in the house.

We did a linen change at the house with the 4 boys, as they stayed for 2 weeks & they were just running wild & out-of-control. The parents seemed oblivious to the chaos they were causing & instead were probably fuelling their hyperactivity with the 20 plus large chocolate bars we saw in the kitchen & eventually went on to discover all over the furniture, walls & bed linen at the end of their stay...

I find situations like this difficult to deal with & desperately wanted to point out to the parents where they were going wrong, but of course - it's none of my business! 

We see this behaviour so often in the holiday lets... Dads who are on holiday from work & feel they shouldn't have to do anything, stay-at-home Mums who are absolutely exhausted - caring for all the family while on holiday & without the respite of school for the kids & work for the Husband. These women are wishing their holiday away, eager to get home to their normal routine... It's so sad.

The stress of suddenly being thrown together is obviously too great for some families & we witnessed quite recently a woman screaming at & thrashing her young Son because he'd opened a can of fizzy drink in the car & it exploded, it was at a local fuel station & they'd probably arrived in Cornwall after a long journey & she just flipped -  eventually her Partner intervened & rescued the little boy before it went too far, but we still find anything like that upsetting. 

We've always had happy holidays & love us all being together, but I suppose our kids have never been hyperactive or out-of-control, so it's been easier for us to enjoy each other's company. Sime & I have always shared all household tasks & responsibilities - when the kids were younger we worked opposite shifts in residential care, so they have grown up seeing us both as equals. I do remember both Sal & Rose, when younger, being surprised that some of their friend's Dads didn't do anything in the house, they never cooked, cleaned, or did the laundry & some didn't even eat with the rest of the family. Neither of them could understand it, they just thought all Mums & Dads were the same as their own & it really was quite a shock! 

I am so glad that we live the way we do, that the kids have experienced life with parents who have had equal roles & especially had their Dad around as much as their Mum, but most of all - I'm glad that our kids are respectful of others, they feel compassion & would never deliberately set out to harm or upset.

We are very lucky - not a sticky finger in sight!

We still have internet problems.

 BT take over as our ISP on May 10th... 

Though they say it could take another 10 days for us to have a full signal! 

Only another 3 weeks of this frustration to go!

At least the sun is continuing to shine...

Kay :)