Tag Archives: special interests

The Unit. Day 40

Posted on by
2

Day 40: The day we took LB to the bus museum

Got a call from the Unit yesterday asking if we wanted to take LB to the nearby bus museum that he loves. TAKE HIM?? Pick him up and take him ourselves?? That’s a ‘Y.E.S. We’d love to‘ kind of answer. It wasn’t open yesterday, and he declined our offer to take him somewhere else instead, but today Rich, Tom, Owen and I scooted round, picked him up and headed for the museum. It was great. The museum’s very quirky with a lot of very shiny old buses. We sat in various buses and coaches, chatting, remembering visits to museums and holidays from years ago. The outing was rounded off with sausage rolls and ice-creams in the cafe. Fun and fab.

“By the way, Margaret Thatcher died”, said Tom, as we pulled up back at the Unit.

“Why?” asked LB.

ryan5-250

The bath and the bell

Posted on by
1

One of my birthday presents was a bell so I could ring for ‘service’ (wine, newspaper, clean towel, etc)  when in the bath. I know. It’s a laugh riot in our gaff. On Sunday, LB was about to get in the bath when I realised the full potential of the new, shiny bell. LB loves baths but has quite a way to go to mastering effective tap control (heat and quantity). We run it for him and leave him to soak. Trouble is, it’s tricky to decipher general chatter from a help request (or outright alarm). This means he doesn’t get much privacy.  Dinging the bell could resolve this.

“So LB, if you want anything ding the bell. Like this…” DING!
“Yes Mum.”
“Ok? If the water gets too cold or you need anything, just ding.”
“Yes Mum.”
“Ok, I’m going in the other room.”
“Yes Mum.”
DING!
“Wow. That was quick. What do you want?”
“I love Irish lorries Mum.”

ryan5-45

Making puttanesca sauce

Posted on by
Reply

“OK LB. I’m going to make some puttanesca sauce. You like that, don’t you? Very posh n’ Nigella.”
“Who looks after buses Mum?”
“Mechanics?”
“Mechanics Mum?”
“Yes..”
“And London buses Mum?”
“Yep, mechanics look after London buses.”
“Why Mum?”
“Because they have to stay roadworthy. Keep the passengers safe.”
“Yes Mum.”
“Now I need to find some olives…”
“Who looks after lorries Mum?”
“Mechanics.”
“Mechanics Mum?”
“Yes…”
“Mum? Who looks after coaches Mum?”
“Mechanics… Crap the olives have gone mouldy…”
“Mum?”
“YES?”
“Who looks after settattas Mum?”
“Settattas?”
“Settattas Mum. Who looks after settattas?”
“I can’t understand you LB. Say it clearly.”
“SET. TAT. TAS.”
“I don’t understand. Say it clearly. Mouldy.bloody.olives.”
“SETTICTANKS MUM.”
“Septic tanks???”
“Yes Mum. Who looks after settictanks?”
“Mechanics.”
“Mum?”
“Yes LB?”
“I wish I was a Londoner Mum.”

The why? question

Posted on by
1

LB has become adept at answering most questions “Yes“, “No“, “Don’t know” or “All of them” in typical teenager fashion. We’ve been pushing him on this recently (not least because it’s pretty boring).

This morning (as with so, so many mornings);

“Mum? I love lorries Mum.”
“I know.”
“Mum? I love lorries Mum…”

Usually at this point I say “I know LB. Do you know how I know?”
And he answers “Because I’ve told you 25,000 times, Mum.”

This morning I mixed it up a bit;

“Mum? I love lorries Mum.”
“I know.”
“Mum? I love lorries Mum…”
“Why do you love them?”
“Dunno Mum.”
“No, think of why you love them.”
“Dunno Mum.”
“C’mon LB. Try to explain to me why you love lorries.”
“Because. Because…… Because of me, Mum.”

Love him.

The torch relay

Posted on by
Reply

“Come on LB! Hurry up or we’ll miss it!”
“I hate the torch relay Mum. I HATE it!”
“Come on…”
“I HATE THE TORCH RELAY! I HATE THE TORCH RELAY!”
“Look, I think it’s coming along St Clements already…”
“Why are you doing this to me Mum? I.HATE.THE.TORCH.RELAY.”
“There – look! Can you see it? Above all those people? Look up there..”
“I hate it Mum.”
“Ok. It’s gone. Home now.”
“Thank you Mum. Can I go back on Youtube Mum?”

Lorry heaven and teatime

Posted on by
10

“…. and there’s two! Two Scania’s… Ahhhhh.. lorry heaven. I’m in lorry heaven. Oh my god! It’s got my name on it!!!”
“LB, can we talk about something else at teatime? Something me and Tom are interested in?”
“But I love lorries Mum. I’m in lorry heaven Mum.”
“I know. But just while you eat your tea. Talk about something else to be sociable.”
“Sociable Mum? I don’t want to be sociable Mum.”
“Why not? You were obviously sociable last week on your school trip.”
“I know Mum. But that’s because there were people to talk to Mum. People to be sociable with Mum.”
“Well be sociable with us!”
“Ok Mum. Sorry Mum. I’ll be sociable Mum.”
“Good.”
“Do you like lorries Mum?”

Jaaar-depidoo

Posted on by
Reply

French Week for old Laughing Boy this week. He made, and apparently proudly showed off to the rest of the school today, a mosaic of Gerard Depardieu. “Whoa, that’s random…” I thought to myself, when I first heard about it on Tuesday. “Gerard Depardieu????” (Or as LB’s pronunciation is pretty poor at the moment; “Jaaar-depidoo”).

“Why Gerard Depardieu?” I asked this evening, puzzled.
“Dunno Mum.”
“What other famous people could you have done?”
“Louis XI, Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie Antoinette…”
“So why Gerard Depardieu? Have you seen him on a film?”
“Yes, Mum.”
“What film was that?”
“102 Dalmations, Mum.”

And there it was. The answer. It ain’t random at all. LB loved the Dalmation films as a pup. He watched them over and over again. I can remember distracting him from a potentially massive meltdown one French holiday, by pointing out that Cruella was probably in the local prison and might hear him.  Laughter defeated the distress on that occasion. The DeVil years. How could I forget?

But he didn’t. So remarkable really. The certainty and infallibility of his memory.

Fanbloodytastique, as they say in France.

Meet the gang…

Posted on by
Reply

It’s difficult to buy Christmas/birthday presents for a boy who doesn’t really want any presents. And has very, very specific interests – die cast model buses/lorries and the emergency services – that have remained the same for a good fifteen years.  We decided to drop the Playmobil option a couple of years ago as it seemed a bit age inappropriate, but these guys are still played with regularly. I thought they deserved a group photo. Love em.

Heavy haulage

Posted on by
Reply

“Mum?”
“Yes?”
“Mum, do you like heavy haulage, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Mum, is heavy haulage roadworthy, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Have they checked the oil, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Have they checked the tyre pressure, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Have they checked the bunks are bolted in, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Have they checked the engine, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Mum?”
“Yes?”
“Mum, do you like heavy haulage, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Mum, is heavy haulage roadworthy, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Have they checked the oil, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Have they checked the tyre pressure, Mum?”
“Yep.”
“Have they….

……