Saturday 5 April 2007

We are nearly at the end of the Easter holidays， which seem to have gone on for ever and my other half is now in the process of cleaning the house to get rid of sticky finger marks， dirty footprints and half-eaten Easter eggs that are just way too tempting within 1)eyeshot. We have managed to 2)juggle the kids with the wonderful flexibility that both of us have of being able to work from home. What would we have done without computers and the internet. I do all my shopping， book holidays， write this stuff and work on the internet. How would I fill my days otherwise. I might have to actually venture into

supermarkets again with two kids in tow， one who decides to sit down when she cannot be bothered. All the stress of kids demanding chocolate and the latest DVD are over with the touch of a few buttons and my existing favourite items list.

What are we going to be like in ten or even five years? There may come a point where all the shops go online. That is rather a scary thought， especially when I think of giving up on the

coffee shops that accompany most shopping

centres. However， in the meantime， it serves us well and enables us to do all sorts of things we could never have done before like spending more time with the kids. It has been great setting my alarm at 5:30 so I can get some work done before they wake up! Anyway back to normality next week with a return to school. And I will return to the relative peace of the office and a chance to grab a really nice coffee without having the risk of flying Barbies aimed at your cup.

Tuesday 28 August 2007

We have just come back from holiday and for the first time left our two kids down in 3)Dorset with Nanny and Grandad. Do you know what? I am really missing my two little darlings. I keep getting 4)text message pictures of them playing on the beach and arm in arm with each other. My little daughter told me she missed me on the phone last night for the first time. It brought a tear to my eye.

But then this morning， when we woke up to the sound of the alarm and not “Mommy”， being repeated

ever so slightly louder each time and with ever

increasing pitch， it was actually quite nice. I managed to have a peaceful breakfast without having to sort out 5)petty 6)squabbles and was seated at the computer

by 8:30 doing this. Sometimes it is nice to have a bit of peace…until the next text arrives or I switch on the TV to see a loving family all cradled together. Better get loads of tissues ready!

Thursday 4 October 2007

Well it is October already and I don’t know about you but this weather is just knocking me out. I don’t know whether to wear my scarf or my new 7)slinky little top.Even my little girl is running around with a runny nose and a T-shirt. I can’t

decide whether to cover her up or cool her down. No doubt I will be wrong on either account depending upon which health professional you talk to.

It does raise the issue， however， what do we do for the best. We work to provide a stable income to house and clothe our kids， even though my kids would probably prefer me to stay at home and knit them some clothes. On the other hand， just watching television bombards you with constant “I want that， I want that， I want that!” Do they ever know when to stop? Once they get what they have wanted for ages， they move on to something else. You just have to read one book about 8)Horrid Henry to find that out.

But kids can give you a great inspiration for selling techniques for your own business.How often do we or 9)more often than not， lovely Nanny or Grandad give in? They are born to sell to you， these 10)pesky little creatures. They just have to either: go on and on until you give up or think of perfectly valid reasons why they need those new 11trainers.

My seven year old son did the most elaborate business plan recently for having a new computer game， Worms. He put together three of his old games， told his dad they could both appreciate the product (win:win) and then even predicted when the best time for purchase would be and how the additional funds could be found from future pocket money cash flows. What a brilliant mind. Perhaps we all need to ask our kids about future business planning and it may even be cheaper than a business consultant!

2007年4月5日 星期六

我們的復(fù)活節(jié)假期就快過完了，然而感覺上似乎永無盡頭。現(xiàn)在，我老公正忙著搞衛(wèi)生，抹掉那些粘乎乎的手指印、臟兮兮的腳印和扔掉那些只吃了一半的復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋——它們實(shí)在太礙眼了。我們倆可以在家遠(yuǎn)程工作，靈活方便，總算能兼顧工作和照顧小孩。如果沒有電腦和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，我們真不知道該怎么辦。要知道什么東西我都在網(wǎng)上買，預(yù)訂度假的機(jī)票食宿啊，寫這些日記啊，甚至工作，我都在網(wǎng)上完成。如果沒有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，我的日子可難熬了。我可能又要親自出馬到超市購物，拉扯著兩個(gè)孩子，其中一個(gè)還可能嫌煩，一屁股坐在地上不起來。然而現(xiàn)在我只要點(diǎn)擊幾個(gè)按鈕和一些收藏好的物品清單，就可以輕松滿足孩子們的需求，不用怕他們吵著要巧克力和最新的DVD了。

再過十年，甚至五年，我們會(huì)變成怎樣呢？結(jié)果可能是所有的商店都開在了網(wǎng)上。這種想法可真夠嚇人的，尤其當(dāng)我一想到可能無法再光顧那些許多購物中心都附設(shè)的咖啡店時(shí)，我就覺得更加不安。但是同時(shí)，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)為我們提供了許多便利服務(wù)，使我們能夠做各種以前無法做到的事情，比如說擠出多點(diǎn)時(shí)間陪陪孩子。把鬧鐘設(shè)置到五點(diǎn)半響，趕在孩子們醒來之前處理一些事務(wù)，這可是一種不錯(cuò)的方法！總之下個(gè)星期一切都會(huì)恢復(fù)正常，孩子們都要上學(xué)去。我呢，就會(huì)回到辦公室，相對(duì)安寧些，還可以好好地喝一杯美味的咖啡，而不用擔(dān)心咖啡杯會(huì)成為靶子，給飛來的芭比娃娃砸中。

2007年8月28日 星期二

我們剛剛度假回來，這是我們第一次把兩個(gè)孩子留給住在多西特的公公婆婆帶。你知道嗎？我真的很想念我的兩個(gè)心肝寶貝。我不斷地收到他們?cè)诤＿呁婧屯熘直鄣亩绦艌D片。昨天晚上，我的小女兒第一次在電話里說很想我。我感動(dòng)得熱淚盈眶。

平時(shí)早上，孩子們都用逐漸升高的聲量和音調(diào)重復(fù)地喊著“媽咪”，把我們給吵醒，然而，今天早上是鬧鐘喚醒我們的，這種感覺還真不錯(cuò)。我還安安靜靜地享用了早餐，不用像平時(shí)那樣調(diào)解小爭(zhēng)吵，然后八點(diǎn)半時(shí)我坐在電腦前寫著這篇日記。有時(shí)候，能有一絲寧靜真好……直到又收到新的文字圖片或者我打開電視機(jī)看見一家人幸福地抱在一起。最好準(zhǔn)備幾盒紙巾給我！

2007年10月4日 星期四

已經(jīng)到十月份了，不知道你們?cè)趺聪?，反正這種天氣總是把我打敗。我不知道戴上圍巾好呢，還是穿上新買的緊身短上衣好。連我的小女兒也是穿著T恤，流著鼻涕到處跑。我不知道要給她多穿點(diǎn)呢，還是讓她穿得清涼些。毫無疑問，其中一種做法是錯(cuò)的，至于是哪一種，這要取決于你看哪個(gè)保健醫(yī)生了。

然而，這帶出了一個(gè)問題：我們?cè)撛鯓幼霾抛詈?。為了使孩子們有屋可居、有衣可穿，我們外出工作以維持穩(wěn)定的收入，但孩子們可能更希望我待在家里給他們織毛衣。另一方面，看電視時(shí)他們總是在旁邊不停嚷著：“我要看那個(gè)，我要看那個(gè)，我要看那個(gè)！”他們什么時(shí)候才知道停下來？一得到渴望已久的東西，他們又立即瞄上其他目標(biāo)了。你得找那本《討厭鬼亨利》的書看看，去了解了解。

但是孩子們很能啟發(fā)你的靈感，讓你學(xué)到推銷自己產(chǎn)品的最佳技巧。我們做父母的，或者更多是那些慈祥的爺爺奶奶，有哪次不給孩子們說服的？這些討厭的小家伙天生就是向你強(qiáng)買強(qiáng)賣的料。他們要么不斷地纏著你直到你投降，要么想出絕佳的理由告訴你為什么他們要買那些新的運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋。

最近，我那七歲的兒子為了得到一款新出的電腦游戲《百戰(zhàn)天蟲》，居然設(shè)計(jì)出了一個(gè)最精密的商業(yè)計(jì)劃。他擺出他的三款舊游戲，對(duì)他爸說他們可以一起享用這些產(chǎn)品——父子倆雙贏——然后甚至預(yù)測(cè)什么時(shí)候是最佳的購買時(shí)機(jī)，如何通過流轉(zhuǎn)未來的零用錢來獲得額外的資金。多機(jī)靈的小腦瓜呀！也許我們都應(yīng)該向我們的孩子咨詢關(guān)于未來的商業(yè)計(jì)劃，那可比咨詢商業(yè)顧問便宜多了！