Digigran

The North Wind heaved in yesterday with a flurry of snow that iced the pathways and whitened the hills round Winster ( see picture of local farm buildingo. Edward and Iwere out in the wodds- me watching birds, Him hunting rabbits ( but not very successfully) when we felt the first little flurry of soft flakes which began to lodge themselves inEdward's coat, particularly his whiskery bits. He looked so amazed to becoming a living snow-dog like his American cousin.

Hi
Time ticks on.
Now only six days to estimated date of arrivalof Baby Bean. A Saturday's child, and so if the old adage is to be believed, will have to work hard for its living. But perhaps it may surprise everyone and come either side of the given date and in consequence, be , like me 'loving and giving' or even'blithe and gay'. You can check out this site to discover yourown nature!!!!!
Have been sent very silly book by well-meaning friend, which, however, has one sensible message related to the the way in which women who have been up-to- the moment of granny-dom, reasonably entertaining, can become extremely boring and itrritating to friends. This then is another good reason for keeping up this BLOG- an outlet for the blagging on about GC which would render me a social outcast in other spheres of my life. Thank you Louise.

Pity infact that there are already to books on the market about the state and time of being a gran- so can't hope for real life publishing opportunity. Here's the other. Clear sign of baby boomers and sixties generation moving onto new things. Will have to stick with BLOG, though as was reminded this morning that BLOGs can become books if the writer is interesting enough and that in the words of Samuel Johnson , who would himself have made a brilliant BLOGGER, suggested that what is written without effort is in general read without pleasure and BLOGGINg does seem to demand a certain degree of effort. However, Johnson also said that no man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money and it would be hard to see any income coming out of this particular BLOG though there are awards around.
To me BLOGGING seems more like the newest form of vanity publishing!
Realised that when i separated out from Letsgetdigitalplay and stopped posting as Digitalplayer, I lost the little readership I had. hey, Ho. I'll think about new tactics tomorrow.
Edward the dog is already snoring- and so to steal from another diarist, to bed.

Well what a surprise- I always thought this little rhyme went Bye Baby Bunting- but a little surfing has revealed the generally accepted title for this old rhyme on the web is this. Though this is an American version andhas therefore probably been changed in transmission. And the reason for this choice of lyric - well I have succombed once more to the shopping impulse and purchased one of these. I know I promised the d-in-l to refrain from all purchases until the little bean was an actual person but this sin of commission has an excuse. I went into Waterstones bookshop to meet an old colleague who had retired a few years earlier because of health problems and whom I hadn't seen for a while. Surprise, surprise, when we discovered we were to become grannies within 3 days of each other. (Dec 3rd and Dec. 6th, so both babes will be Saggitarians and therefore, if the Web is to be believed- delightfully contented:

Sagittarius

That happy-go-lucky child in the play circle is bound to be a Sagittarius. These carefree tots march to their own beat, and yes, they will walk early! They'll also be beating a path to everywhere, since they love to explore. Independent and free-spirited, it's imperative that the Sagittarius baby has lots of room to roam. Confined spaces are a disaster for these wandering souls, so they'll simply flail about until they can get out.

The good news in all this is that the Sag baby won't have to be entertained every second of the day. That said, be sure to keep tabs on them in public places, as they could easily wander off! Above all, the Sag baby loves to explore, whether it's a new toy or a new friend. No fear here! This kid is a sponge, soaking it all up with relish. Thankfully, this child will know how to make friends and can be counted on to have lots of them. They love being part of a group, whether it's at home or out in the big, brave world. And it's that world they want to see, which may be why it's so easy for this baby to hit the road. Whether by train, plane, or the high seas, the Sag baby will travel better than the rest. To sum up, the Sagittarius baby needs freedom, has a curious mind and is forever on a journey of discovery. Happy trails!

My friend is under no injunction from her daughter to refrain from shopping, rather the opposite, and said that her most recent research (done by accosting a young mum in the cafe and asking her opinion whilst cooing at a dangled infant) had revealedthat a lamb fleece was the extravagant present that all mums rated. So I just had to go straight out and buy one. Something else to hide in the back bedroom until needed.

My hope is that d-in-l will be so delighted by surprise gift that I will be forgiven for disobeying her request not to indulge . What do you think- any new mums out there? Is a lambs fleece so desirable for a new baby?
I am full of trepidation.


I blame it all on the blogging which seems to me to consist of one part blagging- this is better than reading the academic paper sitting on my desk for review ; one part boasting -'look at me I'm having a grandchild'; a third part shopping (see relevant hotspots above) and with just a little bit of political commentary thrown in; see previous blog on why our choice is real terry towelling nappies.

More on shopping to come.

Title chosen to record rush of rain pouring down outside water spout. Rain so pelting that Edward, the dog, refused to step footoutside and had to be dragged from the comfort of the mat in front of the log stove to do what a dog has to do in the morning. Began blogging on Apple so links were difficult to do but found associated activities for grans
Have been thinking a lot about consumerism and digital culture. As Giroux, now Global Television Network Chair in Communication Studies (WOW!) at McMasters, did when he found himself watching large numbers of Disney films with his three sons. He writes very interestingly on consumerism- an issue I think needs to be referred back to Letsgetdigitalplay to be considered at more length.
The easy access from shop to shop, web site to site and country to country make it tempting to accumulate more and more stuff. I once had a cleaner who said to me in desperation at the amount of dusting I generated, " The trouble with you, E*****, is you have too much stuff," and I had to admit I did and still do, despite all tmy attempts at decluttering. I own too many skirts, too many jumpers, too much crockery, many too many books, postcards, journals, papers etc. and perhaps even one too many houses; though it would take a reawakening of very very strong socialist conscience to winkle me out of this lovely little cottage in Winster which seem built to be written from.


All this stuff accumulation is now accelerating through the simplicities of on-line access, particularly to books, though shopping sites are also very very tempting. I'd make a good case study for the inestimable Dr Kate whose Arty Stuff and academic work is much concerned with the life of objects and who constantly So the thing I must seek to avoid as Digigran is investing in too much digital baby stuff, or other nursery stuff acquired digitally, and think of the most creative ways of using my digipower to inform what is, in fact, one of the most lovely of human relationships when managed well.

The latter perfection of loveliness seems however very hard to achieve though, especially with the first born. The Guardian advice page this Saturday (Family Forum 05.11.05) had a cry for help from a new mum who felt suffocated by a voracious new gran's desire for contact with her infant. Perhaps a new gran needs to earn the respect and trust of a new mum and wait to be called upon or invited to visit. It is certainly my intention not to criticise even if I think I know better on occasions- such a dangerous temptation, that of giving advice. I failed to make the grade in the Samaritans because I did so itch to tell the not so good folk on my line what to do. This was especially true of the men who, attracted to the softness of my voice, wanted to confess how bad they had been(for purposes that I do not wish to describe here, though they seemed to involve a good deal of heavy breathing). Still that's another story altogether and although Tristram Shandy is my favourite 18th century novel, I must also avoid these digressive tendencies and return to the matter in hand- how to be an effective and loveable digitalgran.
I think, perhaps, I could follow the example provided was yesterday on Michael Rosen's version of Home Truths. On this, I heard a bloke explainng how he was archiving the documentary detritus of his whole life so that it would help future generations understand our present. A huge task indeed. But I can at least record the beginnnings of this babe's life digitally, so that s/he will have a record of how looked for s/he was and the preparations made for her/his arrival.
What do you think, any of you who are mums or dads of babies?
This Blogging project will produce less material stuff- though, having also consulted Personal Shopper in the Guardian and knowing that my d-in-law favours non-disposable nappies, I probably do need to purchase this recommended stainless steel nappy bucket and investigate this rather fascinating site where I ponder the relative values of Tots Bots, Motherease, Nature Babies or Fuzzi Bunz as the source of acceptable gifts.

Yes, in one month I shall be a gran and a digigran at that: something between a Mary Poppins figure and a computer nerd.

Even more excited than I was about my first BLOG. I have had to promise son and d-in-l not to include pictures of the babe on my postings or to buy it anything yet. However, although first promise was fairly easy to keep (though I do have a hospital scan, I could scan, if you get my meaning) I could not stop myself shopping for little bit of very cute stuff,
Like this:

and

this
Thinking it might just be a little bit digital. Now out looking for soft computer toy ( Jackie once had one as a visual aid for her work with babies and computers) and a babysoft mobile phone. Even thought of getting myself a rocking chair like this.
But thought I might not be able to hide it from the parents to be when they visited next week.
It seems that for me, Blogging is tied into consumerism and I can't resist the thrill of selecting stuff. It all looks so good on line.
Any tips on digital baby accessories welcome.
I'll keep you posted about dates (there's a whole new meaning for ETAs) etc. DG