© Neil Hayes and neilhayeswrites
Senses overload
Reading the words, smelling the paper
Memories triggered
Childhood mealtimes
Smiling, relaxed, content
Sounds, smells, colours of the kitchen
Neighbours heads popping through the back door
Safety
Comfort
Home
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© Neil Hayes and neilhayeswriter
When I wake up, it feels like the world has stopped. No movement, only my breath. Stale air in, stale air out. No change, only stagnancy.
From my point of view, nothing much does change. The same journey every day, the same job, the same tasks. “Clean this, move that, do it better, do it different”, says the boss. Yes, even all in one sentence.
All I want is a surprise, just something small,along the way. Someone to treat me differently, a chance encounter or even an adventure. Wouldn’t that be nice?
I honestly don’t think that I have ever had an adventure. Even when I was young, my parents were so careful. And now, that seems to be ingrained in me. Approaching 30 and still treading water. I spend so much time thinking, and worrying about it. But it seems so hard to make the change. I can only watch so many motivational videos before I have to think, maybe I am just one of life’s failures.
We are told we are all special, but I don’t believe it. We are certainly unique. But what can we do to make ourselves exceptional, to shine, to be remembered? Well, people will remember this day. They will remember my name. I will not disappear.
Standing here, looking out of this window, I can already feel it. Maybe I won’t be around for much longer, but I know that I will finally be noticed today. Click.
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© Neil Hayes and neilhayeswriter
© Neil Hayes and neilhayeswriter
One moment,
One life,
One world,
Take care
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Text © Neil Hayes and neilhayeswriter
Photo by Agence Producteurs Locaux Damien Kühn on Unsplash
It’s hard being a parent, isn’t it? There are so many ways in which you can affect how your child grows and matures. Everything from your behaviour, to which activities you choose for them. It all contributes to the final product, your child.
But how do you protect them from the rest of the world? Of course, you can’t. All you can do is give them the tools to judge for themselves, what is right and what is wrong. Luckily my kids seem to be able to make these judgements already, even at only 5 and 7 years old.
My children often come home with stories from school, stories from other children. Stories about how they spend time with their families, and what they do. Or quite often, don’t do. But, recently, some of the stories have left my mouth hanging open. Of course, these stories come from the badly behaved children at school, and you are left thinking, no wonder.
I won’t quote every story, but it is the most recent one that has really made me think. My 5-year-old daughter came back from kindergarten and told us that a boy in her class had tried smoking. Yes, smoking, at 5! He must have stolen one of his parents’ cigarettes, he’d probably watched them smoking and learned how to do it. No, his father had let him try one. His father had put a filthy cigarette into his child’s mouth! Honestly I’m going to run out of exclamation marks writing this.
In the past, this was the classic tactic to stop your child smoking. Make them feel sick and they will hate it. But that was the past, and normally with children of teenage years. In this case it seems like it was just a funny thing to do, watch the child try to smoke, how amusing. My blood is boiling now, just thinking about it.
Luckily, my daughter told us this story while shaking her head. She knows this is stupid behaviour, and my son too. But I don’t want to spend my life telling them that their friends’ parents are stupid. So come on people, please grow up. You need to do it first, so then your children can.
© Neil Hayes and neilsworldofenglish
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