I've been busy. Not good busy (not busy with a normal life, I mean) but busy spring cleaning, getting rid of my mother-in-law's unwanted household items after her move in sheltered accommodation, applying for jobs and taking a few courses (to bridge some skill gaps).
Last night I didn't really sleep because of the odd storm that hit Edinburgh from about 7pm onwards (howling winds and driving rain) so I spent my time reading and drifting into truly pointless streams of thought. This resulted into a range of unresolved questions that I decided to put down here in the hope that one day, I might find an answer to at least a few of them (as a blogger I read says, 'Curious minds want to know!').
1. At what age is it ok for people to start having caffeine? From a medical point of view, I mean. My husband said he used to be given tea (the English version, as in black tea) when he was our son's age (8). I think that is completely inappropriate and pointless (just like the Romanian custom of letting young teenagers 'taste' beer to 'get them used to it') and possibly a bit dangerous to growing children. No I don't know if science would support my statement but I know that a. my son DEFINITELY doesn't need an extraneous substance to enhance his energy levels (he can hardly keep still for 30 seconds as it is!) and b. the growth hormone is associated with sleep. Children who don't get enough sleep may be prevented from developing their full growth potential. Why would parents give children something that would 'help' keep them awake? I have enough fights on my hands as it it, getting my kid to bed early enough so he can have at least 10 hours of sleep/night. (not my invention, see https://sleepcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sleep-hours.png for more competent info).
Maybe I'm wrong about the caffeine thing and I'd like to be corrected so that I don't worry about brain damaging my son if I allow his dad to give him a cup of tea at some point in the near future.
Just as an aside, my husband's baby milk (back in 1972) was made up with 1 SPOON of sugar per 100 ml. We found the papers with 'advice' that his mum was given from the hospital when she brought him home as a new born. She also used to give him and his brothers whisky in their milk when they had a cold (to put them to sleep, perhaps????). Suffice to say, old wisdom is often just old (and not, in fact, wisdom at all). Although I do have a long list of old remedies that I do use and stand by (once I've checked both the science behind them and the effectiveness).
2. Why have I got a swarm of mosquitoes in front of my study window? It's early March for God's sake and it's still too cold to go outside without full winter gear. At what temperatures do mosquitoes hatch, and how long to they live?
3. If all mosquitoes die in the autumn when the cold comes, where do the new mosquitoes come from when the weather gets warm again?
4. Why do people believe the whole human race is too stupid to understand that when you go to a high-audience, sensationalist journalist to 'complain' about your 'loss of privacy', you are in fact only complaining that the mentioned loss of privacy didn't quite get you the monetary return you had expected?
Actually, forget I asked this. I know the answer. Less intelligent people always assume everyone is as intelligent as they themselves are, if not slightly less. And this I think is all I will say about the subject. I would have not paid it any attention in fact, except it was impossible to turn on the news on any channel and any language yesterday without needing to navigate around the woe is me tale of a couple of completely insignificant (other than to themselves) young individuals who should know better.
Just realised I fell in the same trap of giving air space to these people on an issue which should not get any. There are bigger problems in the world at the moment. Consider my hand slapped.
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