Walaa’s Weekly Wrap-Up ~ April 5th, 2014

I haven’t breathed through my nose since the Sahara dust landed in the UK. My head is heavy, my eyes are runny, my skin is all itchy and I sound like Barry White. In other words I feel miserable

I am suffering and they don’t make antihistamine strong enough to sort this Sahara sand infused hayfever.

Ahhh! It felt good getting it all off my chest!

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Was the second EU debate weird or is that just me? I don’t know about you all, but it felt a little more aggressive than it needed to be. It was also a tad repetitive and lots less informative than the LBC’s debate.

It was somewhat macho and combative, not that I mind some testosterone in Punch & Judy politics. I just thought and to some extent hoped Nick & Nigel were going to explain to us why they each believe what they believe. But instead all I heard was two grown men shouting at each other and a presenter desperate to shine and be the centre of attention.

The whole thing felt too over rehearsed and lacked charisma plus it left me exactly where I was before.

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Putting kids in school at the age of two, even if the parents were absolutely useless is bonkers.

It’s too much state interference and a very, very bad idea.

As part of my degree at university I had a couple of semesters on child development. Yet when I became pregnant I bought parenting books to prepare me, talked to other parents, my aunties and my mother. By the time my baby was born I had a pretty good idea what to do with her. Plus it’s true what they say about instinct kicking in; it does the minute that baby is born.

From day one, children need stimulation and interaction with others. But going to a regimented school for long hours at the age of two is not, and should be discouraged.

However, giving young unprepared parents particularly mothers parenting classes is a welcome idea. We offer new mothers to be birthing classes so why not add to that parenting sessions? God knows some do need them.

But what babies need is to be with their mothers especially in the early stages of their development. That’s the best place for them not at a school with a couple of strangers struggling to manage a class of babies.

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When I first saw the new M&S ad, I thought to myself “how odd”. How can my beloved Marks & Sparks go from Twiggy to Annie Lennox? One is warm, welcoming and a fashion icon when the other is not.

Would anyone believes Rita Ora shops for her cloth in M&S, and would M&S stock the kind of cloth Rita Ora wears? Plus how is Doreen Lawrence a fashion icon? In the 20 years she has been in the public eye, I never once saw her wearing something I wanted to copy. She never once struck me as a woman who cared about anything but bringing to justice those who took away the bright life of her brilliant son. So why muddy all that with an awkward fashion shoot?

The women Marks and Spencer used in this year’s ad are fabulous in their fields and passionate about their campaigns, that makes them highly respected public figures but it does not make them fashion icons.

It would have been much better to instead use ordinary women with ordinary backgrounds of real-life stories that touch the heart.

M&S is a British institution build on true British values and believes, they made many fabulous ad campaigns in the past but they got this one wrong.

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