Cuttings

Parenting classes

" Education and learning starts early. My mother gave me a grounding in religion when she told me that 'I had better pray that mark will come out of the new carpet.' She also taught me logic - 'because I say so that's why' and introduced genetics - 'you're just like your father.' She taught me the value of mixing irony with humour, 'when that lawnmower cuts off your toes don't come running to me,' although it was my father who dealt in advanced irony - 'keep crying and I'll give you something to cry about.' It was also my father who delivered science, specifically osmosis -'shut your mouth and eat your dinner.' Once in a while we would receive a short seminar on sociology - 'don't be getting ideas above your station' and about statistical accuracy - 'if I've told you once I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate.' There was medical science - 'cross your eyes and they'll stay like that' and finally physical education - 'will you just look at that dirt on the back of your neck?'"

From the Foreword to 'Making it Happen', Alistair Smith, Alite 2003