Letters edition.

Dear girls,

An empty laundry basket is an accomplishment to be enjoyed, not a challenge to overcome.


Dear cats,

A full laundry basket is neither a bed nor a personal grooming station.


Dear carer/TA/nurse/whoever,

When you finish suctioning my daughter, flush the tubing through before switching the pump off. Then, before you do anything else, remove the used catheter and replace with a fresh one. Suction catheters are not Yankeurs and are not reused.

Failure to clean the hosing and replace the catheter means that next time I need to suction, I first have to clean ancient and foul smelling gunk from the tubing and grab a clean catheter. Not something I want to be doing when there's an airway needing to be cleared.

Oh, and those clean catheters? They work much better when they haven't been folded three times and shoved in a corner. That's why I post them down the back of her chair.


Dear germs,

I know you like this tube of year. But I'm busy. Could you please back off do both girls can get back to school? I really need some thinking space before the end of term.


Dear Christmas tree,

Please stay upright. You'll have a much better view of life in our house. I promise we will get those decorations out and pretty you up tomorrow.


Dear self,

Learn to reverse the bus in the dark. Yes it's bigger, yes the back windows are tinted. You still need to be able to leave the house. Without chewing up the lawn or the neighbours' cars. And no, asking the neighbours to trim their hedge and reposition the concrete post isn't reasonable.


Dear life,

Please slow down just a little.

Yours, etc.

Tia