h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

That is great. I'm printing it and sticking it on my bathroom mirror (amongst the Russian vocab and my daily "to do" list - just as well I'm not vain!)

That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me this week. As I say, it worked for us (the spearcarrying Jones is my older son.)
I think the ones about hugs and scrapbooks are the most important especially for people like us who were wandering for the first dozen years of their lives.

You did well with those two - I see the spearcarrying one around very often - he's getting the wise habit too!

We also take loads and loads of photos, keep some and send the rest to the family "back home". We have a "photo wall" with quite a few members of our families on (we have hoardes of relatives - we'd need a palace to display half of them).

But I have to say that for me the most important thing about bringing up the kids is taking a line and sticking to it, so they know where they are with you. And lots of hugs.

I have a photo door here. Rather nasty board looks much better covered in those I love.
I agree with you about the consistent line. One of the very few good things about being a single parent was that it was much easier to be consistent with myself. I reckon I was doing something right as the spearcarrier will be here next Weds and the other one (who looks like Robbie Williams) a month later. I agonised greatly over sending them to boarding school,but it doesn't seem to have done lasting harm and there were no English medium schools in Shanghai at the time.
Did you know that if you're lucky and get in lots of hugs when they're little, you get hugs back always even when they're moody teenagers and in public?
And it gets better all the time, in my opinion. One of the best days of my life was when the older first bought me a drink, closely followed by the newly licensed younger driving me to the airport at the crack of dawn.

I gave my mum such a hard time about sending me away to school, but it was for the best. Even though I flunked my A-levels on purpose, so I couldn't go to uni (and have regretted it ever since) it did teach me a lot. Came in useful in the Army.
Perhaps your Robbie Williams look-alike son would like to visit me sometime (not that I'm shallow or anything)
Also, you're right about the hugs. My mum sends me an e-hug every day. And I send her 2.
When you/they leave, is there always a tear in your eye? I went away to school at 11. And never went home again (apart from holidays). Then I stayed with my parents for 2 weeks before I joined the Army. And as my parents waved me off on the train - tears from mum. Every time. Must be a mum-thing I suppose.

The tear thing, alas, gets worse as we get older, especially when I'm going somewhere new. I have watched them walk away from me at an airport and they never turned round. That was about 15 years ago. Don't know what would happen nowadays as for the past dozen years they've been seeing me off.
Duncan's main complaint at boarding school was that he wasn't allowed into town alone, but he flew out to Shanghai without adult supervision. I think they were more laid back by the time his brother got older - I have recently found out that as soon as he got his driving licence he drove groups of boys to the cinema or hockey matches and various other tales like that which would have had me tearing my hair out if I'd known them at the time.He is seriously gorgeous now, but alas also seriously poor (student debts still looming rather large 3 years on). It's great to have them as friends, and, as I indicated in the article, it's great to have their friends as friends too