Yes, yes, I know. I missed a couple of days there. But I have a good excuse. We were trapped. In London. Under the snow.
As I have said before, we recognize PanKwake’s rights to freedom of expression (Article 13) and freedom of thought, belief, and religion (Article 14) that comes with her increasing capacity to make her own choices (Article 5) (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child UNCRC). But we also are cognisant of…
Article 16 (right to privacy)
Every child has the right to privacy. The law should protect the child’s private, family and home life, including protecting children from unlawful attacks that harm their reputation.
It was our biggest concern when it came to PanKwake’s career goal of being a YouTuber. We have discussed it with her many times. And we have a few rules to safeguard her.
- No – PanKwake is NOT her real name. And his name is not Cookie Monster either. In fact, we make up names for all our friends who make the blog. To protect the innocent as much as the guilty (ha-ha).
- When she was younger, there were no photos with identifiable features in them. It was her choice under Article 5 to put her face out there.
- We also do NOT post things real time either to the blog, Facebook, Twitter, or other social media.
So when we planned this holiday to London to show our new au pair Ernie (as in Bert and Ernie to go with Cookie Monster) all our favorite things to do back there, I wrote and scheduled blogs to cover the time we would be away. But I forgot to take Mother Nature into the equation so I fell a bit short.
The good news is that I have LOADS of new material to talk about in our #100DaysOfHomeEd.
The better news is…I have never been so happy in all my life to be back home. Even a short stay back in London was enough to remind me of how much I love Wales, Swansea, our wonderful #HomeEd community…and especially my Cookie Monster.
This may sound like some silly Oscar acceptance speech, but I truly mean it when I say…
Without Cookie Monster, none of this would be possible. More than once when we were back there I found my eyes filling up with tears as I thought about just what lucky girls, PanKwake and I are.
So how about a celebration of my beloved Cookie…the world’s best Dad without DNA.
This one is how we managed to entertain her for a portion of the train ride down to London…
PanKwake took the photo on the right with her iPad. Then using the Meitu HD app, she made him kawaii. Although he ‘complained’ about it, he was a good sport. I have even threatened to put it up on his Wikipedia page.
Throughout the week, he never lost his patience with her, her friends, or even me.
Cookie Monster reminds me a bible verse:
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 Corinthians 13: 4
He is all those things and more. If you don’t believe me, this is just a very small sample of our week in purgatory (aka London)…
If that is not bad enough…just look what PanKwake did today on the train back to Swansea…
And that, folks, is why I love my Cookie Monster. I mean after all how many men take on not only a single mom…but #neurodivergent #autism #PDA…and #RadiCoolUnschooling. And is an active partner in PanKwake’s life and education.
We love you, Cookie Monster. And thank you for our holiday…but more importantly for the wonderful life that you have given us. You truly are OUR prince charming who rode in on the Great Western Railway and swooped us up to live happily ever after.
Self-Directed Learning & Neurodiversity 