Dad I want to build a mobile phone....

Like all children Tom sees his family and older cousins tapping away at mobile phones and tablets. Also like most people Tom's age he has a tablet and use of the laptop under supervision. However for some reason he has always wanted one, but at the age of seven his Mum and I feel it is too young. This has resulted in much debate. The debate originally was what you would expect from a kid, "why..." and all derivatives of this argument.

In recent months I have seen Tom mature and his debates generally give a good argument. Recently the debate was back to why can't he have a mobile phone and I would give the reasons behind our decisions. I am glad to say that his response was very thought provoking for someone at such a young age, but still now. His plan was that Tom and I should build the mobile phone suitable for a seven year old child. I could not fault his reasoning, what he would miss out from it and what he would put in it. He is a little genius in my eyes and although I am not sure it will work we are going to give it a go. What it turns out like I am not sure.

It will consist of the following:

1. Able to make calls to family and adult authorised numbers only, at present this will be the emergency services.
2. Not able to access Facebook or any other social media, unless we find something age specific.
3. A direct chat service to his family members. These are me, his Mum, Nanny O, Nannie Pam & Grandad, aunts, uncles and cousins.
4. Only able to access games that age specific.

It amazed me the thought someone so young can put into something like this and coming out with a winning argument. After agreeing to do this I asked if he would like to make other projects, to which he said yes, which delighted me.

So we are going to do a mobile phone of sorts in the new year. As his birthday is January it will not be finished before he is eight years old, but the criteria will be the same.

Details of this project and other projects will follow in the new year with a page on this blog and detailed instruction links on other websites, e.g. Instructables and Youtube.

Stay tuned for more on this exciting project....

School Dress Up - From The Parent's Perspective

Over the years since the lad started school we have created dress up costumes for school plays, class assemblies and book days. Last night we created two costumes. One for book day today and one for the class assembly next week. I know it can be a nightmare for some parents and indeed it is for us until we get an idea that we run by Tom. Once the planning is done we enjoy it. In actual fact Rachel, Tom's mum, and myself get more from it than Tom.

When we have this type project I always inevitably make some prop at work and Rachel gets the clothes that help create the look. Sometimes the work creations even involved my work mates. This time it was a couple of badges for Tom to be a character from 13 o'clock for today and some arm guards for him to be a historical character next week. Both these props were easy to make.

1. 2 x Badges. I searched the internet for pictures to do with the Enid Blyton book 13 o'clock. The cover came up the most. I printed a small copy of this, laminated it and then sticky taped a safety pin to the back. For the second I wanted to fuse a dandelion with a clock dial that went up to 13 o'clock. Using some computer trickery it was achieved. Followed by the same lamination process as badge one.
2. The second prop for the assembly next week was the arm guards as per an Iceni character 2000 years ago. For this I used 2 x pop bottles with the ends cut off and covered them in silver tape. Job done.

With my props done and Rachel's organisation of the clothes now the real magic comes. Rachel dresses Tom and transforms him into the character. Once Tom has adorned the full dress up he becomes that character. He has been Huck Finn, the gingerbread man, an angel and Pinocchio to name but a few. These times we love. It is great being Tom's parents.

Daily routine Autumn 2015.

So this is it, the first post in the blog "A boy and his dad".

Although as adults we wake a bit weary but know we have to get up, so do so begrudgingly, I am amazed how kids wake up with such energy and enthusiasm. Our Tom is no exception and the routine is the same each day:

6:45 to 7:00 wake up and straight into our bedroom saying ".... I am ready for breakfast."
"Ok, Tom, go downstairs and let Daisy (our pooch) out, I will be down in a minute." So he goes and does this little job, turns the TV on and sits waiting patiently. He does all this by the time I get down to do his breakfast. As I prepare his breakfast I hear the TV and without even asking I know what he is watching. That is Minecraft on Youtube.

For quite a long time now Tom has been a big fan of Youtube. He has watched anything from musicals to retro cartoons to how to videos. At the mo it is either EvanTube or one of his Minecraft mentors. These are Stampylongnose, Dandtm or Sqaishey. These are his breakfast time heroes.

This routine Tom loves and because he loves it I love it, I love the fact it makes him happy.