"The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability."

I always title my posts with a quote and as lovely as that one is we also need to feel like our possessions are safe and secure. Home security is so important with us going away sporadically throughout the year. It is really important for me to put my mind at ease as best I can because although usually I'm a real laid back chap, when it does come to being away from home I always worry about what could happen while we are not there. I get that sinking feeling in my stomach as we pull in to our road on our return and as we get closer to the house my over active imagination will envision coming home to the front door being wide open or even worse a pile of ash where the house used to be.

There are many things you can do to deter unpleasant things happening while you away from your home. It wasn't until recently though that I was introduced to LightwaveRF and was blown away by what is possible for home security these days. I wouldn't class myself as a cliche bloke at all, if anything, when it comes to anything techy its Mrs M that shows more interest, these products and the fact that you can control them using your phone from anywhere though had me hooked.

I remember going away a few years back and placing those old plug in timers in to the sockets with a lamp plugged in to them to deter any possible unwanted attention around the home and give the impression that there is someone home. Which at the time did what it needed to do but what concerned me though is that if someone was watching the house they would realise that the same light went on and off at the same time every night. For an opportunistic robbery great, but useless in stopping someone who knows what they are doing.

Once you have installed the LigtwaveRF Wifi Link to your phone or other device, which is really simple to do you have a central hub to any of their other great products that you chose to use to keep your home safe. This week I changed over one of the plug sockets for the LightwaveRF 2 Gang 13A Socket. Which again was very simple to do and can be done by any one with knowledge of household electrics (Just remember to shut down the power to your sockets). Once the product is installed (as with all of their products that connect to the Wifi Link), you can then download the app and connect your added devices to the app. They really couldnt make the connection process any clearer it takes a minute (if that) to have your device up and running.

The app lets you set up different rooms in the house and give nicknames to your devices like upstairs landing lamp for example. What I love about these devices is the peace of mind you get from knowing that at any point in the day while you are away, using your phone you can switch on a radio, TV, or lamp etc giving the impression that someone is home, which for a worrier like me means a lot.

LightwaveRF have given me back my confidence for going away and hopefully the next time we are away I wont have that unnerving feeling in my stomach as I approach the house.

"Caught by the fuzz"

Yesterday on The way to school Seth came out with one of his corkers, 

Seth: whenever i put my hand up at school, briar (Seth's carpet partner) always says 'are you putting your hand up to tell on me' and I don't know what to say to him?

Me: we'll are you putting your hand up to tell him?

Seth: YES!!!

Seth is such a grass, I've never known anything like it. He's like a one man police force around school and is always running to tell the teachers when something's not right and then we get the low down when he comes out of school. One day Seth came out of school with a disgusted look on his face and proceeded to tell me how he had to go and tell on a girl because she did a cartwheel and flashed her knickers off. Things have obviously changed since i was at school as that was the sort of thing us boys would laugh about, but not our little head of school security. Seth's has also opted to be on the school council (no surprise there), I'd love to see what he's like in the meetings.

A few weeks back Seth told us that he told someone off for having chocolate in their lunch box (because the school doesn't allow it ), Seth said that the child told him to mind his own business. I laughed and said good on him. I told him I'd have said exactly the same to him when i was at school. Seth looked a little disappointed by my comment but I explained that nobody likes a tell tale, it's not a nice quality to have.

Seth is such a good, well mannered and loving child but he is so highly strung and takes the Weight of the world on his shoulders. He's so concerned about what everyone else is doing that a lot of the time I don't think he enjoys himself as much as he should for a child his age. I've always thought it but it wasn't until a few weeks ago when someone else brought it up and also pointed out that Seth unlike most children Never uncontrollably laughs (unless he's being tickled), he nearly always has a serious look on his face. 

Ill always treat Seth like he's my boy, he's my best friend but I can tell more and more each day where he gets his genes from. Opeie is definitely  more fun loving and as much as I think Mrs M will hate it he's going to be a lot like me with a laid back but rebellious nature. I really don't want Opeie highly strung too I need someone in the house on my side.

Although Seth's grassing at times can be quite entertaining I am a little concerned that if he doesn't get it out of system he's going to alienate himself and make secondary school even more difficult than it can already be. I know he is 6 and he will probably grow out of it but I see it getting worse as the weeks go by. He has a 'Seth knows best' attitude and its difficult to tell him different. I hate to say it but its exactly how i Imagine Mrs M to have been at school. (Sorry sweetie)

Last night I told Mrs M about his telling the teacher comment and for fun every time Seth did something wrong no matter how trivial or insignificant we raised our hands and grassed on him to each other. He didn't like that one bit but I'm quite sure no lesson was learned and he's probably got his arm up now telling someone off for something.