Howay, or I'll kick your head in

I was in a shop the other day when I heard a young mum, 20 or so, threaten her young son, in a bid to get him to leave.

Now we've all done it, but I thought "Howay, or I'll kick your head in" a little over the top.

The bairn, who must have been all of two, wisely grabbed his mam's hand and left as fast as his little legs could carry him.

As my mouth fell open and I tried hard not to stare, I wondered if it dawned on this lass for even a moment exactly what she had just said.

Now the bairn was well dressed and looked in rude health, but when his mam is threatening to "kick his head in", what hope does he have of growing up with proper morals and values?

I'm not suggesting for a moment that she would have harmed a hair on his head, but I was appalled at her casual use of such violent language.

Did she stop for a moment to think that if he is brought up being used to grown-ups talking like that, he'll think nothing of uttering similar threats when he starts school in a couple of years' time?

How will she feel then, when she is summoned to see the head about her offspring's aggressive behaviour, or when social services come knocking on her door?

It's all too easy to forget just how big an influence we adults can have on children - they copy the things we say and do, often without knowing what they mean.

My son, who's 13, has picked up lots of my mannerisms (not too many of the bad ones thankfully), and it's only when I hear him say them that I realise where he's got them from.

Every parent owes it to their child to bring them up right, teaching them the basics of decency and respect, and there's time yet for that young mum to do just that.

I just hope she reads this and thinks twice before she issues such a throwaway threat again.

What's the point of Paris?

Can someone tell me what exactly is the point of Paris Hilton?

The heiress to the hotel-owning family's riches really has showed her true colours recently as she tried to wriggle out of a jail sentence.

You may recall that the 26-year-old was given a 45-day sentence after breaching the conditions of a probation order she was given for drink-driving.

Clearly thinking that she's so rich that society's normal laws don't apply to her, she basically went and did it again.

After trying for weeks to wriggle out of a spell behind bars she finally tasted some porridge this week.

It didn't last long though: within three days she was freed, released after claiming she was ill with an unspecfied medical condition. I think it was called something like spoiltbrateritis.

Instead of sharing a cell with some other lawbreaker - 'cos that's what she is, let's not forget - she was sent home, and told she could serve the remainder of her sentence under house arrest, with an electronic tag on her ankle.

Well at least that's one sort of bracelet she hasn't worn before!

Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer had other ideas, however, and ordered she be brought back before the court, refusing to accede to requests for her to take part in the hearing via telephone.

"Who does she think she is, the Queen of bloody Sheba?" as TV's Jim Royle might say.

A justice official described her release as "outrageous," and revealed he received more than 400 angry emails and hundreds more phone calls from around the US protesting at her treatment.

Never mind locking her up: I know how to make her really suffer - cut off her inheritance and make her get a job like ordinary people.

Life begins at 40

A MAJOR milestone was passed in our house recently: my other half and I both turned 40 within a few weeks of each other.

I don't know why, but I've always thought there's something monumental about approaching the big 4-0.

I suppose you realise that however long you try to hang on to the notion that you are, you're simply not young any more.

But, having safely passed through the other side, I can honestly say there's nothing to it. I feel no different at 40 than I did at 39.

Life Begins At 40, so they say - and that's what gave me the idea for the name of this blog.

I think I've enough life experience to offer some food for thought on most subjects you'd care to name.

So I'll be regularly filing my thoughts on whatever tickles my fancy or - more likely - arouses my ire, from the topical news and sport of the day.

I've spent my working life in newspapers, but I won't be writing this as a journalist, just as a member of Joe Public who has a view on what's going on in the world.

Hopefully my observations will draw a wry smile from like-minded people of a certain age - or any age, for that matter.

But even if my ramblings make steam blow from your ears, please give me some feedback - at least you'll have bothered to read them and I'll have provoked a reaction.

Now then, what's made my blood boil lately....?