An unusual mid-week departure from books today, and I make no excuse for the nepotism because I hope you'll understand it's all in a good cause.
We nipped in to Plymouth to be proud parents and wave Offspringette off on her latest personal challenge - awfully big adventure last week.
I have to say, probably like many of you, we're used to this. At 18 it was the solo Greyhound bus trip around America or else it's the Kayaker off to paddle the Zambezi or the White Nile.
A couple of years ago Offspringette threw in the coveted media job ('you'd better sit down'... was how that phone call started) to go and help a fund-raising trip skateboarding across Australia.
Yes, really...I know, we thought that too.
If I wonder where she's got it from, I suppose this skateboard bit and the wheels 'neath the feet thing could be partly my fault, and then we always get the 'well you did bring us up to be free spirits' explanation.
Being a garrison city and naval port, Plymouth and the surrounding area has suffered its share of tragic losses in recent months and years. All our children sadly now know how it feels to lose friends in times of war; it has touched all of them either as school friends or part of their wider social circle and prompted by the tragic death of the fiance of a good friend in Afghanistan in January this year, Offspringette is off and doing a Help For Heroes fund-raising solo skate trip of her own.
Familiar with Scotland, having studied Film & Media at Stirling Uni and then Glasgow-based with BBC Scotland for three years, the trip starts as far north as she could get on Shetland.
Then it will be off to Orkney to follow in the Tinker's wartime footsteps, before powering along on something called a long board (like a skate board but bigger) all the way down the east coast of Scotland to the English border.
Well, that's the strategy barring equipment malfunction or knee failure and already the hospitality has abounded in Shetland and the donations are coming in.
Most trips like this take along a support team but Offspringette wanted the solo endurance challenge so she's carrying everything in her rucksack and when you know she's a pint-sized 5ft 2" you'll see what a challenge that is. She's has worked incredibly hard to fund this trip herself along with some helpful equipment sponsorship (that board arrived from the US just days before, thank you America) so every penny raised will go to Help For Heroes.
I'm not asking you for money, though she'll be thrilled and very encouraged along the way if you do donate, (and you can do it online) but please feel under no obligation; however this is the place where I can say to the world how immensely proud we are of her philanthropic endeavour and can share that with all of you.
Nothing like your children for making you realize what matters in life and for making you feel bad about lazing in an armchair reading a book, whilst occasionally indulging the thoroughly self-aggrandizing thought that perhaps you might have done something right through all those dazed and exhausting years of child-raising.
As I'm her mother I worry a little bit, so I can also say to her...STAY OFF THE MOTORWAY and thank you to RAF Lossiemouth who have promised to keep an eye out for her when she's in the vicinity.
The plan is to take all summer to do the trip, hopefully raise far more than the projected £500 for Help for Heroes, write a journal along the way and spend plenty of time pondering 'what is this thing called life' as she skates along the highways and byways, before rolling on into post-graduate teacher training in the autumn.
On reflection what a great way to arrive in the teaching profession, with a few years of work and life experience behind you.
Plymouth Hoe in the sunshine and Offspringette's real name finally revealed, fancy naming your first-born after your favourite 1980's shop, and as if you needed to ask, of course she's going to check out the knitting shops for me while she's in Shetland:-)
