As part of a competition by the radio station The Edge, the group of six must endure the No 1 selling Crazy Frog song being played end on end for 72 hours. They also must endure each other.
The mother-and-child pair that are able to do this without breaking any rules will win $3000. Not surprisingly, one of the rules is not to smash up the video, stereo or TV.
The radio station has dubbed the competition "Desperate Housewives vs Crazy Frog". - Read the rest of the article in the Herald
Now, seriously. On Monday I got a letter from my mum. It started:
Dear phreq,
Have been wondering how you are. I guess I realise now that you have mental illness to deal with as well as all your other issues as well as addiction. I hadn't really figured that out before but I guess it is an obvious part of the whole scenario that seems to fit now that I think about it.
So. It only took her 19 years, since teachers at primary school suggested a psychologist at the age of 6, to the numerous suicide attempts during my teens, to the 5 years of psychotherapy, to the 9 months in a private mental hospital, to the 13 years of an eating disorder and years of drug use - legal and otherwise, to the 6 psychiatrists, 4 psychotherapists, GPs, psych nurses and periods in public mental wards...
for my mother to guess she realises that I have mental illness to deal with.
Then she offers that if things get too hard, you can always come home and we can try and sort things out with you. That would not be an easy option for you or us. But we will help you if you want us involved.
The rest of the letter was about shopping. Signed Love you. Mum.
I wonder if it would have killed her to say: if things get hard, you can always come home and we'll support you in any way we can. You always have a home with us, because you are family and because we love you.
I dunno. I don't know why she bothered writing. To upset me? It's not exactly the kind of letter I would send to a daughter or a friend that was so hurt by my behaviour she asked me not to contact her.
"Hey, I just realised that you're mentally ill as well as all these issues like addiction that you have brought upon yourself."
I really want to write back and say: It is the considered opinion of every mental health professional that I've ever met that your appalling parenting of me contribuited to my "issues". It's your bloody fault in so many ways that I would rather shoot myself in both feet than ever sleep under your roof again.
They would chalk that up to mental illness, I'm sure. It's such a nice blanket term that they can make it fit anything.
"Pay no attention. She's "mentally ill". Aren't we good and longsuffering parents not to have cut her off?"
You caused it, fuckers. You set me up for the idiots at church and at school and all the rest by robbing me off all self-esteem and hope by the age of 5. I can never remember a childhood moment that is not tainted by a deep undercurrent of fear and self-loathing.
Leaving the Hutt was the best thing I ever did.