My daughter really should have been born a Disney. She loves everything about Disney. Her first memory I’m sure is not of her mum or me, but of watching Elsa and Ana sing their hearts out in the bloody freezing cold. For her birthday each year, everything is usually Disney Princess themed. And I don’t mind, she really loves it and besides what parent doesn’t want to see their children so happy? There are far worse things in life than a Disney Princess.

So, yesterday on the last night of my mum and stepdad’s 3 week visit to see us from London, what does my daughter want to do? She wanted us all to drive down PCH to Malibu’s Bluff Park to watch said movie in which the characters burst into song for no apparent reason at all.

This sent a shiver down my spine. Of all the things to do. To say I dislike any form of musicals is the understatement of the year. The Sound of Music may have been a good film, but to me, it was clearly ruined by Julie Andrews running around on a hillside that was apparently alive with music taking half an hour to sing a few lines that could have been said in less than 12 seconds. If she’d done this, then the movie could have been cut to just 17 minutes, instead of 2hrs and 54 minutes. Imagine what you could do instead with that extra 2 and a half hours?

And musicals are much, much worse in a theater because the actors are actually there, and good manners means you can't really fall asleep. Except, you can, and I have, whilst watching Sunset Boulevard in London’s West End, but you are inevitably roused from the land of Zzzzzz when someone decides they can make their point much better by way of a song, very loudly.

Like any father of a daughter under the age of 12, we have all had to sit through Frozen dozens of times a week, sometimes even more. Then, if that is not enough, we have to watch our daughters perform their own version of the show in front of the TV while we are trying to watch sport. But despite this, I am somehow yet to see the movie all the way through. Mostly, because I had fallen asleep the moment I heard “Do you want to build a snowman?”

So, instead of heading to Santa Barbara or one of our favorite restaurants in the area such as Mastro’s or Lure or Dukes or Stonehaus, off we go to Malibu with a picnic packed of left over barbecued food, blankets and chairs with extra warm clothing to wear to sit in a park and watch a movie in the cold, with probably a hundred or more other reluctant fathers.

But as we drive down PCH, the sun is beginning to go down, and the orange and red colors are bouncing off the Santa Monica Mountains or the Pacific Ocean. There are surfers catching their last breaks of the day, kayakers or kite boarders just coming in from an afternoon in the sea. There are couples and young families out for a drive or a stroll along the beach and it really is a beautiful site. If Malibu is mist and traffic free, then you’d really struggle to find a greater road to drive than PCH.

Once we got there and the sun started to set, my wife immediately put on all of my warm clothes I took with me, as she thought it was quite chilly. But it was OK, as the cold never bothered me anyway

The main thing is my mum who suffers from MS was able to spend some quality time with her granddaughter and to see the contentment on both their faces was all that mattered.

For me, for the first time in forever, I managed to watch the movie from beginning to end and despite a lot of singing, its actually a great movie.

On the way home, my mum said to me of the noticeable differences between here and back in the UK. Now, the USA and the UK have very similar cultures. There have always been a few differences for sure but relatively speaking, there aren’t many. Until recently.

The last time I was in the UK was this time last year and as sure as eggs are eggs, its changed and not for the better. There is a growing culture of its not my problem or why should I bother. We have groups of children in their teens who feel that instead of doing something worthwhile, they want to hang out on the streets and abuse people, particularly the elderly or infirm or those that can’t retaliate because they have young children with them. This happened to me when I was with my daughter who was just 4 years old at the time. In the UK, an event like this held by Malibu City – there would be gangs of teenager’s hell bent on ruining an evening like this. But this doesn’t happen here. When everyone left, they all left in a civilized way, they picked up their trash and took it with them or placed it in trash cans.

My stepfather commented on how civil everyone is on the roads around Ventura County, people give way to each other or stop to let pedestrians cross the road. Kids here from age 8 upwards hold doors open for others. People are polite and friendly and welcoming. In parts of the UK, the door would be slammed firmly in your face and they’d probably laugh at you too.

Litter. There is barely any, anywhere. And if there is, its mostly accidental from blowing out of trash cans or dumpsters.

The schools too seem to have it in their curriculum to teach the kids vital life skills like being respectful to one another. Something my mum picked up on straight away.

A report last summer revealed that in England and Wales only 4% of street robberies and a mere 3% of burglaries are solved by the nation’s law enforcement. Things aren’t much better when it comes to knife attacks, sexual assault and moped-related thefts.

Naturally, every decent person in the land spent that week trying to figure out why the figures are so lamentable, with many blaming the parents. I’m not sure this is relevant, as I’ve seen similar unsociable behavior by men and women in their 30’s, and with someone that age, their mum and dad aren’t really responsible for their whereabouts. It’s the same story with the kids riding round on small motorcycles with a large knife in their coat pocket. Chances are their parents are not around to teach him right from wrong.

So if you are that way inclined, you know, that there’s a 96% chance you’ll get away scot-free and that even if you’re unlucky enough to be caught red-handed and hit over the head with a blunt instrument by the victim, the victim will be arrested, and someone will bring you flowers, which would obviously be paid for by the victim, whilst you’re in one of the many free hospitals.

If they are subsequently convicted, you will be given a short spell in a prison that is better than many of the hotels in the country. And while you’re in there, a hand-wringing member of the opposition will make lots of speeches about you and how you were driven to crime by bankers or someone with a nice car.

This is not a deterrent and only encourages more crime. And that is why as an outsider, my mum and stepdad marveled at the blessed way of life in the Conejo Valley, Malibu or Camarillo areas.

Now, we obviously realized this a long while ago, which is why we decided to move to the area and set up our house cleaning business here.

With lovely local events that happen in and around the area, it’s great to realize how many of our clients who get to enjoy the great area we live in. And that is largely because of the free time they are afforded by hiring a professional maid service.

Our reputation speaks for itself; we are the area’s most highly rated professional maid service. We are licensed, bonded and insured and we only employ the very best housekeepers.

We cover Malibu, Conejo Valley (including; Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Newbury Park, Oak Park Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village). We also cover Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria and Summerland.

We offer 52 Point Spring Cleans / Deep Cleans, Move In Cleans, Move Out Cleans, Post Construction Cleans and recurring weekly or bi-weekly house cleaning services. We also clean vacation properties for many AirBnB companies.

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Call us on 805-917-6243 or 424-538-6243 or 805-321-6243