Now that I'm a Yummy Mummy!

Mummy Tag

2014-02-12T21:39:00.001Z

I've been tagged by the lovely @messedupmumblog in a mummy tag meme. It's so us blogging mums can find out more about each other by answering a few simple questions about ourselves. So here goes....

1. Are you a SAHM or a working mum?

I'm currently a SAHM. When pregnant I was determined to go back 45 hours a week after 3 months maternity, as I wanted my boy to have the best in life and that needed money. The moment he was in my arms I knew that wouldn't happen. After 9 months I returned working 6 hours one day a week, and did that for a year. However a new manager started messing about with my hours, and trying to get me to do more, or different days that I couldn't do. I hate feeling like I'm letting people down so the stress built up until I handed my notice in with full support from my Hubby to become a full time mum until T started school full time, then I would return to work. T has currently started his 15 hours, I did look for a job to fit round those hours, and have decided to train as a Classroom Assistant come September, with the intention of qualifying and starting work properly in September 2015. I am currently on a voluntary school placement 6 hours a week and I love it!

2. Would you have it any other way?

No. I love being at home. I love every precious minute I get to spend with T. I love teaching him, playing games with him and watching him progress every day. If I had to complain it would be that I wanted to keep him home till he started reception. But Hubby fairly pointed out that he needed to socialise and learn about how to behave at school. So he does his 15 hours, and to be fair, he loves it.

3. Do you co-sleep?

No. The first 2/3 weeks T was here, I slept with him on my chest as he wouldn't settle on his back, he was then diagnosed with reflux, we took the risk to put him to sleep on his front and he slept on his own since then. He has since slept with us only once and Hubby and I had such an awful nights sleep it'll never bloody happen again! I slept with T on his floor when he had Norovirus a year or so ago.

4.What is your one must-have item for your child?

The only one thing T won't be without is his bedtime monkey. He's had it since the day he was born. Personally I love that he has a favourite teddy. I had one which always stayed near me till the day I left home!

5. How many kids do you plan on having?

Before I met my husband I wanted 2. When T was born I was quite happy with one (to be fair he was perfect, napped perfectly, slept through the night, rarely cried, always happy, very clever, the chances of getting that a second time?!) I did dither with wanting another, but then I was diagnosed with Hypermobility Syndrome and 'strongly advised' not to have any more. Then the Daughter (my Step Daughter) fell pregnant and that made our minds up to not have any more, when we had one we could borrow and give back!

6. Date nights; how often do you have them?

Pahahahahahaaha. The last time we intentionally went out was June! We gave up on trying, you could guarantee that if we arranged to go out together T would get poorly. To be fair though we're quite happy at home with a takeaway watching TV together.

7. Your child's favourite TV show?

Just one?! Argh. He's always loved Curious George. So if I had to pick just one I think that would be it. I love George too!

8. Name one thing you bought before you had the baby and ended up not using?

Baby oil! Still have bottle we bought before he was born, and I never used the moses basket part of the pram!

9.What's your child's favourite food?

We have a battle with T and food. He's very fussy at what he eats. But thankfully he will eat a fairly balanced diet. His favourite 'food' is a picnic. Consisting of cheese, crisps, a yoghurt, a banana and some form of biscuit!

10.How many cars does your family have?

Just 1, a company works van. Thankfully upgraded to a 5 seater!

11.Weight gain; pre-pregnancy, during and post pregnancy?

Before I fell pregnant I was 14 stone 13. The day before I went into labour I was 14 stone 13! The next night I was 12 stone 11. I'm now 12 stone 4!

12. Dream holiday with kids?

If we had the money and the confidence that T would be ok, and that I could get over my phobia of people in costumes, the Disney Land. Or if we're dreaming Disney World cause they have a Curious George bit!

13. Dream holiday without the kids?

Anywhere. My Hubby loves his home comforts and doesn't like staying away, flying, driving too far, or boats! Lol.

14. How has your life changed since having kids?

For the better. I'm a much stronger, confident person now. I'm happier than I'd ever dreamed I could be. I was definitely meant to be a wife, a mum, and a step mum!

15. Finish the sentence, 'it makes my heart melt when...'

T throws his arms round my neck and says 'I just love you Mammy' or when I hear him playing in his room with his toys and the conversations they have!

16. Where do you shop for your kids?

Debenhams Blue Zoo (when there's a sale on) and George at Asda, or Primark. Not much point spending loads on clothes, he's a boy, we have a big garden, they just get muddy!

17. Favourite make up and skin care products?

I rarely wear make up. Just mascara unless I'm going out out. I use a face scrub (yellow Clearasil one) and a moisturiser a few times a week!

18. Huggies or Pampers?

Neither were great for us, we ended up using Tescos own brand!

19. Have you always wanted kids?

Always!

20. Best part about being a mum?

All of it! I love seeing how clever my boy is for his age, because of the time I put in teaching him. I love seeing him play independently and listening to how he plays and uses his imagination, I love his quirky sense of humour, I love the fact that he can make me cry laughing with some of the things he says, I love that he can infuriate me and make my heart melt a matter of seconds apart. I love the challenge of making him into a kind, loving, honest, understanding, intelligent, independent boy and hopefully he takes that with him when he becomes a man. I love the ups and the downs, because everything counts towards the rest of his life!

So the Mums I would like to get to know better, if they wish to join in are @childcareisfun, @theboyandme and @girlgonecoastal, cause they are all fab and I'd love to get to know 'em better!

February 1st

2014-02-01T17:24:00.001Z

I've been quiet recently. I've had a lot going on. T and I have been poorly and although we're almost fully recovered I'm having some other issues, which I'm going to ramble about!

I've blogged before about panic attacks I've had before doing new things. They're to be expected in a way.

When I started my role as a volunteer in the school I was surprisingly fine.

Then after the Christmas break things started to go a bit down hill. So my first Monday back I was violently sick once as we were getting ready for school, my other end was threatening action. I was due into school but decided I'd just take T to nursery (at the same school) and come home again. I popped some Imodium and set off. By the time I got to school I felt fine, decided to risk my 3 hours. For the rest of the day I was fine.

Tuesday morning, dodgy tummy, again threatening other end action. Same action plan again, same outcome. I was fine. Wednesday came, (I do 3 hours on a Monday and Tuesday morning) I was fine. Fine the rest of the week. Monday morning, dodgy bum, Tuesday morning dodgy bum!

After the third week of this happening I decided I must be stressed about going to school placement. But I'm not. I don't stay awake all night tossing and turning and thinking of reasons not to go, I adore it!

With my cold I've had this week I've had weird tingling and tightenings in my left cheek. The first time it tightened it felt like the side of my mouth was going drop so I panicked about a stroke. The feeling went within seconds and I was fine. Since then my face has been tightening and tingling all the live long day. Starting about an hour after I get up getting steadily stronger and stronger until I go to bed. It doesn't hurt, well only every now and then. Just feels like my face is itchy/pins and needley. Mostly along my left cheekbone, hops across to my lips as nose quite often and sometimes as far up as my eye. I've had tingly teeth, they've been a bit sensitive, but no problems eating or drinking.

I went to the Drs yesterday and she gave me a week of antibiotics. She was giving me them for a sinus infection, but if it wasn't better in the week I needed to go back and see her as it could be a problem with a nerve.

So I hit google when I got home (don't judge me you've done it!)

I've either got a brain tumour, cancer, TMJ or anxiety.

So let's focus on the sensible 2; TMJ and anxiety. I have hypermobility and TMJ goes hand in hand with that. Also my dodgy bum seems to tell me I have anxiety.

So my POA (plan of action) is:

1) Go to see a Biomechanics specialist. My hypermobility has been recognised but I've not had a full body assessment. Just the physio pointing out week on week when he finds something new.

2) Book in the dentists on an off chance that it's tooth related.

3) Try to find out what's causing my anxiety. This is the hardest. I don't feel mentally stressed or anxious about anything so why is my body potentially tell me otherwise?!

4) Hopefully the antibiotics work and it was just a sinus infection. Even so, steps 1,2 and 3 need to be followed!

So really I'm just sounding this all out so I can stop running it all over in my head. But if anyone has experiences of face tingling, tightness, TMJ, anxiety, how to find out what's stressing you when you're not stressed, or can just give me a cuddle that would be marvellous, ta.

Days of the Year Challenge

2014-01-20T19:28:00.002Z

I have just seen someone share this site on Facebook:

www.daysoftheyear.com

It brought back memories, in times before I was a Mum, my very first blog was a 365 day challenge. I found out what 'day' it was for every day of the year and intended to take part in each 'day'. I managed it for about a month then lost interest.

But it got me thinking, now that I am a Mummy, this widens the 'days' I can take part in, and kind of gives me a focus for each day. So I may just attempt to start that game again!

In fact I think I will.

I'll tweet the 'day' each day (overuse of the word day I'm finding!) and if people want to join in then you're all more than welcome I'll find some # and Instagram a pic of our 'day' every day!

Yes, yes. I think this will make for a fun year!

So today is 'Penguin Awareness Day'

I am aware of Penguins.

I love Penguins, especially that one that's on YouTube and laughs when it gets tickled:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YuWLKQ5e54

I haven't said day for a while.

Day.

January 12th

2014-01-12T18:45:00.001Z

My big sisters 41th birthday today. The crazy lady wanted to go looking for sea glass at Seaham Beach. We wrapped up warm and had a fab time.

Well T didn't, he was traumatised by having to wee outside and did NOT like the waves!

Look at his poor little traumatised face! Bless him :(

Memories definitely made today, albeit scary ones!

January 7th

2014-01-07T20:17:00.002Z

So about 5pm today I was pondering 'what the heck am I going to write about today?'

Then I went in the bath.

T only normally bothers the Hubby in the bath, I'm the boring parent that gets left alone.

Not today!

T decided he wanted to help bath me. Fine. So he start pouring water over my face and over my hair, lovely.

Then he spotted my nipples. He poked one;

"What's that Mammy?"

"That's a nipple, just like what you and Daddy have"

*He checks his, obviously they look different*

"Mammy they're poooorly"

*He runs off to find Hubby, explains to Hubby that Mammy has poorly nipples and needs 2 plasters, Hubby finds this most amusing, provides T with said plasters and comes into the bathroom to watch, T gently sticks the plasters on my nipples and says*

"All better now Mammy there you go" and he left, pleased with his work and his healing abilities.

So I lay in the bath looking at my boobs, my left one adorned with a Holly Shiftwell from Cars
plaster, and the other adorned with a Fillmore from Cars plaster.

They say you never look at your boobs the same after you've breastfed, I say you never look at them the same when they've been covered with kids plasters.
Especially when they have eyes, looking judgingly at me. Silently judging.

Look at his eyes. Dirty perv!

January 6th

2014-01-06T21:37:00.001Z

Back to school today for both of us.

I'm on placement to hopefully start my course for becoming a teaching assistant next month. I'm in a class with year 1s and I love it.

Aside from phonics.

I hate phonics.

Phonics make no sense to me. I get how they're helpful with words like 'cat' 'hat' and 'dog' but when they become diagraphs 'ed' 'er' they start to make less sense.

Let's take 'ou' in 'out' this is pronounced as 'ow' in 'should' it is pronounced as 'uh' in 'you' it's pronounced as 'oo' and in 'four' it's pronounced 'or'. This was enough to drive my logic loving brain utterly bananas!

What was wrong with the flash card approach that I and I'm sure most of you reading were brought up with? It's working with T. He can read and pronounce words my Yr1s would struggle with!

I digress.

So I was at school this morning, then went for lunch with a friend. (See, resolutions getting knocked out of the park this week, although it negates my weight loss one) we came back to mine after for coffee, one of the bloody stupid dogs escaped and made a bid for freedom (I live within the grounds of a park, she spotted a dog walking past and went to plaaaaay) so after chasing her for bloody ages I picked her up caked in mud as she decided she wanted to have a good ol' roll in the mud seems as she was already in trouble.

Carried her home. Cleaned up, went to pick T up from nursery. Came home chatted about his day which went like this:

*come in and sits on the couch, T throws himself at me*

"Mammy I just missed you so much today" *gives me a massive cuddle, my heart melts*

" aww baby I missed you too, what did you do today?"

"I counted raisins, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and then I put an apron on and then I MADE A CAKE!"

"Ohh lovely, did you make one for mammy?"

"No! Just for children"

"Didn't your teacher have one?"

"No, Mammys and teachers don't like cake" (?!)

"We do like cake, we LOVE cake"

"No. You. Don't. Like. Cake"

"We do"

"YOU DONT"

"We do"

"You and me gonna fall out Mammy"

Oh good grief!

Just pics

2014-01-05T21:27:00.001Z

Finally got some time to go outdoors today these are the result:

January 4th

2014-01-04T18:56:00.001Z

So today we've mostly been finishing our home improvement projects:

The drawers

So pleased with how they've turned out!

The annoying space between wall and wardrobe:

Love them too!

So apart from that and cleaning up the mess from it, I had a chance to play with 75-300 lense. Just wish I could use it on macro without the damn flash. But here's some pics:

Lots of resolutions done today :)

New Start

2014-01-03T22:00:00.002Z

Happy New Year!

Today it dawned on me that I could rekindle my blogging desire if I changed the way I blog, last year it worked as thus: If I found something to rant about, I would blog, then I would aim to do a monthly catch up of what we'd been up to. Except if I didn't get chance to catch up one month then I had 2 months worth, etc etc. So I stopped blogging.

So my New blogasution is to try and do a mini blog every day, even if it's just a picture, a thought or a funny story.

To be a sheep, here's my New Years Resolutions:

Do a Pilates class or do Pilates at home once a week (most likely at home, the thought of laying groaning and farting next to toned and perfectly made up women fills me with dread!)

Moisture (I'm not getting any younger!)

Maintain weight loss ( I got down to 12 stone) No higher than 12 stone 7 by 01/01/15 (I am currently 12 st 8, damn Christmas and your Terrys Chocolate Oranges!)

Take care with appearance: When leaving the house, hair must be done, not scragged back, nails should be clean and tidy!

Half hour me time a day; I feel guilty at walking away from time as a family when Hubby gets in from work but maybe I could sneak half an hour once T has gone to bed. I have created a snuggle corner in my bedroom, big squishy armchair with a snuggly blanket. Hubby has his own space in the dining room, Xbox and armchair!

More outside stuff with T: We rarely get a lot of time together, I want to get outside in the fresh air, in the rain, in the snow, in the wind!

Socialise at least once a month with friends: My family are my friends, however I do have very good friends and want to stay in touch with those that don't have kids, and those that do, we go out and have lunch, not play dates!

Make memories: Ts at an age now where he will be able to look back on things and remember. So I want to make memories worth remembering!

Take more proper photos: Hubby bought me a Canon Rebel T4i 650d for Christmas, with a big lense and a normal lense (I am sooooo technical) I intend to use this A LOT! Perhaps learn the correct terminology as I go!

Blog more: This is that!

We're also on the saving money thingy as everyone is at this time of year. But today I have 2 examples of how we've already changed our attitude. T basically got bought the content of every toy shop in the land for Christmas, so we needed more storage. We were going to spend £100 on a new wardrobe and a bookcase. Instead we added bookshelves in the annoying gap between wardrobe end and wall. Got given a chest of drawers that SIL was throwing out, turned that into half drawers and 2 cubes, currently painting them to match T's room.

We also decided that our dining table needed to be smaller as we now have Hubbys time out area in there, so again instead of buying a new one £180 we decided to just cut our existing one down!

From this:

To this!

So a productive day, which has saved us £280!

So I will now attempt to be a good blogger and actually blog stuff.

Oh here's a 'proper pic' accompanied with a 'funny' story. Whenever T has been pushing his luck in the past, the Hubby and I have uttered the phrase 'You carry on like this and me and you are gonna fall out' Today the tables were turned as when T didn't get something he wanted he said 'me and you are gonna fall out' whilst giggling his face off. Bless him!

Turning 3

2013-12-01T19:19:00.001Z

T turned 3 on October 15th.

However the world has turned upside down since then (allow me to be melodramatic please) so I haven't blogged properly in a long while.

So his day of turning 3 looked like this:

We had a lovely day, lots of loved ones around us. With T turning 3 it meant he was ready to start his 15 hours of nursery on November 4th, so I was more determined than ever to make the most of the few weeks before he started.

October 20th: At tea time, T looked a bit under the weather, runny gunky eyes, very pale and just looked wiped. I suffer with allergies at this time of year when the leaves fall and wondered if it was getting him too.

October 21st: Took T to the Drs in the morning, Dr checked him over and said he was fine, I explained my concern about the allergy and could we have some anti-histamine for him he said no as he couldn't see any problems (being the dense first time mum I am, I didn't think you could buy kids anti-histamine) so I shrugged and we carried on with our day. Went for coffee and soft play with my mum, then after being home an hour, we had this:

By the time we got to the Drs

The poor thing was covered head to toe by the time we'd finished.

So I was told he had hives, likely as an allergic reaction to something and was prescribed an anti-histamine. However to this day the hives are still randomly appearing and we have no idea what is causing them :(

Then his first morning at nursery arrived on November 4th (he does 15 hours over 3 days, Mon 8:45-3:15 Tue 8:45-3:15 and Wednesday 8:45-11:45) his first week he was doing just mornings.

November 11th: T's first full day at school, and also mine. I have started to volunteer at his school as I'm hoping to start training to be a Teaching Assistant in February and I needed a placement. So I'm in with a lovely Yr1 class. T woke up on this morning a bit snotty with a bit of a cough, but it being our first proper days we trooped off to school. I told his teacher to give me a shout if he was too bad but it was just a cold at the end of the day. All went well until 2pm when the school had a 'Stranger Danger' talk. I went down to the hall with my Yr1s and I was surprised when they brought the nursery kids in. T stared at me as he walked across the hall with a confused look on his face 'you look like my Mammy but why are you here?' Once it dawned on him it was really me he waved, so I gave a little wave back, then he started shuffling down the line towards me. His teacher came to tell him to sit still and he said he wanted to see me, so she smiled and said he could quickly. So he stood up with the biggest smile going and screamed 'Mammmmmmmyyy' as he ran towards me, then his bottom lip started wobbling, then the tears came as he shouted (whilst still running towards me) 'Mammy you need to take me home, I'm sooooo poorly' and he threw himself into my arms sobbing. I took one look at him and got a bit upset. His eyes were red and streaming from the cold, he had wiped bogies all over his face and his face was just dark green, snot was pouring out of his nose. His Teacher came over and said I could take him home if I liked cause he was thick with cold, and she suggested if he was just as bad the following day to only do a half day. The cold turned into a chest infection, for both of us and we'd only just recovered fully by November 22nd.

November 23rd: T complains that his finger hurts and he is poorly. Hubby and I giggle about this as he enjoyed being looked after when he was poorly.

November 24th: T says his finger still hurts, we kiss it better.

November 25th: T has massive lump on finger, I presume it's some sort of cut that got infected, rub some savlon on, put plaster on, kiss it better, we go to school. On the way home, he shows me another big lump on his finger, and another, and another. There are some on his feet too.

November 26th: Take T to Drs, T has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Feel very bad parent for laughing over the weekend when he was telling us he was poorly, cause he actually was.

It is now December the 1st. His spots are starting to clear, thankfully he was only poorly with the pain of his spots and nothing else.

I'm fed up of all the germs now.

Let's see what this week brings!

The John Lewis Christmas Advert

2013-11-18T16:30:00.000Z

Ok, ok I need to say my piece I'm afraid.

If you haven't seen the John Lewis Christmas advert, familiarise yourself first.

Did you cry?

So many people posted on Facebook, and Twitter, and my sister text me 'have you seen the John Lewis advert? I cried'

So I watched it, tissues at the ready, nothing, I actually felt cross.

Yes, cross!

If you read my blogs you'll know I'm fairly harsh on cartoons, so let this one line up to be next.

Firstly, how selfish is Hare? Bear hibernates all winter for a reason. This is nature, and just so he's not piggin' lonely on Christmas day he takes it upon himself to wake Bear up.

How did he set the alarm?! One suggestion from Twitter was that he may have asked John Lewis to do that as their customer service is pretty awesome. Well he would have had to as obviously Hares don't have thumbs to do the annoying twisty thing on the back that sets the alarm on Christmas day.

Also who the heck waits till 7:45am to wake up for Christmas? I am done by then! DONE! Having been awake since 5am. If I had to wait till 7:45am for Christmas to start, I would EXPLODE!

Also from a selling side from John Lewis, where is there any promotion of goods (expect the alarm clock) the point of the advert is how lovely the simple things are, just getting to spend Christmas with your best friend, no presents required. Lovely message. Unless John Lewis have started selling happiness or friendship, is their not a chance that their loyal customers may think 'what a lovely message, this year we won't exchange gifts, unless they are presents of nature, we will just rejoice in the fact that we can be together' John Lewis goes bankrupt!

The Hare could have given Bear some nice Gruffalo 'jamas or something for when the poor thing returned to his hibernation.

What did you think of the advert? If you cried, why did you cry? Does this advert make you want to buy from John Lewis?!

Things I would do if I was Queen of the Land

2013-11-12T15:43:00.001Z

The following are my opinions on what would make the world a nicer place. Don't argue if you disagree, I'm just playing nicely!

1. I would fine people who made breastfeeding in public uncomfortable. £10 for a tut, £50 for being asked to be more discreet and £1000 for being asked to leave. All the money from the fines would go to building a chain of coffee shops that were solely for parents and their kids.

2. Only news readily available would be good news. Russell Howard would report all of it. For people who were really keen to learn about all the horrid stuff and people in the world there would be a news channel that ran from 10pm - 6am.

3. Jails would be like the ones on the films, enough to cover human rights but not more than what people out of jail may struggle to afford. Hopefully deterring people from ending up there in the first place. (But we wouldn't know who was in there cause of number 2)

4. In our area we have a problem with kids throwing bricks/breeze blocks off of bridges hoping to hit cars below. Other kids throw bricks and fireworks at passing cars. I would gather these kids together, put them in a secretly bomb proof car, and have them driven round whilst people they've hurt do it back to them.

5. Any American kids programmes would be dubbed in a British accent before being shown. There is nothing more cringy than your child saying a word for the first time in a full American twang! (I am the mother of one of these!)

6. If someone else's kid is being out of order you can tell them off without it being awkward. T just got purposefully pushed off balance by some awful little girl, 3 times whilst we were out. The adult with them just giggled and said 'kids hey, come on sweetie let's go choose your toy' she then was in the queue infront of us and turned and glared at T then walloped him in the face. Again the parent just giggled. My blood was boiling.

7. Katie Hopkins would be banned from TV and Twitter apart from being made to do a Supernanny type programme where we see her use her parenting skills trying to sort some little brats out. Hopefully she'll see she's crap and have a breakdown or something.

This is all I can think of for now, I will add more when I think of them.

What would your laws be if you were King or Queen of the land?!

Anatomy

2013-11-07T13:27:00.002Z

Well my latest tweet went down a storm.

"T: Mammy why is my winky hard and sticking out? Me: *runs away* well handled I think"

Let me explain my panic.

I am not a prude.

When the issue of 'bits' first arose about a year ago, my Hubby taught T that he had a penis and testicles. This was unnerving to me. I know it's the correct term, but to hear your 2 year old son say 'Mammy look at my penis' was weird. I managed to get him to exchange the word penis for winky. This I am happier with.

However testicles remained.

I took T to his swimming lessons last week and as I was getting him dressed he explained, VERY LOUDLY about his swimming trunks, 'they go over my feet, and up my legs and then over my WINKY AND MY TESTICLES' I heard the mother (of a girl) in the next changing cubicle snort with laughter, so I muttered 'don't shout testicles baby' to which T shouted 'BUT DADDY SAID THEY ARE MY TESTICLES' *sigh*

The whole anatomy thing is a minefield, he constantly asks me where my winky is, I've explained that girls don't have winkys and boys do, so he pointed to my, erm, area and asked what that was, so I told him it was my front bum. That's fair enough, right?!

I googled the um, winky problem, and was told at the age of 3 they can get them up to 5 times a DAY!

So this isn't an issue that's going to go away until he learns from his mates or telly or whatever.

He'll ask his Dad.

And if I'm not there he'll likely be told 'that, son, is an erection, when boys get erections it means that they need to put it in a girls vagina to make a baby' (he may not say this, but you get the idea of how he explains body things to him)

So now that he's started school, if he gets one at school will he run around screaming 'I've got an ERECTION. I need to make a baby with a girls VAGINA!'

Help!

Musings: Dora the Explorer

2013-10-10T14:04:00.002+01:00

This is Dora.

She's an explorer. (Apparently)

The monkey with the boots on is called, um, Boots.

There is a fox that likes pinching things, he is called Swiper.

Dora teaches our children about colours, shapes and a little bit of Spanish.

All I see is the effect that Dora has on my real life.

When T asks me what something is, I tell him, he then says 'louder' so I confusedly say it louder, then he shouts 'LOUDER' and I yell it at him. I have realised this is from Dora. I just feel like my son is going deaf.

Then the DAMN fox has caused the following problem, T will pinch something from me then tell me I have to say 'Swiper no swiping' (this is how they stop the fox from pinching things they need for their 'adventures') and he the says 'oh man' and T will also say 'oh man' in the most American accent you've ever heard 'owwwhhh maaaayyyyyannnnn' BUT if you don't say 'Swiper no swiping' T will run off with said object (as does Swiper) and hide it, the come in and proudly announce (as Swiper does) 'YOU'LL NEVER FIND IT NOOWWWWW'

I do find it though, it's always under my pillow.

I had an uncomfortable nights sleep the other night, woke up to find I'd been sleeping on an elephant figure, all my 2 months worth of contact lenses, and 2 plastic pirates.

When childrens TV gets REAL!

I'm a Grandma that's overcome Potty Regression!

2013-10-10T13:40:00.003+01:00

Well I'm sure most of you know that I'm now a Grandma.

Baby E born 11am 5/10/13 weighing 7lbs 8ozs

Isn't she a stunner!?

I was there to see her enter into the world. It brought tears to my eyes, the Daughter and I didn't have the best relationship to start with, and to have gotten to a place where she wanted me as her birthing partner was just amazing.

Daughter had a very fast, easy labour, they were both home the next day. Daughter is a natural mother, she's so happy and content it's lovely to see.

Baby E is a strong little thing, she can hold her head up already (that must be something from Hubbys side of the family as T was the same) but Baby E can roll onto her side already, she did it as soon as she was put on the weighing scales after she arrived!

So we're all over the moon, I'm a little bit addicted to her, I've seen her every day!

Am trying to give T a lot more love and attention (which is hard because I give him my all anyways) his behaviour's been a bit off for a few weeks and temper tantrums (only for the Hubby) since Baby E was born.

In my previous post I blogged about T going backwards with his potty training.

Well I believe we've cracked it (again!)

On Monday I decided to start over as though I was potty training from the start again, so we started with no pants on again. We had a week of him happily pooing in his potty or the toilet. So this week we introduced pants again. However on Tuesday I forgot to take his trousers off him as soon as we got home and whilst I was tidying his room he just toddled off and had a poo in his potty no bother at all.

Another thing that may have helped was his 'Poo Reward Box' so we got a clear Tupperware box, filled it with sweets or small chocolate bars that he picked, decorated it and put it near his potty. So when he did a poo he could choose a sweet.

Think the problem was I was trying to do new things, when actually I needed to stick with what I knew worked and start over again.

In regards to his behaviour at the moment, I do put it down to an attention thing, but we're dealing with it by Instant Reward/Instant Punishment. Punishment is, if he's naughty a toy goes on top of our wardrobe (usually whatever he's playing with or refusing to tidy up at the time) and when he's good he gets it back. This is currently doing the trick, but as I mentioned before he's saving the tantrums for the Hubby, I've not had issues with it since we cracked the poo business!

We decided last night to try a night without nappies. When he gets up on a morning he takes his nappy off and goes straight on his potty, and for the last few weeks his nappy has been bone dry. So we decided whilst things were going well we'd have a crack at that. He stayed dry!

So a very happy, successful week all round :)

Now I just have to cope with him turning 3 on Tuesday..... :S

Potty Training Traumas

2013-09-30T09:06:00.001+01:00

UUrrrrrrggggghhhhhh.

Well after the successful start to our potty training, we've hit some form of brick wall at some point over August.

T stopped pooing in his potty/the toilet.

Something gave him 'the fear'

So when he did poo in his nappy or wherever, he would scream 'nonononononono'

So at the end of August I kept a day free to stay at home to see if I could get him back on the potty with them as he had done so easily when we started.

About 3pm he went for a wee on his potty, shook his head and said he didn't need a wee, stood up and then the distressed 'i'm about to poo' face appeared.

So I said 'quickly sit on your potty'......AND ALL HELL BROKE LOSE.

My happy, fun loving, smiling boy turned into a demon that they'd have instantly cast in any Exorcist film. He screamed, he bit, he kicked, he hit. I managed to calm him down, but only by taking him off the potty, he cried some more, then fell asleep on me, and cried in his sleep.

I was a bit concerned to say the least.

Hubby and I spent all weekend trying to get him to poo in his potty, he wasn't having it. He would hang on until he had his nappy on or just run as far away in the house or garden as possible and poo himself there, it was quite easy to tell when it had started as he would scream in terror.

We would pick him up when the screams started and run like the wind to the potty or toilet, and if we managed to get even the tiniest molecule of poo in there we would sing and dance like nutters.

So Monday - Friday the following week I essentially stayed at home in one room with him and his potty, determined that if I could just catch him at the right time it would all come back to him and we'd be fixed.

Monday he waited until I went for a wee, then he screamed the second I sat down, Tuesday, he waited till we went in the garden.

Thursday I snuck a pull up on him as we were going out for the afternoon and I knew he needed to poo. He pooed the second I put the damn thing on. So all the nappies went in the bin (barring 'bedtime' nappies) Friday he was pumping all day, I spent about 2 hours with him sat on the toilet and me distracting him, hoping that he would just relax and it would fall out, but nooooo, he held on tightly. At one point it must have started coming and he screamed and screamed, he stayed on the toilet though, I asked him why he didn't want to poo and he said 'it needs to stay in T's bum' I'd read about kids who didn't want to let their poo go.

So I explained to him that everyone poos, and how poo was made. He comes to the toilet every time with me and the Hubby, if we poo, he gives us stickers and cheers, so he knows how it works!

I even got his favourite teddy, sat him on the toilet and dropped raisins down the toilet, T was quite impressed with this.

I'd also emailed Fi at http://www.childcareisfun.co.uk/ on the morning as she'd kindly offered some tips.

I often suggest going to a toilet is better - have you tried a seat on the toilet?
Yep, he was happy to wee on either the potty or the toilet.

Easier said than done but you get the idea ~ lots of praise for wees on the loo, even more for poo and reward reward reward.
We have a reward chart, he gets stickers for wees and poos, there is a picture next to it of the toy he will get when he fills the chart up

Buy fantastic pants - talk about how the characters would be sad to have poo on them etc. this often works.
Fab idea, we bought Mickey Mouse pants, T knew that Mickey would be sad if he poo'd on him, however Mickey didn't co-operate and when the poo was done, T checked to see if Mickey was sad, and he was there with a big ol' smile on his face. *Invention, character pants where their faces turn sad when there's an accident*

Invest in some fantastic poo books!
I bought an awesome app called 'Why Poo?' this explains what poo is, and why we poo.

After trying all these, we achieved one thing, which was he lost the fear of pooing, but he still poo's himself.

So that's where we're at, at the minute. He doesn't scream and cry when he poos himself, he just does it. The only tell tale sign we have is that he'll say he needs a wee, then decides he doesn't which means he needs a poo, we then make him count to 10 before he gets off, but he'll still hang on to the poo until he's off the toilet.

We have blue toilet water which was another suggestion, this just makes him want to go to the loo all the time, but still no poo's.

So this week I am trying an alternative. I'm not going to mention the 'P' word. I think we've made too big a deal of it, so it shall not be mentioned for a week, when he has an accident I'm just going to change his pants and clean him up, not mentioning 'the' word.

The only tip I have so far is when they can go to the potty for all their wee's ditch the nappies. I think part of the problem is that I was putting him in nappies whenever we went out. I don't drive and couldn't think of how to deal with accidents on the bus. So if he knew we were going out, he would hang on to his poo till then knowing that he would have a nappy on.

Any other new tips would be appreciated! Or stories from anyone who went through this and how you fixed it!

Review: Eco2Life, All Natural Cleaning Products

2013-09-16T12:16:00.001+01:00

I've wanted to try natural cleaning products due to finding it hard to mop my floor with 2 dogs in the house. I know this sounds a bit silly, but dogs absorb chemicals through the pads on their paws. So mopping my house (all laminate) meant shutting the dogs in the kitchen whilst I did the rest of the house, waiting for that all to dry and then shutting them out of the kitchen whilst I mopped that.

Also with some cleaning products the chemical smell gets right on my chest and with T (my almost 3 y/o son) I've noticed him sneezing a few times after I'd cleaned or sprayed something.

We've started to go quite eco friendly at home, having recently purchased the Ecoegg both the washing and tumble drying one. I am utterly in love with them both! Anyway that's another story!

So I began searching the supermarket shelves to no avail.

I eventually gave up and started searching online for ideas.

Then it cropped up on my Twitter that I had a new follower. I always check my new followers bios to see who they are and what they do.

My new follower was @eco2life so I had nose at their bio: "eco2life is our range of high performance, natural, eco friendly household cleaning products delivered through a unique refill and reuse system.

Hurrah!

So I sent them a cheeky DM asking if they would like their products reviewing as I was desperate to try some. Instantly got a reply back saying they would be happy to. (Never any harm in asking! This was the first time I have asked to review something)

The products arrived within a few days:

I was rather excited and began planning a 'big clean' for the weekend. (I do enjoy a good cleaning session, I'm a bit weird like that)

The first one I used was the 'multi-surface' cleaner for the kitchen. So I set about making it up, which is quite simple, fill the spray bottle half full, add the full contents of the refill bottle in, fill the rest of the bottle up and shake!

It was good and effective, I cleaned as I always do all the work surfaces and the top of the electric hob. All cleaned up nicely. The scent is very mentholy which I found an odd smell to have in the kitchen, not a bad smell just an odd one!

My surfaces were left nice and shiny and the smell wafted pleasantly throughout the house and lasted for quite a while!

The next day I planned to test it on my windows, inside and out!

So I made the 'glass' cleaner up.

I've tried before and after pictures for everything but I couldn't get the muck in on the before, I've think I've managed to get some in on the windows 'before' shot!

Not so shiny, but after:

Ooooh shiny!

Just a few sprays, one tea towel to clean with and one tea towel to dry with. It dried pretty much streak free as well!

The spray floor cleaner was next, easy to use and left my laminate nice and shiny, followed by the bath and shower cleaner.

So overall I was thrilled, environmentally, pet and human friendly products that worked!

My only minor criticism would be the smell. They all smell exactly the same, which is the menthol type smell. Would be nice to have natural smells of lemon/apple/vanilla etc. But whether this is not included due to cost or the fact it may affect how the product works.

So I then headed to their website www.myeco2life.com to see about the cost.

If you're anything like me, when you run out of cleaner, you buy whatever's on offer in the supermarket, so let's say you normally pay £1 per bottle of cleaner.

I was presently surprised to find the prices as such here and free delivery on orders over £10.

You buy your starter kit which costs £9.99 which gives you all 4 bottles which can be reused up to 10 times, and your refill, and 4 cloths.

Then it's only £1.49 for your refills after that. So it costs roughly 49p extra per bottle, but isn't that worth paying for not using nasty chemicals all over your house and doing your bit for the environment!?

I will definitely be buying again once we start running low.

Now if someone can point me in the direction of a nice, affordable, all natural air and fabric freshener I'll be all set!

Sleeping Child

2013-09-10T16:14:00.001+01:00

It's funny isn't it. The second your child goes to sleep on you, any anger or worries melt away. You forget what a horror they can be and your eyes fill with tears as your love for them overwhelms you. You examine every inch of their peacefully sleeping face, tenderly brush stray hairs back in to place, marvel that you created such a perfect thing and vow to do all you can to make sure they're happy and healthy, spend as much time being the best parent you can be to them.

Then they stir, whimpering softly,

And then you think 'sh*t don't f***king wake up I just want 5 minutes peace and quiet!'

Or is that just me?!

Alnwick Castle Review

2013-08-23T21:09:00.000+01:00

I was asked to do a review on Alnwick Castle

Apparently there's a common misconception that Alnwick Castle is not a family orientated attraction.

Have a look at their TV advert here http://www.alnwickcastle.com/explore/tv-ad

So I was asked if I would like a free family ticket to go and see what I thought, well why not!?

So we set off this morning, hoping to get there for its 10am opening. We got slightly lost and it took longer than we thought, so it was about 11am by the time we arrived.

We found the car park quite easily, £3.50 for a full days parking which wasn't too bad, and then we were confronted with a problem. Where was the Castle?!

Alnwick Castle and Alnwick Gardens are 2 separate attractions, I was unsure as to where the Castle was based in relation to the gardens. I could only see a massive sign that clearly stated 'this way to Alnwick Gardens' nothing about the Castle. Thankfully there were car parking attendants so we asked them and we were told it was all in the same place.

So we set off for the reception, we walked, and we walked some more, through the disabled car park and drop off area, then some more, thankfully past some very clean toilet facilities which we took advantage of. We then found the ticket office, sorted out going in, could see where the gardens were, but again no signs for the Castle! Fortunately Hubby could spot some signs in the distance so we headed towards them, we got our tickets scanned, then we walked some more, and a bit more and we arrived!

So my first point would be that if you have a toddler you would likely need a buggy or a strong pair of arms. We had the latter.

So we entered the Castle:

We walked straight in and entered the middle section which led to the state rooms. As we entered I noticed a couple in front of us who had a tiny new born in their arms. Thankfully they had bought a carrying harness with them, and the father had to leave their shiny new pram out the front.

As we entered, an assistant came over to us and told T that in each room there was a tiny dragon and a tiny owl hidden.. If he counted them all, he would get a badge at the other end.

Cracking idea, we get to look round the utterly gorgeous state rooms, and T is also looking, although it was a bit cringy that in these beautiful, quiet, serene surroundings, T would shriek at the top of his voice 'THERE'S A DRAGOOOONNNNNN'

Each room had 2 assistants in to give bits of information and answer any questions. It's nice to see places well staffed at the minute!

As we came out the state rooms however, we passed several assistants, none which came over and asked T how many dragons and owls he'd found. Not a huge problem, but he would have been proud as punch!

After that we walked through the courtyard where they were giving broomstick lessons, a bit old for T, but the kids were loving it (for those who don't know, Alnwick Castle was used to shoot some of the Harry Potter film scenes)

We explored the dungeons a bit (bit scary for little 'uns and not pram friendly) then we went and found the cafe for some lunch.

Café was lovely and clean, albeit expensive, £18 for 2 lattes, an orange juice, 3 small sandwich rolls, a bag of crisps and some cake. But we're not picnic people, there were lots of places outside to sit and enjoy gorgeous views and munch some lunch!

From there we found the childrens' area, 'the Knights Quest':

An arena, with quoits, skittles, stocks, corn grinding and dressing up available.

Doesn't he make a handsome Knight?!

The range of dressing up clothes available was immense! With a huuuge gilded mirror for them to spend many an hour admiring themselves infront of.

We put Daddy in the stocks:

Captured a Dragon:

Pretended to be royalty:

We then saw signs for 'the Dragons Quest' described as thus:

Dragon Quest

Only the most courageous and worthy should dare to enter Dragon Quest.
Put your knightly courage to the test when you enter the darkness of the dragon’s lair. Solve riddles and face a series of challenges before making safe passage through the hall of mirrors. Will you stand your ground or quake with fear when you come face-to-face with Northumberland’s most fearsome dragon?

Hall of mirrors, fine. Riddles, fine. Potentially a big dragon statue, fine.

Not quite, they need to say in small print underneath *this is a bit scary for some*

You enter into a small cave with riddles, scary noises and flashy lights, checked T's face, ok so far, carry on, next bit was filled with dancing, screaming skeletons, and you should walk over a bridge through a spinning tunnel of skulls. T was ok with this, a couple more riddles a jumping head in a cage, fine. Hall of mirrors, bit baffling but good fun (what kid doesn't love mirrors) then you need to face the 'dragon'.....

This:

It is HUGE. It moves. There is lots of loud noise. T was clung onto Hubby shaking like a leaf. If you stand in front of it long enough, a voice congratulates you and tells you, you defeated the dragon. Awesome, tell me that after I've dealt with the nightmares, mine and his!
Fortunately Hubby managed to get T to think he'd told the dragon off and sent him to his naughty chair, but even as I was flicking through these pics, he jumped when that pic came on!

Hubby and I differ on opinions on this part, I think it was too scary for a kid his age, and there should be some kind of warning, Hubby thinks it's brilliant and who's not to say that any older kids wouldn't be just as scared? So I'll let you make your own mind up on that!

(This area could have accommodated a buggy, but not practical if it was really busy!)

We left there and went to explore the towers.

The steps up to the towers started off ok, then got more narrow, the stairs steeper, the depth more shallow, as I suppose most medieval castles do. Hubby was carrying T. Upstairs there was an interesting exhibition, and we realised we had to go down the same way we came up. This was not fun as people were trying to come up, Hubby was trying to keep T away from the people, which meant he was struggling to have a free hand to hold onto the hand rail.

We didn't hugely enjoy that experience so we missed the other towers out!

There ended our Alnwick Castle experience. The above picture shows my 2 happy boys who enjoyed their time there.

So to summarise:

Definitely family orientated, but perhaps to older children. Under 5s are free however, so perhaps this explains that it's more suitable for over 5's?

I feel they could do something a bit more in regards to people with prams, perhaps a safe pram parking area just within the castle? I spotted a irate father storming away from the state rooms with a spanking new Maclaren buggy stating he would take it back to the car, which I previously explained was a long way away!

They have so many activities on, last weekend was a Falconry display, and then Mon- Wed were Harry Potter days. We purposefully avoided them as a) we don't enjoy crowded places and b) I felt I could do a more fair review based on what was always available.

Overall an enjoyable day, definitely helped with having a nice sunny day to go on! We would look at going back maybe when T is older.

One last thing, more dragon related items should be sold in the gift shop!! T was desperate for a dragon teddy and there wasn't anything at all with a dragon on :(

Summer So Far in Pics!

2013-08-21T21:06:00.001+01:00

What a summer we've had/are having!

I've never done so much stuff.

We got a puppy, meet Dexter the Jackapoo:

He is very teeny weeny, very naughty, but utterly adorable!

About 2 weeks ago we went to the lakes, on the Saturday we were helping my parents demonstrate their product the Habitent at Coniston Sailing Club. We'd decided in advance that we were going to stay on over night and go to the South Lakes Zoo on the Sunday.

We had a hugely successful day at Coniston, apart from only realising after T had done a poo that we'd forgotten his nappies and wipes. I had to pick the, thankfully, solid poo out of his nappy and put it in a bin and put his nappy back on him whilst I walked the mile into Coniston, through fields of sheep and cows, to find the only shop that sold nappies was the Spar at the garage..... £5.40 for 18 nappies and £3 for a pack of wipes! I nearly cried.

The day was successful, my parents made 4 sales, and T was very cheeky and asked if he could go on a boat. A lovely lady kindly let us go on board with her and T was over the moon!

Can you spot the 6 Habitents!?

After that busy day, we drove on to Barrow In Furness, to spend the night in our first Travel Lodge, and first night away as a family!

When we got there T was so excited about his bed, he got straight in:

The novelty of that soon wore off when it came to bed time. Hubby conked out at 9pm, T and I stayed up until 10:30 watching Transformers, we all had a very restless nights sleep!

The next morning we woke up and decided to get a proper coffee and a McDonalds breakfast, we drove around for 25 minutes to find out eventually it was on the other side of the Travel Lodge *facepalm*

With caffeine inside me I was happy to practice some roaring for the zoo:

For anyone who's not been to South Lakes Zoo, you should go, it's FAB! You have your lions and tigers and penguins and rinocerousususus... but they have a free roaming area. So you go in to a walking about area and have a stroll with; ducks/pheasants/peacocks/lemurs/kangeroos/goats/alpacas/emus.

It's so weird! I love this pic. A lemur was quite close sat posing on a tree, so I thought I'd take a pic, as I pressed the button it jumped onto the fence right in front of me, but I thought it was going for me (I was looking at it through the viewfinder) and I squealed quite loudly! Here is said pic:

The Emus were terrifying, I wasn't aware I had an Emu phobia until I was walking around with them. T loved them and said 'Hello Mr Emu' and waved as one walked by, I think I was glued to OH's back apart from when I took this pic:

I managed to take a cool pic of the 3 of us. We rarely get pictures with all 3 of us in, and I love this one:

So after a lovely weekend away and feeling motivated and refreshed we returned back to normality. I went for a harmless physio appointment and ended up like this:

I have briefly mentioned my Hypermobility Syndrome previously. A physio was doing a random check on what was causing me some foot pain, freaked out at how unstable my ankles are, to the point he called, 6, count 'em 6, other physios in to have a play with my ankle, they were all equally freaked out. The physio told me they were so unstable that how I've not broken my ankle every time I stepped on court to play badminton is nothing short of a medical miracle! So I have to have strapping on both feet, and if that helps then they want me to have permanent foot splints, meh.

On the Thursday evening, T decided to do gymnastics in his sleep and ended up with this bruise:

On the Saturday it was my Step Daughters baby shower (5 weeks to go, aaaaaargh!)

On the Sunday I found out I was having a spa day with my mum at Rockcliffe Hall in order to be pampered and refreshed in time for my 30th birthday!

I had some horrid health shakes to start with followed by this:

Tibetan Sound massage
By [ comfort zone ]

An emotional journey and a contemporary ritual to re-balance mind and body. Inspired by the Ku Nye, an ancient practice indigenous to the Tibetan Medical tradition, this unique sound therapy massage, using resonating bowls, promotes the increase of vitality; removes psychophysical tensions; contributes to the elimination of toxins; relieves joint and muscle pain; reduces anxiety and promotes a good nights sleep.

It was amazing! Apart from them bonging the bowls, that was a bit weird and not so relaxing!

Then I chose a nice healthy lunch:

Followed by think I was grown up enough to have a cheese board for pudding:

Boooooorrrrrrkkkkkkk. Still not a grown up!

Then Tuesday was my rainbow themed 30th birthday:

Here's my amazingly huge cake, made by my amazingly talented sister:

Here's my OH presenting me with giant birthday cake, with some sort of firework in the top that was quite scary:

And check out my rainbow dress!

I had a fab day, I was spoilt rotten, and it felt great!

I'm pleased to say that I was excited about turning 30, I had achieved what I'd wanted to, get married, have gorgeous child and be 12 and half stone (I was 12st 3 on the day)

I'm a very contented little bee at the moment. Lots of memories made these last few weeks.

We're off to Alnwick Castle on Friday for a review visit! Am very excited about that :)

Room 101

2013-08-15T11:06:00.001+01:00

I have been tagged by @girlgonecoastal to take part in Room 101.

3 things I hate that I would banish to Room 101 to be gone forever!

1: Clowns

I've actually had a tear in my eye looking at that and I feel utterly sick.

You can't say I'm not dedicated to blogging!

Specifically clowns but I hate anyone in any costume where I can't see their face, or if they have full face paint on. It's wrong, just wrong. No I've not had my fear given to me from watching 'IT' I didn't watch that till my late 20s, and I've had this phobia since my teens!

Derren Brown did one of his TV experiments based on masks.

People with masks on are more likely to be evil because they give you anonymity.

My son wants to go to Disneyland. This is a place, in my head, full of murderers and psychopaths.....I'm not sure how we're going to do that!

2: People Without Manners/Rudeness

They cost nothing!

This goes for everyone from 1 - 100.

I'm trying so hard to teach T about manners, please, thank you, nice table manners etc. (She says as he's sat slurping his milk and then putting his fingers in his mouth and slurping milk from them!)

An example from old people who push in front of you in the bus queue when you're 8 months pregnant on the hottest day of the year, then turn to look at you with disgust when you give a quiet tut. Lady if you're fit enough to shove me and my giant bump out of the way and have enough agility to sneak into the tiny space you made, you sure as hell don't need a seat more than I do!

Also this applies to queue hopping in Marks and Spencers, you don't have to be over 70 to shop there; customer service staff, particularly for mobile phone companies, who speak to me as though I don't have a clue, until I kindly point out that I worked for 6 years for a mobile phone company, then I get treat a lot differently!

3: People Who Park in Disabled/Parent and Child Bays

Now this one REALLY gets me, I nearly got into a full blown row with a bloke in Aldi the other week.

My sister is disabled so I have become more aware of how much of a problem people cause by parking where they shouldn't. When I worked on a retail park for afore mentioned mobile company out the front of our shop were just disabled spaces, if you weren't disabled you were expected to park a whole 20 metres further away. I got so wound up by watching people pull into them as it was easier, that I would make it my mission to go to that person, and when they asked for help, I would refuse until they moved their car! My niece and sister used to make stickers for people who parked in disabled bays without a badge, stick them on their windscreen, where my niece had written 'because of you my mummy couldn't go shopping today'

It should be illegal, it should be monitored and people should be FINED!

Parent and child ones, fair enough you could get away with it if you're shopping at 3am. But to jump into a space that we were waiting for and then to get out bold as brass with NO CHILD! Expect to get a mouthful from me!

Oooo I feel better for that, I tag

@Mummynevasleeps

@ktbtwblog
@sentwivlove

What would you send to Room 101?!

Sharing

2013-07-29T20:42:00.000+01:00

Do we ever really learn to share? Really?

We may do it out of manners or politeness, but we don't actually like it!

Every parent reading this has had that moment in a day where they've snuck to the kitchen for a treat, and shovelled it into their mouth before their kid could see them eating it.

Maybe locked themselves in the loo whilst they cram that dairy milk in their mouth, just to get the pleasure of eating the whole thing!?

Pulling that extra bit of duvet their way on cold winters night?

We're all guilty of not sharing, not wanting to share.

The whole teaching your child to share thing is an absolute minefield.

Let's discuss!

A toddler sees the world like this, if they can see it then they own it. It is theirs, or 'mine'

My example:

I sit eating my toast, T sidles up to me,
T: 'this is T's toast?'
Me: 'no, this is Mammys toast'
T: 'no it's T's toast (or mine)' *starts edging it off the plate*
Me: *heavy deep sigh* 'Fine Mammy, will SHARE the toast with you'
T: 'yayyyyy toast'

I do tend to share stuff with T, to show him what sharing is, I emphasise the word SHARE approximately 900 times a day.

Then you introduce another child, a friends son, let's use D and J as an example.

J plays with T's wheelbarrow, T tries to snatch it off J, T gets told that it's Js turn and to go find something else to play with, T says no, tries to snatch again, T gets put on naughty step. I explain to T that he needs to SHARE his toys, and he must wait until J has finished playing with the wheelbarrow....

*pause*

See that phrase I used there, that's no good.

*play*

J toddles off happily with wheelbarrow, T follows him like he's stalking his prey, J bends down to pick something up to put in the wheelbarrow, he is no longer touching it, it is ripe for the taking. T runs off gleefully, J is upset.

There's your first problem, technically T waited until the toy was free, he is not wise enough to realise it is not free. Do you tell him off?!

You'll have all experienced the play group one.

Your child has a toy, child X runs over (always whilst their parents aren't looking) snatches toy off your child and runs off. Your child runs after X and snatches it back (parents are ALWAYS looking at this point) Do you stutter an apology and make them give it back? Do you shrug and say 'my child was playing with it till your child snatched it off him'?

As this event unfolds do you step in and tell X off?

Occasionally you get parents who will watch their child snatch a toy off your child, and then roll their eyes in your direction and shrug as if to say 'kids hey'

It's the social etiquette of it all!

Today we went to play with J and W at their house. First time in forever. Usually people come to us to play, but I was keen to check out their new house and see what T was like playing with other peoples toys.

T picked up a toy, W tried to snatch it off him, J told W off, W cried, T asked me why W was crying, I explained it was because he wanted to play with the toy he had, but it was T's turn still, T then pretty much flaunted the toy in Ws face and refused to put it down ever.

This was on repeat for about the full 3 hours we were there.

I felt bad for W when he was crying after a few rounds of this, as T wasn't helping by rubbing it in, so I asked T if he would mind letting W have a turn.

I don't know why I did it, it wasn't the right thing to do. Firstly if T did give W the toy back, that's not helping W learn about sharing, and secondly T wouldn't give him the toy back.

T doesn't tend to be the snatcher, maybe 1 in every 10 times.

If I can see him contemplating it I'll step in and say 'that's so and so's toy, why don't you go and find something else?' this usually goes one of 2 ways; 1 T toddles off and makes out that something else is waaaaaay better, or 2; he falls to the floor and starts sneezing (this is his temper tantrum) shouting 'BUT I WANT THAT ONE' in between sneezes and repeatedly standing up and falling back down again.

There's also the other way, which we experienced about a year ago. We had a visit from L and P. P is about 8 months older than T, so we'll say T was about 18 months and P had not long turned 2.

T snatched everything off of P, he had grapes almost to his mouth, T would whip it off him and eat it, P played with something, T would snatch it off him. I would scold T, at 18 months he didn't have a huge understanding of right and wrong, but I needed him to know that it was bad. But poor P didn't even get upset, as soon as T came near him he just gave him whatever he had!

That made me so sad, I've blogged about my bullying experiences and it looked like my child was already a bully before he was even 2.

But I think T was just taking advantage of Ps peaceful nature. Anything for a quiet life right?!

How did/do you teach your child about sharing!?

THESE ARE MY MONKEYS!!!

Overwhelmed

2013-07-27T21:35:00.002+01:00

After a few weeks of feeling utterly blah and fed up, there was a bright patch!

After struggling to look after #pbb (so many people joining in, was taking up about 2 hours a night, 7 days a week!) it kind of disappeared. I did ask if people would assist in running it, but I must have been swallowed up on peoples time lines, so I sent the message out that I would run it on a Monday night, but again that didn't go so well!

Then on Thursday afternoon @Mrsfinn86 (blog) asked if #pbb was coming back, I explained to her as I explained above. She said that she would happily run it that night for me, as she loved to join in with it.

So I went off to Rocky Horror:

it......was......AMAZING!!! I've seen it a few times, but the last time I went was 10 years ago. This time I went with my friend who was a Rocky virgin, not even seen the film. I watched her face for her reactions through the entire first half. So much fun!

And why is it I always find Frank N. Furter so damn attractive!? I mean look at them legs....and the bum on him....!

Anyway I digress...

I returned home to a phone full of Twitter notifications, #pbb had gone well, and a lot of new people were finding out about it and saying what a fabulous idea it was.

Then someone else offered to host a night if it meant bringing it back, then another, then another!

I now have 7 other lovely hosts for it :) one for each night of the week.

I was utterly overwhelmed with how passionately other people felt about it too, and how people were telling me that it helped them go to bed happy and made them think about their days more positively.

All that from some silly idea I had one night!

So I present you with a list of lovely ladies who have helped bring back #pbb and are helping me spread the positivity (and also a link to their blogs, cause I'm sociable like that)

Monday: @ladyemsy - www.tealadymumbles.co.uk

Tuesday: @ktbtwblog - www.ktbtw.wordpress.com

Wednesday: @sentwivlove - www.sentwivlove.blogspot.com

Thursday: @mrsfinn86 - www.tiasmum12.com

Friday: @thecrowtherclan - www.crowtherclan.com

Saturday: @londonmumandson - www.londonmumandson.com

Sunday: @mutteringmummy - www.mutteringmummy.wordpress.com

and I get to be a sub, watching my minions do my work for me of an eve, spreading the joy......does that make me like Santa!?

So go follow them on Twitter and peruse their blogs, then join us all from 9pm EVERY night to tell us what was good about your day.

Bending Without Breaking

2013-07-21T21:57:00.001+01:00

It's certainly been an odd few days (weeks?) since I last blogged.

Had the Daughter in A&E for 7 hours with a suspected mini-stroke, turns out to be a very bad migraine. Back in to hospital 3 days later with sharp pains round her chest and tummy (thankfully just a muscle spasm, but we were concerned that it was contractions possibly started by the stress from the days before) She's 31 weeks now, eeeeeeeek not long to go!

Hubby had his Colonoscopy (all clear, yay!) T has been in for his second lot of allergy blood tests (they took his bloods from the back of his hand this time....why!? Poor little sausage)

Because of all this to-ing and fro-ing, T's potty training has suffered slightly, so we've taken a step back to being pantless and trying to introduce pants again tomorrow. Still no success when he has his nappy on though, although he does start crying and saying 'oh no oh no oh no' when he starts pooing in his nappy, which is a start I suppose!

We're having another pantless problem now, in the fact that T has well and truly discovered his winky! His hand is never off of it! Any tips on how to stop this would be greatly appreciated.

Also I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but those of you who follow me on Twitter will know that I am a huge Gleek. So I was pretty bummed out to say the least about the death of Cory Monteith last week. Not sobbing and calling helplines or anything but I felt sad about it. I love Glee, I am Glee, I am the misfit geek at school who sings all her problems away infront of the mirror. I've watched every episode since it began, and I'm also sad that now Finn and Rachel will never get back together and get married, which I'm pretty sure was supposed to be what happens in the end.

I'd also found out 5 days before this that a lady from our sign language class died whilst on holiday, I didn't know her that well, but she always had a smile for me and T, and had a little chat with me when she could. So that got to me as well. Her youngest is only a little bit older than T, how sad that she won't remember much of her lovely mummy :(

So needless to say this set my mind onto a downer, from one my previous blogs Thanatophobia: Fear of Death I struggle with the thought of leaving loved ones behind. So I went on a bit of a mission to start more memory books for T, so that if something like that happened, he would be able to see my blogs, my personal diary for him, and now a scrap book I've made.

So with death on my mind and many family trips to the hospital, needless to say I was a bit fed up and miserable.

But today it feels like my mind has cleared a bit, I've hopped back onto the Slimming World wagon. I hit my target 6 weeks ago, and 3lbs have crept back on, which is pretty good mind considering I've survived on McDonalds, takeaways, crisps and chocolate for the last few weeks. I've decided to set a new target of 11st 12, as this takes me into 'normal' the NHS BMI chart for the first time ever I think! Plus gives me something to focus on.

I've had physio visits galore, they've diagnosed me now with Hypermobility Syndrome so they're trying to help me strengthen my joints and hold my body properly. I have some sexy new bedtime attire:

T calls this my 'robot foot' but if this works, then I get a pelvic support and a wrist splint to add to my bedtime sexiness! Whit whooooooo!

I invested in this book, is actually quite eye opening really. But I like the title, kind of sums up the last few weeks physically and mentally!

Potty Training Start of Week 3

2013-07-08T12:02:00.000+01:00

2 weeks today we started potty training.

We're doing so well with no pants on, I believe we've only had 3 accidents, 2 when we tried him with pants on, on day 2, and one when he wasn't feeling great.

He's still getting nappies on for naps/sleeps and going out, I do ask him whilst we're out if he needs to wee but he's just not interested.

So we decided today that we would try him again today with pants on, and we're having success! 5 wees in the potty, pants pulled up and down 5 times, wooooo yeahhhhh *fist pump*

He is also alternating between the potty and the toilet (we have one of those toilet seat thingys) so that's good that he's using both!

However we have an issue......

It's horrible....

It makes me sick to my stomach.....

We have a dog.....

I can handle the fact she has assisted in cleaning up accidents.....

We have been potty training for 2 weeks....

She has been in heat for 2 weeks....

But for the last 3 days.....

*whispers* She has been doing unspeakable things to my son....

I am at a loss of how to stop it.

It's not just when he's on the potty, or just after, I could almost understand that, it's whenever he is on the floor with no pants on....

It's all that time.....

9 or so hours a day.....

He thinks it's hilarious.....

Help, please, anyone, someone, help!

Dirty dirty dog!