The Lazy Girl's Guide to Life

Allergy Advice with AXA PPP healthcare*

2012-05-23T12:23:00.001+01:00

Whether you are one of 15 million people who suffer from hay fever, or something just a bit more involved, finding strategies and advice on dealing with allergies can be a minefield.

I know from experience that in some cases allergies can become a daily chore to avoid. Littlest, amongst his other health issues including asthma, has severe food intolerance.

There I was trying to be Mum of the year by making my own baby food when he was being weaned, only to watch in horror as my baby started to go red and blotchy, and cry in pain. His face swelled up very quickly, his eyes were puffy and obviously itchy, and he was breaking out in white raised lumps. After rushing him to A&E, and explaining what he had been eating, the consultant at the hospital advised that he was very allergic to both fish and peas- so that means carefully checking all food for not just fish and peas but fish products like oils as well as nuts and chick peas in sauces too. It also means carrying a syrup with us whenever we eat out, just in case he should be exposed to one of these foods.

It was both scary and upsetting for everyone, and, despite us being vigilant at all times, he has had a few further episodes of allergy since that first experience as a baby.

So, how can you deal with an allergy once it becomes obvious you or your loved one is irritated by a food, plant or other source? AXA PPP healthcare are here to help.

On the 30th May, between 3 and 5pm, AXA PPP healthcare will be hosting a live web chat at their new dedicated Allergies Centre, with NHS allergy specialist Dr Michael Radcliffe answering your questions.

Dr Radcliffe has been an allergy specialist for many years, both in London and as a Clinical Research Fellow at Southampton Universities School of Medicine, and is Chairman of the Medical Advisory Panel of the Anaphylaxis Campaign. Thus he is well placed to give out great advice and answer any questions you may have wanted to ask but hadn't had to chance to before.

With figures now suggesting that 23 million UK adults suffer from an allergy and studies show there are now an increasing number of new cases of hay fever every year, now is the time to find out all you need to know about coping with, and reducing the risk of the effects of allergies.

It's not just Littlest in our house who suffers with an allergy. Since a young age I have been plagued with eczema, a skin complaint which often restricts what clothes I wear, affects my confidence when at the local pool, and which can be hard to improve at all. I have tried many supposed wonder cures, as well as seeking help from GPs over the years with varying degrees of success. Of course, the hot weather we will now be experiencing doesn't help to stop my constant itch, and makes me run to cover up, but then this creates a vicious cycle as, of course, as soon as I wear jeans, the heat irritates the allergy further! I will be asking Dr Radcliffe whether he has any tips and tricks which may finally help ease the itch, as well as the unsightly rash I encounter on flare ups.

It can be difficult to ask a GP or allergy professional the questions you may have regarding an allergy, and you may be left baffled by the terms used (and too embarrassed to say anything!). Joining in the web chat couldn't be simpler, and its free to take part in. You can chose to ask a question live between 3pm and 5pm at the website, or alternatively you can leave a question on the AXA PPP healthcare Facebook or Twitter pages.

From pet allergy to food intolerance, hay fever to Rhinitis, no query will be too small for AXA PPP healthcare's expert Dr Radcliffe. With allergies, the quicker you can learn strategies, the better it can be for your health, so why not leave a question today and remember to watch the live chat on the 30th May.

*Sponsored post

Is It Just Me: Who Would Definitely Sell Their Torch?

2012-05-21T16:33:00.000+01:00

Every so often, the country goes so mad about a topic, you'd think that something really pretty terrible had happened. Something so far reaching and catastrophic that life, if not the world, will never be the same again. So many people are so incensed (and not just in a Daily Mail way), that you can almost see the steam coming from their ears.

Its that kind of moment.

Over the weekend, another of these "why do you get so miffed over something so petty" moments erupted as the Olympic Torch relay began in the country.

Now, to my mind, the whole Olympics, especially The Shard, is a joke, and worthy of moaning about. We are in a recession, we can barely feed ourselves, the trains cost a bomb and you can never get a seat and there are not enough school places, nurses and houses to go round, but let's spend billions on an Olympic Games which we will lose, as usual is a worthy whinge topic.

That, however, is not what has got the collective forces of Angry of Great Britain's knickers in a twist though, oh no.

Some absolute scoundrels have been selling their Olympic Relay torches. On Ebay. For hundreds of thousands of pounds. In most cases for charity.

I'll give you a moment to recover from the shock of that news there.

My view? So what. They got picked to do the relay, for services to their community and/or charity, they are obviously pretty sound people. The fact that they have done, or will have done, their bit to pass the flame (why can they not just light the bugger on the day with a Zippo? It is held in London after all), so after the limelight moves on, and they have a picture of them with the (particularly ugly) torch, its kind of theirs to do with as they wish.

Apparently, many have been scandalised by this lack of understanding for UK history and why they should keep the torch. They should show it to their grand children. Well, I'm sure they'll show the grand kids a picture of them holding it right? What one earth are you meant to do with a torch once you've jogged down your local shopping centre with it?

I have no idea what the fuss is all about, especially not after hearing some of the nasty and abusive messages sent to one woman who is selling her's for charity on Ebay. A charity she set up, this being the reason she was picked for the task in the first place.

People sell War Medals everyday by auction, and no one bats an eyelid- that to me is worse than some torch which looks like Argos would sell it with a thick gold chain round it for chavs to wear round their necks. But no one sends nasty messages to these people, do they? The organiser's don't give a flying fudge what they do with them, there are no signed contracts saying they must remain on their mantel piece for 50 years and then be passed to the first born child of the first born child, so what's the problem?

There are worse crimes you can commit than selling something you've been given, for lots of money. I only wish I'd have nominated myself now.

That, to my mind, lies the problem, the issue most have- that they didn't get to own one and flog it for over £150,000.

We have more important things to be miffed about than a gold torch being for sale on Ebay.

Please, moaners, put your collective misery skills to better use and ask the questions that need answering.

And leave people to do what they wish with their own class of junk.

Me as a Teen- Finally Some Pictures!

2012-05-20T11:30:00.001+01:00

I don't have many pictures of me as a kid or teen, which is sad, because I know there are definitely pictures of me around somewhere. My parent's always had a camera and snapped at will, especially on holidays, and I had a snazzy pink camera from Boots for my tenth birthday- I remember that because I won a school photography competition when I was eleven.

Obviously, back then taking photos was a far more expensive business than now. There were no digital cameras with handy mega Gigabyte memory cards to stick inside them. You had to buy a roll of film which took 24 to 28 pictures and hope that all 28 came out properly, and that you'd remembered to plonk the flash on. You couldn't let the film get wet, be exposed to light, and you couldn't leave a film half used in a camera or it went out of date and you ended up with an expensive roll of film all weirdly coloured and over exposed. You had to pay a fiver, at least for processing, and the cheapest option took 4 days to get back to you. There was nothing instant about it. There were no camera phones either.

Recently, Elder's brother brought him a pile of photos of his youth, and he had a nice time showing The Bratlings the photos, and telling them who everyone was. It made me pine for my own happy memories via photograph, but for me it's not as simple as phoning an older sibling to get my hands on them.

Just as I was about to get in touch with my parent's, I found out some catastrophic news, and it was neither the time nor place to stamp in and demand copies of all the albums they have that I feature in.

I also know my ex had pictures of me, as he had quite an expensive camera, but I'm in no way going to ask him for these either. My friend Lou had some too, but when she moved out under a cloud, they all got binned.

Basically, I have photos a plenty of the Elder and I years- including the flat days before kids. I have next to no pictures of me as a kid though, bar one of my Grandad, my sister and me in my grand parent's back yard when I was about 5 or 6- it's definitely eighties as I'm wearing a maroon cord dress with a white blouse that has the most enormous bow at the neck. That sits on my dressing table.

The great thing is, being such a geek, I had hoped that I'd find old newspaper cuttings from school events etc, but my school doesn't have an archive and the newspaper from my old home town has been less than helpful despite me emailing them.

Then, I hit the jackpot. My youth parliament days.

I love my Home-Medway Pin board on Pinterest and had been searching google for images for it, and, what should pop up but the current Youth Parliaments website. Complete with an archive, featuring yours truly in photocopied front pages.

They were slightly blurry, so I sent a little email over to the site, I wasn't sure who was running the parliament or if they'd even remember me age 16/17/18. I was so happy when an email popped up from Jackie, who very much remembered me and, better yet, said she'd dig out some originals to copy for me and post them up.

It was so nice to come back from a kids party yesterday to find an envelope with photos as promised (and hi to Jackie's daughters if you are reading this!), and I really hope to pop in on the new members in the summer, and tell them what it was like to be the very first Youth Parliament (and scare councillors in my goth clothes- the parliament used to meet a few doors down from the goth club I went to, and, as it was held on Friday nights, I often used to come to meetings in full goth splendour, including black lipstick and fake lip piercing).

So, here I am, age 16, when I was picked as Vice Chair, in January 1999:

I'm in the purple and blue shirt!

Its appalling but I can only two of the names! In front is Samantha who was chair, and next to me is Ewa.

The one above is from 2000, when I won, along with the gang, a Try-Angle award for service to the Youth of Medway. I'm back row, third from left.

It is great to finally be able to show the Bratlings that Mummy was once a sensible teenager who used to dictate what my fellow teens wanted to improve life in the town to adults. I am also really happy that it's not been shelved by councils who are probably desperate to slash budgets, but there are many Youth Parliaments now.

Thanks Jackie!

Get A Mothers Ramblings to Britmums Live!

2012-05-18T12:08:00.003+01:00

Britmums has a little competition going, what with five weeks until two days ~~off from the Bratlings for a crazy weekend in London~~ of learning new blogging skills and meeting lots of my fellow blogging rockstars, to win one of three tickets to Britmums Live (not Cybermummy. Must stop calling it Cybermummy. Apart from to Elder who has no idea what its called anyway).

Well me being, erm, not shy of asking for stuff, I have a sponsor for my ticket, and usually I get as many of my chums and anyone else who asks me a sponsor as I can manage.

However, this year it has been decidedly difficult to do that, what with double dip recessions, redundancies and everyone, brands included, being a skint. Which means Pippa D, better known as A Mothers Ramblings, and Vic, who is Glowstars can't come. Which sucks!

Pippa and me in the ill advised Maxi dress at The Gurgles, after Cybermummy 10.

The thing is, rightly or wrongly, I have a big circle of chums who have been in attendance at not just the two Cybermummys, but also the London Zoo meet up too. That's how long we've been bothering the Internet. So, whilst some complained about some of us being cliquey last year, its not that, not at all.

Its just we've all known each other for ages, don't see each other as often as we'd like, and despite full moon moments in blogging (and worse), babies, husbands, divorces, house moves and blog layouts, we've survived and we get on really well.

Glowstars, Cybermummy 11. Who can forget the shoe challenge?

So, basically, I am not entering the competition to win me a ticket (that would be daft, I have one, there have been many suggestions I have split personality but not to the point I believe I need two tickets), no. I am entering to win Pippa a ticket.

And, if I can be cheeky and win two of them, I'd like Vic to come too.

It wont be the same without them, cackling in the corner with a cuppa, sending inappropriate tweets, and generally behaving a bit naughty like school girls.

Better yet, if you are a brand who wants to get the gang back together for another conference, I am happy to offer free ad space for one whole year right at this very blog in return for the price of Vic and Pips tickets. I'm sure they'll offer the same.

The SchoolFeed App and Why It Can Bugger Off

2012-05-16T11:06:00.000+01:00

School days are, according to the saying, meant to be the happiest days of your life. Its meant to signify that the carefree days of school are shortly replaced by bills, adult worries, job hunts and stinky nappies a plenty.

My take? Give me the adulthood slab of supposed misery cos school was pretty damn nowhere near as fun as it was held up to be for me.

Don't get me wrong, I do remember some bits fondly. I made some friends, like Nursey Natalie, Eskimosie Josie and Bestie Mate Zoe, to name a few.
The issue I had was I was a bit (Understatement alert) of a geek, and instead of hiding in the library, I put myself out there for further torture by joining in with Athletic Club, Dance Club (and its subsequent shows for the whole school), School council and was a Prefect too. If there was something to join up to, I was always at the front of the queue like a 90s Patty Simcox, wielding a pen to put my name down for it.

By far the worst part of school, though, was "No Uniform" or "Tag" day. I can't remember why it was called "tag" day in my school, so if your school used that definition and you know why, feel free to let me know. There was also the dreaded "Activity Week" which mixed no uniform horror with a week of "fun" (the teachers term, not mine) at the end of the school year. Basically, every year until Year 10, the classes divided up and took part in a contest, including Netball (awful at it, inexcusably bad, which doesn't do well when you factor in the competition element), or scientific competitions like the well remembered (note the lack of "fondly" affixed there) "get an egg across the netball court without breaking it" test. Fights would break out within class groups, and some kids would bribe losers like me and my fellow geeks to fake illnesses for that week so they improved their chances of winning a Yorkie bar each. Plus I had no sartorial elegance and my parent's had no funds to supply me with designer sports wear, so it wasn't something I looked forward to.

I walked through the doors on my final day with untold glee, knowing that, save for bumping into a few of the worst bullies the odd time in town, I'd never have to see the shower of losers I put up with between the age of 5 (in some cases) until the age of 16 ever again. To the point that, when I organised the school reunion, I asked the people I actually liked along.

Its all been going very well- especially since I hot footed it out of Medway five years back. I have avoided becoming a regular member of Friends Reunited, and have all but ignored friend suggestions on Facebook too. Especially since it never suggests people you'd want to add, just ones you forgot to add to your block list (so I suppose it does serve one purpose).

I have an ex-school friend, Marie, and she is lovely. She was near the top of the reunion list, such was her ability to be nice to everyone. She always looked nice at school, like the bullies, but was just a happy smiley person to be around.

She kind of keeps the home fires burning when it comes to what our year, Class of 1993-1998, are up to, so, when she invited me to try a new app on Facebook called "schoolfeed" (all one word, lower case), I thought I'd have a nose.

Why, why did I think that was a good idea?

I can only assume it was the after effects of no carbs and 3 gin and tonics making me feel warm and fuzzy towards school.

All that has happened is, besides finding one girl who I had tried to find but had been unsuccessful due to her having changed her name, I've been added by the worst possible offenders for school abuse. The ones who, to put in bluntly, I would not save from falling off a cliff edge. Or spit on if they were on fire. You get the idea- I really do not like them at all.

Why do these no marks think that I want anything to do with them? It would have been fine if they had of just ignored me, but these were the kind of nasty people who went out of their way to be abusive, and/or violent towards me. One girl was so nasty to me over Infant, Primary and Secondary, that on the last day of school before our GCSE exams, I punched her in the face. Then ran home and hid. But this was after daily abuse- she would seek me out to be violent to me, throwing basketballs in my face and nearly breaking my nose, throwing tennis balls at me (and knocking me out), or the lovely "board pins in playdoh on a chair" trick.

What possesses this person, a part from she is obviously still as intellectually challenged as she was at school, to think I want to reminisce on those heady days of daily kicks, punches and thefts of anything she could nick from my bag while I cowered from further blows?

Frankly, I will be ditching schoolfeed pronto. It makes it worse that you can deny their request, yet they can send it again and again. If they are that thick that no doesn't mean no the first time, then they really need to get out more.

Schoolfeed. Why do we need it? In this day and age of social media, if we want to find a specific chum, it doesn't take that much effort. We don't need another pointless app.

So, dear schoolfeed, you shall be buggering off soon.

Sorry!

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Carb Free is No Longer For Me

2012-05-14T09:44:00.001+01:00

This is a cautionary tale for all dieters out there. Read it and take note.

Britmums is coming. I am so excited, and, as is customary, I want to look nice.

Not nice in the sense of the Mama Cass ill advised tit flashing maxi dress, but nicer than the jeans and top combo of last year. Also, I wont have Glowstars there with a suitcase of shoes this year, so will have to buy my own.

Unlike the last two years, I have cleared up the eczema on my legs which has plagued me for the last 6 years straight- those with easily upset skin, do not buy Banana Bubble Bath- so can actually wear a knee length skirt this year (the orange peel thighs having sadly not gone despite many supposed lotions and potions. Occupational hazard of child birth I feel).

I went off to EBay for inspiration, and found not one but two very nice dresses.

However, one of them created a bit of an issue.

It is a "keyhole" dress, which, by keyhole, as the name would suggest, I expected a tiny little gap at the back which would be hardly noticeable. Except it isn't hardly noticeable, and means I can't wear Spanx either.

I wasn't worried (and Elder, bless him said he couldn't see any issues with the dress at all, hole in the back or not. Just to wear tights with it as its a bit shorter than I'd anticipated too). I embarked on my firm diet favourite, the Carb free one.

I was eating fine, just not having bread, rice, spuds and noodles, so having some scrabbled egg for breakfast (when I remembered), a pepperami for lunch, and then having some chicken and as many veg as I could fit in a pan for tea. I cut down on coffee and stopped buying sweets and crisps.

So far, so good and my jeans were getting loose again within a week- that's how well it works for me.

Except Saturday I was busy, I went out with the Bratlings, walked around the town, came back and then did all the laundry I had put back due to the sodding rain we've had for weeks. So, by 5pm I was starving hungry. I fired up my chicken and veg and had something to eat, with a glass or three of a well deserved Gin and Tonic.

Sunday. I couldn't get up.

I tried to get up at 7am, and felt like I was going to faint. I felt sick, sweaty, and had the kind of headache that makes you think a steam roller came in and drove over you in the night.

I couldn't look at the screen of my phone, as it was swimming in front of my eyes.

Elder, bless him, looked after the Bratlings all day, and brought me Nurofen a plenty. Then, in true Irish style, demanded I eat a plate of chips. But apart form that and a few slices of Garlic Bread, that was all I managed to eat without being sick.

I feel slightly better this morning, and ate some toast before the school run, but I still feel a bit ropey.

So, the diet I have used for months before has decided to not play ball.

I'm told by Elder to stop being daft and just to eat properly, but lessen the portions and not eat sweets and other crap, like he does. I think I may have to listen or I'll end up in Hospital, rather than in London for britmums related fun.

Diets. They truly, truly suck.

Out of the Mouths of Babes, the 2012 Edition.

2012-05-09T17:35:00.001+01:00

Readers, I need your help.

I have to add that in no way are my kids the most angelic in the world (hence the nickname "The Bratlings") so please do not think I'm suggesting they are infallible.

Anyway, I digress.

Mini has been going to school now with relative ease since September. We've had a few blips, like diva-gate and slightly nasty girl picking on her-gate, but so far she has made a lovely little group of friends both boys and girls and they are a very nice bunch. They have their quirks, like most kids, but behaviour wise they are great. The party which I thought would be tantrum filled hell ended up being a joy as every kid there was nice and polite, no upsets at all during the two hours.

However, there is one kid in her class who, and I'm struggling with how to word this, has an interesting vocab. And way of showing what he means with said vocab.

I'm not daft- I know when kids reach a certain age, the differences between girls and boys bodies because interesting, a giggle. They know they are different.

But this one boy in her class goes beyond what I would think is funny or acceptable, and I'm no prude.

Basically you'd think this kid had read 50 Shades of Grey. Or had had it quoted to him.

The thing that really annoys me is that Mini, who has no idea about anything that, frankly, kids age 5 shouldn't know about, has now had certain information thrust on her by this child.

A few weeks back, she was sucking her thumb- not something my girly has ever partaken of purely because I sucked my thumb until I was 7 and now have the mother of all overbites due to it. So I've always flicked her thumb out her mouth. I asked her if she was tired, and she said no, she was sucking her thumb like this particular boy had shown her.

So far, so fine.

Until she turned to me again and said "(Boys name) said this is how you suck a willy".

Ahhhhhhhhhh! Parenting hell!

Anyway, I told her, calmly, whilst trying to calm a livid Elder, that that wasn't a very nice thing to say to people and she shouldn't play with this child who shall remain nameless.

It carries on to today, when she now tells me that this same child has shown her his willy. And last weekend when she was explaining the finer points of Barbie's anatomy, all courtesy of this slightly more informed than necessary at 5 child in her class.

So, what do I do?

I don't know his Mum, but what I have seen her English is pretty poor. I talked to one of the other Polish Mum's and asked her what I should do, but she looked aghast and said she wouldn't know where to begin having that conversation. She's right though- how do you start a conversation with someone- "excuse me so and so's Mum, your son is a sex pest in the making, might do to lock up the porn indoors or have sex when he's out in future?" Maybe not.

Anyway, I talked to a few other Mum's this evening, and, a braver one than me is going to have words with the teacher, but my goodness, what must that boy be seeing at home?

Had a similar experience? Please let me know how you dealt with it!

Silent Sunday

2012-05-06T09:20:00.002+01:00

G+: A Mumsnet Review

2012-04-29T11:39:00.003+01:00

In another post opportunity kindly handed me by Mumsnet and their great Blogger Network, I was asked my thoughts on G+.

Google are one of the front runners when you think of all things internet, so, when they invited a select few early this year to try out their social media platform, G+, I had to get in on the action.

Early on, G+ came across as, well, a little dull. Obviously, no matter how into social media a person is, any new platform can take a while to get used to, and it grew on me slowly.

I liked that it opened me up to internet users outside of the network I've built up of pure "parent" based bloggers, and introduced me to some amazing unknown artists, writers and photographers.

However, early on, that was very much it for G+, a wall which was updated as frequently as your friends, or circles, updated their timelines.

The Circles idea is useful in much the same way as Twitter's own "list" facility, in that it gives the user a chance to filter out unwanted posts. For example, if I was in the mood to read blog posts, I can click on my bloggers related circle. But if I'm more in the mood for photography from my much missed home town, I can do that too.

Circles make it easy to choose who to share with, and filter out uninteresting posts

Its very simple to use, and user friendly, and links up with other Google related sites such as Blogger and YouTube, making it a one click operation to share my posts or favourite videos, and to +1 other's posts too. In turn, when someone +1's my post, this helps push me up Google's rankings too as an information source, so expect mass +1ing of posts in the near future as Blogger's cotton on to this fact.

Expect to see this logo on more blogs soon

Like many people, I'm not a great fan of Google's policy that users cannot use their blog or a.k.a name for their profile, as it can make it harder to find users if you don't know their actual name. The G+ button facility on blogs has made this easier to get past though, so as more people use this (simple to install if using the Blogger platform) this issue will be resolved.

Back early on, the profile page for users was pretty bland- think Facebook back early on- very much a list of places to find you online, with no limit on how many links or sites you could link to being a plus, and then a list of where you went to school and a map showing places you've lived (pretty boring for those like me who are not widely travelled).

The newest version of the G+ Profile is clean, and eyecatching

More recently, as Google has listened to feedback from users, they have improved the profile page and it's now more in line with Facebook profiles with a large "Cover" style area and photo gallery available. The cover area is, in my opinion, better than Facebook's in that if, like me, you have more than one blog logo, you can place up to 5 images in this area as a shop window into your online movements.

The real plus point of G+, and where I think they beat Twitter and Facebook hands down is the Hangout facility.

Hangouts-one of G+ best features

At first glance, its Facebook chat all over again, but, link in your webcam and you can face chat with up to 10 people at once. Its pretty quick loading with no major time lapse, and makes it feel as if all 10 of you are in the same room having a natter. There is always a hangout going on, with some major sites hosting these on their own G+ pages, and, as the popularity of G+ grows parties are even taking place. Like Twitter tweet ups but face to face. You will need to install the Google Voice and Video plug-in, but that's pretty quick and simple to do.

The photo editing tool, built in when you upload photos from your PC to share with your circles, is a technophobe's dream. Even if you've never used any form of photo editing tool previously, Google gives step by step instructions to tidy up and personalise images on a "lightbox," with the option to click auto-fix and allow Google to do it for you.

As you'd expect from Google, the site is easy to navigate with everything you may wish to use on the left hand side Nav bar. If there is something you're not sure how to use, there is a comprehensive help page by topic and forums to talk to other G+ members to get a quick answer to your query.

Yes, G+ has pinched the best bits of Twitter and Facebook, but it's improved and tidied these up to make them better, Google style. Its ever growing, and because Google listens to feedback, it gets better all the time.

What I found to be a bit dull back in the beginning is now a great place to further blog views, find new readers and new topics, and to filter in easy steps who can or more importantly cannot view your posts.

I would recommend it to bloggers and to those not sure if they needed another platform in their lives- you'll be hooked in days!

You can find me on G+ here

· “I am a member of the Mumsnet Blogging Network, a group of parent bloggers picked by Mumsnet to review products, services, events and brands. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity”.
You can join the Mumsnet Blogger Network at www.mumsnet.com/bloggers-network

Dear So and So, Mini, Littlest and Driving Instructors

2012-04-27T16:49:00.001+01:00

I haven't joined in with Dear So and So at Kats blog for a while, but felt compelled to today. Here are a few rants and musings from this week.

Dear Mini

When I ask you what you did at school that day, and you tell me "nothing" in that bored voice before asking if I have any sweets about my person, I expect you mean it was a mundane day.
I do not expect to hear a day later via the newsletter that an Olympic ~~Hottie~~ sportsman has visited, or there was a Bee Keeper and bees on display in the hall, or like yesterday there were flipping owls in the hall flying over everyone's head for "educational" non Hogwarts reasons.
"Nothing?" How are these "nothing?"

And please, be good at N's party tomorrow. Social whirl being 5 girlie.
Love Mum

Dear Littlest

Being indoors with damp weather related asthma is not good cause to bite my sofa, my cushions, or worse still, me and your sister.

Especially when your sister is not at all happy with you after you fed the gerbils face paints and they both, within days, died. Mini has cried everyday for Dora.

Behave you cretin.

Love you too
Mummy

PS- No its not impressing me that you figured your bedroom door gate out. Neither is getting in bed with your cold feet at 6am.

Dear Driving Instructor (or De-structor as we now call you)

Cheers for naffing up Elder's driving test. Thanks so much for not telling him you could quite easily use your licence number to get him a much earlier driving test, so you could rip us off every week for two months. Thanks for stressing him out by turning up 15 minutes late before his test. And thanks for not telling him anything of importance regarding his test, thus ensuring that despite charging us well over £200 since February, he had not a hope in hell of passing. How you dared charge him £75 on top for the day of his test (thats for one hour by the way) is indicative of how much of a money grabber you are. May you lose your licence.

Lady still having to walk the kids to school in the rain and with a miserable other half

Dear Beanshoots

You taste yummy, but if I eat many more of you, I may end up turning into a bean shoot.
I miss chips.

Her on a pre-Britmums Diet

Dear Wii Fit

Please don't mock me too hard when I dust you off this evening

Dear readers

Hey you guys, you still rock right. I am nominated in them there Brilliance in Blogging awards, for Lazy Girl Cooks, and for this little slice of the web at Sainsburys. I would like an iPad, even more so than when I was nominated in some other rubbish last year. The laptop is getting old. Its on Vista. There are needs people in my home. Anyway, while you're at it, I've opened up The Lazy Girl's Guide to Looking Good, where you will find no size zero skinny minnies, no stupidly expensive articles, no hot pants, and lots of budget buys. So feel free to come say h there too.

You know I love you
xoxo
OK yeah think I've watched too much Gossip Girl this week.

The Great Train Robbery

2012-04-26T12:04:00.001+01:00

This is a post that was brought to me for write up by my far busier middle sis-in-law, and on behalf of my lovely niece Jess.

My niece, Jess is on the cusp of exciting times. She's at the UCAS form stage, ready to mark down where she wishes to spend the next umpteen years of her education, studying to be a Doctor.

Now, studying to be a Doctor in this day and age of fees and living expenses etc is not cheap. However, just getting round the country to even go and view these possible universities is a costly expense in itself.

Two days ago, Jess heard that one of her "possibles" for uni, Cardiff University, was having an open day so prospective students can go and see what the facilities are, meet some of the staff, the usual meet and greet thing.

We all live in Maidenhead, Berkshire, which is, according to Google, 125 miles away along the M4.

Being that my sis-in-law is a busy person who works, and has my nephew at home too, and my bro-in-law is currently not well enough to make the journey by car, Jess decided to look up the train times for her journey.

This being the start of times when Jess wont have her Mum on her doorstep with her own personal taxi service (as she has now!), it was a great idea to get her more used to the independence that uni will bring her.

She hasn't been to a uni tour before, so, to be sensible, she wanted an open ticket, to come back the same time but not be effected by peak and off peak services.

Do you know how much First Great Western wanted to charge her? This is a young girl, staying within the UK, for a one day ticket, standard class, where she wasn't even guaranteed a seat.

£178.

*Picks self up from floor

What makes it laughable is, should Jess want to go off, like most teens seem to, to Malaga, in Spain a whole different country, with an open return ticket, it would cost just £81 to do so.

So, we can go hop on a plane to a different country, but to get two hours from where we live costs us £178?

That, to me, is ridiculous. Even if Jess had of booked in advance, the cheapest ticket available to her would have been £120.

Suffice to say, Jess decided to give the Cardiff viewing a miss. Which is terrible, that a teenage girl who wants to go off and become a doctor is hit with cost after cost at every turn.

Surely, as with uni students, this sort of journey should be discounted as long as the prospective student can prove their journey? We are all moaned at to let the train take the strain and use public transport to stop our roads being congested, but is it any wonder most people will take their car instead? My Sis-in-law reckons the petrol to make that journey would be £20, so in comparison that seems the far better option.

This is an Olympic year- why not bring down prices and attract more travel and tourism too.

The only Great Train Robbery I can see is the companies driving up prices and students, like Jess, missing out.

Know any other shocking fares? Let me know!

Luxury travel: Shopping & Coffee in Madrid*

2012-04-24T16:43:00.002+01:00

If you like shopping, and you like Madrid, then you’re in for a treat. I’ve discovered a Madrid travel map they’ve just published, which their ‘Style Hunters’ made after visiting the city recently!

Boticca.com’s a unique fashion platformthat people from all over the world who make unique jewelryandfashion accessories can showcase and sell their work on. Your classic online marketplace – but really chic.

Boticca’s bespoke Madrid shopping map

Not just anyone can get on there and sell their stuff, either. They employ Style Hunters who actually travel the world (best… job… EVER) and source unique collections and meet the designers themselves!

So this is where the Madrid Map was born, apparently… And word on the street is that this is the first of a whole series of maps for different cities!

Just to accompany this excellent map here are some of the excellent cafes to visit while there. Coffee and shopping, with a little cake thrown in for you?Mm?

So, in no particular order, here were my top three:

Chocolateria San Ginés

Pasadizo San Ginés, 5 (Metro stop: Sol or Opera)

It’s hot in Madrid… but not too hot for this café’s famous mud-thick hot chocolate!! Not to mention its melt-in-the-mouth churros (that’s twirly pieces of deep-fried batter dipped in chocolate to you and me)! My Spanish friend took me here at night when, according to her, I could see this place is at its very best. It. was. ace.

Just thought I’d convey to you just how yummy churros are! Mmmmm…

2 Nuevo Café Barbieri

Calle Ave Maria, 45 (Metro stop: Lavapies)

This is in a cool spot – in Madrid’s international centre. And don’t be put off by its scruffiness, either… This is where the cool kids hang!

3 Cafe Commercial

Glorieta de Bilbao, 7 (Metro stop: Bilbao)

Having opened way back in the 1880s, Commercial is said to be Madrid’s oldest continuously operating café. And from what I can remember, it’s been in the hands of the same family ever since! And although it is pretty ancient, it’s got an upstairs Internet café – unless you just want to relax with a good old-fashioned book downstairs, in which case there are comfy seats galore.

So if you plan on trying out Boticca’s travel map for size, then give yourself a break in between with these lovely cafes – they’ve all got something really different and special to offer, and are the best of the ones I got taken to when I was over there last year.

British Gas- An Update

2012-04-23T11:38:00.000+01:00

Last Monday, I posted about the rubbish time I've had as a British Gas customer, in the hope of drawing it to others attention as a warning, and to force them to get in touch with me.

Well, it did both.

I was contacted by quite a number of people, all of whom have had bad experiences at the hands of money grabbing, customer ignoring British Gas. One guy gave me some very sound advice.

He previously ran a whole website dedicated to customer complaints against British Gas, and told me my story was identical to many other unsatisfied customers, all of whom have been tied up in unmanageable and unforeseen debt due to lax admin at British Gas headquarters. All of whom feel they have been "kidnapped" by British Gas so they don't lose out on any more customers. Many of whom have been fed lies, half truths and then spoken to as if they are stupid or have just experienced utter rudeness. I'm also not the only customer told that they are being "penalised" or "fined" by British Gas either.

It doesn't surprise me that others feel this way towards their gas and electric supplier, and it will continue whilst there seems to be no steps by government to act upon the companies failings. Surely a sensible option would be that the more customer complaints a company (not just British Gas) clocks up, the lower the bonuses should be for those in charge? At present, it very much feels as if energy companies and other public service providers are a law unto themselves, and can practically charge and treat customers how they wish.

British Gas finally got in touch via Twitter on Monday afternoon, and left a comment on the original post too.

My original call in April, about 3 odd weeks ago now, had been marked for managerial follow up within 24 hours (or next working day, which would have been Monday). But despite this it wasn't followed up. Same old story. If the company had of contacted me in December, when we had paid back the original amounts, to discuss lowering our amount (as promised when it was first set up), we wouldn't have been in the situation we found ourselves in in February. We also would have been continuing to pay the £150 for the utilities that the complaints manager neglected to set up right. In the same way, if they had of sent out bills from May onwards when we moved in, we wouldn't have been stuck with them due to paying back a debt.

As it stands, and as I warned British Gas, despite paying the first new amount in March of £150, we have stopped paying due to the admin error, and wont pay again until the situation is rectified. I feel this turns their "held to ransom" customer service style on themselves.

I also spoke to my local Citizens Advice Bureau, and checked other forums for advice too. Yes, they can ask you to pay an amount. However, if they are at fault, as they are 100% in our case, they cannot force you to agree to an amount if you cannot or simply wont pay it. Why should we be out of pocket due to a catalogue of errors? The worst they can do is take us to court, at which point a Magistrate would be able to assess who was at fault and make a decision on how much you should pay back. In some cases, the CAB has told me, they can also quash amounts if fault is on the side of the energy company.

At no point have I tried to dodge my responsibility of paying for energy we have used. I'm also up to date enough with current goings on to know that a family of 2 adults and 2 children under 6 are going to have seen a rise in their energy bills.

I also know though that we have been treated in a way which befits deliberate non-payers, and I don't think that's right.

Back to Twitter and I received another reply via Private message that they needed my account numbers and name of bill payer before they could proceed, which is obviously pretty standard procedure.

That was when it got back to the disinterested and unhelpful norm of British Gas, as they then refused to communicate via email (for my records), saying they could only deal with the issues over the telephone (God knows why), and they will only speak with my partner too. Who never deals with any form of bill or phone call and always leaves it to me. Not only is Elder deaf as a post in one ear, he tends to say "love" a lot to woman, who 9 times out of 10 whilst on the phone to telephone customer services teams will result in the phone call being disconnected. At one point, a woman told him he was being "offencive" by calling her love, so Elder gave her a list (prior to being cut off again) of what he could have called her which was more offencive. Hence I deal with phone calls.

After giving the phone number (reluctantly) on Tuesday, between then and this morning, we heard- you guessed it- nothing. No phone calls, no emails, no tweets, not a word. Again.

This morning, Elder received an email to his inbox, and I think this was due to the complaint we had left previous to my blog post. It was a standard reply, again saying they'd "look into" the issues involved, and they'd resolve the payment plan. So, now we are still waiting for the situation to be concluded.

In the meantime, we have signed up for online gas statements, and are shocked to find that, despite receiving a letter 2 weeks ago saying we owed £202, this has now increased to £371- we've had no meter readings, no "sorry you were out" cards through the door, no estimated bills arrive, nothing. So we are further baffled by this sharp increase in amount owed. Last month, the amount owed on our gas statement was £350, its now £555. Again, no meter readings, no bills, just a sharp increase. This will need to be explained in court, if it comes to that.

Can British Gas be trusted to charge fairly? On the strength of our prior experience, I say, it's doubtful.

How British Gas Have Made Me Lose the Will to Heat My Home.

2012-04-16T14:18:00.001+01:00

Like pretty much everyone in the UK, I've noticed that my gas and electric bills have soared higher than a Joan Rivers face lift over the last few years.

From having bills that totalled £100 a quarter, until recently we were paying, on a monthly payment scheme, £172 for both. Which was pretty crap, financially, but it's either that or no heat or light. Or cooking. You get the idea.

The reason we were paying this way was due to British Gas making a cock up when we moved in back in May 2010. Our landlord's brother lived in our house with his family, and paid his bills online, with the whole "paperless billing" scheme.

When we moved in, we informed them of the change and asked for the bills to be sent via the post. We wanted to weigh up amounts then switch once we knew how much the gas and electric would cost in this house, as it has two boilers- one for gas, one for hot water.

Then, what with moving in, and general day to day, not to mention settling Mini into a new home, decorating, and Littlest becoming ill again, everything slipped our mind. In December 2010, we received a MASSIVE, and I mean truly massive, bill for both gas and electric, totalling over £1,000. Which, as you can imagine, there was no chance of us paying in one go, not right on the doorstep of Christmas anyway.

So, we liaised with their customer service team, but it took two phone calls before we spoke to anyone who was worthy of the "service" title. This became a bit of theme when dealing with them over the phone- 95% of the staff we've spoken to have been at best disinterested, and at worst, downright rude and on occasion have lied through their teeth as well. We didn't want a pre-payment metre, as we'd had those before and found they con the life out of a person. So, we arranged to pay £150 per month for both. However, we were promised that, as soon as this debt was paid back, the amounts would drop.

In May 2011, we happened to be walking through town one weekend and were stopped by E:On. They promised to lower our bills to under £100 per month, and sort out switching us over. We told them we were paying off a back payment, and they assured us it was fine- they would take on the debt for us, and we could pay it to them.

We then waited for the direct debit to be paid, which it was, and were happy that we had a more affordable monthly amount. Except it wasn't that simple.

In August 2011, British Gas rang Elder's mobile and informed us we'd been removed from their payment scheme, and of course, Elder said he knew we had been as we were no longer British Gas customers.

But despite letters to the contrary being sent by E:On, British Gas had left it from the beginning of May to the end of August to tell us we couldn't move, and had been given a surcharge for non-payment. We argued that they should have contacted us sooner, but they didn't care. We were now forced to pay even more per month, at £172.

We carried on paying and by, Christmas last year, with paying extra when we could, we'd wiped out the debts. Hooray, we thought.

So, I emailed them and asked for the new amounts to be set. I was asked to send in new metre readings, but had to email back that I couldn't as we didn't have a key to open the meter box, its owned by them.

When someone came out at the start of January, I assumed that was why.

Still, no amounts were sent out, so I emailed a further 3 times. Nothing.

By the end of January, we received- you've guessed it- a letter saying we'd been removed from the scheme again, and had 14 days to pay off over £400. The guy who came was reading the metre for an updated bill- which we never received.

So, I rang them. And spoke to the nastiest human being ever. He reduced me to tears he was so disparaging. He said we would be "fined" for the amount. That our monthly amount would be "significantly" increased as we were being "penalised" for being "too lazy to pay". This came a week after British Gas admitted their wholesale gas price had dropped, so I mentioned this and was told I was "stupid" and that the price had "gone up again". In the end, I put the phone down.

I made a complaint, and , several weeks later, someone called and apologised, and we made arrangements for the new payment plan, which dropped by just £22 pound a month. As a gesture of goodwill, I was promised a £100 credit would be added to my gas account for December this year, and was placed on a lower tariff too (despite us previously being told we were on the lowest tariff). I was also told we'd been misled when we were originally assured the amounts would lower once the bill was paid off.

I duly started paying the new amounts, but by the end of March received threatening letters for my electricity account. So, again I rang their "helpline" (or hell line as I now call it). I spoke to a woman who I could barely understand as she muttered the whole time, and who, despite admitting my previous conversation with the complaints manager was on her screen, along with the amounts to be paid, he had "forgotten" to set it up correctly. Thus, "my error" (? Baffled as to how this clerical error on his part equates to my being at fault at all) would mean she would have to restart the scheme again. She told me we would start paying on the 21st April at a rate of £196. I asked if she meant for the gas account and electric which he hadn't set up properly.

Nope.

This was for the electric alone. So, a clerical error meant me finding an extra £146 per month for the electric, on a bill of £202.

I got really angry, as you would, and told her she was having a laugh, there was no way I was being shafted due to a mistake made by someone else. She placed me on hold. On a mobile. So costing me even more. This went on for 5 minutes and she came back and said "can you pay £146?" No, I said, I won't pay that amount. I told her I would only pay £50 as arranged. She again put me on hold, for ten minutes this time, and I imagine she nipped out for a fag then came back and told me the least that British Gas would take now, despite them being at fault, was £106 for the electric.

I told her there was no way that I was being shafted yet again by British Gas. So she fobbed me off, telling me she'd get someone managerial to speak with me within 24 hours. That was over 2 weeks back, and still no contact. Except we have now been threatened with disconnection, despite being up to date with the amount agreed in February with the complaints manager.

I am sick to death of it. To my mind, they forget to send bills, tie you up in debt, then force you to pay through the nose. And, remember, the whole time they say you owe them, you can't switch to a cheaper provider. We are stuck.

I am writing this in the hope that British Gas finally does it's job and gets back to us, with a reasonable offer.

I am sending this to their Twitter feed and anywhere else I can find, so feel free to add your grievances with them below.

It's about time Customers said enough is enough.

Silent Sunday

2012-04-15T08:22:00.002+01:00

Great Cars for Families!*

2012-04-11T09:42:00.000+01:00

Thinking of starting a family? Or already know the busy life of parenthood?
Here’s a list of cars, which car dealers, such as Auto Trader worldwide believe will help you and your nearest and dearest get from A to B with the least amount of stress as possible!

Kia Venga - Up to £12,000

Photo:http://www.flickr.com/photos/55391407@N03/

The 1.4-litre petrol version starts at just £11,755 and is the cheapest in the list of family saloons. The Kia Venga has a sleek outward design and features a panoramic sunroof. Safety is a massive feature in this model as it has 6 airbags as standard and offers Anti-lock braking system and traction control making skidding a thing of the past. The driving position is high off the ground and there is plenty of leg room for all passengers

Nissan Qashqai - Up to £18,000

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckiscott/

A basic model of the Qashqai can set you back just £15,695 and has been a popular choice within the Nissan family. One may be fooled into thinking this car is an off road adventure mobile from its four wheel drive style elevated design but it does offer the visibility and weight of one. With a good loading height and many mod cons such as rain sensing wipers coming as standard you may feel like you have bought a luxury car at a medium price.

Seat Alhambra - Up to £25,000

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seat_nederland/

This giant 7 seater, produced by Seat, the Volkswagen Group has the best of all worlds. The Alhambra is a quality built model that presupposes a growing family in need of a lot of space. All seats are easily manoeuvrable in range of different scenarios and the car has sliding doors to ease access and optimise space even further.

Volvo XC90 - Up to £35,000

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76956765@N05/

The XC90 is the quintessential, ‘soccer mom’, car and for good reason. It’s range of safety features such as the airbag occupancy sensors, active head restraints and side-curtain airbags would give any parent peace of mind and make for a smooth ride. Again, the XC90 offers a lot of space despite the back two seats being suitable only for children.

Range Rover - £81,395

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samedayrepair/

Packed with unbelievable extras, such as the DVD system, Range Rover tend to go all out to make your commute or school run as pleasant as possible. The plush interior adds a touch of luxury to your drive and the acres of space means you can transport not only your family but pretty much all but the kitchen sink. You’re always going to be looking at the pricier end of the spectrum when considering a Range Rover but remember used car prices are at an all-time low and if you do an in-depth search you may just be surprised what you can pick up from a second hand car dealer.

Happy Birthday Mini! (In Pictures)

2012-04-10T09:05:00.003+01:00

"I am 5"

Unwrapping gifts

Birthday wishes

Birthday Dress

Cake

The Many Mysteries of Motherhood

2012-04-09T09:00:00.000+01:00

The Bratlings

I have been a Mum now for nearly 5 years (Mini turns 5 on Tuesday would you believe), and, over time, there are certain mysteries that have made themselves known about The Bratlings, which baffle me.

Here are just a few:

Why do they pay no attention to me, yet Justin/Mr Tumble is God Like?

What the hell has this jolly fellow got that I don't? He doesn't hand out sweets. He doesn't cuddle them when they are sick or bored or wake up in the night wanting a hug. He doesn't buy them gifts on their birthdays or at Christmas. Yet the merest hint of one his annoyingly catchy theme tunes, and that's the end of noise, fights, whining, the lot.

This morning, I had just finished my bath and was ~~drowning the noise out of them arguing~~ using the hair dryer and both the Brats were engaged in a mass sofa based fight over the red and white slanket. This is always a source of weekend spats with them, purely because, despite it being big enough for two adults, they cannot seem to share it. It doesn't help that Littlest is still sucking the corners of any blanket, sheet or duvet he can, so Mini refuses to have any part that is slightly damp (and who can blame her).

Mr Tumble: Too Smiley for my liking. The Git.

This was going on for some 5 minutes, with Elder popping his head from the kitchen doorway to tell them to stop. Queue the theme tune to Justin's House, and silence. Mid slap in Mini's case, and mid slanket tug in Littlest's. Then they sat, in rapt attention, to everything Justin happened to utter. The only occasional noise was Mini explaining to Littlest what Justin was doing and why it was funny.

Now it's gone off, they are back scrapping again- its like the last programme was never on.

Its making me despise but respect Justin's authority in equal measures.

Why do they always immediately wake me up, yet leave Elder to sleep?

This comes after a week of Easter holidays, when, by rights of having a later night, both the Bratlings should sleep later. Except in our house, the later they go to bed, the earlier they wake up. Go figure.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind, as by now they should, what with the umpteen toys they have in their rooms, be able to amuse themselves for a while, allowing me some much needed doze time (not full sleep, I can't be properly asleep when they are awake, its an inbuilt Mum thing I feel).

This does not happen often. Littlest, asleep, presumably after Slanket War #12000

Sadly, the Bratlings don't seem to want to just amuse themselves. Which leads to, in the case of this week, Mini coming into our bedroom, and slapping my face until I grumble and get up. Or grumble and kick Elder- either/or.

I get up most mornings at 6am, and run around the house getting them ready for school and nursery, making pancakes with chocolate spread, getting cereal 'cos Mini has decided she's "gone off pancakes today," finding lost books or shoes, or both, signing forms, sewing red or blue cotton into the toes of socks or tights or Mini puts her shoes on the wrong feet and her teacher never notices, brushing hair into tighter than necessary pigtails (Mini) or chasing round the living room wielding the brush to give random strokes to hair (Littlest), and then, at 9.30am, once both are dispatched up the hill and into classrooms, I sit down with a hot cuppa and some breakfast. So on days or weeks off, I don't want to be up before 7.30am, or, if at all before 10am (wishful thinking).

Despite the kick or dig to Elder (blissfully slap free, only able to hear in the ear he lies on) being successful, by now I'm completely awake, and give up trying to go back to sleep within about half hour of the brood going downstairs.

I'm starting to think he bribes them.

Why does it take just 20 minutes for Littlest to be skankier than when he went in the bath?

My son is a dirt magnet. He can get out of a bath, he can be dried and dressed in clean clothing, yet I will go and do another chore, or get Mini dressed and dry her hair (takes ages as its so long now), and I can guarantee that he'll be dirty again. His face is the worst, he always looks slightly dishevelled, even if I have just taken a wipe and a brush to him.

I don't know why I bother.

Why do daft, shouldn't match patterns look cool when Mini puts them together?

Planning her next "Look" no doubt.

If I dressed even half as insanely as my daughter does, I'd be carted off to the funny farm. But when Mini does it, it works so well.

On Friday, we popped out for lunch, and I had got her some jeans and a light jumper out. So far, so normal. Except whilst I went to get myself dressed, she decided that she didn't quite fancy wearing that, and, with help from her Uncle as inside out sorter outer, she dressed herself in what can only be described as an "interesting" ensemble.
She put on a white longer length top, stripy tights, a pink cord ra ra style skirt, a multi coloured stripy hoodie, and a pink heart pattern gilet. She finished it off with pink converse.

I took one look and told her there was no way she was going out dressed in so many different colours and patterns, but was over ruled by her moaning and her Dad deciding she looked cute. In fact, Elder's current stance is that she should be allowed to express herself more. Even if she does go out looking like Co Co the Clown.

Off we went to town, and the amount of cooing she got from passers by was ridiculous. She did look cute. Why does it work when you're 4? If I did it, or anyone else over 18 did it, we'd be in Heats Hoop of Horror in five minutes.

What are your parenting mysteries? Let me know!

Silent Sunday

2012-04-08T13:42:00.001+01:00

Is It Just Me: Who Is Starting to Think Crime Does Pay in the UK?

2012-04-05T19:50:00.000+01:00

I am not impressed, in fact, once again I am ashamed of the country I live in.

Unless you lived under a stone in 2008, you couldn't have missed the story of Shannon Matthews. For 24 days, Shannon simply vanished from her home in Yorkshire after going swimming with her school.

We saw her poor Mother cry on TV as everyone in the local area looked for the girl, with hope fading of her ever being found. People started to remark that she was the next Maddie McCann, who also went missing not long before Shannon. Well wishers sent cards and money, and her anxious family looked more and more tired and drawn as the TV cameras followed their every move.

And then, of course, we realised we had all been taken in by her thieving, irresponsible Mother Karen, who had arranged with the Uncle of her partner to hide Shannon and reap the rewards. Police became suspicious after neighbours raised the alarm, and Shannon was found in a hollowed out bed base.

It made me sick that I had joined in with the My Space campaigns and appeals, had donated to the website, only to be told her Mum had set the whole thing up. She, along with her accomplice, was jailed for 9 years in 2009.

Except today, it seems, she has been released after serving under half her sentence.

Its not that that really angers me though. It happens all the time. Not many criminals ever serve their full sentence, most behave reasonably well and, due to our justice system (and lack of prison space), they are allowed out early, albeit on licence and, as with Karen Matthews, certain conditions.

However, Karen is different.

She has joined the likes of Jamie Bulgar's killers, and Maxine Carr, by being seen as notorious enough to need protection.

Which means, basically, new identity, new job, new home, new life, new start.

Its the tax payers money that pays for this protection, this wiping of the slate as it were, but I am sure I wont be the only one thinking that it's just a little disgraceful.

Crime, apparently, is meant not to pay, but ultimately, this vile person, who used her own child for gain, has gained. No longer will she worry about having a nice home, or a nice life. And before anyone screams about her missing out on her children, please, who are you kidding? This woman lived with a paedophile (her partner was found to have many indecent images of children on his PC), she was more interested in coining it in off the people she fooled than for the safety of her daughter, or the effect it would have on Shannon in the longterm. People like her don't give two hoots for their kids.

I'm often short of funds like many people these days. I know though that the last thing that would cross my mind would be to offload Mini or Littlest on one of her Uncles for a few weeks, and watch the pennies roll in. No one in their right mind would see that as the answer.

Many people, at the time, felt that Karen had seen a sickening window of opportunity in the Maddie McCann disappearance and decided to try the ruse out. Which must have had an awful effect on the McCanns as they watched events unfold.

This woman, and the others like her given cushy freebies as reward for crimes they have committed, don't deserve any protection whatsoever. Why should any of us, again, many who are struggling with financial hardship due to being penalised in the new Tax Credit rules, be forced to except that her need is greater than their own?

I say we shouldn't.

It needs to stop, and, frankly, if she's that in danger, keep her where she'll be really safe.

Locked up behind bars where she belongs.

Little energy savers grow into big money savers*

2012-04-03T10:39:00.002+01:00

You’re children are the apple of your eye, they bring you a smile and a frown on a daily basis and they also use up a lot of energy! With so much talk about renewable energy and how the world will look in 50 years, it’s crucial that we all know how to use less. This is done through encouraging daily habits that work together for the greater good.

The best time to learn is when you are a child, and by getting yours to save energy they can save you a lot of money on energy prices in return. What’s more is that you might learn a little something yourself. The greener your family is they better your future will be. Here are some top tips to get you started:

The ribbon game – Your windows shouldn’t leak, and hot air shouldn’t be escaping through your doors. So, to help with this, demonstrate the problem to children using ribbons or strips of paper. If they put them in front of doors and they blow then there’s a draught. Similarly, if they get wet on the windowsill then there’s a leak. If both things occur then you need to invest in some weather-stripping and insulation to stop the energy escaping.
Money – Let’s be honest, telling the children to do something isn’t a sure fire way of getting it done. Instead, give them an allowance for doing their chores around the home. But, this comes with a twist. Get them ingrained with energy saving techniques through giving penalties for unnecessary energy usage. Charge them for leaving lights on when they are not in a room, if they have the television on but aren’t watching then that’s another charge. Also, try to set laundry days that they have to adhere to. Anything that they do wrong should be met with a 10p fine. This may not seem like a lot to them at first but if you stick with it they won’t be doing it for long.
Printables – There are plenty of resources online that can be printed out and pinned up around the home. From activity books to step by step energy saving tips, these will help all the family to be better energy savers. Conservation and facts are the two big things, and these can be easily seen around the home by one and all.

These three activities will help you get a strong foundation around the home so that you can cut your electricity prices.

With everyone pulling in the right direction, both your home and the world we live in will be a better place. Children are the future but energy will always be the staple of life. Do your bit to help everyone.

Is It Me Or: Do Bloggers Need to Jump Off the Suspicious Train?

2012-04-02T18:39:00.000+01:00

For once, with a lot going on in my personal (not blogged about) life I happened to miss a Parent Blogging world related hoo-ha.

Now, as you know, in blogging terms, I'm pretty much drawing my pension. I've seen it all- mass views from Yankee bloggers happy for some English interaction (2006-2008), mutual love and support, (2008-2009), the times it started to all get a little competitive (2009-2010) to what we have now. Which I wont put a tag on, as its pretty hard to actually, but let's just say the mutual love and support is in short supply these days.

It seems like every five minutes, something is taken out of context, or a backlash ensues across Twitter and certain private "secret" (but completely not secret and widely known about) groups if you have an opinion differing to that of someone higher up the food chain than you, or generally there's a full moon and someone goes out howling at it in the "community" (I'm loathe to use that definition. Community to me says support).

Which gets a little dull, a little boring and a little baffling, and also, sadly, sometimes means a fellow rookie or otherwise in the dark and geeky world of social media and blogging commits blog suicide and pulls the plug.

Take this weekend.

A man- I know, a man, shocking right!- starts a twitter feed and a blog. So far, so pedestrian. He says he wishes to find out what makes Mum Blogging so huge. What makes us tick. How its so phenomenally successful.

He opened with this quote on what was his first of only two posts (more on why in a bit):

But isn’t that the beauty of the internet… I mean we use it to blog, to search, to shop, to research, to play, to listen, to watch (I could go on). So with so many different facets to the web, do the mummy bloggers limit themselves to talking about nappies and crayons? In fact I already know the answer, of course not!

That's not really offensive, or shocking, or sensational, is it? He's right, we don't just talk about nappies or crayons. We talk about politics, illness, charities, sex and everything in-between. In fact, if only more outsiders would realise this as well, my inbox would not be over run with pointless approaches.

The thing is, the guy did what most new bloggers would do. He started following people on Twitter. He tweeted them. He was pretty polite, across the board. He answered queries about what his fascination with Mummy Blogging is.

In return, he was asked if he was a troll. He was accused of unnerving people, of being a journalist, of trying to club all bloggers under one tag. He was given a hard time, over all, by all sorts of Mum Blogger members, and some Dad Bloggers joined in to.

Cut to today, and the same blogger is now, sadly, deleting his blog and twitter accounts, he's hanging up his look into what makes a Mummy Blogger and running for cover, I'd imagine.

So, why did this happen? Why did he get such a lambasting that he's quitting after two posts?

Would the reaction have been different had he been a woman? Or if he'd have said "I'm Mr X for Y Brand and I'm looking into Mummy Bloggers to offer them shiny rewards and free stuff". Would it have been different if he was compiling a Peerindex or similar list to have yet another pointless, surplus to requirements and poorly researched list of top bloggers or tweeters, or similar and giving the top 10 a shiny blog badge (disguising an advert for his company for a whole year, payment free)?

It seems to an old hand like me, that we simply don't trust and/or embrace new bloggers. I have often lamented the bullying and generally not nice nature that surrounds being a Mum Blogger, old or new, and have been told by many they have no idea what I'm talking about and its all in my imagination.

However, I've also had individuals email me privately, to say they know exactly what I'm talking about, have witnessed it, and have on occasions felt so bad they've almost quit blogging too. It seems that the treatment of this fellow, and my own recent experience of being kicked off one of the most well known Parent Blogging lists for having a difference of opinion, (when I'd just got some pretty terrifically upsetting news and frankly didn't need this on top) and being banned from nomination in another well known annual awards is endemic of the "do as I say, think what I think or I'll be as nasty as I possibly can" playground behaviour that has surfaced and now hangs around the Mum Blog tag like a bad smell.

Have we become so self absorbed that we no longer care about people's feelings? Are we so competitive that nowadays working together counts for little?

If we have nothing to hide, what were we all so scared of this guy finding out about the culture behind Mum Blogging?

No doubt, I shall be given a verbal battering for this post, and no doubt there will be private messages and anonymous comments pinging across the web soon.

I for one am ashamed at the way we have become, and wish the days when it was about support were revisited.

And lets hope he wasn't a journalist, as his treatment may just make a mockery of us all.

Technorati Claim (again I know blame blogger)

2012-04-02T16:54:00.001+01:00

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Dear Advertisers, Love Me

2012-03-29T13:17:00.000+01:00

Adverts, are by design, a necessary evil when you watch as much Channel 4 programming as I seem to.

Some are a great 30 seconds of wittiness or catchy theme tunes, some like the dreaded Go Compare one make my teeth grind with annoyance. None ever make me wish to buy more of X product, so perhaps I'm missing the point of the things in the first place.

However, there are ads recently that are beyond stupid, or make me feel older than my 30 years, or which just make me wish to smack the ad agency with a very large comedy frying pan.

First up for the Frying Pan is Dulux.

Now, I loved their recent ad whereby a young woman painted her bland bedroom red, and, on her boyfriend throwing her on the bed with lustful advances due to said red colour (which made me realise when we changed one of our rooms red we got pregnant with Mini), the door shuts. Only to be opened on mayhem, with children and the lady pregnant, thus painting the room back to its former bland colour. That, my friends was clever advertising.

The newest one, is not so much clever as misleading to more gullible new parents.

The idea is, a couple have two noisy kids who don't like to sleep in and who refuse to leave their parent's alone in their bedroom (I'm presuming they didn't need the red paint to induce wanton bedroom gymnastics, they just want rid of their brats. I can sympathise). However, aforementioned parents go off to their hardware store, buy some tins of lovely Dulux paint, paint the kids room, and hey presto, magically, the kids stay happily playing in their room until 9.30am.

Whatever!

I wish it were that simple.

Despite re-decorating Mini's room twice in two years, she more often than not comes in our room, bemoaning that she hates the dark/sleeping alone/wants a hug and thus disturbing the peace. She also refuses, along with her brother, to let us have any, cough, alone time, no matter how many crap toys, room stickers and layers of paint we brush on.

I say its false advertising.

Which takes me onto Top Shop.

In the window of my local store, which is one of the few still gallantly staying open in our High Street, is a large sign. It screams out that Hot Pants are the summer must have, and how they have a pair which can be worn in 21 different ways. "You have to have them" its says. "Its a summer essential" it cries. "Its practically the law in Maidenhead to wear them even when its not summer but with Ugg Boots". OK, it doesn't say that last one, but, you know, it may as well have.

Hmm. I'm not convinced.

You see, whatever way of the impressive 21 ways I could try to wear them, there is still the minor issue of the fact I do not posses the legs of a size 8 model. I have stretch marks on my thighs. I also have scars on my knee.
Especially when one considers that I own underwear longer and with more arse coverage than these hot pants. And they are satin. Not known for its fat girl flattering properties. Or its fat arse covering properties either.

So, whilst I am sure Top Shop have customers for which Hot Pants are the thing they must own this summer (like my leggy and size 6 niece J for instance. Who owns leather hot pants. And does not, owing to her size 6, 5 foot 6 self have a fat arse), I disagree with the claim they are a summer must have.

In my wardrobe, a summer must have must have at least enough material to cover from my neck to my feet. If it dusts the floor even better. It must have Lycra. It also must not be satin, silk, white or any other easily stained colours. So pretty much black or navy blue. It must look fine with cheap flip flops, not require an iron (I hate ironing in the winter, let alone when its 30 degrees out) and must look OK with a battered old Sisley denim jacket which ~~only just does up~~ I like lots.

I think I shall be giving Top Shop shopping a wide berth. I'm obviously past it.

Have you seen any ads which have you reaching for the remote? Let me know below!

Silent Sunday

2012-03-25T13:51:00.002+01:00