A Yummy Mummy? Really?

Smurf Village addiction

2013-05-19T21:46:00.000+01:00

Hello. My name is Louise and I am addicted to Smurf Village. Excuse me whilst I go and harvest some Strawberries and Honeydew Melon.

We don't do gaming in our family, despite initial appearances. Honestly we don't. We don't have a Wii, and the most sophisticated games system that we own is a decade old GameCube that we play the odd game of Animal Crossing on with the kids. Which was all well and good until we discovered the Smurf Village app on our iPhone. It is now also on the family iPad.

The plus points are extensive, which is why it is a game I was relaxed about the children (6 and 4 years old) playing. It is educational, in that in order to progress you have to plant crops, which cost fake money, and then harvest them a certain length of time later depending on the crop. When harvested you gain more coins, and Experience Points (XP) progressing you through the level. If you don't harvest at the right time, the crops wither, so you lose your investment in them. The children have become very interested in learning how to tell the time, and are experts at working out which crops they can plant in order for them to be ready at the right time, i.e. not during school, or the middle of the night.

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Clothes sizing: Why can the fashion industry not get this right?

2013-05-11T17:02:00.000+01:00

Unintentional clones

If you were to wake up randomly in a park or playground, having lost your power of hearing, in my opinion you could still pretty quickly work out if you had landed in the UK despite not being able to hear the language being spoken.

How? Just a quick glance at the fashions being sported by the mums.

As with any culture built by humans with an innate need to fit in, we have developed different uniforms for different roles in society. In England the uniform is fairly clear for a trip to the park with the kids. If you are less than a UK size 12 and therefore can get away with skinny skins, or Jeggings, these will be your uniform of choice. Combined with a fairly snug Tee, or a fitted smock top (the sort that look like a mini dress but are worn with leggings.)

However, you might, like me, be unable to find a pair of skinny jeans or Jeggings that actually fit your hips. You may, after all, have hips, and an hourglass figure, that the manufacturers of fashion often forget exist. For you, the trip will, despite your better intentions, probably result in the Sweats uniform. You'll have plenty of pairs of sporty tracksuit bottoms from all the good intentions of joining and subsequently not attending the gym. Add a bland v-necked T-shirt and you can kid yourself that everyone will assume you have come straight from Yoga class to the park.

Birthday cakes by post - A great novel idea for someone hard to buy for.

2013-05-09T06:00:00.000+01:00

I live a 40 minutes drive away from my parents. It isn't too far to visit easily for an afternoon, but it is too far to pop in for a cuppa after school pickup, or pop round on the off chance that they are in, for a chat.

It is far enough to require actually planning, logistics, pre-car toilet trips. You get the idea.

So I can't always pop and see them on special occasions. When I was given the opportunity to try out a new "letterbox cake" from BakerDays.com to send to my dad for his mid-week birthday I jumped at the chance.

It is a real cake. It is delivered by the post man. It is posted THROUGH the letterbox.

This ensures you can surprise your family and friends with a gift delivered by the postman and not worry about someone needing to be in to accept delivery, which is often the case when you send flowers and chocolates.

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I'm sorry kids, but no; I don't want to play

2013-05-06T20:47:00.000+01:00

Yes, that's me.... playing on the beach

Mummy; will you come and play?

I really really hope it isn't just me that gets a little tired of the mantra coming from my two girls far too many (in my opinion) times a day: "Mummy; will you come and play?".

I have always been conscious that I am a parent. Even when the girls were really little and I was playing "Incy Wincy Spider" up their arms, I knew that I wasn't there to just be their playmate.

I am very aware of the burden of responsibility I have as a parent to teach them how to grow up to be kind, considerate, polite, intelligent, knowledgeable, courteous, civil members of society. I know that I can't do that AND be their best mate at the same time.

Or; let me elaborate further; I know I can't always be their best friend. A lot of the time I will have to pull rank to be successful as a parent and I know that my words won't hold as much weight if I spend a lot of my time trying to also be their best bud.

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Apple products: I have well and truly crumbled

2013-04-28T20:28:00.001+01:00

Two years ago I said that I 'absolutely' wasn't going to buy any Apple products.

I loved my Samsung Galaxy Wonder (The Ace's paired down cousin). And, quite frankly, if there's something that absolutely everyone else has or wants, (an iPhone is a case in point) then I am less likely to want to get it. It's an 'individual' reaction. I was taught to go my own way, to not worry what everyone else was wearing, doing or listening to. In short, I was taught to want to be different.

So whenever there is a product that hits the mass market, be it the Ford Focus, One Direction or Corrie, I, by default, will hate it.

So how did Apple products manage to infiltrate this barrier?

My husband got an iPad. He let me have a play on it. He popped a couple of films on it. And then he added a couple of children's apps. He let me surf the web on it. Before I could frenzily shout "get that mass-market crowd-pleasing over-hyped product out of my house" I found myself addicted to iPad online surfing.

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Juggling all those parenting balls? Join the rest of us jugglers at the Britmums Juggling Carnival!

2013-04-22T06:00:00.000+01:00

I have a BRILLIANT collection of blog posts to delight your senses. These are stories from real women about the real challenges we have juggling our roles as (in no particular order) mother, daughter, wife, employee, boss, sister, friend, entertainer, pot-washer, hairdresser, clothes washer, seamstress, baker, spider catcher, dancer, writer, accountant, author, reader, cook, card fairy (magically sending cards to members of the family you've only ever met once, but who you absolutely must send cards at appropriate points in the year), tweeter, sympathetic-ear, first aider, toy mender, story teller, dietitian, referee, taxi driver......... and that's just me!

Grab a Sangria. Throw on your dancing shoes. Join us for the Britmums "Juggling" Carnival. A party for us to share how we keep those balls; clubs; knifes; flaming torches even; in the air, and maybe get a slice of 'me' time in the midst of all that juggling!

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Streetdance: can you do it when you are approaching 40?

2013-04-17T06:30:00.000+01:00

Last week I announced on Facebook and Twitter that I had signed up to attend a Streetdance class. There wasn't so much as a ripple in the Internet surf.

For some reason I expected more of a shocked response. My followers will be aware that I am fast approaching 40 years old. Admittedly I started dancing at 5 years old. Disco, ballroom, ballet, tap, modern and Acro - this was the 70s in the Midlands, UK, and the dance was very Pop based.

But despite the fact that I love dancing and Streetdance is great fun. Despite the fact that I am feeling 20 years younger whilst doing this new class. Will I actually look stupid doing Streetdance? At what age does a Street dancer have to stop dancing else they look daft? Is there an age?

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Roll up, roll up. The Britmums Carnival is coming....

2013-04-14T21:58:00.003+01:00

It's nearly carnival time here at Yummy Mummy? Really? I have been preparing my headdress and painting the float. In my head obviously. This is an on-line Carnival, and as such it's all rather virtual. The spirit of the event is exactly the same though. It's time to get together, socialise, have a couple of drinks if you are so inclined, dress up in crazy flamboyant outfits (come on! don't be dull) and showcase your talents and skills.

The Britmums Carnival, for those not already in the know, is a collection of blog posts (written in the last month) all shared in one post by the host (moi). Bloggers take turns to host and its a great way to showcase your latest blog post or discover great blogs.

There is usually a theme selected by the host. In the spirit of the event I am choosing the theme:-

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Blog Awards: why I haven't nominated myself (yet)

2013-04-08T07:41:00.000+01:00

It's parenting blog award season again. The nominations are open for the annual Britmums Brilliance in Blogging (bibs) awards and I am going through the same emotional journey I went on last year when the award season kicked off.

The journey goes something like this:

1) Oh brilliant; look, they have announced this year's mummy blog awards. I should check my blog over and nominate myself – it could be my year to win! I am really optimistic this time as I have been thinking carefully about the posts I write and trying to ensure they are useful and relevant. I can just picture the glitzy award ceremonies full of fashionable yummy mummys providing me will loads of the external validation for my work.

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Classic 80s movies: which is your favourite?

2013-04-06T22:36:00.001+01:00

I am debating which of three classic 80s movies to watch tonight. I have already taken a fair amount of time to narrow it down to these three. It is a very tricky task as I have a fairly large collection of 80s movies. I am a member of the John Hughes generation, and as such, my movie collection contains almost every single one of his feel good coming-of-age classics; both in their original VHS format (yes I am that old - want to make something of it?) and in DVD format, since the VHS copies have certainly seen better days.

These are the films that shaped my view of what true love looked like, what friendship was all about and what truants were all doing on their days off. One of these films resulted in my lifelong dream to sing on a float in the middle of Chicago. You never know, miracles happen.

Do you remember these? Which of these three would you pick? Which other classics do you remember?

Here are a couple of quiz questions to challenge your 80s knowledge.

1) Who played the Mannequin in Mannequin?
2) What was the original name of the film "Adventures in Babysitting"?
3) Who was the actor that Ferris's sister falls for? And for a bonus point, who played Ferris's sister?
4) What type of car did Ferris borrow?
6) Name three 80s actors that were all super famous that the Babysitter managed to co star with in other 80s classics. (Which films?)

Did you manage the above questions without the help of google? If so, congratulations! You get the 80s gold star.

Gullivers World Hotel and Gullivers Splash Zone, Warrington: A review

2013-04-03T22:46:00.001+01:00

Tree house beds: kid heaven!

Should I share?

I was torn as to whether to share this brilliant find with you. But I just had to.

Oh my! What a fabulous hotel!

Despite Gulliver's World theme park being technically closed at this time of year, the hotel, and neighbouring Splash Zone is still open.

So we decided to book an overnight stay at the hotel, in a family room, for one night. Some friends of ours and their children booked too.

We set off around lunchtime on Saturday, and arrived at 3pm, in plenty of time to quickly ooooo and aaahhh at our room, more on that later, grab the children's swimsuits and wander across the car park to the Splash Zone.

Gulliver's Splash Zone

The Splash Zone is great for 6 year olds and over. It is essentially the sort of mini splash park you get at family hotels in Spain, but instead of being outside, it is inside, in the same set up as the popular soft play zones that have sprung up in every town in the UK in the last 10 years.

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Out of the mouths of babes: April 2013

2013-04-01T20:14:00.001+01:00

Teeth brushing time

I am brushing Little Miss George's (4) teeth after a bath. In our family we try and speak bits of other languages when we can, and also try and get the children to brush their teeth for at least 2 minutes, so teeth brushing time is an ideal time for me to count in different languages to kill two birds with one stone.

So I start with German to build up my confidence as that's the language I did at A Level, so getting to sixty is no problem.

That's the first minute gone.

Parenting 101: How to not let the clocks ruin your child's sleep pattern

2013-03-30T15:04:00.002Z

It is that annoying weekend again. I have ranted about this before and I will do it again now. Why oh why do we have to go through this annual ritual of messing up everyone's body clocks just so that it can be slightly brighter at night (but dark again in the mornings).

I still don't fully understand the benefit these days. But I will avoid ranting any more here. If you want to find out who to direct your rant to it was a certain Mr Willett.

Meanwhile, how do you cope this weekend when, not only have the children been off school for the Easter holidays - and presumably allowed to stay up a little later in the vain hope they might give you a lie in - but you also need to adjust their body clock back the other way in time for school's return?

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I had the strangest dream: is it worth using dream analysis?

2013-03-28T21:21:00.000Z

Have you ever wondered about dream analysis? Are you a dream interpreter? Do you know what my dream means?

Dream analysis: is it useful?

I have to admit, My view of dream analysis is that it's a bit pointless. But there's a whole industry build around the analysis and interpretation of dreams. Books, DVDs, apps... Type "Dream analysis" into Google and you can be kept busy for years.

But is it actually any good? Can dreams give us clues or hints about how to better live our lives? Will analysing my dream make me a better wife, mother, blogger or accountant?

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Pampering facials: treat yourself at Pure

2013-03-27T06:00:00.000Z

I have experienced an hour and a half of pure lush.

From the relaxing back massage, to the repeated application of cream after cream gently onto my face, to the head massage and the slightly weird and smelly, but incredibly relaxing, mud pack that bubbled away under my back as I lay there. It was all gorgeous.

Why should I bother with a facial?

Some of you lucky readers will have pure, silky, smooth, alabaster skin. Flawless and wrinkle-free; yours will be the faces that I glower jealously at, if I pass you on the street, for my skin, after nearly 40 years, is suffering.

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Google reader is no more: What alternatives are there?

2013-03-22T04:00:00.000Z

Why is this article useful? Should I read on?

If you don't use Google Reader then you can probably disregard this post. My apologies for bringing you here for this. If you are a parent and want to stick around the site for parenting and beauty tips, how-to guides and family holiday reviews, please do grab a cuppa, put your feet up and delve straight into the menus above and over on the right.

However, if you do use Google Reader either to follow websites and News feeds, or as a developer or blogger, then read on. This post is definitely for you.

Google Reader is giving notice

On Wednesday, 13th March, Google announced that it's RSS feed reader, used by millions to follow news sites and blogs, would cease on 1st July 2013.

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Nightmares: How to deal with them when they start in young children

2013-03-18T12:59:00.001Z

So, yesterday we talked about the potential causes of nightmares in children. In my case this was a combination of poor judgement around approved film watching, and Little Miss George (4) getting too used to having her big sister, Princess Peppa (6), sleeping over in her room whilst the roof was being fixed.

But once they start, is there anything you can do?

Little Miss George quickly developed a fear of the dark and wouldn't even go into our hall to go to the toilet on her own. She'd wake up three or four times a night and cry out for us, only settling to sleep if we sat next to her bed holding her hand, got into bed with her, or, when it was close to morning, allowed her to get in our bed with us, something we have rarely done.

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Nightmares: Why do they suddenly start in young children?

2013-03-17T00:30:00.000Z

Recently my youngest daughter, Little Miss George (4), had great fun hosting her elder sister, Princess Peppa (6), for a run of sleep-overs in her bedroom. We had a mattress set up on the floor of Little Miss George's bedroom, cuddly toys and all, for Princess Peppa to sleep in. She slept in there for roughly a month.

Why? Because we had a leak in the ceiling off Princess Peppa's bedroom stemming from last years winter of double thick level snow covering our roof. Without getting into too much detail (you can always tweet me if you're interested), previous owners of our house had taken out the chimney breast in Princess Peppa's room and left the chimney above. It wasn't well supported, and VERY tall, so we had that taken off too and capped. Then the snow came down last year and sat on the capped roof for weeks, slowly getting in behind the render as it hadn't been capped by the workmen correctly (with overlapping edges) so the water ran down into the loft space and ultimately into her ceiling.

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Panic! No school places for 2013 baby boomers!

2013-03-15T13:17:00.001Z

Are we, in England, so incredibly inept, that we feel the need to panic when a statistician tells us that there won't be enough school places for children starting school in 2 years time?

2 years? That's a long time, right? That's long enough to go out and recruit a few extra reception teachers, or to canvas the supply teachers already on the books, isn't it?

The BBC news website indicates that "a quarter of a million extra school places will be needed in England by autumn next year, with one in five schools already full or near capacity". They talk about the rising birth rate which was higher than expected over the last few years. Really? In a recession there's a high birth rate? Oh you do surprise me. Sarcastic? Moi? Never!

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Panoramic, beautiful views on your commute

2013-03-14T19:54:00.002Z

How's this for a view on the way to work?

I travel across the countryside to work and the views are so amazing that I have to force myself to ignore them most days lest I accidentally miss a corner and end up rolling into a pile of cow muck in a farmers field. Unfortunately, the best views are at points on my car journey where the road is freakishly narrow and where there is no opportunity to park unless I risk pulling onto a farmers drive and blocking the trackers.

Strange really, as I am sure that there are panoramic parking spots every two minutes when you drive up hills in Europe. I certainly had plenty of brilliant photo opportunities when we holidayed in Majorca. But here, in the Midlands, on the edge of the Peak District, car parking spaces aren't deemed a necessity, gorgeous view or not. So the best, and only, parking spot I found gave me this picture on my route in today. Snow still peppering the ground, bright blue sky above. It was around 2 degrees Celsius. It was beautiful.

So do you take the time to look around and view the landscape? Share your photos here in the linky, or send them me via Twitter @ymummyreally or via the Facebook page, or even, goodness how many social options have we got, share them on Google+ ( discovered that yet?) on the Yummy Mummy? Really? page.

I'd love to see them.

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The Tooth Fairy: where does she live?

2013-03-13T22:46:00.001Z

Both of my girls absolutely still believe in fairies. How can they possibly not when the Tooth Fairy leaves the most gorgeous letter when she collects a tooth?

How can they not, when Tinkerbell tells us that every time someone says they don't believe in fairies, a fairy dies.

How can they not, when my hubby and I also believe in the magic.

The Tooth Fairy is doing a marvellous job. The wonder and astonishment in my daughters eyes when she came running into our bedroom shouting "MUMMY, DADDY, LOOK!!!" will live with me forever.

It's one of those moments you never want to forget.

It's one of those moments that makes parenting so worth while.

Now I'm planning to make fairy houses at the bottom of the garden as soon as the weather finally turns. After all, the fairies will appreciate any help they can get, since they are so busy collecting all the teeth.

I might even think about making a special bag for them to carry the teeth and those incredible heavy £1 coins in. I'm sure the girls will enjoy that activity one afternoon.

What are your special moments of parenthood that you never want to forget?

Self confidence: how to avoid losing yours

2013-03-07T22:59:00.001Z

Ae you feeling a little low? Are you feeling like you are just not doing a good enough job, be it as a parent, in your career or in your relationship? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by it all, and wish that the train that is carrying you, chugging through life at pace, would just stop off for a lunch break and let you have some time to just take a breath, collect yourself, catch up?

I am struggling with those feelings at the moment. I don't feel like I am being the best mum, or the best yummiest wife, or doing the best job I could at work. But on reflection I realise that I am ignoring the positives: for example, my daughter gave me a beautiful piece of work she had completed in school today. She is now 6 years old, and in year 2 at infant school. Surely this is the positive feedback I need to pat myself on the back and give myself a gold star for "mummying"? Take a look below. What do you think?

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Out of the mouths of babes: March 2013

2013-03-02T10:09:00.001Z

It's been a while since we indulged in a spot of giggling at the amazing things our young children say on this blog. It's not that mine haven't been saying all manner of amusing, inappropriate, embarrassing things. It's just that I haven't been organised enough to jot them down.

I feel an extra need to indulge in a spot of giggling at the moment as we are going through some personal family life challenges at the moment that are making life that little bit more emotional, raw and painful. But we are a family bursting with love, and it's for that reason that I know we can get through the challenges together. When it's less raw, and less likely to set me off crying again, I may well share; but until then I undertake the usual human trait of short-term avoidance tactics and instead indulge in the distraction of my daughters' naivety.

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Tights. Love them or hate them? An Update!

2013-02-15T21:21:00.001Z

Back in November 2012 I posted an article called Tights! Love them or hate them?

The article basically described the embarrassing methods I've had to resort to in order to keep my tights in position on a daily basis. If you have a solution to the dilemma, please feel free to share.

In December I treated myself to the most expensive pair of tights I have ever bought. They are by Aristoc. They are 100 denier cashmere blend. They don't have that change in thickness at the thigh that many have, making them perfect to wear with the currently fashionable suit shorts that I also purchased. They are very very soft and very very comfortable.

And so far I haven't had to pull them up repeatedly throughout the day.

Admittedly they are new, and things may change. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime; check them out at Figleaves.com

So where am I on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and why is it relevant to this blog?

2013-02-11T21:11:00.000Z

Great content?

This weekend the Times Magazine ran an article called The Asperger's Effect. A glance at the layout in the magazine and you immediately noticed that there's a test: "Where are you on the spectrum?". In 5 minutes, and 50 quick multi-choice questions later, you know whether you are, and I quote "socially smooth, empathetic to others and ambivalent about numbers" or not.

Interestingly I was more interested in how quickly I jumped at the chance to do a test. What that says about me is possibly far more revealing that the results of the test.

My results were almost disappointingly boring. No revelations here I'm afraid. I came in with a score of 17; apparently average for a man, whereas 15 is the woman's average. You can do the test on-line at TheTimes.co.uk/magazine.

Why am I mentioning this? Because it struck me that the article was refreshingly different, on a topic I had read little about. I was immediately drawn to great content. That's what I aim for here on this website: great content. I try and make it relevant, interesting, helpful, fun and a little tongue in cheek. This website was started because I wanted to help other mums learn from my mistakes. I provide tips on parenting that work for us and my solutions for maintaining your yummy mojo whilst also being a mum.

What makes great website content?

Whether I succeed or not is something of a mystery. Whilst I can see how many people are clicking through to the site and how long they are staying, I can't tell if they are finding useful content. I can't tell if I am making them smile, or laugh, or frown with disappointment.

That's where blog awards come in. It's blog awards time, and it's now possible for you to nominate my blog for any of 16 different categories in the MAD Blog Awards 2013. So do you think I qualify to be nominated for Best School Days blog, Most Entertaining Blog, Best Fashion and Beauty Blog or Best Mad Blog for Family Fun? How about Best Family Life Blog, Best Family Travel Blog or Best Blog Writer? Or do I qualify for the ultimate MAD Blog of the Year?

If you do think I deserve a mention, please pop over to nominate me on the Mad Blog Awards 2013 nomination form. It'll only take a minute and I'll be amazed, flattered and thrilled that I might possibly be doing something right in this small, but perfectly formed, corner of the web.

Nominations close at midnight on the 18th February 2013.

Of course, if you don't think I should be nominated, and you don't feel that I'm providing the content you are searching for, then absolutely please let me know! Would you like more beauty, more fashion, more fitness; or maybe prefer the parenting tips and hints, the craft ideas, or the travel reviews? Please feel free to comment on the posts and let me know what you like.

Thanks everyone.