Another London Mummy

And back to Britain's favourite discussion: The Weather

2012-02-08T22:25:00.000Z

An Aussie friend of mine used to do the most hilarious sketch about our weather forecasters - highlighting how they go into overdrive at the slightest gust of wind or unexpected spell of sunshine.

But SNOW..well, that is a whole other story!

Front page news: Cold weather sweeps Britain!
Middle page news: Rail companies fail to keep the country moving
Back page news: Locals clear snow from football pitches

So finally it arrived! I was so excited at the prospect of snow falling on Friday night. All evening friends had been posting pictures of snowy gardens from up and down the country but it was yet to reach the South East and I went to bed hoping we would have a huge dump overnight. I awoke around 3am and like a child at Christmas, peeped out of the window and could see the entire garden. The glow of the pristine snow was illuminating the outside and I was excited.

I love snow - I think the snowy mountains can be the most beautiful place in the world on a sunny day. Snow in London by comparison was always an anti-climax; delayed trains, slushy boots on the pavement, car being sprayed by grit machines, parks full of the remains of snowmen long after the rest has melted.

But here in the country, it was clean, white and successfully filling our garden with beauty. The kid's faces when they saw it was amazing! Mr T can't really remember the snow last year and Little Miss didn't know what to think! We quickly taught her to say 'snow' and she has been pointing at it shouting 'no' ever since!

The first dilemma is how on earth do we dress the kids to go out? Mr T was going to wear his ski trousers for the first time and was excited and Little Miss was dressed up in layers of tights, leggings, fleeces, hat and overall. Gloves were harder to get on her but finally they embarked into the white blanket that covered the lawn. Little Miss stood knee deep for over 5 minutes in the same place unsure of how to walk - made for the perfect photo opportunity! Mr T was busy trying to build a snowman and help Dad clear the car.

Over the course of the morning we did the whole dressing scenario for a second time, this time for sledging! As we walked through the village we asked some locals where to go and sledge and were told to follow the path behind the church, past the donkey field and into the sheep field where we found half the village and their dogs! The kids lasted about 10 minutes and were luckily rescued by a well-deserved Sunday roast in the local pub.

This year the snow was no anti-climax; it created an opportunity for a lovely family day together; laughing and rosy-cheeked.

And it's still here - I did outdoor bootcamp in the snow and glorious sunshine, we went on the slide in the playground and landed in the snow and Little Miss is still heard shouting 'no', 'no' every time I open the front door!

Toys you love...and hate!

2012-01-31T17:00:00.000Z

Having had a fairly uneventful week, I have decided to blog about toys today instead. Having 2 pre-schoolers of both flavour we have accumulated a fair few toys in our house over the years.

Today the weather is soo miserable that I decided we would stay inside all afternoon instead of going out. This poses a number of problems as far as keeping both kiddies occupied from 2pm til bedtime! It's a long time, they both have different attention spans and interests.

So I delved deep into the cupboard and found the Playdoh!

This invention for me is the worst thing ever! I know I am about to risk sounding completely OCD in a minute but I can't stand it for the following reasons:
1. I have a problem with the colours getting mixed up so spend the entire time making sure one colour is put away before the next one is played with
2. There always seems to be shards of it left all over the place afterwards - all bright and rock hard
3. If I forget to take my rings off then it looks like my engagement ring has turned a lurid sapphire colour never mind the fluorescent pink!
4. Even when I do remove my rings, I end up with 'doh-ed' fingernails which again seems impossible to remove.

But the kids love it and they get a chance to be creative so I bite my tongue, remove those rings and let them get on with it!

Another love/hate toy for me is Elefun - the butterfly catching game.

Can I just add - our games never look like this!
1. The nets always need fixing before you can commence
2. The trunk gets so creased after packing it away that it rarely stays up and needs to be held (by me!)
3. The unit needs to sit on a hard surface and a carpet doesn't activate the motor so it needs to sit on a book (something else to tidy away)
4. The butterflies normally fly up and out so fast that my athletic 3.5 year old doesn't even manage to catch them in his net.
5. Within a short while the batteries need replacing and they need C's I think - 3 of them. So batteries that are hard to find and then only 3 of them when they are sold in packs of 2 or 4 - who is colluding with Duracell eh?

My Little Miss loves to leave the trunk off and just try throwing the butterflies into the airstream - to be fair she has a good point - it is more fun! But again, for a short moment the kids love it and to them it is like the image on the left!!

My final one is puzzles - wonderfully educational but a pain in the butt to put away at the end of the day!
Again my recreational OCD rises to the surface and it's back to one puzzle at a time!

1. I can't bear having missing pieces so make sure all are accounted for before moving on.
2. Also, puzzle manufacturers take note - why do some toddler puzzles not have the image printed in the hole for the puzzle. My one year old has puzzles made for her age that don't have the picture underneath and this makes the puzzle very hard for them. It means the carer normally has to point in the rough direction of the hole the piece fits into or the child loses interest fast. And the really annoying thing is that the purchaser doesn't find out they have bought such a puzzle until the cellophane is ripped off and the pieces tipped out! Melissa & Doug make the best chunky puzzles in my opinion but they are pricier than some.

So, this sleety afternoon has been filled with 'dohing', Elefun and plenty of puzzles and my parenting stress levels have been stretched! But the kiddies are happy and that's all that matters!

Would love to hear about anyone else's love/hate toys!

Review: Rare Breeds Centre, Kent

2012-01-24T14:05:00.000Z

On Sunday Mr C was off early to Heathrow on business so I decided to pack the kids in the car and head off to The South of England Rare Breeds Centre In Woodchurch, Kent. http://www.rarebreeds.org.uk/

We arrived bang on 10.30am when it opened so had the benefit of no visitors for a little while. The girl selling tickets happily greeted us and we paid our £6 admission price for anyone over 3.

My initial impression was that it was more like a farm and quite small but as I read the map, I could see there was more to enjoy beside the animals and on a warmer, sunnier day this would be enjoyable. My son led the way around the animals, past the ferrets, the owls, the chickens, turkeys and pigs. There were ginger pigs, little clean pink pigs, large hairy brown pigs wallowing in muddy styes - Little Miss enjoyed making oinking noises to all of them. There is a section called Creepy Crawly World which housed one of the biggest snakes I had seen and a few other reptiles. It was very warm in there and a few exhibits seemed to have 'escaped' or been moved which was a shame.

The Children's Farm area was lovely and noisy with goats, sheep, piglets, rabbits and visiting birds. At 11.30 they got some of the animals out of their pens and children were encouraged to pet them and this was the highlight of the morning and hence pretty busy. Little Miss loved the albino ferret with red eyes and Mr T enjoyed the rabbits which he stroked with his gloves on as he didn't want to get his hands dirty! The piglets had a good nibble and snuffle at our welly boots which caused great amusement.

After the animal session we wandered out to the duck pond and the aviary which had some beautiful birds in it but didn't excite my two much. I think the draw of the playground outside was too much and they had a good run about. In summer this would be a nice area for a picnic. We didn't walk on much further as the kiddies were peckish so we made a beeline for the restaurant just outside the farm.

The Granary Restaurant & Terrace was large but not very enticing. They did offer a couple of kids meals and a carvery but not much in the way of healthy snacks or fruit. There were no little apple or orange juices in the fridge but just sugar-laden Fruit Shoots. The staff were young jobbers and didn't really care and we had to wait too long for the kid's meals. Generally the food was ok for a quick visit but overall the experience could have been so much better and a restaurant like that should make a little more effort to supply healthier options for children. The walls showed pictures from Competition winners from August!

After that we headed back into the farm to have a go in the soft play area. There was a good climbing frame and slide set up for kids and one area was full of balls but hard to access with a baby. The baby section had some padded blocks for them to climb but it would have been nice to have some balls in there too in a ball pit. My son loved it but there wasn't a lot for my toddler to do without climbing up too high and getting stuck.

I was dismayed to see ride-on toys in there as kids always badger their parents for a ride on them instead of running around and thought £0.50 was a lot for a ride.

The farm is run as a charity but I feel a few easy changes could be made to make it more enjoyable. There could be maps put up on buildings to save on printing maps for every visitor showing 'You are here'. This encourages kids to read the map too. There could be some simple wooden signposting as we nearly missed the aviary and playground as we didn't initially read the map. Each cage or pen should have a label saying what animal was in there; many were missing which makes it difficult when little people ask what animal it is. The hand washing facilities were good and plentiful though mixer taps would prevent burnt fingers. The restaurant needs some attention too. My experience is that centres like this can make some really small changes to make it more educational and interesting. Without wanting it to jump on a band-wagon, I think it should encourage kids to learn by providing more information and encouraging eco, local and healthy messaging.

But overall we had a nice time and the kids were exhausted afterwards. We went on a Sunday in January - I feel the farm would get very busy in the Summer holidays and I imagine the Meet the Animal sessions would be over-run. It is nice to have a farm facility nearby for us to visit and I know we will be back despite the little niggles.

One drink too many...a life shattered

2012-01-22T21:27:00.001Z

Living in a village has it's challenges for anyone who has just moved from a city. But choosing to live in a village requires a lot of planning with regards commuting, kids schools, distances to shops and when all these issues are considered we all take for granted one thing: that we have transport. Now for most that means that we drive and we have access to a car on a regular basis.

When we moved out here we had to borrow Dad's car for 2 months as a station runner for Mr C on his commute in the early hours. As it had to be returned at Christmas we had to buy a runabout for a couple of grand which coincidently has been back in the garage more than on the route to the station I believe! However my point is is that we can't rely on Tubes, a regular bus route or an onslaught of black cabs or even hundreds of minicabs.

We have a few minicab companies in the area but we are talking about 10 cabs! If you haven't booked your cab 2 days prior, you don't stand a chance of getting home from a party or even the station after a work drink. This leads to problems for someone with a London mentality who is unaware of these shortcomings. But also being in the country leads you to think that there are no police about and therefore you can stretch limits and drive after a drink.

This theory was blown out of the water this week when I joined a friend in the local pub for a quick drink. My friend is also an ex London Mummy who has moved to the village 9 weeks ago. We decided to meet at 8pm and when I arrived she had ordered a bottle of wine and was busy chatting to some locals at the bar and paying for it.

We sat down and chatted about settling in and how things are going whilst having a glass of wine. I had about 2 medium glasses and she had marginally less than me. We called it a day at 9.30pm as I was tired and left the rest of the bottle on the table much to the amazement of the barmaid. Outside the pub we hugged and I said my goodbyes, turned my torch on and hiked it off in the direction of my house. We both live about 500m from the pub in opposite directions so I didn't give a thought to her return home.

I chatted to Mr C , went to bed and when I checked my phone in the morning there was a text from my friend's husband requesting that I send her home; sent at 12.04am!! I was instantly in shock and dumbly texted him back a message asking him if he was kidding, I left her at 9.30. Fear was consuming me that she had gone missing. I called Mr C who had already left for work. By sheer coincidence he had seen my friend's husband at the station and was able to put my worst fears to bed, sort of.

My friend had decided not to leave her car in the pub car park but to drive home. She reversed into another car and the owner's boyfriend called the police. My friend was taken to the station, breathalysed and arrested. She was found to be nearly 3 times over the limit. It turns out she had had wine at home earlier too, prior to joining me.

She is a 33 year old professional, business owner & mother of 2 under 4 years old, well brought up, never broken the law and has made the biggest mistake of her life.

Her court date is a week away so she is yet to find out the exact details of her punishment but believe me, she is already punished whatever they say.

She will have a criminal record; from this she will have problems getting finance, maybe a new mortgage; she may not get a visa into certain countries like the US for holidays, she will have to declare this at job interviews and CRB checks to name a few things. She will lose her licence for about 2 years due to the amount she was over; her husband will have to do all the nursery drop-offs and commute to the station. She has just applied for primary places for her daughter - they are all a drive away. The impact this will have on her life is immense.

It has shocked me that a life can be shattered in an instance. This can happen to any of us if we are stupid. I know for sure that I am going to be stricter than I have been in the past and know my limits.

I want to keep my lovely life in the country just as it is.

A piece of cake? - not really...

2012-01-13T18:40:00.001Z

Friday morning - that means a date with my new 'friends' at the village hall. I say 'friends' because I am not sure I count them as friends and I am certainly not yet one of their friends I am sure!

But either way it is a weekly toddler and baby playgroup in the village hall which I feel compelled to visit. The playgroup is an odd one but that's another story. It is different than most playgroups as it is more for the mums than the kids! There is always at least 2 freshly baked cakes for us to feast on at 9:30am and barely a beaker or biscuit for the kids in sight! The chairs are laid out in a circle for maximum mum-chatting, with the toys spread around the room or even next door. You almost think it is a time for mums to turn their backs on the kids and gorge cakes; kind of ok really!!

Today it was fun from my perspective..today I was replaced as 'playgroup new person' by another new resident! I felt the burden lift! It almost felt like everyone was more chatty to me as I was more familiar to them. I got invited out to the village mum's pub drinks tonight too!

So let me explain a little about this local playgroup: it is organised by a lovely, polite, 30 something girl who supplies it with half of her own toys. Serving teas is the domain of an older lady, clearly with a mission in life..she is the wife of a local pastor belonging to a born again Christian church. I try not to look her directly in the eye; I am sure she belongs to the sort of church that my Dad used to warn me about in the 70's!! There is always a risk that the beverages are being drugged; better watch that one! Then there is a close clique of timid but friendly mousey types. In my first few playgroup visits I found them to be very friendly and warm but not quite my type of person. But, you know, can't rule anyone out in the early days. It was like Fresher Week I suppose. After numerous conversations, the penny dropped... They were all part of the same church! Oh God, (perhaps the wrong exclamation in this situation) but I realised I was in deep doo-doo. Church attendance was not anywhere on our agenda; we didn't even marry in one! Panic and cold sweat! I had to find some other 'friends'!

My 'prayers' were answered and over the weeks, more girls turned up. Some ex-Londoners; one who knew the landlord of the house where my friend lives; it was all hope and felt more familiar to me! I made an effort to try and break into the next new clique without offending the other set!

So that's where I am at...very slowly meeting people and making acquaintances, maybe friends will follow soon.

And so we moved to the country..

2012-01-12T13:47:00.000Z

We have finally upped sticks and left the big smoke! I am still 'Another London Mummy' as I believe London is in my blood and I am not sure I will ever stop thinking like a Londoner!

So, we are Mr C (now 42; hard-working, commuting wage-earner), Mrs S (now 40; home-maker, Mummy of 2 and full-time snot-wiper amongst other child-rearing tasks), Mr T (3; energetic, boisterous, gorgeous little lad), and the latest addition Little Miss I (1.5, charming, strong little toddler and the apple of my eye)That is my lovely family making a new start in the 'burbs!

Let me tell you a little about our new home. We are living in an Edwardian detached country house that needs a fair amount of work but nothing too urgent. It is in a 'chocolate-box' village with a shop, church, primary school and two pubs. It couldn't be more different from the hustle and bustle of SW London but it is beautiful, charming and hopefully we will be very happy here.

My story will now be about the ins and outs of settling into country life and the trials and tribulations of meeting new friends and surviving as a London Mummy in the country!

Scaredy-cat toddler

2010-10-06T13:41:00.002+01:00

Almost overnight my toddler seems to have discovered 'fear'. This fear has materialised itself in many ways and parts of our day; nighttime wakings, out in the park and out with friends.

Nighttime: Mr T is waking in the night around 2 or 3 am and we find him howling and standing in his cot. When I talk to him he just says 'living room'?! 3 nights in a row that was all he said so I reassured him we were all in bed and not in the living room. Mr T was always a great sleeper in the dark with no light but due to this waking I have started giving him a little nightlight dog to settle him with. This seems to coincide with teething for his 2nd molars, oh and obviously our newborn arriving! So I am none the wiser really, any suggestions appreciated..

Outside: sudden fear of tractors and their engine noise, snails, worms etc, dogs. Now a dog ran up to us and punctured his favourite ball a few weeks ago so I can understand some resentment there! But a complete hissy-fit when I showed him a worm on the path and pulling me away saying 'no mummy' was a surprise! I assured him the worm won't hurt me but we still had to move on!

Friends: I have finally experienced the 'hiding behind legs' that kids do. This time when visiting friends or relatives!

Even though I am sure these are all natural traits of a toddler, it is still challenging again for us as parents! I suppose that is why this phase in development is so exciting as the little mites change so often!

Pink bump has now well and truly arrived

2010-10-04T12:06:00.003+01:00

My last post was when I was Another London Mummy of one lovely boy and now I am mummy of two. The gorgeous Miss I was born on 07/08/10 by c-section again in South London. She is a delight and is now approaching two months old.

There have been countless times over the last months when I have wanted to blog but a shortage of spare hands was normally the reason for not typing! Juggling one toddler and one newborn has been a challenge on many levels:

1. Physically, my toddler seems as heavy as a lead weight to lift; I was sure on leaving hospital that he had gained half a stone under my husband's care but it seems I was just used to lifting newborns so he felt like an elephant! My c-section has also made handling Mr T hard and means I have had rely on him climbing in and out of high chairs etc which has given him a new found freedom which he is keen to deploy!
I am going through the usual sleep deprived nights with Miss I although thankfully she is only waking once in the night so it seems bearable to me!

2. Mentally, my toddler has become a 'real' toddler displaying all the challenging signs of frustration and pushing boundaries. No surprise really seeing as his whole world was probably blown apart when he realised he was no longer focus Number 1. This has had a huge impact on the little man and especially his relationships with myself and Mr C. I want to go into more details about this on a later blog as I have found it hard to adjust to our changing relationship and am working hard to maintain the lovely, close bond I have with my son.

'Juggling' is the only word I can think of currently to describe how to manage two kiddies: some days are like being on the Krypton Factor where it is a challenge working out how to get everyone to an event or class - who is sleeping when, who needs feeding when, who is dressed, which buggy or mode of transport do we need, do we need snacks, oh, and then there's me to get ready too.

Whoa, deep breath, step back and long for 7pm when all are tucked up in bed and you can pat yourself on the back for being a good Mummy! (Another reward could be a massive glass of wine but I am currently breastfeeding and trying to avoid that at the moment!)

It's a pink bump!

2010-04-12T17:47:00.002+01:00

Whoa!

I am now 22 weeks pregnant and on Friday we found out that Mr T is going to get a sister in August! We both had a hunch this time that we might be having a girl but when the sonographer told us we felt a little shell-shocked, but pleased! I think we are both so used to having a boy that a girl seems a little alien to us? Anyone else felt the same?

So we will restrict the 'pink' and things will be fine, eh? First time around we hadn't managed to find a girl's name we were 100% on so we have a challenge ahead! I have the book out all the time and dip in when I can! Shortlist consists of about 20 at the moment! So we have some work to do there! When I am a little clearer, I will share some ideas!

On another note, does anyone know of some good outdoor activities or playgroups in the Earlsfield / Tooting / Wandsworth area? I thought I might try out the Tooting Locality Early Years Team Activities in the Park - Tuesdays 10-12 Smallwood School...did anyone go last week? Will let you know how Mr T and I get on!

xx

Last person in world to get iphone

2010-04-01T22:22:00.001+01:00

Spent all day playing with new phone! Anyone recommend good apps? Was so busy eve
n didn't notice Mr T had taken nappy off and was watching tv half naked!! Have a great Easter'

Oh my..back to blogging

2010-03-30T14:00:00.002+01:00

So, here I am, Another London Mummy is sort of back!

Where have I been, what have I done and why haven't I been sharing it? Well, I haven't been anywhere really except still in London give or take a few days away so no excuse there. I have been busy though I guess...last November we started a loft conversion on our home, then I found out I was expecting number two (yay!) and really I just didn't have the time or the energy to blog.

Now Mr C is back at work after a lovely 7 month's break with us and finally I have some quiet lunch time space to do 'me time' things!!

I am now 20+1 and looking forward to my next scan next week where we will find out what we are having! I didn't with Mr T but think this time it will be easier for all.

So, short and sweet today - I look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs and hope you are all keeping well?

xx

Back from the North

2009-11-15T19:28:00.005Z

I am back - we went on a family roadtrip of the North! Now as you can probably work out from my blog title, I am well and truly only really used to the South! In fact I have such poor knowledge of the North, I spent the whole driving time reading the road atlas despite using sat-nav to get about! I got so excited realising where all these places are thatI had heard of and I had never been to! We started off actually gong via the Midlands to see cousins and tested out Heston Blumenthal's 2nd Little Chef in Kettering for breakfast! Very good fodder and set us up well for the car journey to York!

We stayed in a lovely pub with rooms called The Blackwell Ox Inn http://www.blackwelloxinn.co.uk/ at Sutton on the Forest which was really nice! Our room was modern with a good bathroom and Molton Brown and the inn did great food with lovely hospitality. Highly recommended and a pleasant surprise to find a gem! The bathroom was a great size so when we retired to our room to chill and watch TV we were able to hoick the travel cot into the bathroom so as not to disturb Mr T! Poor boy spends most nights in hotels in the bathroom sleeping - cruel parents!

The next day we visited Castle Howard where there is a great adventure playground and grounds to walk around and then into York for a spot of shopping and more importantly cream tea at Betty's! Mr T had a fantastic kids meal with yorkshire sausages!

After 2 nights it was off to Leeds, anther new city to me! We had a fab mid-week deal in the Malmaison which included 3 course dinner so a nice treat! I found Leeds a bit edgy which surprised me as I am used to London but maybe it was after having been in the country for 2 days! Then off to more cousins in Stockport and Mr T got to play with little Tilly his err..2nd cousin ?!?..no idea where it goes with cousins kids etc!

Finally up to Lytham St Anne's to stay with an old friend of mine and her 3 kids. It's always a funny thing coming from London to somewhere further north. My friend has just moved in to her new home - the home for life she says. And it was gorgeous, 5 bed, 3 floors, spacious, airy, complete refurb from roof down - a labour of love. The hardest thing for me is that it is sooo affordable but just in the wrong neck of the world for us. I would love a family home like that and was secretly green with envy but just couldn't live where she lives. So it is all relative and I have to remember the reasons why I am another London Mummy and not elsewhere. Returning home was nice, and exciting.

The scaffolding was up! The loft conversion has begun! It did mean that I had the trauma of noticing that the poles were also in our neighbours property, the boards are obscuring other people's windows and we have a water mark on the ceiling above my bed already but none the less, exciting! Roll on, 8 weeks of grief! Maybe I should have started a building blog and not a mummy blog!

And finally, apologies for not getting back to you if you left comments - I took the lappie but couldn't get online, couldn't even get mobile signal in most places! So all in all, from a technology perspective too, it is nice to be home!

Teething, TV and technology

2009-11-03T17:32:00.005Z

To quote Wikipedia:
A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

So not much of a blog really as I have been rubbish at the 'regular entries' part! I logged on often but seemed to have nothing to say. But enough is enough, here is my current 'nothing to say' as otherwise I will get writer's block and give up!

It's my 2nd wedding anniversary today and I am off to see Michael McIntyre which I am very excited about! Mr C remembered to buy me a card so all is hunky dory!

Mr T on the other hand has a little temperature and is under the weather and being a poorly little mite. We think he is teething with his molars but I can't seem to get a look in his mouth without him blocking it. As we are off out I am keeping him amused with some rare treat TV. Normally he is allowed a little bit after tea but today it is doing a good job of distracting him from his jaw so all are happy.

TV for kiddies? I have a friend who is so anti TV for her two kids that she doesn't even have one in the house! It does mean she also almost lives on another planet as she has no idea what is going on in the world but she believes her kids are more creative for not having TV. Maybe she is right..?

However she is also going to send her kids to a school where they don't use the internet until they are 15 and use no technology in teachings - is this realistic and a benefit to children? I worked in an internet company for 10 years and find her whole ideology hard to stomach. Surely there are limits to exposure but I am a firm believer that banning things creates want. It's very difficult when you disagree with a good friend on how to raise children. Mine is under 2 so to be honest what do I know? But I do have opinions and am often opinionated so have to walk away from many awkward discussions!!

Note to self: blog more!

Whoohoo - Mr T starts walking and a trip back to the 80's

2009-10-23T22:05:00.007+01:00

What a day yesterday was!

I was having a lovely play-date with a friend and her son of equal age to Mr T and we were basically almost ignoring the kids and chatting and suddenly Mr T strode off, three steps, stopped, looked about and continued! We squealed with surprise and he looked very pleased with himself! He tried it a few more times that afternoon and had a cheeky grin from ear to ear. Since then he has been growing in confidence and trying it over and over again. I am so pleased for him - it is so cute to watch those first steps!!

I pegged it home after the playdate - late for his bedtime and literally straight into jammies, milk and bed - luckily after the afternoon's excitement, he was out like a light.

And I was out to the O2 once the lovely lady from Sitters had arrived! For Spandau Ballet!! Oh dear! I was about 12 when they were originally in the charts but happy to belt out some of the old classics at the top of my voice. They didn't disappoint - the classics were great, the new stuff inoffensive. It was funny seeing an Eastender's cast member on the stage but he was LOVING it! The footage from the 80's was hilarious and took me back to bad hair and bad fashion!

I feel inclined to discuss Question Time but am still so offended by that imbecile, I can't be bothered to waste typing on him. However...Masterchef final...how exciting was that? We Sky+-ed it and I spent the whole morning avoiding breakfast TV, Radio 1, Facebook and anything else that might leak the winner before we had a chance to watch it. The best man won in my eyes, his food was exciting and original!

Am so looking forward to spending the weekend scooping my son up after his stumbles! Have a good one!

A Day of two Halves

2009-10-20T23:50:00.005+01:00

Wow another lie-in! As Mr C is currently at home and not working and I am not working still, we don't set an alarm, relying solely on our Gina Fordesque-trained son who generally rises at 7:05am...but not today, or yesterday..!

8.35am! Must be the darker mornings.

Quick....jump out of bed, milk in beaker, kettle on, cereal in bowl, nappy change, hand wash, tea, are the builders coming today, what are we doing, how long til I need to leave, do I need to wash my hair, what clothes are clean...who am I?? Oh the confusion!

Now the 'who am I?' is relevant to my day. So I filled my morning with Monkey Music (good God - but Mr T loves it), playtime, cooking lunch, cooking Mr C wild mushroom soup, followed by an afternoon with a trip to the swings, to the library (which was shut) and usual chores.

Sudden appearance of booked babysitter, hairbrushing, makeup applying, quick internal head debate whether I could cope with heeled boots for my trip to the West End or flatties and I was slowly becoming the other me. Now for the record, the other me doesn't work and hasn't worked since June 2008. I sort of want to do some work but then don't.

Well, this evening's excursion to the West End was to meet some like-minded friends in our industry (Mr C and I in same industry) for a chat over wine about potential benefits of working together in some way. For me it was strangely alien ( I first typed that as strangley - that works too;)) but also exciting to talk shop again. I felt liberated and proud knowing I had an expertise in demand in my marketplace again - in contrast, do I have expertise as a mother, or am I just mediocre? Who knows? Which role do I do more comfortably? Who am I?

I also endured an interrogation on the train about what I have been doing on the PC for so long in the evenings..I admitted to setting up a Mummy blog after being questioned whether I was having an affair.. This admission was met with faint mockery but I think Mr C is just curious as to what I am saying about him - whose other half knows and reads your Mummy blogs or are they completely anonymous?

On the final note that I just saw Robbie on TV say he loved Gary, I will go to bed - what is the world coming to?

Fitness Assessment fear!

2009-10-19T17:48:00.000+01:00

It's the start of a new week and also the last day of my batch of personal training sessions. I figured I hadn't lost any weight or inches and was not looking forward to all to turning up at my session. Obviously I didn't snack all morning, went to the loo 8 times and tried everything to make half a pound difference. But as expected - no change. Heart-rate was better, fit tests were better but no pooping change in what all of us view as the most important part! I have been struggling to lose any baby weight since Mr T was born and thought 'enough was enough' and decided it was time to throw money at the problem!

After disappointment on the scales I threw myself into the workout and nearly fell over with head-rush on many occasions - oops. But I did it and I feel motivated to make more effort with food and portion sizes.

I tore about and showered and hoiked the buggy over to a friend's house for tea and play. It was half of the NCT girls that I met when Mr T was born - half went back to work and the other half of us are stay at home mums. I have always found the group useful when sharing experiences but sometimes it can be a little competitive. Who has what toys, what Ofsted grading your nursery has, where your boys jeans are from - I try and pooh-pooh it all but sometimes feel I come out thinking 'oh crap, I had better do this/order that/teach Mr T that' Today was one of those days...as I walked home I panicked about private schools and when he was going to learn to walk.

Mr C was just overheard telling Mr T that he should be saying real words by now - he just gabbles away to us with no real words but I am not concerned as he understands loads. The only word he actually says is 'there' and wiggles his finger! Demanding little sod! (Just like his Mummy)

Curry and cake

2009-10-18T23:03:00.000+01:00

Tired, tired, tired today! Dragged myself out of bed at 7.45 and drove to the shops for some milk - 5 oC - brrr...autumn is really here.

A lovely sunny day though later and we strolled to my brother's house for his wife's birthday. Champagne, wine and curry followed by cake - not the healthiest options I am sure. Mr T spent the afternoon trying to trash their living room - the joy of being in someone's house with a toddler. I noticed the ceramic bowl that is normally in the fireplace has been moved in advance of our arrival this time!

Returned home to give Mr T his tea and his first bath in the big, new bathtub. I filled it with all of his bath toys - surprised there was room for him really, and watched his excited face as he was plopped in. There was much splashing and standing up which later prompted another excuse for me to browse the baby websites for anti-slip bathmats and bath toy containers.

Oh, the shopping...I didn't order anything - what's the point with an imminent postal strike. Maybe it will help curb my unhealthy obsession with shopping for my son?