After the scathing comments about "mummy bloggers" that appeared courtesy of Ms Jones in yesterday's Daily Fail (I refuse to link to them and give them any SEO credit at all for this) I felt slightly bad about today's post being about cupcakes, but still. I may be one of these parents who stays at home knitting and baking whilst blogging and bringing up my children, but that's completely fine with me. And also with my husband who gets to eat the fruits of my baking activities when he comes home from work. Little Miss C has really got into baking recently and one of the ... read more
Review: CBeebies: The Album
Parents here in the UK certainly can't be in any doubt that their TV Licence is value for money and that's all thanks to the wonderful CBeebies. One disadvantage to allowing your little ones to watch CBeebies is that you will find yourself suddenly in the shower, or driving the car, and humming along to one of the songs that you've heard in there. If you're like me then it will be one that you don't quite know all the words to, but yet you still can't get it out of your head for the rest of the day. Children love CBeebies and also love all the songs that are either part ... read more
Enid Blyton – the passage of time
As a child I LOVED Enid Blyton. I can remember my mum ordering me my first book (First Term at Malory Towers) from the school bookworm newsletter catalogue thing (at least I think that's what it was called) and as soon as I started reading about Darrell Rivers' adventures at boarding school I was hooked. I regret not keeping all my old books and since I was pregnant with Little Miss C I have been looking out in charity shops for her books, especially versions that I remember from childhood. It's amazing when you realise that in the 40 years that she was writing she managed to ... read more
Review: Wigwam Play Tent
Even the recent bad weather hasn't stopped us from making the most of this lovely wigwam play tent that we have been sent to review. Admittedly all the wind and rain has prevented us from putting it up in the back garden, but Little Miss C's new bedroom is luckily large enough to accommmodate a wigwam in the middle of it and the novelty of having a secret den in her bedroom has completely delighted her. The wigwam comes boxed rather compactly but Mr C found it easy to assemble. No tools are required as all you need to do is slot together the two parts of the wooden poles with a plastic ... read more
For the love of Hama
It's fair to say that Little Miss C has become somewhat Hama obsessed since we were sent some maxi Hama beads to review recently. There hasn't been a single day where she hasn't been playing with them for hours. They've travelled up to visit Granny with us and on several occassions there have been tears at bedtime when I've said that she can't take them to bed with her. The Hama advantures don't just involve building pictures on pegboards though - Hama beads seem to have become a key component in all of LMC's imaginative play. They have been the foundation of pretend meals, made into ... read more
Mum’s don’t get sick…
That was the really "helpful" message that Mr C gave me as he waved a copy of the above book at me as soon as I mentioned that I thought I might have a sore throat starting at the weekend. The weekend that came just before he headed off overseas for his first trip away with his new job since Master C arrived. Can you guess where this is going yet? Yes, that's right. Cue three days of me feeling rough - to any men reading imagine man flu following 6 weeks of never having more than three hours sleep in one go and you're getting close - and combine with it a 5 week old who still ... read more
First adventures with Hama Beads
I must have seen Hama Beads mentioned on loads of parenting and craft blogs in the last year or so, but somehow I still hadn't quite worked out what they were - that may well tell you something about how poor my speed reading skills are! I had always assumed that they were something for slightly older children than Little Miss C, but then Merry from Craft Merrily told me about Maxi Hama Beads that are designed for children ages three and up and I realised that it was time to take a closer look. LMC has recently spent hours playing with a box of buttons, arranging them into colours ... read more
Blowing away the cobwebs
Many thanks for all your kind words following my last post. I've had so many tweets, emails and Facebook comments that I'm struggling to respond to them all in a timely fashion. I'm somewhat blown away by the messages that I have had, especially from old school friends who have fond memories of my Dad when he used to regularly come and cheer on our lacrosse team from the sidelines. Another old school friend also reminded me of the time that he came and "helped" on our Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition (if the Duke's reading, which I'm sure he is, he ... read more
The circle of life
The three weeks since Master C was born have been one of the biggest emotional roller-coasters I have ever been on. I don't normally write about the most personal parts of my life on my blog, but this one is too big to gloss over here. Whilst I was in labour in a hospital in Hertfordshire my father was being rushed into a hospital in Yorkshire after suffering a minor stroke. The elation that I felt for the couple of hours after Master C's birth quickly vanished to be replaced by shock and worry. What I have not written about here before is the fact that my dad was diagnosed with lung ... read more
Flying solo…
Tomorrow's the big day. Mr C returns to work after a fortnight's paternity leave and I'm going to be home alone with a toddler and a newborn. Millions of mums (and dads) manage so I figure I should be able to do so too. After all, only one of them can move around under their own steam whilst the other one stays put still. Master C still sleeps for large amounts of the day and if I'm lucky Little Miss C may even have an afternoon nap to give me a bit of peace. Ok , so I may be a bit more tired after the over-night feeds, but I've got tea and even a bar of Dairy Milk in the ... read more