Being a stay at home parent is a pretty full on job.  I found this doing the rounds on the internet and I am unable to give you an original source as it has popped up on an email, on facebook and on a few blogs and websites I have seen so your guess is as good as mine to who wrote it. 

Whoever wrote it, you are spot on! 





A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.


He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?' 'Yes,' was his incredulous reply. She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.'                 

In the UK I loved our little town library.  It had a whole, separate room for the children's book with tiny chairs.  I spent many an afternoon there with my children, reading and choosing our books.  The children could pick 4 books each to take home.  They always went for the ones that made noise or lift the flap books- a hidden gem under each flap! 
Near the desk was a book trolley.  One side contained new, exciting books that had just entered our library.  The other side contained the recommended read books.  I have no idea who picked these books but I loved each of their picks.  I would not really look at what I was picking up.  I would never read the back for a quick teaser of what would be in store.  Just pick it up, take it home and read it. 

I read love stories, murders, tense thrillers and detective stories.  I know some people go for a style of book or buy everything one author has written.  I like variety in my books and am happy to flit from werewolves, yummy mummies and drunk ex-cops solving strange murders.  I am not sure why anyone would tread such a narrow path through the vast number of books out there?  A book is an extension of your imagination, so in my opinion its best to spread it as far as possible. 



I have a kindle now and am happily filling it with the amazing number of free books available out there.  Again, I have all sorts on there, ready to be read- its all very exciting! 



Recently I had a failure to launch issue with a book.  I can only remember this happening once before, so it's a rare event, but I just couldn't get into the book I was trying to read.  The writing didn't flow and I found it difficult to follow who was who and what they were doing in the plot.  I tried for 5 chapters but in the end I gave up and deleted it off my kindle.  The only other time this happened was a book set in Ireland.  The author wanted me, the reader to get the Irish twang of the characters, so words were spelled incorrectly.  The spellings were to make me sound Irish when I read them.  It just didn't work in my head.  I couldn't get the pronunciation right in my mind and I got stuck on the words rather than the sentence flowing.  I wont name names as it may put you off too!

I think books, perhaps suit some people and not others at times and that's OK.  I am just glad I don't have to read books by force rather than by choice!  I would have failed many an exam if I had just given up on books.  Perhaps being a bit choosy is just another perk of growing up! 
Have you ever had a book you just could not get into?

 

 

I have recently embarked on a garden mission.  We moved in nearly a year ago and being a brand new house, we had a big, flat empty garden at the back.  I have been busy tearing up turf and adding interesting curves.  My latest addition is an area with gravel, stones and woodchip for the table to sit on and to create a path.  My little darlings thought that this was great.  The gravel, apparently, is perfect for digging.  Bob the Builder toys were soon being pushed though the gravel, turning my once flat and even path into a building site with huge empty bits and large piles! 

So after telling them off for ruining my path and seeing their little unhappy faces holding their now redundant Bob the Builder diggers I decided that they also needed their own little area in my garden plans.  This is what I created at the weekend:

 

Do you have bad parent points in your house?  We do.  These are things you do that make you a bad parent- not serious things, don't panic!

My recent Bad Parent Points are awarded for:

• My 6 year old declaring (after a bad day, I hasten to add), "Is it your Gin O Clock yet?"
• Forgetting to send my son's homework with him on his share day- bad scatterbrain mummy!
• Accidentally opening the fridge door into my 2 year old's head

My hubby's recent Bad Parent Points are awarded for:

• Going to give our son a goodnight kiss only to poke him in the eye with his finger- how is this possible??
• Letting our son watch a film that declares, "there is no such thing as Santa!"- Oh how we backtracked and pushed Christmas like you would not believe after that little incident!
• Wanting to let our 6 year old watch Jaws- not on your nelly, the special effects may be pants and you can see the guys arm moving the jaws, but that film is SCARY! 

There are many more but I do not wish to highlight any more of our bad parents qualities.  We are good parents, really we are! 

Gaining Good Mummy Points with a bit of sticking

You try so hard to be the perfect, pancake tossing, crafty and fun parent, and really at times you fall far short or your own expectations.  My kids love me and I love them so I know this is enough no matter what- even when they have a fridge door shaped red bump on their forehead! 





What would your bad parent points be awarded for?

I like painting my nails.  Its one of the few girly things that I do.  I don't wear makeup very much and I rarely wear heels, but I like my nails to look nice.  My toenails are always a daring shade but my finger nails are a very different matter at the moment. 

Just some of my DIY plans

I am a do-er.  I do things around the house and garden.  I build things, I rip turf up, I dig, I bake, I cook, I clean.  My hands are either covered in mud or in hot soapy water.  My nails pay the price for this hands on life style.  I apply nail varnish, neatly, carefully and do the base coat, 2 layers and top coat steps.  My nails will look good for about a day and then I start doing my normal tasks and they chip, crack, split, peel and generally I end up scraping half of the nail varnish off.  I hate chipped nail varnish so end up taking it all off, or trying to add another coat of varnish to cover the damage- this fix never looks great! 

I have big garden plans and now the ground is thawing they are taking shape.  My nails have been punished once again and I have come to the conclusion that I just don't live a life that allows neatly painted nails! 

I will just focus on my toe nails- I am very good at keeping those looking good, and at least my neat toes will match my well manicured garden! 

Teaching children to use computers is pretty darn vital these days.  Everything seems to revolve around them whether we like it or not!  I love my computer and use it so often it's natural I will teach my kids to use this very handy tool too!  Here are a couple of sites that I head to when my children fancy a computer session:

Disney Junior: http://www.disneyjunior.ca/en/ An excellent site with games for all ages and abilities
CBeebies (BBC, UK): http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/  Good for those in the UK
NASA Kids: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html  It's got Rockets, so it's soooo cool, apparently!
National Geographic Kids- http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/  My son likes to ask questions about everything and this is a good place to direct him when Mummy has run of of useful answers in return!

Hubby has ventured off for a boys weekend on the slopes.  This leaves me with the kids, the dog and the unlimited choice of girls only TV. 

Now we don't watch a massive amount of TV.  There are certain things we both enjoy watching and we prefer to record shows so we can watch them back at a parent sensible hour- going to bed after 10.30pm is such a late night when your children like to get up at 6am- how sad does that sound!  If a TV show starts at 10pm we don't watch it as it finishes too late!  Be warned non children owners- if you have them, it will happen to you too!  

We like watching films but again, sad parent admission, we rarely watch one all on one night.  Hubby is usually falling asleep before the end so we switch it off and watch the end the next night.  Its all very rock and roll you know! 

With the hubby away I get sole control over the remote and can pick some chick flicks that my hubby would roll his eyes at.  With my nail varnish at the ready I plan to swiftly get the kids to bed and place my bum firmly into the corner of the sofa with the dog and watch soppy, romantic, girly films and probably have a good cry. 

I cry at all films, just so you know, even kids films that have one of those triumph over adversity type endings- gets me every time! 

Have you noticed that things are getting smaller?  In my youth (how old do I sound!), Creme Eggs seemed huge.  They took a while to eat.  We bought some for Easter and they are so tiny nowadays!  Now it may be that I got bigger.  My hands and mouth are surely much bigger now than when I was a child, so this could explain why they are now a one bite treat? 

I am sure that most things in the treat category are getting smaller- you must have noticed it too?  I am not into this conspiracy theory malarkey but the makers of said sweet delights are conning us with higher prices for smaller goods! 

On another size related note, we did the drive around with no real destination, to get our youngster to sleep at the weekend, as we knew he had a late night on the cards due to attending a party with us.  We drove around and stopped for some fries (chips to fellow UK'ers).  Hubby decided to make his meal a large one.  Little did we know that apparently with a large meal you need a drink big enough to quench the thirst of a family of 6!  Photo proof below:

We have had a fab Easter Weekend.  It involved lots of work on the garden, lots of bouncing on the new trampoline and lots of yummy food!

Panic not, you don't need real snow!  This game is such fun your kids will have a ball- oh and you might too! 

Simply take newspaper and screw it into balls.  Split into teams on opposite sides of the room.  Set the timer for 1 minute and throw all of the newspaper snowballs into the middle.  The team with the least snowballs on their side after 1 minute wins!  Let the chaos start...................

Today, my Nan and Grandad celebrate 65 years of marriage!  Yup, 65 years! 
That's another letter from the Queen! 
The local newspaper has even been round today to get an interview for a feature. 

I am a bit gutted we cannot be there to celebrate with them, but I hope they know we are thinking about them and I hope that somebody who knows how to switch a computer on, shows them this post too! 

Good job guys- 65 years is mighty impressive! 

I hit the Internet for a few facts about the day they married:

7th April 1947

On this day in 1947, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, which developed the first affordable, mass-produced car--the Model T--and also helped pioneer assembly-line manufacturing, dies at his estate in Dearborn, Michigan, at the age of 83.

Another famous marriage on this day:
Ellsworth ("Sonny") Wisecarver, 17, tabloid-trumpeted wolf cub, who at 14 ran off with an unmarried mother seven years his senior ("You take Sinatra . . . I'll take Sonny"), ran off again at 16 with another matron of 25 ("an interlude of golden ecstasy") married;
Betty Zoe Reber, 17, a plump, Mormon high-school girl; he for the second time, she for the first; in St. George, Utah.
(I just love the descriptions above, which were printed in the newspaper.  I should have put something similar on my wedding invites, "Elyse Anne Gardner, 22, a heavy set, butcher girl", just so flattering!)

I am sure all people start blogs for very different reasons.  For me, my little corner of the Internet began life to replace a missing part.  I had just immigrated to Canada from the UK and other than missing 3 prong plugs, Turkish Delights (oh, just thinking about them now......) and bisto instant gravy it was friends and family I missed the most.  I had lost my shoulders to cry on, my sympathetic ears to whinge to,  and my confidence boosters when I was convinced my bum looked big in this! 

My blog has been a good friend and has become a great link between me and my family in the UK.  If you have read any of my comments sections it's my Mum that big ups most of my posts- thanks Mum, your a star!  My blog has changed it's face a few times but I really feel that it looks it's best now and I feel like I have found my blogging feet, so to speak. 

I think as a new blogger it can be overwhelming.  You see so many of your favourite blogs and you steal borrow ideas, themes, topics and styles.  It's hard not to, when reading these blogs is probably what got you started.  You feel you must start thrifting more, crafting more or wearing edgy outfits or doing crazy things you can take photos of for your next post.  I don't feel the pressure to be anything other than myself now and it feels really good. 

So my blogger self is a Mum who likes to cook, eat, make things, giggle lots and drink gin and tonic.  Expect more of the same, I am here to stay, just as I am!



I would like to add that I have borrowed (not stolen, I promise) some amazing images for my blog design from A is for Ampersand.  I enjoy reading her blog a lot, you might too, check it out. 

One of the things about being a parent is the "I can't wait till..." state of mind.  It happens at all stages through your child's life.  Here are a few examples:
* I can't wait till they can smile
* I can't wait till they say their first word
* I can't wait till they take their first steps

They are all exciting times and with each new milestone you watch your child grow and develop.  They grow up so fast and change so quickly that at times its hard to keep up, but as a parent you still find yourself looking forward to the next step on their journey, whether it be their first pair or real shoes or their first day of school. 

There is also a time in a parents journey where no matter how excited you are about that next step, you are secretly cursing that they got there so darn quick!  They stop being little, cuddly babies that babble gentle and become loud, shouty, demanding monkeys that run off in supermarkets! 

We ventured out at the weekend to a Science Day.  The boys happily flitted from experiment to experiment and me and hubby happily followed.  At one point, Alfie (2) just started to wander off.  I decided I would see how long it took for him to look back and check he could still see us.  Well he never looked back, he just kept on wandering- with me following of course!  Now I know that it is good that he is confident and inquisitive and does not cling to my leg in a strange place but surely a little edge of caution would be useful! 

Last year, at the swimming pool Alfie, was admired by many for his bravery and love of the water.  At just turned 2, he was throwing himself into the pool at the run, laughing as he came up from under the water.  We have to be very careful to make sure his arm bands are on at all times, as he will run off without them and throw himself into the deep end with no body there to catch him- I have had many a sprint to pluck him out of the water.  Other parents would admire him as they temp their fearful children to dip a toe into the shallow end.  Again, it's great he is confident and bold, but a healthy dose of caution would be safer, surely! 

So beware new parents, treasure those times when they don't answer back, don't move from where you placed them to play and don't eat the entire contents of your fridge in one sitting! 

They grow up way to fast!

 

I have two boys who just love a bath.  Having worked with children, water play features highly on developing important skills in your youngsters- more thumbs up for bath time!  Most people are not willing to let their little darlings tip water all over the place like a nursery setting allows, so letting your kids learn, play and enjoy their bath is great for you and them!  Clean, happy children! 

Now my tip for making bath time better is bath toys.  Now I am not talking about expensive, shop bought toys.  I am talking plastic household items.  Old plastic bowls, plates, cups and plastic spoons are by far and away my kids favourite bath time additions.  Kids have a fascination with filling and tipping and this is key to learning through water play.

So why not make bath time more of a feature in your day?  Extra tips include, plenty of towels next to the bath- kids tend to make water exit the bath via the sides and if the plastic toys leave scuff marks on your bath simply put a little toothpaste on and use an old toothbrush and scrub away the mark. 

Happy bath time!