May 2011

Archive | May, 2011

Cybermummy Meet and Greet

By Mum's the Word on May 30, 2011 in Cybermummy

I found this post on Hayley’s blog a few months ago, and remember being INSANELY jealous of all of the lovely ladies who’d linked up, as I hadn’t yet found a sponsor. The Lovely Husband kept insisting that he’d buy me a ticket, but I was stubborn and wanted to hold out for a company to send me. After months of trying I’d given up hope, until I got in touch with Tummy Tub (through my friends at Baby Allsorts) and they offered to sponsor me, YAY! So, I can finally join in with the meet and greet and feel like I’m part of the big Cybermummy family.

Name: Jayne

Blog: Mum’s the Word, Maternity Matters

Twitter ID: @jaynecrammond

Height: 5ft 3 1/2 in (that half is all important)

Hair: At the moment, kind of a browny, reddy, purpley colour, but that’s subject to change!

Eyes: Blue (My mum used to tell me they were cornflower blue. Bless her for making up bullshit for me!)

Likes: Family, gadgets, food, writing, animals.

Dislikes: Bigotry, intolerance, arrogance, people who are horrible to animals.

I can’t wait to meet you all!

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Where Does the Time Go?

By Mum's the Word on May 29, 2011 in Personal

Husband and I have this thing where I regularly carp about my age and he gets cross with me because he’s five years older. But, my moaning isn’t like “Oh, EVERYONE who is over 26 is crap”, it’s just that this, right this second, and this second, and this second, and this second is the oldest I’ve EVER been. So, on my next birthday, when I become another year older, I’ll be even older than I am right now and I just can’t fathom how I got to this age. You get me?

Probably not, I’m not explaining myself very well. But let me put it in perspective for you. Yes, on my next birthday, I’ll only be 27, but that means that it’s 11 years since I left school, 16 years since I started secondary school, almost three years since I became a Mummy, 6 years since I left home (shut it, I was a late bloomer, plus my Mum did my washing for me!) 5 years since I got married. How did so much time pass? How have I done SO much in this time?!

When I was younger, my Mum used to say to me “I still feel the same as I did when I was 16″, and I’d think to myself “Don’t be so fucking ridonkulous, it must just be the Alzheimer’s kicking in”. But now that I’m older, I kind of know what she means. I mean, I don’t feel 16. I look back and I hate 16-year-old me. 16-year-old me’s best was an idiot. But I still kind of get it. In the last almost 11 years, my life has changed completely, the majority of my personality has changed, and I’d be willing to bet that even the cells that make me have changed on a molecular level too, but in there, I’m still me. I’ve always been me, nay, I’ve only ever been me, so of course a part of me feels the same as I did when I was 16, 10, 7…

But I suppose it’s because once you reach a certain age, and I’m not sure what age that is, or even if it is an age and not a stage of life, the rest of your life becomes a complete juxtaposition with the first part of your life. Again, not doing very well at explaining myself, am I? Well, what I mean is, when I was a kid, I was always desperate to reach the next big milestone. I couldn’t wait til I was a teenager, then I couldn’t wait to be sixteen, then 18…I vaguely remember being hugely freaked out on my 20th birthday as I was no longer a teenager, but I definitely looked forward to my 21st. And on my 22nd, I think I was quite happy to be 22 as I thought it meant I’d get taken a bit more seriously (never mind my age, I was a fucking joke, no-one was going to take me seriously). So, maybe that’s when it changed, after the age of 22, my quarter-life crisis. And it’s all been downhill from there, because everyday, and with every birthday, I creep closer to 30.

Again, it’s not that I think 30 is desperately old and over the hill, it just that I can’t work out for the life of me, who put the clock in fast motion. It took an AGE for me to get to 16, why did the rest of it decide to go so fast? I suppose really, it’s not age I’m scared of, it’s my own mortality. I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to live forever, and the thought that one day I’ll slip off of this mortal coil and leave everything and everyone I love behind. That thought gives me actual physical pains in my stomach. But I’m hoping that age will bring wisdom, and as I get older and accomplish more and see my daughter grow, I’ll stop being scared of this stuff.

Also, there’s the fact that I’m really not ‘with it’ anymore. I used to be quite up on popular culture. Now I have to Google stuff, just so that I know what people are on about. The other day, this real paragon of ladylike behaviour walked past me on the high street and actually shouted at some bloke that he was “well bangtidy”. I honestly had to get my phone out, then and there, for an on-the-spot translation. I should embrace my aging, as my subconcious clearly has. It feels no need to cling on to the markers of my youth, like how to effectively communicate with those around me!

So, in 20 days, I’ll be 27. I don’t know how to be 27, I’ve never been 27. Do I go out and celebrate my life by getting hugely pissed (Only, I’ll need 24 hours notice, so that I can work my medication around said getting pissed. I am just so. Achingly. Hip)* Or do I do what I had originally planned and just have a nice lunch with Hubs and Sausage at the fifties diner on the seafront that I’ve been dying to go to since my 25th birthday?

Or, and this is an idea I’ve been toying with for a while, do I go and get tattooed again?! It would be a perfect tribute, a nod to my youth as well as being a handshake with my future-self, the fact that I’m doing something that will be on me for the rest of forever, plus it’ll be an improvement on the shitty ink I have on me now, which was all done back in the days when my best was an idiot.

I think I’ve decided **

*Obviously not though, as I just used the word ‘hip’ without a hint of irony.

**Although, I may have to do both. The menu at this place looks like it was designed especially for me!

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Silent Sunday

By Mum's the Word on May 29, 2011 in Silent Sunday

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Charlie Bighams – A Noms Review

By Mum's the Word on May 28, 2011 in Review

So, last week we were lucky enough to be sent a load of stuff by the lovely folk over at Charlie Bighams. These meals are ready-meals, with a difference. You get all of the ingredients and the sauces you need, but there is still some actual cooking involved. Convenience food for foodies, if you will. If you aren’t in the know, Charlie Bigham is a cheffy type who decided to put the romance back into food (all together now…awww!), by creating a range of meals designed for two people to share, thus giving couples a bit of quality time together. Nice idea, but what do they taste like? Well, we were sent four dishes, and here is our verdict:

Thai Green Curry

I have to admit, I’m very fussy when it comes to Thai Green Curry, as I’ve had a couple of really dodgy ones over the years. Mr. Bigham has achieved the impossible and made a Thai Green curry that I absolutely loved! The flavours were really delicate, as a Thai curry should be, yet had real depth and you could tell that the ingredients were of a good standard. My husband loved this one too, and we were really pleasantly surprised with the amount of chicken in the dish, as so often, companies seem to scrimp on the expensive meat part of the meal. The portion sizes were great when split between two and it was genuinely better than any other cook-yourself type ready meal that I’ve ever had. It was so simple to cook too, as everything you need is in the box, and you basically just need to sling it in a pan at the right times!

Salmon and Haddock Fishcakes

There was a bit of a division at Casa Crammond with this one, as Hubs is resolutely not a fan of haddock, so I was on my own. These were not like any other fishcake I have ever eaten, which usually just have the consistency of mashed potato on the inside, with a vaguely fishy flavour. No, these fishcakes were made up of huge chunks of salmon, haddock, potato and other loveliness. The cooking part called for them to be browned in a pan before being oven cooked, and the browning was well worth it as they came out crisp and tasty. They also came with a lemon mayonnaise, which to me tasted like a very delicate horseradish with a hint of lemon, and it complimented the dish perfectly. Plus, each fishcake was huge, a really decent portion!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

At the risk of repeating myself, sweet and sour chicken is another thing that I’m quite fussy about. I hate the way that some of the cook-at-home sauces are day-glow orange, have a weird gelatinous quality and taste terribly artificial. I need not have feared, Charlie Bigham’s sweet and sour was delicious! The chicken was really tender and juicy, the sauce was rich and sweet and the yellow peppers added an extra dimension of flavour and texture. Again, there was plenty of food for two and with the addition of rice, the meal was perfect. Simple to cook, with really pleasing results at the end of it. It’s weird, it feels like you’re cooking from scratch, but it’s actually all done for you already!

Fish Pie

Another one with haddock as an ingredient, Hubs wasn’t so keen on the idea of trying this one, so I valiantly stepped up and ate it myself *ahem…*! I’m a fan of fish pie, I have to admit. I’m a fan of fish in general actually, and topping huge chunks of fish with a deliciously creamy sauce and mashed potato was always going to be a winner with me! The top crisped up really nicely, and the fish was melt-in-the-mouth tender. This was the only meal where I thought there could have been more, but that’s only down to me being greedy! For me, this is perfect comfort food and is absolutely delicious with green beans or broccoli (I know veg is usually considered comfort food, but I could honestly eat broccoli with EVERYTHING!)

All in all, I was really impressed with all of the Charlie Bighams range, and I’ll definitely be trying more of them (I have my eye on the Lasagne, particularly!). If you’d like to try their dishes, you can buy them at your nearest Waitrose, or online at Ocado. You can also follow them on Twitter @charliebighams, or like their Facebook page.

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Branching Out

By Mum's the Word on May 28, 2011 in Life, Personal

So, as most of you know, I’ve got a few new hats recently. Not actual hats that you wear on your head, I mean it in the metaphorical sense. I’ve been massively neglecting my blog lately, a well as leaving Maternity Matters all to Susanne, who as usual has been an angel, but some stuff’s been going on lately that I won’t go into here which has left me feeling rather detached from my online bits. Anyway, I’m trying to get back into the swing of everything now, and hopefully I’ll be able to juggle things a bit better.

So, my newest hat is that of vlogger for UKMums.tv, where I’m reviewing toys and stuff. This is my first ever video:

http://ukmums.tv/pages/reviews2.php?rid=34&tid=4

(You’ll have to click on the URL, ’cause quite frankly, WordPress can dick-off if they think I’m paying THIRTY FIVE clams for a ‘Video Upgrade’ just so I can embed video on my page)

Vlogging has taught me a few things;

1. Like most people, I despise the sound of my own voice. I’m genuinely horrified that I sound like that when I talk.

2. I’m never wearing that grey jumper again.

3. My facial expressions are really obnoxious

4. I need to get my teeth done. Serious cosmetic dentistry needed.

But aside from all of that, I enjoyed doing the vlog, I get quite a kick out of seeing my mug on the internet, and I really do like Toffee the Pony! UKMums.tv are looking for more vloggers to add to the family, so if you’ve got the chops (or simply don’t mind the sound of your own voice/know how to dress yourself/don’t want to punch yourself in the face/don’t have horribly small teeth), give it a go! It just takes a half decent camera, a basic grasp of what you want to say and away you go! It feels quite natural, talking to an inanimate object, after a while, but maybe that’s just the long family history of insanity coming out in me…

Nip over to the UkMums.tv page and have a look for yourself. What have you got to lose?*

*(Dignity, self-respect and esteem, notwithstanding)

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Silent Sunday

By Mum's the Word on May 22, 2011 in Silent Sunday

Comments { 8 }

Thinking Slimmer

By Mum's the Word on May 12, 2011 in Personal

As I’m sure my regular readers (or anyone who follows me on Twitter, is friends with me on Facebook, or strikes up a conversation with me in the queue at the Post Office…) will know, I struggle with my weight. Or, more appropriately, I struggle with my huge appetite and propensity to sit on my arse for long periods of time. I’ve tried to blog about previous weight loss efforts, only for them to go completely unfinished and never mentioned again, so when I was offered the chance to try Thinking Slimmer, I had some very mixed feelings.

Basically, Thinking Slimmer is a series of unique voice recordings called ‘Slimpods’, which you listen to at least once a day for 21 days, and along with the goals that you write down at the beginning, they start to change your attitude towards food, exercise and the way you view your weight loss.Well, my first impression was to be rather cynical about the whole thing. I’m not into all that Paul McKenna gubbins and couldn’t see how listening to someone speak would help. Plus it would mean having to redress my diet, which is daunting at the best of times.

However, I agreed to try ‘Drop Two Dress Sizes or More’ as I figured it was worth a try. I downloaded it and stuck it on my iPod to listen to in bed, as it’s perfectly okay to fall asleep whilst listening, as it’s not really talking to you, it’s talking to your subconscious (I’m pretty sure that’s a direct quote from the Slimpod, but I can’t be sure!). The first night, I put the Slimpod on and was asleep within seconds. This carried on for the next three weeks, and I have to be totally honest, I found it quite relaxing! There’s also a really supportive email sent to you everyday to help you along the way.

The first change I noticed was that I wasn’t as keen to snack anymore. I’m a big eater and tend to pick throughout the day, as well as eating quite large meals, but I’ve also found that I’ve been eating smaller meals too. And my attitude to exercise isn’t quite as bad, I don’t dread the thought of getting on the exercise bike or going for a walk quite as much as I did before.

As for results, well, I lost about 6lb in the first three weeks and have lost a further 3lb since then, without really doing very much! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying “Listen to this and the weight will fall off”, and Slimpod doesn’t claim to be a miracle fix, it just gently changes your attitude, which means that the results are beneficial for life, not just while you listen to the recordings.

I’ll be continuing to listen to the Slimpod everyday as I really feel like it’s had a positive impact on my body and mind, and I’m really hoping that I’ll be posting again in the next few months to tell you about all the weight I’ve lost!

You can buy a Thinking Slimmer Slimpod on their website for just £29.99, and there are plans for women, men, brides to be, chocaholics and all sorts!

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All Gone to Pot

By Mum's the Word on May 12, 2011 in Parenting, Personal

Don’t you just love it when your child goes ahead and reaffirms the idea that you do indeed know them really well, and in fact are totally tuned into their personalities? Well Sausage has well and truly proved us right this week, and I couldn’t be more proud.

We started to attempt potty training probably over a year ago now, right before her second birthday, as she’d been bought a potty and some knickers by a well-meaning relative who thought they’d give us a hand in kick starting the process. We just knew it wasn’t the right time for Sausage, and she remained very resistant to even sitting on the potty. I read a guide a while ago that said children who are still in their ‘negative’ phase, i.e. still saying no to everything, should wait until they start to appear more positive to begin potty training, and I have to say, I totally agree with this assessment.

Anyway, we persevered with trying to get Sausage to go on the potty, trying at the very least to get her to use it first thing in the morning if she woke up dry, and we had varied levels of success. Husband and I discussed different ideas and came up with a reward chart to act as an incentive, and it must be a case of great minds as my Mum called me a couple of days later and said she’d been given some charts by a rep at work, which she’d kept in case we wanted one! We put the chart on the living room wall and promised Sausage one sticker for a wee and two for…well, a number two! Once she reached ten stickers, we told her she could choose her own present as a reward. It took a couple of weeks for her to reach ten, and for a while it all went very slow. I was reluctant and neurotic about leaving her in knickers as I didn’t want wee on the carpet, and it held things up a lot.

Last week, we decided enough was enough. So we put Sausage in knickers and decided what will be will be. We had a fair few accidents, in fact the first day, she went through 5 pairs of knickers (and I spent the majority of my day on my hands and knees with a scrubbing-brush!), and in the subsequent days, the accidents got fewer and farther between. Then, three days ago, something clicked.

Every single call-of-nature has ended up in either the toilet or the potty, we’ve had no accidents, my carpet is pee-free and she’s only worn a nappy for bed (we’ll get to that part of the training at some point, I don’t think it’s essential for her to be dry at night right away, although she does wake up dry most days) In our heart or hearts, I think we knew that Sausage wasn’t ready a year ago. When it comes to our daughter, we very much have the attitude that she’s a bright and fiercely independent child, and she’s done everything else when she was good and ready! Be it walking, talking, reading, she’s decided when she was ready and got on and did it, so I was loath to push her onto the potty when it wasn’t her decision.

It’s a nice feeling, to be honest, to know that we knew our daughter well enough and allowed her the space and freedom to come to it all by herself, and even if we have little accidents in the future, I could not be more proud of my little lady. Although, as a footnote, I have to say, it does seem weird seeing her little tush in knickers and not a nappy!

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