July 2012

Archive | July, 2012

Pre-School Boosters (Or “Why I Hate Myself Today”)

By Mum's the Word on July 30, 2012 in Education, Family, Parenting

I know it’s irrational.

I know it’s ‘for the best’.

I know it needs to happen.

But, I still hate myself.

Dragging Sausage to the Doctors this morning, me doing my best ‘lets talk constantly about a billion, stupid, insignificant things to take your mind off of your anxiety’ and her doing her ‘I’m such a brave, amazing kid that I’m going to pretend I’m not anxious for Mummy’s sake’ for her pre-school boosters, I had a pit of self-loathing in my stomach. I knew it was going to hurt her. I knew she’d have to have not one, but two injections and that she’d probably have a shit-fit after the first one. But I still assured her that it would all be okay, careful not to tell her that it wouldn’t hurt – it’s bad enough that I’m the ogre making all of this happen, I’m not going to bullshit the kid as well.

And, as predicted, the first one went in, she sobbed her little heart out and then when she realised she had to do it all again, she flipped.

I tried holding her still, I tried being stern and telling her she couldn’t start school if she didn’t have her jabs.

Then.

I told her “Darling, Mummy is very sad that the injections hurt, but this medicine will stop you from getting bad diseases called measles, mumps, rubella. There are children in the world who aren’t lucky enough to have those injections and we’re very lucky because we’re able to protect ourselves and I know you probably don’t like me for making you do this, but if it means you don’t get very, very poorly, it something I have to do.”

Bless our daughter and her big old brain. She understood, she sat still, she took it LIKE. A. BOSS. There were a few more tears, but once it was over and done with, she said to me “Mummy, it doesn’t even hurt anymore, I’m sorry I got upset”.

Don’t be sorry, kid. Don’t ever be sorry.

So, she’s vaccinated, she’s ready for school and she’s probably just a tiny bit jaded. But I did my job, my only job, which is making sure I do everything I can to protect her, even if it means small discomfort along the way.

And, as if she wasn’t already amazing enough, after I spoke to Sausage about less fortunate children not being able to have vaccinations she said wanted to do something to help them, so please take a look at the Save the Children donation page to see the brilliant work they do and contribute whatever you can. We will be

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Summer Adventures – A Walk in the Woods

By Mum's the Word on July 30, 2012 in Parenting, Summer Adventures

Summer Adventure is a collaborative linky hosted by: Adele at Playful Learners, Becca at What Kidder did next, Jayne at Mum’s the Word, Laura at The Mummy Life.

A stream, caused by all the rain.

Sausage will be starting school this September, so it’s important to me that we really make the most of this summer and do as much as we can together. Of course, an average family budget doesn’t extend to an expensive day trip every day and although we’ve enjoyed the cinema and Marsh Farm so far, I’ve also been doing a lot of research and brainstorming about nice, fun things we can do together that cost little or no money.

Hoof Prints in the Mud

We live in an area that’s fairly diverse, in terms of the landscape, so not only do we have a coast for lots of beach fun, we also have countryside and wooded areas, and all of these represent opportunities for learning, fresh air, fun and exercise. Husband has planted and nurtured a really keen interest in nature, animals, science and learning in Sausage and when she was at nursery, they did a regular thing called ‘Forest School’, sometimes at the local woods and sometimes simply in the garden of their classroom.

Squirrel stalker.

Last weekend, we decided to take Sausage on our very own family forest school at Belfairs Woods, a wooded area which also has stables and a playground area. The parking is free, which is always a bonus and it’s right on a bus route too, so it’s easy to get to for most people. To make it as stimulating as possible, we let Sausage take her own camera with her and set her various challenges, simple things like ‘How many different types of leaves can you see’ and ‘What animals can you spot’, which gave her a real sense of purpose and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Horses!

Although the day was sunny, the previous day had been torrential rain, so we were ploughing through muddy puddles in our boots and dodging mini streams that had appeared, all of which Sausage loved. We also encountered lots of horses as the riding school was trekking at the same time as us, so she really enjoyed seeing the different sized horses and watching their swishy tails!

We had a great morning, didn’t spend a penny (other than the petrol it took to get us there) and Sausage was really engaged and stimulated by the whole day, especially when a very friendly and inquisitive squirrel decided to stalk us through the forest, all it took was a little imagination to turn a run-of-the-mill activity into something fun.

If you’ve had any adventures this summer, we’d love to read about them, just link up below.

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Dirty Flaps and Other Things That Get on my Nerves.

By Mum's the Word on July 29, 2012 in Anger, Politics, Rant

Lately, I’ve noticed that there are little things which really niggle at me, minor annoyances that have been making the top of my head blow off like a volcano (well, almost…) so I thought I’d list them here as a sort of catharsis.

1. People Who Get To The Till at the Supermarket Then Act Surprised That They Have To Pay.

Okay, long-winded title which more or less explains itself, but what the merry FUCK is it with people who do that? You’re in a shop. Unless you plan on committing petty larceny, the chances are you’ll be paying once your goods are rung up. So why oh WHY do people wait until every last item is put away and the checkout operator is looking at them with keen expectancy do these numpties only then get their purse or wallet out. And don’t even get me started on Nectar cards/Clubcards/Advantage cards. I’m so sick of getting stuck behind some tit in a trance who contributes towards making my life at least 10% less efficient.

Look at my filthy flap.

2. Dirty Flaps.

Yep, I hate it when my flaps get dirty.

Okay, so I mean the flaps on the top of my bins. We have two bins, side by side in the kitchen, one for recycling, one for everything else (when the council bother to deliver red sacks, but that’s a different rant entirely) and no matter how many times a day I wipe them down, they always seem to be covered in schmutz. I don’t know what the solution is, but it hacks me off.

3. Discounts That Aren’t Really a Discount.

Last week, Husband took me out to buy me a new laptop and we went to our local PC World as it had a closing down sale on. I found a laptop I wanted which was an ex-display model and seemed to have a really good amount chopped off. Then the salesman came over and, Zombie Jesus bless him, he was very honest and told us that the original price of five hundred and something was only charged for about a week and that it was really worth £299. Right, so let me get this straight. The laptop was only ever worth £299 and has been on display for six months and you’re still charging £269 for it? Jog. On. £30 off for having a million sausage-fingered morons stabbing at it every time the shop opened? Nuhthanks….

4. Bad Drivers.

I know I blogged about this one before, but the fuckwittery I’ve encountered seems to be worsening. The other day, I was driving through a car park and stopped to let a person back out of a disabled space and the person behind me tried to overtake and almost ploughed into the side of the car backing out. I mean, really? Was that bloke in SUCH a rush that he needed to take that risk? I also had a grown man literally screaming out of the window at me while I had Sausage in the car for not pulling out quick enough (just for the record, I pulled out plenty quick enough). What possesses grown people to behave this way?

Yeah. Course you were…

5. Bourgeois Bigotry.

I’m not the biggest fan of the Olympics, it has to be said, but when twats like Aiden Burley MP start going on about the opening ceremony (which, incidentally, was absolutely bloody brilliant and I’m SO proud to have a director like Danny Boyle as part of British culture) being “too multicultural”, what they’re really saying is “go home, darkies”, without actually having the balls to come out and say it. All I will say is, our opening ceremony would have been extremely drab and boring had we not Caribbean, Asian, African and all those other cultural influences mixed in to this melting pot of a country. Keep your veiled racism, it’s unpleasant and cowardly. Oh and also, Aiden, you twat – the Rolling Stones are blues musicians – where do you think blues comes from? Black America, maybe? So you like multiculturalism when it’s served up to you by four fellas from Kent?

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FETCH!

By Mum's the Word on July 27, 2012 in Joint Care+ Challenge, Vlog

Another video in our Pedigree Joint Care+ Challenge…I think the title speaks for itself!

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“Why Do You Cross Your Legs When You Cough?” – Kegel8 Ultra Review and Prize Draw

By Mum's the Word on July 27, 2012 in All About ME!, Competitions, Personal

The Kegel8 Ultra

The question above was posed to me by my darling Husband a while back and up until that point, I don’t think I’d realised that I did it. I had a caesarean with Sausage and I think I thought that pelvic floor exercises were something for those who’d managed to squeeze a human out of their fanny. But there’s no denying it, since childbirth, be it through the chuff or out of the sunroof, my pelvic floor has definitely weakened.

A couple of months ago, I had a stinking cough (not stinking because I stink of wee, honest) and on more than one occasion, I went into a coughing fit and came out of the other end with more than just a clear throat. There’s…leakage, shall we say? I’m not talking full-on piss-your-pants, just…oh shut up, you know what I mean, right? RIGHT?! Don’t leave me hanging here!

This isn’t easy to talk about for anyone, this post will probably be read by lots of people who know me in real life who I’ll probably now notice sniffing me to see if they can detect L’Eau de Urine next time we meet. But the fact is, it happens. Unless you’re a yoga bunny or have a tuppence that’s more toned than Jody Marsh’s new physique, the chances are you’ll have wee’d when you sneeze (Mammywoo, I’m looking at you love )

Anyway. The point to all of this public humiliation is that I’ve been sent something to review. It’s called a Kegel8 Ultra (RRP £117.99) and it’s an electronic muscle stimulator to help with stress incontinence. You know those Slendertone things you strap to your belly to give you abs without doing a million sit-ups? Imagine that, but distinctly more…probey.

I started using it last night, and despite Husband’s insistence that it’s was probably just an elaborate vibrator and that he could probably rig it up to the mains for me if the supplied 9V battery wasn’t doing it for me, there’s noting pleasurable about it. It feels very weird. You can feel the whole area tensing up and for the first five minutes I had to sit and look at the display so that I could tell when it was about to go off, so that it didn’t take me by surprise, but you get used to it after a while and I even increased the intensity of the contractions a couple of times.

Kegel8 Day Toner

It’s easy to set up and use (although there wasn’t any lube in the box, as per the contents) and there are unlimited amounts of programs and options for you to choose from depending on the severity and cause of the problem, so it can be used by just about anybody (apparently there’s also an, erm, well, an anal attachment available separately, although I don’t even want to think about that!).

I’ll update you on my progress as I go along, I’m supposed to use it every day for 20 minutes and I’m not sure how long it’ll be before I see an improvement, but I may give it a month and then go and sit in the doctors surgery so that I can get another horrid cough and really test my new noonie muscles out. Jokes.

So yeah. I wee when I cough. But I bet you do too, so that’s okay.

I’ve also, very kindly, been given 10 Kegel8 Day Toners (RRP £29.99) to give away to my lovely readers, just do the usual business with the widget below to be in with a chance of winning. Please read the Terms and Conditions of entry on the widget before entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

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Pedigree Joint Care+ Challenge – Week One

By Mum's the Word on July 25, 2012 in Joint Care+ Challenge, Vlog

Meet Chuck!

Here’s a little video to kick off our six week Joint Care+ challenge, in association with Pedigree. We’ve been sent a six week supply of Joint Care+ to see if it improves our dogs mobility in that time, plus a selection of other goodies such as Chuck’s own rucksack with his name embroidered on it and the kind loan of a flipcam to capture all of our videos as we go along. We’re really excited to get started and see how Chuck gets on.

Getting a bit carried away!

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Closer to Nature – A Photography Linky

By Mum's the Word on July 24, 2012 in Closer to Nature, Photos

On this week’s Silent Sunday entry, my friend commented and said “You guys are very Attenborough on a Sunday, love it!” and I realised that I really do love taking photos of nature, creatures weird and wonderful and generally anything that makes a good macro shot!

I decided that, in honour of the school holidays and the good weather we’re having, that I’d do a little linky where you can get ‘Closer to Nature’ and post your best nature photos. There are no rules other than that it must be a photo of something nature related, but it can be just a photo or have a story with it. I’ve made a little badge too, that you can add to your post, which is in the sidebar and will link back here to everyone’s posts.

Have fun, I can’t wait to see your photos! If enough people link up, I may do it again throughout the holidays.

Here’s mine – Husband took it using my Canon Ixus compact camera with the macro on:

Grab the code in the sidebar to link up

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Silent Sunday

By Mum's the Word on July 22, 2012 in Photos, Silent Sunday

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Too Average for Education.

By Mum's the Word on July 19, 2012 in Education, Politics, Rant

Back in 2009, I decided that I wanted to use my experiences with Sausage’s birth to help other people in a similar position. I realised that I probably wouldn’t be allowed to do that without qualifications, so I embarked on some formal education in the form of a Psychology degree with the Open University. Despite not having A-levels, I was able to complete an access course which eased me into higher education and provided me with 60 of the 360 points needed to gain my degree.

I finished the course, passed, and enrolled on more as soon as I could. I started two at the same time, one a 60 pointer and another a short course worth 15 points. As often happens, life got in the way and I decided to quit the 60 point course and finish the short course before taking a break. I’ve done various things between then and now, working for myself, being a lady of leisure, working in a couple of offices, but it’s always been a niggly thing in the background, my unfinished degree so I made the decision to try to get it done.

I went to the OU site, chose a module, registered and waited for the forms to turn up. When I started the degree a 60 point course was, on average, between £650 and £750. This new course I want to do? £2500. And it seems all of the courses have gone up by that much. So, that means that from beginning to end instead of costing between £3900 and £4500, that very same qualification will now cost around £15,000. Put simply, the cost has almost tripled.

Now, were my household income below the threshold or we were in receipt of certain benefits, I’d get the full amount paid for me. As it stands, I’d get a partial award of around £600 towards my course fees, so I’d still need to find about £1900 for the rest of it.

I’m not saying that I think I’m entitled to a free education, but I really feel like the message is all wrong here.

For a start, I’m 28. Not everyone wishing to embark on a degree is a grown up, most are 18, fresh out of sixth form or college and looking to improve their life prospects. This means that either they take student loans and get themselves in a ton of debt (really not what we should be encouraging, in light of our current economy), work while studying and put more pressure on themselves, or turn to their parents who’ll need to find several thousand pounds to pay for the education, not to mention food and shelter for their children. I feel sorry for anyone with more than one kid at this point.

The fact is that by increasing the fees by this much, the majority of ‘average’ people are simply unable to afford to better themselves. £600 is a help, but I simply don’t have a spare £3800 a year, which means I just can’t complete my course. I have no choice but to remain incomplete, no way of increasing my earning potential, a vicious circle if you will.

All I know is, as much as I try to stay away from politics on this blog, I’m genuinely despairing of this government. It’s patently obvious to anyone who takes the time to notice that the Tories are doing everything they can to keep the ‘lower’ classes in their place (menial labour and servitude, I’m guessing?) by depriving them of a chance to education and we’re just letting them do it.

I’m not condoning the riots, but the people who were rioting were doing so because they felt disenfranchised and abandoned by their country. That was a relatively small group but one by one, the Tories are managing to make other social groups feel that same level of frustration and abandonment. I hate to think what will happen if that, much larger, group decides to take matters into their own hands to make themselves feel listened to.

Welcome to Tory Britain.

Welcome to the Middle Ages.

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Silent Sunday Extra – My Inspiration

By Mum's the Word on July 15, 2012 in Photos, Silent Sunday

This weeks Silent Sunday was taken on a whim when I was out with Sausage for a stroll along the beach. We had walked out along (what I later found out was) a sewage pipe so that Sausage could take some pictures with her camera and inspect the seaweed, but when I got to the end and looked back towards the shore, it reminded me so much of a photo that Husband had taken 6 years ago, on our honeymoon, that I had to capture it. Here’s the original: