A list of maternity essentials that I created for babyhuddle has been featured as list of the day and I thought you lot might like to have a look.
Archive | August, 2012
Get Running – Day Two
So, yesterday was a rest day and today was the second run of week one. I have to say, even since Tuesday, things seem to be easier. My recovery time between each one minute run was shorter and I didn’t fall through the door gasping for water this time. I’ve been making sure I stretch before and after and I have a cool shower as soon as I get home (after cooling down properly) and I don’t even seem to be too achey.
The thought that today was easier than the first was actually really motivating as I kept thinking “Well, if today was easier, think how easy Saturday will seem!”. I don’t know if, in reality, that will be the case but it’s certainly a positive way to think about the whole thing and really helped me, mentally.
As I’m new to all of this, I didn’t want to have “all the gear and no idea”, like so many people do where they embark on a new hobby and go out and spend a load of cash on things the need but which just gather dust once they give up in a week. However, I’ve decided that if I’m to carry on, I want to invest in a couple of things. Luckily, Husband bought me a decent pair of trainers a couple of years ago which I’ve hardly used, they’re Nike and seem like a good match for my feet, so that’s not something I need to spend on. What I do need is some new headphones. As I said in my last post, the ones that come with the iPhone are both rubbish at staying in and quite honestly make me feel like a running mugger’s delight, I kept my hood up today to cover them up.
I also want one of those elastic bands that I can attach to my glasses to hold them on. Yes, I’ll look a knob, but there’s nothing more distracting than having to push your glasses up every five seconds (except maybe pushing rubbish iPhone headphones back in my ears)…and don’t even suggest contact lenses. Just don’t.
So far, I’ve been wearing jogging bottoms and one of Husband’s t-shirts, which is fine, but I’d like some actual dedicated running clothes. It’s going to be winter soon, so something thermally efficient would be awesome. Oh yeah, and maybe one of those water bottles you can hold while you’re running.
Not too much to ask, I don’t think?!
Mummy’s Make Up
EDIT: Although I started by tagging people, it’s just so flippin’ fun that I want everyone who wants to join in to be able to, without having to wait to be tagged, so if this takes your fancy get involved and tweet me the results! (@jaynecrammond)
Sausage decided this morning that she wanted to pretend to give me a make-over and I thought “what the heck!” and gave her free reign over my actual make up. These are the results…(click twice to enlarge the pic)
Despite encouraging Sausage to add as much as she like, she was actually quite muted…I expected to look like a clown! Her blending skills leave something to be desired and I got poked in the eyeball with a mascara wand but I think she’s done well, all things considered.
So, now it’s a challenge!
I’m going to tag some other bloggers who have to let their kids loose on them with the contents of their make up bags! The rules are:
- You must offer them everything you have in your bag (except scissors or eyelash curlers, obviously!)
- You must not influence colours or products being used
- You must not help with technique
- The photo you take after must be unedited and you cannot do any blending or adding before snapping
So, who are my victims participants going to be?
Well, I’ve actually had a slew of willing volunteers who want to get involved, so it’s over to you, ladies:
Minty from Waterbirth Please
Susanne from Ghostwriter Mummy
Laura from The Mummy Life
Lauren from The Real Housewife of Suffolk County
Maggie from Life at the Zoo
Fi from Childcare is Fun
Sian from The Yummy Mummy
Pippa from A Mother’s Ramblings
Nickie from I Am Typecast
I cannot wait to see the results!
Get Running – Day One
Yesterday was the first time I used my Get Running app and this is what I learned:
1. A minute of running can seem like an hour
2. A minute and a half of walking can go by in the blink of an eye
3. A male, un-neutered dog on a lead can be a perilous running companion, especially if it’s midday and there are a load of other dogs around.
4. Feeling your stomach jiggle with every footfall can be mighty off-putting
5. Ministry of Sound Funky House Classics is a great running album for tempo and taking your mind off of jiggling stomachs.
6. Run number 7 of eight runs is definitely the hardest.
7. I should probably take my inhaler with me next time.
8. You never feel like you deserve a nice shower more than when you’ve worked up a sweat by exercising.
9. Husband pointed out before I left that the lady talking you through the Get Running app sounds like Hattie Hayridge, and imagining that I’m being coached by Holly from Red Dwarf is a great distraction.
10. iPhone headphones are absolutely SHIT for running and fall out of your ears at least 5 times a minute.
11. I need some sort of strap to hold my glasses on because having to push them up my nose every two seconds is a massive embuggerance.
12. I actually quite like running!
Top of the Class – Mum’s the Word Recommends…George
Up today we have George, the clothing brand from Asda.
They hit the target in terms of colour, giving us both gold and brown, so here’s what we got:
1. Leather School Shoes (price unknown)
2. Yellow School Scallop Polo Shirt (2pk) – £3
3. Brown Box Pleat Skirt – from £3.50
4. Feel Fresh Ankle Socks (7pk) – £4
The shoes don’t seem to be on the George website anymore, so I can’t comment in terms of value as I don’t know what they cost but Sausage has been wearing them for about two weeks now and they haven’t rubbed her feet at all, and they don’t have any scuffs. There’s a padded bit at the back which is presumably to reduce discomfort from rubbing, the insoles feel almost squishy like memory foam, and Sausage says they’re really comfy. There are other shoes on the site which look almost identical but with a different pattern on the front.
The polo shirt doesn’t feel like it’s made of quite as thick material as the ones from Tesco, but I do like the scalloped collar for little girls, it’s a nice touch that looks pretty and feminine.
The skirt washes up nicely and is a good length while the box pleats allow for full range of movement, so she’ll still be able to charge around whilst wearing it. It washes up nicely and has a Teflon coating to reduce stains, so I suspect it’ll last quite well too.
The socks are for size 9-12 and Sausage is a size 9 but they come up on the larger end of the scale, they bunched up around Sausage’s heel, so the 6-8.5 may have fitted better but they’re okay quality and the whole ‘feel fresh’ thing intrigues me, I’m guessing it’s something to do with not getting stinky feet, but I can’t find an explanation on the website. They also have a scalloped edge, which is pretty.
All in all, the George uniform is really nice; the polos don’t feel quite as good as the Tesco ones but the skirt feels thicker and more durable (although twice the price, but still only £3.50). The shoes are leather, which is impressive as most of the pairs on the site are below £15, and I reckon they’ll last well but only time and many hours kicking around the playground will tell!
All in all, we give George an A – narrowly missing the A* for the slightly flimsy polo but being held up by the quality and value of the other items!
Top of the Class – Mum’s the Word Recommends…Tesco Clothing
The school that Sausage will be attending is a bit of an awkward one, the colours are ‘gold and brown’ (I’m sure that was ‘yellow’, last time I looked?!) and I’ve noticed already that acquiring the correct items for her has been an issue. Yellow doesn’t seem to be too difficult to get hold of, but brown seems to be far less popular. I’m surprised that retailers don’t make a point of finding out what colours the schools in the area wear and make a point of stocking them.
Anyway, today’s Back to School review comes courtesy of Tesco Clothing.
Here’s what we got:
1. F&F Fresh Feel knee-high socks (5pk) – £4
2. F&F 100% cotton v-neck t-shirt (2pk) – £2
3. F&F Basics grey skirt – £1.75
4. Back to School Summer Dress with coordinating hair band – £4 (or 2 for £7)
5. F&F 100& cotton pique polo shirt (2pk) – £2
6 – F&F School girls stripe swimsuit – £4
One thing that struck me about the range available from Tesco is that it seems to cater for every budget. There are more expensive skirts available, but the one I picked out for £1.75 is shockingly cheap and still seems to be good quality. It washed and ironed up very nicely and quite honestly, with the amount of paint, chalk, mud and goodness knows what else Sausage will be smothering herself in at school, I’d be tempted to buy her one for every day of the week! (Although official colours are brown and gold, grey and black are accepted too)
The cotton t-shirts will be for P.E. and at £1 each, you really can’t argue with the price. The material feels really soft and is surprisingly good quality for the price, it’s not thin or flimsy at all. I love the fact that the socks come in a pack of five, giving us one pair for every day of the week and the swimming costume, which Sausage has already swum in, is comfy, covers well and washes up nicely without bobbling like some cheap cozzies.
The summer dresses are a particular favourite. I noticed when browsing the shops that some of the summer dresses around are made of pitifully thin material which would be see-through if wearing patterned undies, but the Tesco Clothing ones are thick enough so as not to be, whilst still being the sort of fabric which will keep her cool. They also come with a matching hair bobble, which is a touch that both Sausage and I love. They’re in a deal at 2 for £7 at the moment, which seems great value to me. The polo shirts are also great value and quality, which seems to be a running theme with all of the items we received.
Tesco also offer an embroidery service, which is not something we’ve used as we’ve not bought Sausage’s cardigans or fleeces yet, but it’s definitely something we’re considering, as it adds a nice touch to uniform.
All in all, Tesco Clothing and F&F offer brilliant prices, great quality and a nice range of colours and options, all of which you can check out here.
Mum’s the Word gives Tesco Clothing an A – narrowly missing out on the A* mark by not offering anything brown!
Running Back to Motherhood
I want another baby.
Anyone who has read this blog over the past 2 years or knows me at all will know that this is a big statement. After having Sausage and the PTSD that followed, I honestly thought I’d never want any more children. The thought of going through a pregnancy and birth as hideous as my first was just too much to bear, let alone the thought of being unable to hold yet another baby for the first week of their life, having to view them through wires and tubes. I told myself I didn’t have enough love in me to share it between Sausage and another baby, I told myself that it would spoil the relationship I have with her, I told myself that I just couldn’t do it.
But, something has changed, be it the passing of time or seeing friends with babies or simply my biological clock, and it’s telling me I’m ready. I almost feel overwhelmed by that single thought, I never thought I’d be in this place or ready to do it all again, but I am.
Mentally, anyway. Physically? Not so much…
When I fell pregnant with Sausage, I was 23, about 3st overweight but generally healthy.
Now, I’m 28, diabetic, have an stupidly under active thyroid and am about 5st overweight.
If I thought the last pregnancy was hard, any future ones will be terrifying in my current physical state. I’ve written plenty of times about my intention to lose weight and nothing has ever come of it, save for dropping half a stone here and there, only to put it back on again. But I need to do this, for many reasons.
The main one is Sausage. She’s been around for 4 years and has witnessed my unhealthy relationship with food, no matter how much I kid myself that I hide it. Yes, she’s four, but that’s still plenty young enough to change my ways and for it to have a really positive impact on her.
Also, while I want my body to be healthy enough to cope with pregnancy, I want to be able to still be Sausage’s Mummy. I don’t want to have to change what we do because of being pregnant, so getting fit and strong will be a real help with that. Last time around I suffered with SPD, hyperemesis gravidarum, high blood pressure, swollen ankles and hands and gestational diabetes, all of which I’m hoping will be improved by being fitter and stronger. It may all still happen, but at least I’ll be able to say that I did everything I could to prevent it.
So, what’s the plan?
I’m going to learn to run.
I realise I already know how to run, but for someone as unhealthy and unfit as me, it’s not as simple as putting on some trainers and pounding the pavement (or maybe it is?) but I’ll have a little help from ‘Get Running’, an iPhone app designed to get you from couch to 5km in nine weeks. That’s right, if I start today I could be running 5k non-stop by 23rd October. Exciting, eh? So I’m going to start later today and will blog about my progress with this program in the hope of inspiring anyone else who wants to give it a go but just doesn’t feel confident enough. I’m going to hit the ‘Thinking Slimmer’ hard again too in the hope that I can sort out my dependence on food.
As well as being fit and healthy, I have a secondary goal, which is being able to do Race for Life in 2013 at a run, rather than a fast walk. In 2011, my time was around 45 minutes, 2012 was about 42 minutes – I want 2013 to be nearer the 25 minute mark.
Wish me luck!
Top of the Class – Mum’s the Word Recommends…Ryman Stationary
As some of you may know, Sausage starts school next month, which means lots of uniform, stationary, bag, shoe and PE kit buying but as we’re new to this, we had no idea where to start. It occurred to me that if we’re feeling a little unsure then the chances are, other first-timers will be too so here at Casa Crammond, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to review and recommend all of the essential back to school kit you’ll need.
First up: Ryman Stationary
One thing you need to know about me is that I love stationary. Probably to an unhealthy degree. But I don’t care, I just adore pens, paper, maths sets…there’s so much promise in an empty notebook and I get giddy at the lovely things on offer in a stationers. Sausage is just like her Mummy in this respect and she’s been seriously looking forward to getting her new pencil case, so when Ryman Stationary sent us a £25 voucher, we were both really excited!
We spent £22.81 and this is what it got:
1. Europa Pink Wallet File – £1.29
2. Pentel R50 Handwriting Pen – £2.29
3. Stabilo Fluorescent Pencils (4pk) – £1.99
4. Ryman A4 100 Sheet Lined Refill Pad – £1.59
5. Crayola Metallic Markers (5pk) – £4.49
6. Pilot V5 Hi-Tec Fine Point Pen in Pink – £2.69
7. Maped Boogy Pencil Sharpeners (3pk) – £0.99
8. Helix Glitzy Folding Ruler – £1.29
9. UHU Glitter Glue (6pk) – £3.49
10. Cats and Hearts Pencil Case – £3.99
Obviously, not all of these items are completely essential to start school with, Sausage could probably get by simply by taking the pencil case containing the pencils, sharpeners and handwriting pen, but I told her she could use the voucher to get whatever she wanted and I think she chose well. The Crayola Metallic Markers were the most expensive item but as they’re branded, that’s no great surprise. Our receipt shows that three of the items we bought qualified for their 3 for 2 offer, though I’m not sure which ones, but we saved £1.29 over all.
I was really pleasantly surprised by how much Ryman Stationary offers, our local store looks quite small but has so much packed inside and they offer a really broad range of brands too. The 3 for 2 is on their Back to School items and you can see the full range here.
A great start to our Top of The Class series, Ryman Stationary gets an A* from Mum’s the Word!
Which GCSE’s Would You Take Now?
With all the talk of exam results this week, I got to thinking about what GSCE subjects I’d have chosen if I could choose them now. I always think that 14 is such a young age to make the decision, especially as we had it drummed into us that we needed to make the right choices so that we could study what we wanted at A-Level and then Degree level, which is effectively asking a person who’s barely out of puberty to decide what they still want to be doing, 5 days out of seven, until they’re almost 70.
I know that plenty of people retrain or their careers develop into something different, but with education now more expensive than ever, I imagine that kids from families who aren’t wealthy are feeling the pressure to make the right decision as this may be their one opportunity at education. Anyway, I digress.
When I took my options, I struggled. The subjects that I liked the most were English, Maths and Science, which were all compulsory anyway, so choosing the others was an arduous task. I ended up taking English Literature, English Language, Maths, Triple Award Science (which I eventually ended up cutting down to Double Award), IT, Drama, RE and History. We also got a grade for English Speaking and Listening, for which I got an A, so I still put that one on my CV! So what would I take now?
1. Home Economics
I’m pretty sure that the only reason I didn’t do Home Ec was because it was scheduled at the same time as something else I wanted to take, but if I had the chance again, I’d definitely opt for this subject. Maybe it’s the beauty of hindsight, but as an adult I adore sewing and cooking (although can’t claim to be hugely brilliant at either…) and I would have loved to carry on with it past the age of 14.
2. French
I had absolute nightmares with languages at school and wasn’t very good and either French or German, although I still think that this is because of the way we’re taught languages. When you have a baby, that baby learns to speak first then once they’ve been speaking for a while they learn to read and write. This seems like a natural, organic way to learn a language, but at school we were drilled on tenses and whether things were masculine and feminine and it just didn’t soak into my brain. However, if I’d known how hard it was going to be to try and learn as an adult, I might have tried a bit flippin’ harder!
3. Art
When I was younger, I had it drummed into me that Art was a cop-out subject; I wasn’t going to be an artist, so why take art? However, as an adult I find silly things like doodling and colouring really theraputic but don’t have any confidence so I don’t do anything bigger like painting, despite the fact that I think I’d love it…I just don’t know where to start.
4. Philosophy and Ethics
Now, maybe I’m only making this choice because I’m a adult, I suspect that philosophy may have blown my tiny mind when I was 14, but if there’s one thing that most kids could do with, it’s a bit of introspection! Had I the opportunity now, I think I’d find Philosophy absolutely fascinating and the skills you gain from writing essays which simply postulate a theory would actually be quite useful in life (as opposed to vectors in GCSE maths, which I don’t thing I’ve ever used, bloody ever), even if just for the ability to communicate a thought or idea.
So, if you had your chance all over again, what would you choose? Would you do exactly the same and follow the same life path and career that you have now, or would you go for something entirely different? I’d love to know.
What’s in the Post?
Ooh, what could it be?!
Gold boxes hold so much promise!
Red, White and Blue…
Recognise those faces?
DALLAS! Yee haw!
Woo hoo! Warner Brothers have kindly sent me season one and two of Dallas and I cannot wait to have an eighties-tastic viewing marathon. I wonder if I can think of some eighties snacks to go along with watching? Lean Cuisine, Slush Puppies and Opal Fruits, anyone?!
