Archive | Life RSS feed for this section
Work Smart, Not Hard – Mum’s the Word Cleaning Tips.
As I’ve mentioned about a billion times before, I’m not a fan of housework. I’m not ashamed to say that if I were rich, I’d probably pay someone to do it. It’s a thankless task that is never done. As soon as you think the place is spotless, someone wears something, eats something or pees somewhere and you have to start all over again.
Just recently, I’ve discovered a few little things that have helped to make the cleaning process a little easier, which is something we could all do with. We all know about white vinegar, lemon juice and newspaper being a great help, but the ones I use may not be so well-known. So here are a few things that could make your daily chores a bit less of a, well, chore!
1. WD40
WD40 is one of those things that most people have in the garage or shed but never think to use for cleaning. In fact, WD40 is AMAZING a getting rid of grease. Just recently, I cleaned our cooker hood using WD40 and a soft cloth and not only did it cut through the cooked-on grease with seriously minimal effort, the cooker hood came up to a beautiful shine too. In the grand scheme of things, WD40 doesn’t even smell too bad either and I can’t convey just how easy this made the whole job.
If you go to the WD40 site, there’s actually 2000+ uses for it and Husband informs me that it’s also amazing at getting waxed crayon off of painted walls!
2. Fabric Softener
This is an odd one, but I’m not a massive fan of polish or aerosols in general. I find it smells pretty rough and as is the modern way, I don’t really have a lot of true wooden furniture, mostly Ikea-tastic units that don’t actually like polish very much. I don’t know where I read this one, but instead of polish I use a tiny bit of fabric softener on a cloth instead. It smells nicer and helps you to pick up dust and remove drinks rings far better than a dry cloth. I wouldn’t recommend this if you have antiques or wooden units as it’ll dry out the wood, but for anything laminate, this is perfect.
3. Bicarbonate of Soda
This is a pretty well-known one, I think, but it’s pretty old-fashioned too so I’m not sure if it’s as well-known to my generation. We keep bicarb in the house constantly as it is so useful for so many things. We’ve used it on a saucer in the fridge to wick away any unpleasant smells, diluted in boiling water to brighten stained mugs, made into a paste and used with a toothbrush to clean tiles and the bit round the base of the taps that goes scummy. We even used it to get the smell of sick out of our memory foam mattress after Sausage did an EPIC chunder one night and no amount of cleaning product would get rid of the odour.
4. Chamois Leather
If you have a dog which is a short-haired breed, especially at this time of year, you’ll notice that those spiky little hairs are BLOODY EVERYWHERE. You can’t brush them like you can with a longer haired breed, but rubbing their coat with a slightly damp chamois leather a couple of times a week helps to get rid of all of the loose hairs and will make their coat come up a treat. Plus, if your dog is anything like our big baby, they’ll just love the fuss! (It has to be a proper chamois though, not an artificial one)
So there you go, four little tips which may make your day a bit cheaper and easier. If you have any of these little gems, let me know!
The Age My Mother Was Then.
I’ve had this post brewing in my head for a while now but I had to get my Mum’s permission to splash her private life around my little corner of the internet.
When my mother was 35, after a lifetime of gynecological problems, she was given a full hysterectomy. Uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, the lot. My sister was around five and I was about 13 and as far as I was concerned, my Mum had kids and she didn’t need her reproductive bits anymore so it was best to get them gone. She had endometriosis and her insides were so badly fused together that she had to have tissue removed from her bowel and spine and was told that this could mean, in a worst case scenario, she could also lose a portion of her bowel and have a colostomy bag, so when she came out of surgery and they’d managed to save her bowel, all we could feel was relief.
In the years since, I’ve heard my Mum talk about her grief at losing her ability to reproduce at such a young age, but it’s barely registered. Until yesterday, when I was sat on the bus on the way home from work. I’ve been having some gynae problems of my own, pain that the Doctors cannot explain and wouldn’t investigate (I was told a couple of years ago that they wouldn’t do a laparoscopy because I was too fat. My GP has since sent a strongly worded letter about how ridiculous this is).
I was sitting on the bus, going through the worst thoughts that were whizzing around my head, and it suddenly occurred to me how awful it must have been for my Mum. I’m almost 28, not quite the same age, but somewhere in the ballpark and the thought of having the decision to have more kids taken out of my hands in the next 7 years is devastating. Genuinely scary.
I rang my Mum last night, just to let her know that I finally get it. I know it’s a bit late for sympathy, but she said to me that if she could have she’d have carried on having kids until there was about six of us to look after. That’s what my Mum does, she looks after people, she’s even taking her Nursing degree at the moment. I wish I’d known at the time and could have been more sympathetic to her grief. I guess sometimes it takes a bit of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes to really get it.
What Will I Be When I Grow Up?
When I was a kid, I could never make my mind up about what I wanted to be when I grew up. The thought of going to University scared the crap out of me because it meant that I’d have to make a decision and stick to it. In fact, I went to a grammar school which is currently rated at 8th in the entire UK for results and the pressure was on from an early age.
At 13, we had to do really well in our end-of-year exams so that we’d be allowed to take the subjects we wanted at G.C.S.E when we took our options and of course you must choose the right G.C.S.E’s so that you have the right subjects to allow you to study at A-Level, which in turn would need to correspond with what you want to study at University….”AAaaarrgghhh, ENOUGH”, my tiny, thirteen year old brain screamed. In fact, seeing as I was one of the youngest in the year, I was probably 12. “No…” I wanted say “no, I do NOT know what I want to work as until I can draw my pension in approximately 60 years time”.
The problem I have now is that I never seemed to quite snap out of that mentality. It’s not so much that I don’t know what I want to be, it’s that I want to be everything! At the moment, I have three jobs. I work in an Accountants office as an assistant and general jack-of-all trades doing payroll, basic accounts and crap like that. I also manage some Social Media pages for a couple of brands and I also pick up the odd bit of freelance writing here and there. Three pretty different jobs and strangely, I actually feel quite satiated, in terms of my career.
The thing is, I still have it in the back of my mind that I’ll still get to be an astronaut one day or that someone will walk past my bathroom window, hear me singing my heart out and offer me a record deal and world tour. That’s not to mention the book I want to write, the career as a stand-up, the prime time TV comedy that I’m going to both write and star in. And I’m not even exaggerating here, these are all genuine aspirations of mine.
When I was in my last year of school, I was determined that I was going to join the RAF. I wanted to sign up, get sponsored by them to attend Uni and then learn to fly planes. Then, I was told in an interview with their careers officer that I couldn’t fly planes as I’m as myopic as a bat and as coordinated as Bez after taking a heroic amount of Ecstasy. So, that scuppered that little fantasy and I don’t think I’ve ever got over the disappointment.
The thing is, I’m going to be 30 in a couple of years and I really need to start knuckling down. Just after Sausage was born I started an OU degree in Psychology but two yeas and 120 UCAS points later and I’ve realised that I think Freud was a twat. So, where do I go now. Well, I’ve signed up to do my Accounts Technician Training. I don’t want to be in my thirties and have the same earning potential as I did when I was 18, so fuck it, let’s have a go.
But in the meantime, if anyone needs me to stand in for them in a Broadway show or ghost write their life story, I’m happy to give that a punt too!
World Book Day, the ‘Mum’s the Word’ Way.
Today is World Book Day. If you have children of primary school age, you probably already know this as you’ll either have needle-pricked fingers from frantically sewing a costume, or a dented Visa from giving in and buying a damned costume!
Here in the Mum’s the Word house, we’re a true family of readers, Sausage has been read to since she was in the womb and Husband and I are never far from our Kindles so we thought we’d put together our list of reading recommendations, in honour of World Book Day.
1. Sausage’s Reads
I asked Sausage what her favourite book in the whole world was and it’s varied between Meg and Mog, Room on the Broom, The Snail and the Whale and her beloved Ponyo and Totoro books. My favourite book to read to her is probably The Snail and the Whale or Room on the Broom as I love Julia Donaldson’s effortlessly beautiful prose, which just trips off of the tongue.
2. Husband’s Reads
The first book that Husband recommends is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. When I asked him why, he said that he found the book “absolutely enthralling” and that it spoke to him on many levels. He also said is was hugely refreshing to find a book that’s both funny and entertaining, whilst espousing a message of tolerance and happiness.
Husband is also a bit of a true crime fan and had nothing but good things to say about author and psychological profiler Robert Ressler, particularly his book ‘Whoever Fights Monsters‘, which he said was traumatising and difficult to read, yet fascinating and rewarding at the same time.
An honourable mention also goes to Paul Ekman’s ‘Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage‘, a truly enlightening look at microexpressions, it’s written by the man who inspired the brilliant TV series ‘Lie to Me’.
3. My Reads
I’m currently smack bang in the middle of ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire‘, the second book in the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson and I can’t recommend it highly enough. I’ve been wanting to read these books for ages and have finally got around to it and I can’t hardly put my Kindle down.
Another author of whom I am particularly enamored is the amazing Mr. Stephen Fry. I’ve read just about everything he has written, both fiction and non and I would recommend it all. There’s something in his books for everyone, fantasy, history, romance, intrigue, politics…I think they should be part of the National Curriculum, kids would get SO much more from his books than some of the stuffy old texts that are still prescribed and I guarantee a lot more teenagers would be interested in English if these were in there!
At the risk of overdoing it, I’d also like you ALL to go out and read at least one book by the following authors:
1. Bill Bryson
2. Douglas Adams
3. J.K. Rowling
4. Philip Pullman
Sermon over! (But seriously, do go and read these books, they’re worth it, I promise!)
HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY!
“My Name’s Mummy and I’m a Stresshead”
(Bear with me while I get through the necessary pre-amble, there is a cogent point somewhere at the bottom of this post!)
Last September, we made the decision to send Sausage to Nursery three mornings a week and I couldn’t, in good conscience, sit at home scratching my arse while she was out, when I could get a job and contribute to the family coffers. Husband had been amazing about me staying at home instead of going back to work after my maternity leave ended and I thought I’d take some of the pressure off of him for a change.
I’d been lucky in that I fell into working from home, managing social media for a few brands as well as a bit of writing and other bits. I brought in a small wage and still continue to do most of it, alongside my ‘real’ job which is in an Accountants office. Bit of a Jack of All Trades, you could say.
But, I digress. The problem I seem to have is that I find it hard to switch off.
Take today (and I wish someone would…); I had a manic day in the office, I’ve just increased my days to four a week and it was payroll day, so I processed around 30 payrolls in about 4 hours. It’s usually fairly straightforward and most clients only have one or two people on their payroll, but today was just problem after problem. One client wanted his P45 issued..oh, did I mention, he’s moving to Australia TOMORROW so it all had to be processed, scanned, emailed to him, submitted to HMRC etc, and I was informed of this about half an hour before I was due to come home.
The actual work isn’t an issue, I can do it with my eyes shut, it’s the fact that I go into hyper-work-mode to get everything done on time and then after I leave, I can’t seem to manage to shake hyper-work-mode off and get into home-mode. Even when I go home, get out of my work clothes and sit down with Sausage, I’m still thinking about tax returns, payroll and my current side-project of getting a website up and running for my boss.
I’ve not spoken much about it, but I suffer on and off with anxiety. It’s not been getting the better of me as much lately, but it started when I was eleven, carried on through my teens and early twenties and was compounded by Post Natal PTSD after I gave birth. The crux of all of this rambling is that my unspent work-mode energy seems to be manifesting itself as anxiety. I get all hyper at work, come home, feel unable to unwind and by dinner time, I’m having a full-blown panic attack.
So, what do I do, people? Does anyone else get anything even remotely like this, or am I just a big weirdo? What can I do to stop it, if anything? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Grief and Faith.
Some of you may know and some of you may not know that my stepmum passed away at the end of last year and while we’re all dealing with it, there are times when it still feels very raw and painful. On a seemingly unrelated note, Husband was bought a book on Buddhism by my little sister for Christmas and when reading it, found the story of Kisa Gautami. It goes something like this:
Kisa Gautami was a young woman from a wealthy family who was happily married to an important merchant. When her only son was one-year-old, he fell ill and died suddenly. Kisa Gautami was struck with grief, she could not bear the death of her only child. Weeping and groaning, she took her dead baby in her arms and went from house to house begging all the people in the town for news of a way to bring her son back to life. Of course, nobody could help her but Kisa Gautami would not give up. Finally she came across a Buddhist who advised her to go and see the Buddha himself.When she carried the dead child to the Buddha and told Him her sad story, He listened with patience and compassion, and then said to her, “Kisa Gautami, there is only one way to solve your problem. Go and find me four or five mustard seeds from any family in which there has never been a death.”Kisa Gautami was filled with hope, and set off straight away to find such a household. But very soon she discovered that every family she visited had experienced the death of one person or another. At last, she understood what the Buddha had wanted her to find out for herself — that suffering is a part of life, and death comes to us all. Once Kisa Guatami accepted the fact that death is inevitable, she could stop her grieving. (source)
If you’ve read this blog lately, you’ll know that I’ve been musing over faith, mortality and eternity and while Christian teachings allow us to take comfort from the idea that we’ll live forever in Heaven, what I really like about the Buddhist parable is that it makes no promises. It doesn’t speak of clouds and winged angels and halos, it simply teaches us that in grief we are never alone as everyone has suffered loss and that it is an inevitability in life.
I don’t know why, but I find this very comforting and have felt strangely peaceful since Husband told me. What do you all think?
Turning to the Dark Side – Tales of an Apple Convert
Back in 2008, my Husband bought me a Google G1. I didn’t know it then, but this was to be the beginning of a love affair with Android, the Google-owned operating system that offered so much. I loved the way I could hand the phone to Husband and get it back with a new rom on it to play around with or go to the Market and choose from any number of free apps from independent developers.*
Sadly, as so often happens with mobile devices and thanks to several dozen drops, my G1 gave up the ghost and went to the place that mobiles go when they fail to even perform the most basic of tasks (FoneBank, if I remember rightly!). I still miss that phone, it was still one of the best devices (for me) in terms of hardware and software. These days, just 3 years on, it’d be obsolete.
After this, I drifted from device to device, an HTC Wildfire which I kept for less than a day due to its appalling screen quality, a Motorola Milestone which I liked but turned in for an HTC Desire Z after about a week. I stuck with the Desire z and liked it, despite the hardware and software problems. However, as time went on and HTC’s appalling customer service let me down time and time again, I decided enough was enough.
And that’s where Apple came in. I looked at every other device on the market and decided that, much as I hated to admit it, nothing came close to the new iPhone 4S. Up until now, I’d always managed to dismiss Apple devices due to others on the market having a better camera/processor/more RAM etc., but someone at Apple really must have listened when designing the 4S as it has everything.
I’ve had it for a month now and despite the very minor odd teething troubles (I’ve had to restart once or twice due to freezing) it’s so nice to have a phone that just works. There’s no frigging around, the apps are largely useful and bug free (so far) and it’s the most user-friendly device that I’ve ever had the pleasure to use.
One of the big appeals of the 4S was Siri, which I have to admit has been a bit touch and go. Like, it’s really funny and awesome to say to your phone “How many ways are there to skin a cat?” and get the answer “many” with a reference link, or say “What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?” and have Siri tell you “42″, but is that really of that much use? Often, I ask Siri something and am told that the service isn’t available and I’ve not successfully managed to get the location-based reminders to work yet. I’ve forgotten to buy Blutac when I leave work 3 times now, thanks to Siri!
It’s not a total loss, the basic controls are great if you know what to say. I love the iPod functionality on my phone and as soon as my headphones go in, I tell Siri “shuffle all songs”, which he duly does. I suspect it’s one of those things where it’ll really come into its own after an update or two and it’s well worth persevering until then as the phone has so many other redeeming features.
I’m not saying I’m a permanent Apple fan-girl from hereon out, I still DESPISE iTunes for instance, but for now, I’m suitably impressed with the iPhone 4S for it to act as a salve to the sting of my betrayal to Android!
If you’re a new Apple user, an old Apple user, are waiting patiently for your upgrade to get your hands on one, or are still just an out-and-out Apple hater who’ll never be swayed by voice-controlled tricks, leave me a comment, I’d love to hear what you all think.
*For those who are unaware, a rom is a different version of an operating system. Part of the beauty of (most) Android devices is that they can be rooted (effectively unlocked) allowing you to put a new OS on there. There are numerous developers out there who create their own roms and release them onto the ‘net for others to use. A bit like Linux, if that makes it any clearer.
Branching Out
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)
How Much ‘I’ is TMI?
As I’m sure many of my regular readers will have realised by now, when it comes to pregnancy and labour, mine was not the best of experiences. After what I can only describe as a disastrous pregnancy, full of months of morning sickness, gestational diabetes, SPD, a torn oesophagus and all of the symptoms of pre-eclampsia, without the high blood pressure, we then went through an extremely traumatic labour, which left Sausage seriously ill in the NICU. And I can talk about it on here, and to most people I know in real life, without worrying too much about the effects that my words might be having.
But, what do I do when a first-time mum-to-be asks me about my experiences? Should I be honest and tell all, risking causing serious fear and anxiety? Or do I sugar-coat it, play down the horrors we went through, and essentially lie?
I have a friend who is about to give birth to her first child, and although she’s a newbie when it comes to pregnancy, she’s worked in childcare all of her adult life, so she’s a bit more clued up than your average first-timer. She’s heard plenty of horror stories and is a really chilled out, pragmatic person. I’ve offered to steer clear of the gory details during our many conversations, but she’s always assured me that she’d rather hear the truth. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.
It’s not always that simple though. When I was pregnant, I went out to celebrate my birthday, though I was 7 months gone at that point, so the celebrations were fairly sedate! During the course of the evening, one concerned ‘friend’ decided that she needed to take me aside and warn me about a particular experience she had that no one had warned her about. She went on to tell me that when she stood up for the first time after giving birth, she covered the labour room floor in blood and other oomska, and flew into a panic, under the impression that she was hemorrhaging. But, she said, don’t worry, ALL women experience this gush of unwanted matter after giving birth. Well, as I’ve said, my labour didn’t go to plan, but I know that I suffered no such gush, nor has anyone I’ve subsequently asked. All I know is, I was living in fear of this happening to me for the entire last 8 weeks of my pregnancy!
I think the key is to judge each situation a little more carefully and make sure if you’re dolling out advice, what you say is a FACT and not just hyperbole and old wives’ tales. If you don’t know the person very well, be a little more guarded about what you blurt out. You don’t know what pushes this persons buttons, they may suffer from terrible health anxiety and you could essentially spoil one of the most important experiences of their lives. I’m all for passing on any knowledge, it’s the way we learn and progress, but maybe we should only pass on our pearls of wisdom if we genuinely think it will help the other person.
What do you lot think? Would you want the ins-and-outs, regardless of how it might make you feel, or would you want to be lied to and go through your pregnancy in blissful ignorance? I’d love to hear what you think.
Mum’s the Word RSS Feed
- Jubilee Outfit Emergency!
- Mum’s the Word Recommends: H&M Summer Basics
- Silent Sunday
- Parental Choices: Consider Me Shocked.
- Parenting FAIL – Naming and Shaming Myself
- Rescue Your Videotapes – A Giveaway
- Mental Health Awareness Week
- Cybher – The Mum’s the Word Run Down Pt. 2
- Silent Sunday
- The Best Advice I Can Give…
Pins
Powered by 
Mum’s the Word Goes Social!