Small Things Come in Beautiful Packages………Unless you want trousers.

Sorry but I have whinged about this to my hubby for too long and now I have to get it out.

For my birthday & Christmas I had asked for some Next vouchers so I could update my wardrobe. I desperately needed a new pair of jeans and previously had bought them from Next. I knew their short length ones would fit. How wrong could I have been?

It seems that since I last bought trousers from there that someone in their infinite wisdom had decided that the leg length of all trousers needed lengthening by 2 inches. So what used to be petite is now the length that regular trousers used to be and reg is what long used to be. Well at 4ft 11” a 29” inside leg is 2” too long. What research did the manufacturers do before they altered these sizes?

So anyway off I tripped to our local outlet village to the Next Clearance shop on the hunt for a pair of jeans. I scoured the rails looking at every pair. Yes you do have to search through every pair because they don’t think it’s a good idea to put the sizes on the hangers. There was 1 pair in my size but regular length – far too long. I was with my oldest daughter so as I walked away I was having a bit of a rant when a lovely member of staff asked if I was looking for something specific.  I told her what I was looking for and off she went. Back she came with about 5 pairs of jeans. Great, I thought. Nah wrong again. I could have petite or my size, not both. So I left empty handed.

Off we went to the Next shop to see if they had any in. I thought it might just be the clearance shop that didn’t have any in. Trailed round and I found 1 pair but they were just regular ones that were cropped length. They looked like they fitted. I asked a member of staff if they had any short/petite length ones in my size. No they don’t do them in that size. So same as the clearance shop I could choose leg length or fit.

I tried on the cropped ones and they fitted and were the right length. Fantastic! That is until I actually came to wear them for more than a minute or 2. They won’t stay up. As soon as I start to walk or bend over they start to work their way down so my backside would make a builder proud.

So do I keep them or try and return them and end up without any jeans to wear?

And what size am I? ….. well I’m a size 18. Not that huge and considering at least 40% of the female population is size 18 or above. Next are clearly not catering for their market.

Fussy Eaters

Cutter from Lakeland - anything to get her to eat!

After having yet another meal refused by my almost 5yr old I decided I need to see how everyone else copes with their fussy eaters.

The main things she refuses are potatoes, rice, pasta and anything with sauce, well except for schools savoury mince. What do they do with it?

She will eat cereals, sandwiches if the crusts are cut off, fruit, although she’s informed me tonight she doesn’t like apples anymore and most fresh meat including bacon. The bacon was something she virtually lived on while we were on holiday in Mallorca. Good job father in law knows most of the restaurant owners and we could get away with asking for a plate of bacon for her.

As for getting her to eat new things we have tried everything bribery included. She will try a new food but is usually saying yuk before it even gets to her mouth. We insist on her having school dinners on the days where the option is something I know she has eaten previously so she gets to try new things but most of the time she comes home saying she’s only eaten a little bit of whatever it was. So am I wasting my money and should I give in to her wanting packed lunch every day – not that they get eaten? 1 bite out of 2 quarters of a sandwich is hardly eating it.

If she’s had a lunch at school I’m happy for her to have sandwiches but if not then it’s a cooked tea. She will happily eat cheese or beef spread sandwiches or cereal for every meal if I let her or delightful processed meat but no chips or potato. If she hasn’t eaten at least half of her meal then it’s fruit or yoghurt for dessert, although I’m stopping the frozen yoghurts as she sees them as a treat and so doesn’t see that she is limited because she hasn’t eaten her meal. If she does eat it then she can have a choice of dessert – she usually picks yoghurt anyway but she will ask for biscuits or chocolate but then I only offer her fruit or yoghurt if she’s still hungry.

When she’s at home she’s constantly telling me she’s hungry but I’m not surprised because she hardly has any carbohydrates to fill her up and because of this she continually wants to snack. I try and limit snacks to healthy options but biscuits and crisps are a usual favourite. I have tried to give her just meals to see if she will eat them but this makes no real difference. She seems to be a grazer though and I wonder if this causes problems at school when she doesn’t have access to food all day.

We don’t get a chance to eat as a family Mon to Fri because of the time hubby gets home and I’m often working on a weekend but when we can we do try and sit down and eat together, in front of the tv or at the dining table.

So do I carry on as we are hoping she will eventually get better or do I try something else?
How do you deal with your fussy eaters?
Do you have any tips for me to try and get her to eat more things?

I Think I'm Losing My Marbles

This morning I’ve had to do the school run twice just because I forgot my daughter’s wellies. We had a text message yesterday to ask us to bring them in and daughter has been reminding me all morning but yes I still managed to walk out of the door without them.

So am I losing my memory or is it just down to trying to remember too many things?

As busy mums we all have a hundred and one things going on in our heads at once so it’s not surprising we forget things once in a while. It’s just I seem to have got to the point that if I don’t write it down in triplicate then I’ll probably forget it.

Is this an age thing? I am 43 after all and so things do start going wrong as you get older oh and start going south too but that’s another blog.

Maybe I’m just not using my brain enough. I watch quiz programmes and can answer a lot of the questions, well unless it’s Egg Heads, and I play games online and on the Wii but I’m definitely not using my brain to it’s full potential. Again I think this might be partly to do with the fact that I’m at home with the kids all day. Do working mums have the same problem, is it worse for them because they have extra things to remember or do they remember things easier because they are using their brains?

Let me know what you think. Do you forget things or do you have a knack to help you remember?

Breastfeeding Rules According to Baby

Ok so I can't take credit for these but unfortunately I can't remember where I saw this first but I wanted to share. Hope it gives you a giggle and you can associate with some of them.

Mummy. Focus, please.

1. You do NOT talk to the other people in the room while you are feeding me. If you do this, I will pull off and glare at you accusingly.

2. You are to stroke my head or my back (the arm is also permissable) while I am feeding. A failure to do so will result in a whinge.

3. Laughter is not permitted. Laughter causes me to chomp on the nipple, hard. You will learn, eventually... I can do this all day.

4. Feel free to feed me in a noisy place, but do not contribute to the noise yourself. Mummy must be silent while I am eating.

5. You must smile back adoringly when I pull off and grin at you cheekily, not wince at the pain I am causing your nipple.

Failure to adhere to any of the above will result in pain for us both.

6. I like to have something to grab onto while I drink. If this means pinching Mummy's breast or arm, digging my nails into her collarbone, pulling her hair or clawing at her face, she will ignore it and continue smiling adoringly at me

7. Dont even try to be discreet mummy ... i like to be able to touch the boobie when im feeding.. Part B - if you cover me with a muslin wrap, I will play with it, and expose your boobie to the entire planeload of people getting on board!

8. Other children must be relegated to their appropriate place in the pecking order when I am having MY boobies.

9. If I fall asleep at the boob I am to stay there AT ALL COSTS. DO NOT attempt to burb me or put me down, I will scream like a banshee.

10. (as they reach toddlerhood...) Mummy, I am a big boy now and I try to inconvenience you as little as possible. I try to help myself to your boob when the thirst takes me and I am fully capable of lifting up your shirt, but you are determined to wear those damn bras. So I will flap your shirt up and down and make whimpering, "excuse me, I am PARCHED here" noises until you deal with it!

11. Mummy is not allowed to have hot meals. If a hot meal is threatening to be eaten, I will intervene with demands to be fed my dinner, which will save you from the dangers of eating hot food. Be grateful, Mummy - I am doing you a service.

12.- I will take as long as I want to have my milk. Even if I am usually an efficient feeder I will have a leisurely 45min banquet when you are at the shops and have a thousand things to tick off your list. And beware- if you try to rush me, I will not be happy.

13. I love playing with your eyes and eyebrows, I will get angry if you try to stop me and may bite. I don't care if it means your make up gets smudged.

14. Breastfeeding is the perfect time to practice my acrobatics. There isn't any point in trying to get my to lay nicely in your lap like I used to. I want to jump around, put my feet in the air, reach around the back of you etc. If you lay down, and let me climb and dance around you while I'm feeding, I'll be much obliged.

15. Do not bother asking me to have one side and then the other. Both breasts must be exposed. Breasts are a buffet to be sampled left and right, left and right as I choose. I have a discerning palate, you know!

16. I never wait.. When I start grizzling that special grizzle you step up with the boob please. NOW not in 2 minutes NOW

17. If I decide to pay attention to my older siblings and ignore the breast, SO BE IT.

18. If I want to feed all night, it's your duty to obey.

19. And long after you've given up breastfeeding, expect me to come to you after a hard day's play and greet MY boobies like old friends I haven't seen in ages! This will include putting both arms down the front of your top for a boobie bear hug, or could end up with you wearing your top over your face while I greet them - while everyone watches on!

20. Your boobs are fair game. If they are out, they are mine to latch onto, even if I've already been fed.

21. You must not try on bras at the shops without offering me a feed. It is not fair to dangle those boobies in front of me and then put them away like that. That's just teasing and I won't stand for it.

22. I will pick the point just before a let down to pull off and have a good look around so anything and anyone within a 1 metre radius will cop a good spray.

23. And don't think you can sit on your lappy typing one handed on these forums and ignoring me.........I will keep kicking your arm till you stop typing and start paying attention to me so we can continue with the above 22 rules!!!

24. I will stand outside the shower whilst you try and shower in peace, with a pleading look on my face, yelling "Mummy boo boo??!!"

25. Unless the ENTIRE world has seen your nipple today, I will not be happy and will continue to show it off any chance I get

26. I am learning the parts of the face, therefore when I poke my finger in your eye, up your nostril, in your ear and in your mouth, while breastfeeding, you must repeat endlessly "eye-nose-ear-mouth", to my infinite gratification

27. You must let me check that no one else has taken the other boob while I am on this one oh and let me pinch you too mum!

Silent Sunday: Engrossed

Tiny One Has A Cold (again)

Tiny one has a cold (again) and isn’t sleeping very well. Well worse than normal. She was up every two hours last night and it got me thinking about when children sleep all night. From almost the moment they are born we, as parents, get bombarded with the “are they sleeping through yet?” question but are children this young meant to sleep all night?

I have had 3 children that slept through (i.e. from 7pm til 7am) from about 8 weeks old and one that at 21 months still wakes up at least twice for a feed. This has been a bit of a shock to the system but it’s just part of our life now. She goes to bed at 7pm and I know she will wake about midnight for a feed and usually again at about 3am. Then she sleeps until about 7 when we’re all up for the day. She has taken to napping at about 3pm for about an hour and I know this isn’t helping but it’s the walk to school that does it and there’s nothing I can do about that.

So are babies meant to sleep all night and if so when?

Having read this article - http://naturalparentsnetwork.com/why-nighttime-breastfeeding-so-important/ I have realised that no they aren’t really meant to sleep all night & if you’re breastfeeding then it’s really important to your milk supply if they don’t. Also if you are co-sleeping and therefore feeding in bed then you will get more sleep, as you will probably nap while baby feeds. I do this occasionally, especially if she decides to wake at 5am instead of 3. I am sure that these night feeds, or lack of them, are what led to my other daughter’s shortened breastfeeding time and the weight loss but I can only ponder on that with hindsight and I suppose I will never know and it’s not worth losing sleep over. She’s healthy and happy and that’s all that matters now.

I have come to the conclusion that if you have a baby that sleeps through quite early then you are lucky but if you don’t then you are lucky as well. Ok so the mum’s of sleepers get some extra sleep but we get extra cuddles.

7 Things You Don't Know About Me

Ok well thanks to Joanne at http://www.ukbabyshows.co.uk/ tagging me in her & Things You Don’t Know About Me blog http://blog.babylovesshopping.co.uk/?p=124 I suppose I now have to reveal 7 Things You don’t Know About Me. I think I’m going to struggle to think of 7.

1. I have 4 children, 1 boy and 3 girls. All were born by c-section but that’s another blog. There is a 16-year gap between baby #2 and baby #3 though.

2. I hate clowns. This is from watching the film version of Stephen King’s It. They scare me and I can’t stand to watch them. I won’t take my kids to the circus in case there are clowns there.

3. I met my husband on a sort of blind date after going out with a friend to “hold her hand” and asked her date to bring someone along. We’ve been together 13 years, married for 6 1/2yrs and have 2 children.

4. I once took the nursing entry exam because I wanted to be a midwife. I passed but couldn’t have lived on the £4k a year they were paying student nurses. Now I want to be a breastfeeding counsellor. I’m part way there having just trained as a breastfeeding peer support worker.

5. While we were on honeymoon in Thailand, I went white-water rafting.  Despite the fact that I have a fear of getting water in my face oh and ripping half my toe nail off I absolutely loved it, especially when we saw the wild elephants.

6. I lost my granddad on 08/09/10 - can’t forget that date can I. He was 95 and still very active and happily driving his car. I miss him terribly and think about him every day. These pictures were taken just a few days before he died.

7. I am related to Lord Byron (the poet). We are directly descended and I suppose this answers a few questions about my personality. We are allowed to use his coat of arms but that’s about all that’s left of his estate after he squandered all his money on drugs and young boys. Maybe I'd best keep quiet about that though, lol.