The Shopping Trip...

So this week I have gone Christmas shopping with both the other half and my mum.  Not at the same time I might add, that would possibly be hell on earth, probably more stressful than taking the boys food shopping.

Now there are merits in both these adventures into the foray of Christmas present buying.  For instance going with the other half was lovely, we don't get a chance to do much together alone and we were out early enough that we were able to sit down and have a cooked breakfast together.  Never mind the fact it was only a Tescos cafe one, it was simply the fact we were doing something normal, together and without being constantly pulled every which way by the kids wanting our attention.  After our relaxed breakfast we set about the task of purchasing presents, we probably should have had a plan.  But as usual with us it was all a bit spontaneous and impromptu.  We hit Boots the chemist first (does anybody else think that, Boots is a strange name for a place that dispenses medicine ??) and was able to in one foul swoop present buy for 8 nephews, 2 nieces and 2 sisters without breaking a sweat. Good job you might think 12 presents in under 20 minutes.  But Boots wasn't the reason we'd gone to this place of wonder called a shopping centre, no, we had vouchers for Tescos...

After our first success we headed over to the "big" store and quickly ascertained that there was a machine were by a few presses on the screen we would be able to effectively double our vouchers.  A no brainer you may think, well it was up to the point where we had to decide which department we were going to choose to receive our hard earned cash.  Now I don't know about your family but for us it seemed that with every department we chose what we would actually want from that department was, of course, excluded from the double up deal.  Toys and Games, no dvds, no pc games, no game station games, bugger.  Clothing, no pj's, no accessories, no shoes..Tescos are you trying to drive us mad, Health and Beauty, no make up, no skin products, no perfume or gift sets, hey Chairman of Tescos you do know its Christmas don't you ??

Having now spent 10 minutes randomly pressing different parts of the screen we decided that before we could even vaguely think about which department would we get the most value from, that we had to go see for ourselves what each one offered.  So off we went and headed for Toys and Games first. I would never want to argue that one of us knows the kids better than the other because that would just be a foolish statement. But as we walked around the aisle looking bewilderingly at the amount of plastic that was on sale in one moulded form or another.  I came to realise that we know our kids in slightly different ways.  What I mean by this is.  It has become apparent that if daddy and I were to make the same statement to the kids, but at different times, and not when we're together, I have a very strong suspicion that the kids would react in very different ways to both of us.

I don't know why this hasn't occurred to me sooner, but its something I must be aware of I think when I am making a judgement call, say when an incident at school has happened or a problem has arisen. I think if they came from school one day and said they'd got in to trouble for not doing as they were told, I am pretty sure they'd spin the story of events according to which ever parent they were speaking to.  What I mean is, with me I think it would be more slanted on their emotional upset, but with daddy I think the emotional upset would still be there but also a sense of bravado would also be implied.  I don't know whether this is just a male thing or whether it is the same for a girl. Its hard to tell now as the 16 year old is all bravado all the time with both of us, though actually thinking about it, it is less so with daddy.

Ultimately this whole epiphany of thought came to light because we had differing opinions on what the boys would like as their Christmas presents which surprised me somewhat as we discussing the same kids. Happily we compromised on most of it and eventually got through the whole voucher processing and then subsequent queueing and paying for the goods without to much hassle and hopefully we have struck a good balance of parental influence and child personality with each kid's gifts.

Well we'll find out Christmas morning, won't we :-)

Finally off the Prozac and UN Peace negotiations

Been off the Prozac for over a month.  I just woke up one morning and thought "I don't need it anymore".  The only side effect I can think off (if you could actually call it a side effect) is that things seem to matter more.  If people cut me up I get annoyed, if something upsets me it makes me cry and I don't want the kids to run riot anymore.  I have stopped just doing everything for them. If they make a mess I get them to tidy it up, I am stricter on bedtime and I am not letting missy get away with continuously living in a dung heap. 

I know the last few months have been hard and that we have all has to adjust to new roles with in the house.  It has taken time for the kids to see me as a serious parent and not just the soft one, Mooki has had to come to the realisation she is important and valued for her burgeoning adult opinions and ideas, Ninja has had to learn independence and the idea of being responsible for himself and Humf is just basically thriving even in this lop sided one parent family.

All this being said half term has been a mine field with the slightest wrong footing and the whole thing blowing up in my face.  The reason for this I think are many fold and the answers to fixing it having been many fold too.  I am convinced that the fact I am starting a new job on Monday that to be honest I am worried sick about, that I have been trying to talk myself out of, but I also know that I have no choice but to start has had a big impact on my attitude to things.

I am very consciences that this is the most time I am going to get to spend with the kids for while so therefore want things to be perfect, which its not being. Loose ends suddenly need tying with my previous role that can't be left. College has got very hard this year and I need to spend time getting that straight in my head and for some bizarre reason I decided to have a Halloween party this year.

This is where the UN peace negotiations start........Ninja had a birthday last week and so has lots of new games and toys to play with.  Humf thinks he is basically able to do whatever Ninja is doing and can't understand why his big brother is so reluctant to play the games with him.  Logger heads have been met and intricate and detailed schedule of times of play, TV and general larking about have had to be designed. 

In between these two immovable forces of desires and wants I have stood this week basically getting shouted at, whined at, grumbled at and given dirt looks at.  One child is always left feeling put out by these discussions and all I want to do is get on with the stuff I need to do so we can spend the rest of the week having a nice time together.  I think I am fighting a losing battle to be honest and that I should stop beating myself up in bed at night worrying about it ( well Humf beats me up enough kicking me all over during the night )

In a blink of an eye it will be Christmas and I will be starting all this all over again !..

My All Grow'd Up Cup from Happy HollyDaisy Ltd

About a week ago I was very excited to recieve in the "My All Grow'd Up Cup" in the post.  It came in a smart  brown box with a big clear panel showing its exciting contents inside.  With 4 different colours to choose from I had chosen the unisex lime green for Humf my 2 and 3/4 old.

At first I was a little confused as to what the concept of the cup actually was and why was it different from other toddler beakers, but upon reading the packaging I discovered it was a learning system to try to teach toddlers not to leave their drinks lying around with the potential accidents, spillages or cries of where's my juice.

Eager to give it a test run we opened it up and while I was intially disappointed that the beaker itself wasn't very big but I was pleased that they had been thoughtful enough to provide batteries.

So the basic concept is this, the beaker holder has suction cups that can be attatched to any flat surface, you insert the batteries in to this part and switch it on, you then give your child their juice and encourage them to put the beaker in the holder when they are finished drinking, this action then rewards them by allowing them to hear the elephant trumpet with their success.

As with all things with children the novelty of hearing the elephant trumpet wore off pretty quickly and he ended up having more fun playing with the holder sticking it on and pulling it off various surfaces.  I can see where this beaker would be an excellent addition to the travel kit as their juice would be within easy reach for them on car journeys and it would not be rolling around the floor spilling everywhere (aslong as they put it back in the holder).

I believe as a product this makes an excellent present for toddlers and mums but I don't believe it would be something one would buy for oneself.  Its is well designed and in attractive packaging, the cup is sturdy and the holder is kid proof and it makes a lovely unusaul present maybe for a 1st or 2nd birthday. It would definitly be something I would consider purchasing my friends and familys kids.  

http://www.happyhollydaisy.com/

Is it still alright to eat chocolate for breakfast on boxing day?

I can't believe I managed to come down with a tummy bug on Christmas Day so while I could help make dinner I couldn't actually enjoy it.  That aside, Christmas day with 3 children is always an event and yesterday was no exception. I eventually got to bed at around the 1.30am mark on Christmas Eve which considering the last one down wasn't until 10pm wasn't too bad going (we do all the kids presents wrapping Christmas Eve, mad I know, but that's just the way we do it). I knew I was going to be a tired puppy when the morning roll call was made (Hubbie went to bed at 3am, the mad man still hadn't wrapped my pressies which I told him not to worry about but he wouldn't listen).

Funnily enough it wasn't the kids that woke up first it was me, they follow within seconds though.  Both the 6 year old and the 2 year old completely missed the large sacks of presents that had been left at the end of their beds and both ran in to Daddy saying "its Christmas".  This awoke the 4th member of the family and that left only one more to go.  The one none of us had the guts to approach but having now been shown the large sacks of pressies the boys were busting to start cracking in to them.  We sent in the bravest one of us, Ninja the 6 year old and he within in seconds of entering the room of doom he reappeared with a a cry of triumph "she's awake". Right member number 5 was with us and now we were all present and correct. The unwrapping could begin...............

I was determined this year to make the present unwrapping stretch beyond the first hour of Christmas day so the cries of I'm bored at 4pm could be quelled in an instant and failed miserably.  Eldest child was handed her admittedly small sack but still chocked full of expensive presents ( I mean a £25 itune voucher neither takes much wrapping or much space in the sack) and the look of "is that it" was completely apparent on her face, but she did her best to stem the flow of large present envy and participate in her younger brothers presents. The boys got to work and with in minutes things weren't going well at all. What is it about "wanting what someone else has got" the pair of them were like dogs fighting over two bones and no matter how many presents they got the same or how they'd just opened something they really really wanted they still wanted what the other one had just unwrapped.  I think I had to walk out the room at least twice and we stopped filming the scene for fear we might have to put an age appropriate rating on it to view it again. So carnage ensued and I kept my hands over my eyes until the last of ripping paper was heard. What greeted me upon opening them were three grumpy looking kids, lots of bits of paper, some damaged (and obviously fought over) boxes and I swore once again to myself that next year things would be different.

We decided to do dinner early as the thought of waiting until the evening to start preparing, cooking and clearing up didn't really appeal to either of us and the fact we were just the 5 of us we had no one to answer to and no one to go out to (bliss).  We did a fabulous job on our turkey, making it tasty and moist and managed to only forget one element to the meal (the stuffing) but I just started feeling gradually more and more rough as the cooking progress went on till eventually when it got to the table at 2pm I could barely hold my fork.  It looked so gorgeous and it tasted wonderful to I just couldn't eat it. How depressing is that then !!

So most of the rest of the day I spent with hubbie clearing up the dinner I wanted but couldn't eat and then lying on the sofa dosing and feeling sick.  Oh in between sorting out WW3 disputes between the reds, having an argument with 13 year old because she threw a tantrum that she didn't get exactly what she wanted and trying to make sure hubbie had as good a Christmas as possible.

Possibly the lowest point of the day came when hubbie turned to me and said "its not all its cracked up to be,is it? this Christmas lark" and the funniest came when Ninja said "my psp was my favourite present" and I rather smartly replied "that Santa is a clever one isn't he" and Ninja came back with "I think you and daddy bought me it and all my other presents, Santa's not really real, oh never mind". Which left me and daddy speechless, and amused that once again you can't pull the wool over that child's eyes.

I also just want to say a quick congratulations to my very good friend who informed me she was preggers...!! Love you loads girlie xx