Category Archives: Personal

Why I Like Not Having a Car

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As I was walking home from taking Adam to nursery this morning it occurred to me how much I like not having a car. How much I would miss if I was zipping down the road instead of walking.

For example, if I had been driving, I wouldn’t have been able to spend a part of walk watching, fascinated, as a pair of men changed the billboard on the corner near my house. It’s one of those billboards that flips between adverts and I watched as they worked from opposite ends, obviously from numbered strips, inserting the boards in. They weren’t going in order so I have no idea what the advert was, but it was very cool to watch them work.

Also, if I had been driving, I would never have noticed that they were painting the fence around the Ormeau Bath Gallery. It’s a nice fence, with gold finials. Now the rails are red, instead of black. I would bet not one of the people in the cars going by noticed that they were changing the colour of the fence.

If I were a driver I never would have noticed that the Worst Burger King in the World (TM) was becoming some other restaurant. Finally. It’s been closed for around 4 years. But now there are workmen going in and out and something is happening. There was a sign saying what it was but it’s gone now. Probably lost their funding like so many others these days.

So I like not having a car. As I can see what’s going on in my neighbourhood. Soon to not be my neighbourhood!

M-Day minus 9…

 

Discipline and the Toddler

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Adam is, of course, at the ‘terrible twos.’ And I’ll probably jinx myself, but they aren’t all that terrible. Not that he doesn’t have his moments. He’s hardly perfect or an angel!

There are, also of course, 10,000 parenting books about how to handle toddlers and their discipline. And I’ve read…none of them.

I only own 4 books about parenting, anyway. One about how Adam developed in the womb the of which escapes me and I’m too lazy to go look, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, some dad’s book my brother sent Simon and How to Talk so Your Kids will Listen and Listen so Your Kids Will Talk. The only one I’ve actually read cover to cover was the developing baby one and that was mostly so I could post on here how big he was as he grew in my tummy!

And so Simon and my parenting style has been created by trial and error. Some from ideas I’ve gotten from others I know, of course, but mostly I’ve just used my instincts and Simon has pretty much followed my lead.

So what do we do?

Well, we use time out for some things. Things such as not listening after being told not to do something more than once, 2 minutes time out. Some things are instant time out, such as climbing furniture, hitting and pushing.

And I’ve developed a count to 10 method to get him to do things. I have never, once, in my life seen count to three work and I gave a lot of thought as to why that might be, keeping in mind I’ve never studied child development or psychology! Based on my observation it’s because three just isn’t long enough for a toddler, whose brain is racing a million miles an hour and to whom whatever they are doing is the most important thing in the world, to stop what they are doing and make the decision to listen to Mummy and/or Daddy.

So I tell him what I want to do and I count to 10. ‘Adam, come to the table for dinner by the time I count to 10 or I’ll come get you.’ And I count. It is very rare that he doesn’t come and do what I want him to do by the time I get to 8 or 9. And if he doesn’t do it at 10? I make him do whatever it is I want him to do. I also tend to say ’10…end of free will’ as I grab him.

It works for getting dressed, for picking a toy, really for most things.

And it has the advantage that he’s learning to count!

So, The Movers Are Booked

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And the Great Clear Out of 2011 is well on it’s way.

We are having the pros pack for us so all I’m doing is going through stuff, that I’ve been meaning to go through for, oh, 4 years and dumping a lot of crap.

Some of that crap included boxes of undies from before Adam was born. As my tummy got bigger and I had to move from sexy matching bras and pants to un-sexy maternity bras and pants I bought some storage boxes from Ikea and packed all of my sexy ones away for the duration.

Yesterday those boxes were hauled out of the top of the closet, only 2 years after the birth of my son, and inspected. The pants, fab. Size 14. That’s my size! The bras…um…well…

You see, I could, theoretically go back to the 38s. I have some 38s now that fit me. I am, more or less, the same weight I was when I conceived.

What I will never be again is a B cup.

Even without ever having my milk come in more than drips and drops my breasts increased by a full cup size. I am, most definitely, now a C.

Forever and ever.

Amen.

So bye bye old, lovely sexy pants and bras.

Guess I need to go shopping and get some that fit! 😉

Insert Witty and/or Profound Title Here

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Not sure what to write about today. Hence the title.

There are some things I’d like to write about, but they are controversial and will get me in trouble, and I’m not in the mood. Maybe tomorrow.

I will present one question, however, stemming from a thread on MN about allergies. I understand trying like hell to protect your child. I do. I have a child I protect. So I understand banning peanuts or other allergens from school lunches if a child in the school is severely allergic.

What I don’t understand is how that child lives in the world. In the world peanuts are not banned. Or anything other food. So if a person is so allergic that a speck of peanut dust is going to kill them, how do they even walk down the street? Take a bus? The train? I really would like to know, if any of my readers has such a child or is severely allergic to something themselves.

In a related note, if a teacher, once Adam is at school, takes away his treat from his packed lunch while his classmate is eating school dinner provided cake and custard, I will be storming the place. I can’t believe how many parents don’t want to be ‘that’ parent. What parent? The parent who stands up and says ‘This is really stupid. And I’m going to say so!’?

But I am also the person who can’t stand stupidity. And that, my friends, is stupid!

Hey, look…I had something to say after all…and they may get me into trouble……..

How Much Tech is Too Much Tech?

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Adam is home ill, again, today and I am sitting on the sofa as he stands watching TV and playing a game on my iPhone.

There seems to be 1000 studies with 1000 different answers as to how much ‘screen time’ is too much. And I can’t decide which way to go.

The actual issue is that Simon and I spend our lives in front of screens. He teaches computers and I’m a graphic artist which, these days, means Adobe Creative Suite and drawing with a mouse. Oh, I occasionally sketch in a book, but final drafts to finished drawings are done on a computer.

We have in this house 4 working computers, two TV based game consoles, three hand held games consoles and 2 iPhones. Hell, Simon and I met through the computer!

So how do we tell our son he can only watch TV or play on the Xbox ‘X hours a day’? Granted, I can pull the ‘Mummies and Daddies are adults and have different rules’ card, but I always hated that when I was a kid. Why do they get different rules for things like this?

Okay, so some studies have shown TV/computer time can hurt brain development. But they can’t prove it 100%. And he is learning as he watches or plays games on my iPhone. He’s learning numbers and shapes and colours on the one he’s playing right now. He learns things from CBeeBies and DVDs. So does it matter that he’s learning them from a screen?

He hardly spends all day every day in front of one. We go out at least once a day for a walk, sometimes twice. He is at nursery 3 days a week when he doesn’t see a screen from 9 am to 430 pm. He does watch some TV when he gets home, but that’s not for long before it’s time for dinner and bath and bed.

And we do other things, even when he’s home sick like today. In a bit we’re going to break out the crayons and do some colouring. We might still get out for a walk as his fever seems to be going away.

So I don’t have the final answer. He’s a long way away from using any of these items on his own, anyway. He sits with me or Simon to play games on CBeeBies website or on our iPhones. He doesn’t know how to turn on the TV. So Simon and I have some time to consider our position.

What’s your position on your kids and screen time and why?

My Victorian Gentleman…

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For some reason I cannot figure out, Adam has taken to objecting to Mummy showing certain parts of her body, namely her knees and below.

If I, for whatever reason pull up my trouser legs, he comes over and pulls them down. And looks at me disapprovingly.

The other day I came out of our bedroom wearing just my PJ top and some undies, as I was about to take a shower. Adam ran into the bedroom and grabbed my PJ bottoms from the back of the chair and brought them to me. He was very insistent that I put them on until I finally went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Then he ‘got’ it.

I have no idea why he does this. Or where he got the idea that Mummies are not to show their legs!

I guess I should be grateful that it was never hot enough this past summer to wear shorts. Who knows what he might have done!

What odd things do your toddlers do that have no rhyme, reason or origin you can figure out?

Bucket List

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So there’s a meme, started by @Ellen27, about bucket lists. She was inspired by the film of the same name which starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket.

So I’ve been thinking about what to put on my bucket list. And I can’t think of a single thing.

Sure, there are things I want; more money, more time, more clients. But nothing that I feel I have to or need to do before I die.

Sure there are places I want to visit; Paris springs to mind. But, again, not something I feel I absolutely need to do before I die.

I’ve seen lists of things like ‘be a kinder person every day’ and ‘spend more time with my family’. That’s not what I call a ‘do it before you die’ thing.

So I guess it means I’m content. I have the big things I want: a husband I love, a son who is becoming more wonderful every day, I am my own boss. My health could be better but there isn’t much I can do about that.

So I guess my Bucket List is to just…live.

And I’m okay with that.

Another Busy Day

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Today’s Schedule: –

0809 Chugging coffee before Simon leaves for the day

0930ish Off to the shops. Adam needs his feet measured for new shoes, we’re out of milk again and I could use a glass of wine tonight. You’ll see why in a minute.

1100ish Back home. Hopefully Adam is asleep in his pram and will continue to be so until about 1300ish.

1200ish Lunch for Mummy

1230ish Laundry folding begins

1300ish Adam up from his nap and has some lunch, milk and a cuddle.

1400 – 1600 At some point in those two hours a removal company is coming to poke around and give me a quote for our move. This will be our third quote and then I’ll make a decision and book movers.

1500 Estate Agent to show up with people to view flat. I will also, at this point, have laundry half folded and be in the middle of putting together a Sheppard’s Pie for dinner.

1600 Still folding laundry. Sheppard’s Pie slow cooking in the oven.

1700 Simon home from work. Put away laundry and cook the rest of dinner.

1800 Eat

1830 Start getting a small boy ready for bed

1930ish Adam asleep.

1935 Wine. And chocolate.

Haven’t Had Much Time To Write

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as my afternoons on Adam’s nursery days are now taken up with the Clear Out of 2011. Even though the new house has a ton of storage space, I am doing my best to not move a lot of junk from one place to the other!

I’m also totally organizing the move for us, contacting removal companies, making lists of utility companies and others to notify of the change of address, along with, of course, the graphic work my clients are expecting me to do and pay me for!

So busy is a good way to describe life right now and, as usual, this blog is the last thing on the list.

But I am Tweeting regularly, so feel free to follow that (@tee2072) and I’m on MN, so look for me there!

I’ll try to keep y’all up to date with move info, but it may have to wait until after the move!

So We Saw The House Again Today

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and it is officially ours. We move in starting 14th October.

So house. With garden. Some of which is plain old dirt. The owner, who was living there and is now heading back to Tokyo after 15 or so years here in Belfast, told me he had successfully grown melons in it. I told him that I was hoping to do the same.

Except, I know nothing about growing food. I have planted flowers, in planters, on a patio in California and watched them die. Even though I did everything I was suppose to; watered, weeded, talk to. Still died awfully quickly.

So…now I want to plant food. Potatoes maybe. Peas. Beans? Melons? Definitely some herbs would be nice.

I’m not even sure where to start. Maybe the library? ‘How to grow food with no talent and a black thumb’ would be a really useful book right now. Do you think it exists?

So, I’m looking for advice. So far I have been told I should wait a year and see what might still be planted, although the beds look empty, because there might be perennials that will come up in the spring. Perhaps plant in some pots and transfer them if nothing comes up.

So, anyone have any advice for the novice gardener with a black thumb who would like to use this opportunity to save some money, dig in some dirt and teach her son things?

Oh wait. Dig in dirt. That’s means bugs, doesn’t it?

Perhaps this isn’t such a good idea…