Author: Sarah

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Comparison is the thief of joy // Being good enough

Comparison is the thief of joy

I apologise now that this is going to be a bit of a brain dump post – it’s been bubbling away in the back of mind for a while now and I think that writing about it might make me feel better and be able to move on from it…

I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t use social media in some way or another (except perhaps my dad) and I am no exception. Don’t get me wrong, I love social media – I remember when I first got Facebook, over 10 years ago now, and I was so excited to find people I went to school with and see what they were up to (although I’d already been doing that a bit with Friends Reunited, remember that?), it also meant I could connect with people I’d worked with overseas, people I hadn’t spoken to for years. Of course I also became Facebook friends with people I knew in real life and saw regularly anyway too. Read more

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Fit by 40 // The weight loss diaries (Day 47-59)

Fit by 40 weight loss diaries

It’s time for another update in my weight loss and fitness story – you can read my last up date here. I’m still plodding on – a total of 16lb lost now (and 3 inches off my waist) and although it’s coming off quite slowly I have lost weight every single week. I can only call that a success I reckon.

15th July 2017 (Day 47)

Cake. I ate all the cake. Well not quite all the cake but a lot of it anyway. I’m trying not to beat myself up about it but it’s hard not to. And we’ll see what effect it has on the scales on Tuesday. I’ve been back at my yoga the last couple of days though and that’s a start. So I’m just treating this as a bit of a break week and I’ll properly get back on it from now. Today was pretty good actually so I’m going to be positive and take it from there. The trouble I always find with losing weight is that I lose a stone or so and then think ‘oh, I look/ feel so much better than before, that’ll do’ when really I need to keep on going if I’m ever going to get to my pre-baby (and pre-3 week honeymoon in America) weight. Onwards and upwards (or should that be downwards?)

18th July 2017 (Day 50)

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Getting ready to start primary school

Toby looking super smart in his school uniform

Schools have now broken up for the summer holidays and that means it’s only six weeks until Toby will be starting in Reception. And that means just six weeks to get Toby ready to start primary school. I know lots of children are super excited about starting school – they can’t wait to get their uniform on and go off every day to learn and play and make new friends. Toby though is going to take a little more convincing!

Although he says he is looking forward to starting school, and will be joined by a few of his friends from nursery, he is still quite apprehensive about the whole thing. This seems to be manifesting itself in some pretty out of character behaviour, and this week a couple of bed-wetting incidents too. He was only four a couple of weeks ago so he’s still quite young really and I think it’s going to take quite a lot of adjusting to get ready for school. Read more

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Remembering Childhood // Mummy to Dex

Nicola from Mummy to Dex as a child

It’s that time of week when another blogger is going to be sharing their childhood memories. This week’s Remembering Childhood comes from Nicola at Mummy to Dex.

Which decade were you born in?

The 1980s

What is your earliest memory? How old were you?

My earliest memory is of my Grandad taking me to a café on the industrial estate in Denbigh and my Grandma doing the ironing in my house. My mum had been taken to hospital and I was around two years old. I can remember my Grandad had a plaster on his hand and my Dad came home from work in the afternoon. It was probably the first time I had been away from my parents for an extended period of time which is why I can remember it so vividly.

What was your favourite toy at 5 years old? At 10?

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Bedroom makeover inspiration

*This is a collaborative post

When we moved house we decided that although the master bedroom was upstairs, we would take one of the other bedrooms downstairs so we could be next to the boys’ room. You can see our rather unusual house layout in my house tour video so you can see what I mean.

At the moment we are living in a mismatched room with our old bed and bedding, a wardrobe full of the boys’ clothes, not enough storage for our own things and the curtains from the living room at our old house! I can’t wait until we have a lovely bedroom with matching bedding and curtains again – I think they can really make a difference to a room don’t you? Read more

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Living Arrows 30/52 (2017)

Toby looking like a dude in his sunglasses

After a reasonably quiet week at home, yesterday we made an effort to get out of the house. We went to Stanley Park in Blackpool, for ice cream, scooting and feeding the ducks.

We had a lovely morning really but as always for us in public places we had to cope with Toby’s massive fear of dogs. He did get a bit better for a while but in the last few weeks we have gone back to proper tears and panic whenever he sees a dog, and if one happens to bark near him we’re on for a full meltdown.

We do our best to reassure him that he’s safe, that the dogs are on leads or being controlled by their owners but he is genuinely terrified. Read more

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Toby is four years old

Four years old! How on earth did the tiny squishy baby that we brought home from the hospital turn into a four year old who is going to be starting school in a couple of months?!

I last wrote an update when Toby was three and a half and in some ways he’s changed so much since then, and in others he’s exactly the same! He is now 110 cm tall, which means he’s grown another 4 cm in the last six months and he is still on the 91st centile. He weighs about 2 stone 10 lb (17.2kg) so is still super skinny even though he eats really well. He is mostly wearing age 5-6 clothes now, although some of his pants are 18-24 months because his bum is tiny! Oh and he’s got size 10 ½ feet. Read more

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Remembering Childhood // Lylia Rose

Lylia Rose

It’s that time of week when another blogger is going to be sharing their childhood memories. This week’s Remembering Childhood comes from Victoria at Lylia Rose.

Which decade were you born in?

The 80s!  I was born in 1985

What is your earliest memory? How old were you?

I vaguely remember taking my colouring in up to my teacher in reception class and being told to sit back down and colour in some more.  I would have been four years old.

What was your favourite toy at 5 years old? At 10?

At 5 probably a My Little Pony house with some ponies.  At 10 my rollerblades were my favourite! Read more

- Sarah 8 Comments

Living Arrows 29/52 (2017)

Toby seeing his Numberblocks birthday cake for the first time

Last week it was Toby’s fourth birthday (and I will get round to writing his four year update soon!) – it was on a nursery day so he opened a couple of presents in the morning then had a cake and pass the parcel at nursery, and got to open the rest of his presents when he came home.

Barry and I spent nearly all day making a Numberblocks birthday cake as requested by Toby – I’m going to put a tutorial up soon too. I did all the cakes and icing, and Barry made all the features, which ended up being much trickier than I had imagined!

Anyway, I was really pleased with how it turned out – Toby loved it, although after the first piece refused to eat any more because apparently the icing was ‘revolting’ so Barry’s work colleagues were treated to quite a lot of cake last week! Read more

- Sarah 26 Comments

When a children’s entertainer crossed the line

When a children's entertainer crossed the line

**EDIT**

Since writing this post I have been in contact with the entertainer in question, and my sons’ nursery.

Firstly the entertainer has apologised for any offence he may have caused.  He apologised for upsetting Toby and assured me it was in no way intentional and I have accepted this apology.

He has also assured me that he is no way racist and as such I have removed references to racism from the post, although I still don’t agree that making a joke of someone’s accent or where they come from is acceptable. 

However, the entertainer explained to me that he has a very successful business, he has been doing the same act for 20 years and has never had any complaints previously. He told me that although he had listened to my concerns he does not believe there is an issue and will not be changing his act. He sees his job as being to entertain the parents as well as the children and because the comments that I found unacceptable go over the children’s heads then there is no issue with making them.

I have also spoken to the manager at Toby’s nursery. Apparently they have been using this entertainer for years and will continue to do so. They have consulted some of the other parents who were at the party and none of them had any issue with the material used on the day.

Clearly, I am not entirely happy with the outcome here. Although I have received an apology which I have accepted, I am disappointed that neither the entertainer, nor the nursery feel that my concerns are valid. However, I have decided that it isn’t really in anyone’s interests for me to pursue this matter any further. I will just be making sure I avoid this particular entertainer in future. I will also now be closing comments on this post as I don’t think there is really any more to be said. Thank you to everyone who has commented and shown me support .

Today was Toby’s nursery leavers’ party, even though he’s not actually leaving until the end of the summer. I expected party games and a few sandwiches. What we got was something entirely different.

We arrived a few minutes after the party had started and the children’s entertainer was already in full swing. As the kids arrived he made an effort to find out their names and used them throughout the party. He made balloon animals, span plates and got them all dancing. That was all great. What wasn’t so great was how, from the minute they arrived, he made jokes at their expense to get cheap laughs from the adults.

The entertainer in question came from a company in Blackpool (and I think I’ve come across someone else from the same agency at a christening/ birthday party that we went to a few months ago – I can’t be 100% certain but they definitely seemed to be following the same script). Now I know Blackpool is renowned for its end of the pier shows with ‘a bit of blue for the dads’ as Peter Kay put it. It may be the spiritual home of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown, but that doesn’t mean I expect innuendo, comments mocking someone’s accent, or unashamed sexism when I go to a party for four year olds. Read more