Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: 0kg
Total weight loss: 7kg
No change, which is good because I haven't been.
How many times can I claim to restart this diet?
Monday, 28 February 2011
Weigh-in
Current weight: 71kg
Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: 0kg
Total weight loss: 7kg
No change, which is good because I haven't been.
How many times can I claim to restart this diet?
Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: 0kg
Total weight loss: 7kg
No change, which is good because I haven't been.
How many times can I claim to restart this diet?
Library Visit
- The Princess and the Pea, by Stockham
- Cow's big kick, by Benjamin and Van Wyk
- Captain Cool, by Harvey and Walker
- The Stolen Egg, by Wallace and Harland
- Alice through the looking glass, Usbourne Young Reading (UYR)
- The Magic Pear Tree, UYR retold by Dickens
- Meg's Mummy, by Nicoll and Pienkowski
- The Wish Fish, UYR retold by Sims.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Poo Poo Everywhere.
Pretty much self explanatory, really.
DD1 is going really well with her potty training, and is often taking herself to the toilet without me. So, just now, she did just that. I heard her wash her hands, and pull the flush. (In our bathroom we have a toilet and a 'little toilet' - a potty with a lid.) Then I heard DD1 yell "I need another wee wee". So, she sat back on the little toilet.
After a whilst she started calling me, saying she dropped the poo. I shouted (as I was feeding DD2 downstairs) back asking if she dropped it in the toilet? She replied she needed help. (TMI: she often needs help to wipe her bum when she's pooed anyway.) So, upstairs I go...
...to find the bathroom floor, and the mat, and DD1's legs, and the top of the lid of the potty all covered in poo. Yikes! First step was to lift DD1 straight into the bath. She then proceeded to make pooey footprints up and down the bath. Then I lifted all the poo-lumps into the toilet and wiped up all the smears off the floor and potty. I ran a shallow bath for DD1 and cleaned her up. I disinfected the floor and the potty. I removed the mat out of the way, put DD1's clothes with the mat, and the sponge, after she'd finished the bath. Quick towel down, and we all came downstairs.
It emerges that DD1 didn't need another wee, but a poo. Not a nice firm stool, but a sloppy messy one. When she finished, she went to empty the potty into the toilet, but somehow tripped (or something), splattering everything all over the place. Nice.
DD1 is now sat on the sofa in her dressing gown, and the dirty stuff is already being washed in the machine. I almost feel like supermum - although supermum probably wouldn't have got into that mess in the first place. LoL.
DD1 is going really well with her potty training, and is often taking herself to the toilet without me. So, just now, she did just that. I heard her wash her hands, and pull the flush. (In our bathroom we have a toilet and a 'little toilet' - a potty with a lid.) Then I heard DD1 yell "I need another wee wee". So, she sat back on the little toilet.
After a whilst she started calling me, saying she dropped the poo. I shouted (as I was feeding DD2 downstairs) back asking if she dropped it in the toilet? She replied she needed help. (TMI: she often needs help to wipe her bum when she's pooed anyway.) So, upstairs I go...
...to find the bathroom floor, and the mat, and DD1's legs, and the top of the lid of the potty all covered in poo. Yikes! First step was to lift DD1 straight into the bath. She then proceeded to make pooey footprints up and down the bath. Then I lifted all the poo-lumps into the toilet and wiped up all the smears off the floor and potty. I ran a shallow bath for DD1 and cleaned her up. I disinfected the floor and the potty. I removed the mat out of the way, put DD1's clothes with the mat, and the sponge, after she'd finished the bath. Quick towel down, and we all came downstairs.
It emerges that DD1 didn't need another wee, but a poo. Not a nice firm stool, but a sloppy messy one. When she finished, she went to empty the potty into the toilet, but somehow tripped (or something), splattering everything all over the place. Nice.
DD1 is now sat on the sofa in her dressing gown, and the dirty stuff is already being washed in the machine. I almost feel like supermum - although supermum probably wouldn't have got into that mess in the first place. LoL.
Dear Diary,
We've had a stressful week this week.
Starting a new job is one of the more stressful things you can do, and that's just what DH has done this week. He changed jobs for career prospects/interest reasons, rather than because he hated his old job or the people. In fact, whilst not quite in the area he wanted to be in, he loved his old job and got on really well with all of his colleagues and his boss! As such, he was really apprehensive before starting this job because he was really unsure to whether he had made the right decision. Given that he was offered this new job back in November, but was on a 3month notice period at his old place, so the apprehension has been building all this time.
On Monday, off he went, and I didn't hear anything until he returned. It wasn't good. Lots of little things that culminated during the day not helped by some reckless drivers he encountered on the way home. Fortunately, since then, things seem to have got a bit better. As with all new jobs, it takes a fair while before you settle into the role and start to make friends, but he did go to the pub with his team after work on Wednesday, so that's a good sign.
DD2 might be teething again. She is really grumpy, and dribbly. I thought she would at least have had a gap between her first 2 teeth coming through and the next bunch. Either that, or it's just a developmental stage where she recognises me properly (and is therefore unhappy with anybody, 'cept DH, who is not me and also when I leave the room).
And my diet has gone out of the window (again). I think yesterday was the worst day I've ever had! To celebrate that DH was starting to not-hate his new job, we had a Chinese take away on Wednesday night. Thursday lunch was leftover Chinese for me, yum. (I do ensure the children have proper food, in case anyone is worried.) FIL came to visit us, and took the children out for a walk giving me time to wash up, tidy and hoover . He returned at 5pm with sausage and chips for DD1. I'm not going to let her eat a whole portion (the chips are huge) so I had to help out quite a bit. And because FIL doesn't like much variety of food, specifically much of what we eat/cook for ourselves, DH suggested we get another takeaway, so Indian was order of the day (korma for FIL). Three different takeaways in one day! So today, I'm desperately trying to make up for it, by having tropical veg juice for breakfast and lunch (tho' I did share a piece of toast with DD2 at lunchtime) and for snacks too. I will have a proper dinner tonight though - I'm not totally crazy. Garlic pork with sweet potato mash (I may put some carrots in the mash too). Yum.
Hopefully next time I write, it will all be good news.
Yours,
LBP
Starting a new job is one of the more stressful things you can do, and that's just what DH has done this week. He changed jobs for career prospects/interest reasons, rather than because he hated his old job or the people. In fact, whilst not quite in the area he wanted to be in, he loved his old job and got on really well with all of his colleagues and his boss! As such, he was really apprehensive before starting this job because he was really unsure to whether he had made the right decision. Given that he was offered this new job back in November, but was on a 3month notice period at his old place, so the apprehension has been building all this time.
On Monday, off he went, and I didn't hear anything until he returned. It wasn't good. Lots of little things that culminated during the day not helped by some reckless drivers he encountered on the way home. Fortunately, since then, things seem to have got a bit better. As with all new jobs, it takes a fair while before you settle into the role and start to make friends, but he did go to the pub with his team after work on Wednesday, so that's a good sign.
DD2 might be teething again. She is really grumpy, and dribbly. I thought she would at least have had a gap between her first 2 teeth coming through and the next bunch. Either that, or it's just a developmental stage where she recognises me properly (and is therefore unhappy with anybody, 'cept DH, who is not me and also when I leave the room).
And my diet has gone out of the window (again). I think yesterday was the worst day I've ever had! To celebrate that DH was starting to not-hate his new job, we had a Chinese take away on Wednesday night. Thursday lunch was leftover Chinese for me, yum. (I do ensure the children have proper food, in case anyone is worried.) FIL came to visit us, and took the children out for a walk giving me time to wash up, tidy and hoover . He returned at 5pm with sausage and chips for DD1. I'm not going to let her eat a whole portion (the chips are huge) so I had to help out quite a bit. And because FIL doesn't like much variety of food, specifically much of what we eat/cook for ourselves, DH suggested we get another takeaway, so Indian was order of the day (korma for FIL). Three different takeaways in one day! So today, I'm desperately trying to make up for it, by having tropical veg juice for breakfast and lunch (tho' I did share a piece of toast with DD2 at lunchtime) and for snacks too. I will have a proper dinner tonight though - I'm not totally crazy. Garlic pork with sweet potato mash (I may put some carrots in the mash too). Yum.
Hopefully next time I write, it will all be good news.
Yours,
LBP
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Weaning and Potty Training
Both are coming along really well!
DD1 hasn't had an accident for ages now (and her previous ones were only because she was distracted and too busy playing). She will tell me, when out, when she needs the toilet, and often takes herself to the toilet when at home. She has also started waking at night to go to the toilet (she is in a nappy at night, though), but won't yet take herself. Instead she screams/shouts until I wake up and take her. I have put the potty in her bedroom (it has a lid, so I'm not worried about mess) but she still refuses to go herself. It's hard, because obviously I don't want to be encouraging her to wet in her nappy at night, and yet I'm sooooo tired, I can't wait until she can either hold herself the whole night, or take herself to the toilet/potty.
Last weekend DD2 cut her first 2 teeth, just in time for her 6month birthday! She now has eaten broccoli, (did I mention she had soup before?), crust of a pizza, porridge (home made, not baby stuff), toast and rice cake. The soup and porridge I fed her on a spoon. Whilst I am BLW, I'm not averse to using a spoon. When she gets a bit bigger, she will take control, but her hand-eye coordination isn't that great yet, but it will come in time. I'm still just giving new tastes and textures, rather than any actual meals. I don't know whether it's best to increase the number of 'meals' or the amount of food each time. The latter would be easier, but I think the former is what I ought to do. As I am being child-led, she will let me know if she wants more food. As it is, she has only a couple of times finished what I have put before her. She will have to learn, though, because every time I feed her, DD1 decides she wants to eat from DD2's hand! DD1 is a good eater, and always hungry. I think she might be going through a growth spurt, because she is fairly small but eating every couple of hours atm. Back to DD2, though, she will happily drink cooled boild water from a freeflow beaker. I'm only offering water with food (specifically with food that I find dries my mouth out: porridge, banana and rice cakes), but she will grab the hands and drink. As I'm BFing, I probably shouldn't be giving any water at all, but I am please at how she is taking the beaker. Maybe next time she has EBM or FM, we should try giving it to her from a beaker, rather than a bottle, to see if she takes it easier? Hmmmm...
DD1 hasn't had an accident for ages now (and her previous ones were only because she was distracted and too busy playing). She will tell me, when out, when she needs the toilet, and often takes herself to the toilet when at home. She has also started waking at night to go to the toilet (she is in a nappy at night, though), but won't yet take herself. Instead she screams/shouts until I wake up and take her. I have put the potty in her bedroom (it has a lid, so I'm not worried about mess) but she still refuses to go herself. It's hard, because obviously I don't want to be encouraging her to wet in her nappy at night, and yet I'm sooooo tired, I can't wait until she can either hold herself the whole night, or take herself to the toilet/potty.
Last weekend DD2 cut her first 2 teeth, just in time for her 6month birthday! She now has eaten broccoli, (did I mention she had soup before?), crust of a pizza, porridge (home made, not baby stuff), toast and rice cake. The soup and porridge I fed her on a spoon. Whilst I am BLW, I'm not averse to using a spoon. When she gets a bit bigger, she will take control, but her hand-eye coordination isn't that great yet, but it will come in time. I'm still just giving new tastes and textures, rather than any actual meals. I don't know whether it's best to increase the number of 'meals' or the amount of food each time. The latter would be easier, but I think the former is what I ought to do. As I am being child-led, she will let me know if she wants more food. As it is, she has only a couple of times finished what I have put before her. She will have to learn, though, because every time I feed her, DD1 decides she wants to eat from DD2's hand! DD1 is a good eater, and always hungry. I think she might be going through a growth spurt, because she is fairly small but eating every couple of hours atm. Back to DD2, though, she will happily drink cooled boild water from a freeflow beaker. I'm only offering water with food (specifically with food that I find dries my mouth out: porridge, banana and rice cakes), but she will grab the hands and drink. As I'm BFing, I probably shouldn't be giving any water at all, but I am please at how she is taking the beaker. Maybe next time she has EBM or FM, we should try giving it to her from a beaker, rather than a bottle, to see if she takes it easier? Hmmmm...
Book Review: Against the Odds by James Dyson
Against the Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson.
I don't often read autobiographies but have been given a few recently, of which this was one of them, and actually it was a very good read. The book accounts little of Dyson's life, except a few annecdotes that give an insight into how his mind works, but details the struggle he had over fifteen (!) long years to get the, now famous, Dyson vacuum* into production. (*I wrote 'hoover' the first time, but thought if Mr Dyson was to stumble across this blog he wouldn't be too pleased. LoL)
In the later chapters, there is a brief guide to being an inventor, overcoming some problems and starting your own business. What I found most interesting, though, is the parallels between Dyson's way of thinking and home education. Just because something is the norm, everyone does it, does not mean that it is the best. So what if everyone uses bags in their vacuum? A better cleaner is bagless. So what if everyone sends their children to school? A better education can be given at home. This comparison is further emphasised by the fact that Dyson doesn't (or didn't, when he started up) have any engineering qualifications at all. Being determined to succeed overcomes the perceived wisdom that only engineers invent, only designers design, only businessmen can run a business. Can only schools teach?
I don't often read autobiographies but have been given a few recently, of which this was one of them, and actually it was a very good read. The book accounts little of Dyson's life, except a few annecdotes that give an insight into how his mind works, but details the struggle he had over fifteen (!) long years to get the, now famous, Dyson vacuum* into production. (*I wrote 'hoover' the first time, but thought if Mr Dyson was to stumble across this blog he wouldn't be too pleased. LoL)
In the later chapters, there is a brief guide to being an inventor, overcoming some problems and starting your own business. What I found most interesting, though, is the parallels between Dyson's way of thinking and home education. Just because something is the norm, everyone does it, does not mean that it is the best. So what if everyone uses bags in their vacuum? A better cleaner is bagless. So what if everyone sends their children to school? A better education can be given at home. This comparison is further emphasised by the fact that Dyson doesn't (or didn't, when he started up) have any engineering qualifications at all. Being determined to succeed overcomes the perceived wisdom that only engineers invent, only designers design, only businessmen can run a business. Can only schools teach?
Monday, 21 February 2011
Library Visit
- Toddle Waddle, by Donaldson and Sharratt
- Topsy and Tim Go Camping, by Adamson
- Would you rather be a Bullfrog? by Dr Seuss as Theo LeSieg
- The Bear's Picnic, by Berenstain
- The Bike Lesson, by Berenstain
- It's not fair! by Powell and Chambers
- Big Dog and Little Dog go Sailing, by Young.
Weigh-in
Current weight: 71kg
Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: 1kg
Total weight loss: 7kg
Back down to my lowest weight so far.
Hopefully that'll contine as I've planned my meals properly again this week, so hopefully I'll be less tempted by a takeaway.
Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: 1kg
Total weight loss: 7kg
Back down to my lowest weight so far.
Hopefully that'll contine as I've planned my meals properly again this week, so hopefully I'll be less tempted by a takeaway.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Dear Diary,
What a difference a sleep makes! Yesterday I was feeling totally overwhelmed with everything, couldn't cope with DD1's tantrums, the state of the house nor DD2 crying. And yet, DD2 slept through last night! Not only did she not wake for a feed, she slept in DD1's room all night (as such, I should probably stop calling it DD1's room).
Today, I managed to tidy the living room! To most people, that's probably not that big a thing, but our house is a mess, so this was massive! Normally when I try, DD1 is undoing my tidying at a faster rate than I can tidy it in the first place. Today, she was helping and not getting in my way (which is as good as helping). I got a load of boxes and filled them with toys and took them upstairs; they're not sorted, but that can be left for another day. I put tonnes of rubbish in the bin and recycling boxes, I swept up, hoovered the cushions and sofa, febreezed the sofa and curtains, and made the house (well, the front room) looking nice. And because I promised/bribed DD1 to help me, this afternoon we made fairy cakes together, and iced them with pink icing. As always, the red food dye spilt on my hands, so I now have a red thumb and first finger.
Potty training is going well too. Yesterday we went to the cafe to meet some friends and DD1 was just in knickers (ie with no nappy over the top) and was fine on the bus, in the cafe and shopping afterwards. She asked me a few times to go to the toilet, did so, and got lots of stickers when we returned home.
And weaning DD2 is going well, too. Today she had butternut squash soup, which she loved. She has been a bit sicky this evening (tmi: orangey/milky) so I hope it wasn't the soup, but at least we know she loves trying different flavours. I spoonfed her, rather than letting her have the spoon herself, and still made a mess everywhere. I'm glad that most of the time I'm doing fingerfoods, as it's much less messy than mush!
Tonight we had an Indian takeaway for tea, and a glass of wine. Today is the last day of DH's work, as he starts a new job on Monday. So we had a treat for a mini celebration. He was also given a cake from work, and because he took in with him doughnuts, he brought the cake home. Not much dieting going on this weekend then.
Anyway, that's me for now. Thanks for listening.
LBP
Today, I managed to tidy the living room! To most people, that's probably not that big a thing, but our house is a mess, so this was massive! Normally when I try, DD1 is undoing my tidying at a faster rate than I can tidy it in the first place. Today, she was helping and not getting in my way (which is as good as helping). I got a load of boxes and filled them with toys and took them upstairs; they're not sorted, but that can be left for another day. I put tonnes of rubbish in the bin and recycling boxes, I swept up, hoovered the cushions and sofa, febreezed the sofa and curtains, and made the house (well, the front room) looking nice. And because I promised/bribed DD1 to help me, this afternoon we made fairy cakes together, and iced them with pink icing. As always, the red food dye spilt on my hands, so I now have a red thumb and first finger.
Potty training is going well too. Yesterday we went to the cafe to meet some friends and DD1 was just in knickers (ie with no nappy over the top) and was fine on the bus, in the cafe and shopping afterwards. She asked me a few times to go to the toilet, did so, and got lots of stickers when we returned home.
And weaning DD2 is going well, too. Today she had butternut squash soup, which she loved. She has been a bit sicky this evening (tmi: orangey/milky) so I hope it wasn't the soup, but at least we know she loves trying different flavours. I spoonfed her, rather than letting her have the spoon herself, and still made a mess everywhere. I'm glad that most of the time I'm doing fingerfoods, as it's much less messy than mush!
Tonight we had an Indian takeaway for tea, and a glass of wine. Today is the last day of DH's work, as he starts a new job on Monday. So we had a treat for a mini celebration. He was also given a cake from work, and because he took in with him doughnuts, he brought the cake home. Not much dieting going on this weekend then.
Anyway, that's me for now. Thanks for listening.
LBP
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Weigh-in
Current weight: 72kg
Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: -1kg (put on 1kg)
Total weight loss: 6kg
Short and sweet today. I've put on weight this week. I'm not surprised as I haven't been following the diet (or even healthy eating) at all this week. I must try harder.
Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: -1kg (put on 1kg)
Total weight loss: 6kg
Short and sweet today. I've put on weight this week. I'm not surprised as I haven't been following the diet (or even healthy eating) at all this week. I must try harder.
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Valentine's Weekend
It was Valentine's Day yesterday, and because DH had a holiday to use up, he took the day off, so on Saturday we went to Wales for a long weekend with the ILs. Driving to Wales it occurred to me, that I'd left DH's card at home in the drawer. Fortunately, he'd done the same with my card too. LoL
We had booked a table at La Tasca on the Sunday night for 7pm, and planned to go to the cinema afterwards. As I hate to be late, I have the tendency to be early and we arrived for our table at just gone 6.30pm. We were seated straight away as the restaurant was empty. We had a selection of bread for starter, and lots of tapas for a main. The wine was half price, because it's a Sunday, so we shared a bottle of red. I joked to DH that we could be back at MIL's house before the time we had booked the table for - DH looked at his watch and when we had finished our main course, it was 7.08pm! Nevermind. The food was delicious (although the paella was slightly cold) and we had churros for dessert. I'd never had them before, but they were yummy. We ate them with a desset wine too, which reminded us both of being at university.
Afterwards, we went to TGI Friday's for a cocktail. I had a choc'n'mint oreo one (I can't remember what it's called) and DH had Caipirinho. As we were both full (and the cocktails were a fiver each) we decided we would go to the cinema, even though there were many more flavours I would like to have tried.
We saw The King's Speech, which was very good, although I did feel like it had been too hyped up. I get like that though - if everyone tells me something is absolutely excellent, I expect it to be the best film I have ever ever seen, but it wasn't. It was very good and enjoyable, but that's it. DH enjoyed it too, and thought it wouldn've been better than the other options I gave him, so that's fine.
Walking out of the cinema we debated going back for more cocktails. As it was a Sunday night, all the food-based places were closed, so the only option were late bars and clubs. Given that I was dressed up in my nice clothes, with a coat, hat, scarf and gloves, and most other people on the street were barely wearing any clothes and were much more drunk than I was, I felt older than my time (I'm not even 30 yet!) so we went back home.
All-in-all, we had an enjoyable Valentine's celebration on the Sunday.
We had booked a table at La Tasca on the Sunday night for 7pm, and planned to go to the cinema afterwards. As I hate to be late, I have the tendency to be early and we arrived for our table at just gone 6.30pm. We were seated straight away as the restaurant was empty. We had a selection of bread for starter, and lots of tapas for a main. The wine was half price, because it's a Sunday, so we shared a bottle of red. I joked to DH that we could be back at MIL's house before the time we had booked the table for - DH looked at his watch and when we had finished our main course, it was 7.08pm! Nevermind. The food was delicious (although the paella was slightly cold) and we had churros for dessert. I'd never had them before, but they were yummy. We ate them with a desset wine too, which reminded us both of being at university.
Afterwards, we went to TGI Friday's for a cocktail. I had a choc'n'mint oreo one (I can't remember what it's called) and DH had Caipirinho. As we were both full (and the cocktails were a fiver each) we decided we would go to the cinema, even though there were many more flavours I would like to have tried.
We saw The King's Speech, which was very good, although I did feel like it had been too hyped up. I get like that though - if everyone tells me something is absolutely excellent, I expect it to be the best film I have ever ever seen, but it wasn't. It was very good and enjoyable, but that's it. DH enjoyed it too, and thought it wouldn've been better than the other options I gave him, so that's fine.
Walking out of the cinema we debated going back for more cocktails. As it was a Sunday night, all the food-based places were closed, so the only option were late bars and clubs. Given that I was dressed up in my nice clothes, with a coat, hat, scarf and gloves, and most other people on the street were barely wearing any clothes and were much more drunk than I was, I felt older than my time (I'm not even 30 yet!) so we went back home.
All-in-all, we had an enjoyable Valentine's celebration on the Sunday.
Book Review: Maths for Mum and Dads by Eastaway and Askew
Maths for Mums and Dads: Take the pain out of Maths Homework by Rob Eastaway and Mike Askew.
Maths for Mum and Dads is a book designed to help parents who are fearful of their children's maths homework. It is aimed both at parents who did not get a good grounding in mathematics at school, and also at parents who do understand the basics of mathematics, but do not understand the new terminology and vocabulary. It covers the topics likely to be encountered at primary school, but should be understood by all before attempting GCSE.
It is very easy to read, with anecdotes and points of humour throughout. Where I found it most useful, is in looking at houw children think about maths problems. In particular, thinking through how the wrong answers arose (especially when sometimes it seems totally logical to use the wrong method). I'm a maths tutor, and often come across students at GCSE and A-Level who do not understand some of the concepts explained in this book, which should have been covered at primary school. As such, I hope it will help me with another approach when tutoring and coming agaisnt blank faces.
Finally, as a mum who is hoping to HE, throughout the book there are ways to help encourage your children in maths and numeracy, without the need of intensive "teaching" or expensive props. In fact, the book emphasises that if maths is normalised and approached in natural conversation, there are many more mathematical opportunities in everyday life, than many people realise - certainly much more than the arithmetic-fearing parents are scared of.
I'd recommend this book for any parent.
Maths for Mum and Dads is a book designed to help parents who are fearful of their children's maths homework. It is aimed both at parents who did not get a good grounding in mathematics at school, and also at parents who do understand the basics of mathematics, but do not understand the new terminology and vocabulary. It covers the topics likely to be encountered at primary school, but should be understood by all before attempting GCSE.
It is very easy to read, with anecdotes and points of humour throughout. Where I found it most useful, is in looking at houw children think about maths problems. In particular, thinking through how the wrong answers arose (especially when sometimes it seems totally logical to use the wrong method). I'm a maths tutor, and often come across students at GCSE and A-Level who do not understand some of the concepts explained in this book, which should have been covered at primary school. As such, I hope it will help me with another approach when tutoring and coming agaisnt blank faces.
Finally, as a mum who is hoping to HE, throughout the book there are ways to help encourage your children in maths and numeracy, without the need of intensive "teaching" or expensive props. In fact, the book emphasises that if maths is normalised and approached in natural conversation, there are many more mathematical opportunities in everyday life, than many people realise - certainly much more than the arithmetic-fearing parents are scared of.
I'd recommend this book for any parent.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Dear Diary,
Today has been one of those days. "Laid Back Parent"? Like Hell.
DD1 has been a right little madam today, to put it incredibly nicely. She wouldn't eat her breakfast nicely, or stay still, and dripped weetabix everywhere. She wouldn't get dressed, and made it impossible for me to dress her. She did keep shouting, screaming, tantrumming when she doesn't get her own way. Of course, this morning I had a doctor's appointment, that we were already nearly late for, so we had to get moving. As 'punishment' we usually either do time out by the front door, or I will restrain her. As she started headbutting and hitting me, it was the latter. Of course, holding her still (with her fighting me every step of the way) for 3min at a time was just making us later and later and she still wasn't dressed. Yes, I did have to do that more than once. I was even talking to myself (in my head) about how I would never have got away with this when I was little. We were smacked, and it's not something I want to do to my children, and we were scared (or at least I was) so we behaved through fear. Of course, when my mind slipped, I lost control and am ashamed to say I gave DD1 a tap across her legs. What a waste of time that was - I got more upset at myself, and she just laughed at me. It wasn't painful, didn't teach her a thing, but I just lost control. Stupid me.
Eventually I did manage to get her dressed, and said that because she has been naughty, she would have to be tied in the pushchair. The thought of dragging her, in this mood, for a mile to the doctor's when I was already late was too much. So, I put the wrap around me, and DD1 decided she wanted to be in the pushchair, so she tied herself in, happily. I put DD2 in the wrap, put on my big coat, to find out that it was pi$$ing it down outside. So, DD1 was dry and being pushed along, and me and DD2 were getting wet and I walked as fast as I could to make our 11am appt. And that's when I found out that my umbrella is no longer in the change bag, and I've no idea where it is.
We made it to the doctor's 5min late, so I said my name and that I had an appt at 11. Meanwhile, DD1 has decided she's not naughty, wants to get out of the pushchair, and is screaming the place down. I'm doing my best "I'm ignoring you" stance, but feel that I'm failing. So, I'm already not in the best of moods when I get told that I don't have an appointment. I say "yes I do, it's with the asthma nurse." She booked it when I was in the previous appt, and wrote it down for me; but I'm not on the system anywhere, and there isn't another asthma clinic for ages. I asked if I could be squeezed in (I felt like I would cry), and rummaged through my handbag. Good thing I don't tidy my bag out much - I still had the piece of paper with her writing on it! So I handed it over, and the receptionist went in to see her (she was already in an appt). I don't know what was said, but they said they would squeeze me in.
I sat down, and waitied my turn. I let DD1 out of the pushchair (she ran straight into the wendy house) and I took DD2 out of the wrap and put her into the pram - she fell asleep almost immediately. Luckily DD1 was fairly well behaved whilst at the doctors. It turns out I do have asthma, so have been prescribed a preventative inhaler to take twice a day. The nurse was very apologetic about the mix up with the appt - she remembers making it for me - and said I need to return in a month's time, but to make the appt with front desk, in case the same mistake happens again. So back out the front, but I can't make an appt because, according to the system, she's not working in a month's time. Best advice is to wait a week and phone back to try again. And to top it off, DD1 is starting to play up again and refusing to put her coat on. It is still raining, and I need to cross the road to get my new inhaler from the chemists, so I suffer the looks of other people for 'allowing' my three year old to go out in the pouring rain without her coat on. Before I left the doctor's I tried to forcibly put the coat on her, but she was throwing herself around in such a way, that it was really dangerous.
In the chemists, she decided that she was hungry and so was going to scream and scream. That's when I perfected my ignoring. I did manage to get her coat on her, though, so I felt better about that. We then had the walk home. Sometimes, if DD1 has been good, I will buy "naughty lunch" aka a KFC. We don't have chips at home (no deepfat fryer, and I'm scared of a chip pan), so only have them when visiting family, or being naughty. KFC is the only fastfood chain (that I know of) that doesn't salt its chips. Although it is not something to have every day, young children do need a high fat diet so the occasional portion of chips isn't that bad. And because I never buy DD1 her own meal (I buy myself something, and she shares that) it's not as bad as it could be. Anyway, KFC is practically next to the chemists, and DD1 decided that she wanted it. I walked off, and DD1 eventually ran after me, when she realised I wasn't going to give in. More sobbing and tantrumming on the way home, but gradually reducing. I think the walk home in the rain calmed her down a bit.
At home, she still said she was hungry, so I gave her an apple and a raw carrot. DD2 hadn't been fed since before we left for the doctor's and was now awake again, so I had to feed her, before I could think of doing anything for lunch, as it was now 1pm. I am an emotional eater, I know it, but I'm too stupid to do anything about it. I ordered in a pizza for lunch (with over half saved for dinner too). DD1 shared the sides with me, but it's not good for me trying to lose weight.
Eating did calm DD1 down, though, and this afternoon we played Monopoly Junior again. This was a much longer game, and we had to stop so I could feed DD2 again. Despite a fantastic comeback (at one point, I only had £3 left), DD1 won again (!) with £55 against £35. They are both now asleep, as I should be too, because I am knackered.
Goodbye,
LBP
DD1 has been a right little madam today, to put it incredibly nicely. She wouldn't eat her breakfast nicely, or stay still, and dripped weetabix everywhere. She wouldn't get dressed, and made it impossible for me to dress her. She did keep shouting, screaming, tantrumming when she doesn't get her own way. Of course, this morning I had a doctor's appointment, that we were already nearly late for, so we had to get moving. As 'punishment' we usually either do time out by the front door, or I will restrain her. As she started headbutting and hitting me, it was the latter. Of course, holding her still (with her fighting me every step of the way) for 3min at a time was just making us later and later and she still wasn't dressed. Yes, I did have to do that more than once. I was even talking to myself (in my head) about how I would never have got away with this when I was little. We were smacked, and it's not something I want to do to my children, and we were scared (or at least I was) so we behaved through fear. Of course, when my mind slipped, I lost control and am ashamed to say I gave DD1 a tap across her legs. What a waste of time that was - I got more upset at myself, and she just laughed at me. It wasn't painful, didn't teach her a thing, but I just lost control. Stupid me.
Eventually I did manage to get her dressed, and said that because she has been naughty, she would have to be tied in the pushchair. The thought of dragging her, in this mood, for a mile to the doctor's when I was already late was too much. So, I put the wrap around me, and DD1 decided she wanted to be in the pushchair, so she tied herself in, happily. I put DD2 in the wrap, put on my big coat, to find out that it was pi$$ing it down outside. So, DD1 was dry and being pushed along, and me and DD2 were getting wet and I walked as fast as I could to make our 11am appt. And that's when I found out that my umbrella is no longer in the change bag, and I've no idea where it is.
We made it to the doctor's 5min late, so I said my name and that I had an appt at 11. Meanwhile, DD1 has decided she's not naughty, wants to get out of the pushchair, and is screaming the place down. I'm doing my best "I'm ignoring you" stance, but feel that I'm failing. So, I'm already not in the best of moods when I get told that I don't have an appointment. I say "yes I do, it's with the asthma nurse." She booked it when I was in the previous appt, and wrote it down for me; but I'm not on the system anywhere, and there isn't another asthma clinic for ages. I asked if I could be squeezed in (I felt like I would cry), and rummaged through my handbag. Good thing I don't tidy my bag out much - I still had the piece of paper with her writing on it! So I handed it over, and the receptionist went in to see her (she was already in an appt). I don't know what was said, but they said they would squeeze me in.
I sat down, and waitied my turn. I let DD1 out of the pushchair (she ran straight into the wendy house) and I took DD2 out of the wrap and put her into the pram - she fell asleep almost immediately. Luckily DD1 was fairly well behaved whilst at the doctors. It turns out I do have asthma, so have been prescribed a preventative inhaler to take twice a day. The nurse was very apologetic about the mix up with the appt - she remembers making it for me - and said I need to return in a month's time, but to make the appt with front desk, in case the same mistake happens again. So back out the front, but I can't make an appt because, according to the system, she's not working in a month's time. Best advice is to wait a week and phone back to try again. And to top it off, DD1 is starting to play up again and refusing to put her coat on. It is still raining, and I need to cross the road to get my new inhaler from the chemists, so I suffer the looks of other people for 'allowing' my three year old to go out in the pouring rain without her coat on. Before I left the doctor's I tried to forcibly put the coat on her, but she was throwing herself around in such a way, that it was really dangerous.
In the chemists, she decided that she was hungry and so was going to scream and scream. That's when I perfected my ignoring. I did manage to get her coat on her, though, so I felt better about that. We then had the walk home. Sometimes, if DD1 has been good, I will buy "naughty lunch" aka a KFC. We don't have chips at home (no deepfat fryer, and I'm scared of a chip pan), so only have them when visiting family, or being naughty. KFC is the only fastfood chain (that I know of) that doesn't salt its chips. Although it is not something to have every day, young children do need a high fat diet so the occasional portion of chips isn't that bad. And because I never buy DD1 her own meal (I buy myself something, and she shares that) it's not as bad as it could be. Anyway, KFC is practically next to the chemists, and DD1 decided that she wanted it. I walked off, and DD1 eventually ran after me, when she realised I wasn't going to give in. More sobbing and tantrumming on the way home, but gradually reducing. I think the walk home in the rain calmed her down a bit.
At home, she still said she was hungry, so I gave her an apple and a raw carrot. DD2 hadn't been fed since before we left for the doctor's and was now awake again, so I had to feed her, before I could think of doing anything for lunch, as it was now 1pm. I am an emotional eater, I know it, but I'm too stupid to do anything about it. I ordered in a pizza for lunch (with over half saved for dinner too). DD1 shared the sides with me, but it's not good for me trying to lose weight.
Eating did calm DD1 down, though, and this afternoon we played Monopoly Junior again. This was a much longer game, and we had to stop so I could feed DD2 again. Despite a fantastic comeback (at one point, I only had £3 left), DD1 won again (!) with £55 against £35. They are both now asleep, as I should be too, because I am knackered.
Goodbye,
LBP
Gardening
I'm not particularly green-fingered, but I want to try and grow my own. I've bought a book (any excuse for another book!) and back in the Autumn I cut the grass on my proposed site, weed-killered it to remove the perennials (using the recommended 'safe' weedkiller), and started digging up the turf. It turns out that "hard labour" is indeed hard and, before the frost and ssnow came, I only managed an area of 1ft x 2ft, which DH helped me expand to 1ft x 3ft.
Tuesday, this week, was lovely, so I finally managed to get back into the garden. I wrapped up DD2, and put her in the bouncy chair, got out DD1's balance bike of the shed, took out my spade, put my hand on the door to close the shed and got a hand full of splinters. Ouch. There's at least 20 of them in there, so if anyone knows of a easy way to get them out? Or is it best to leave them until they work themselves out? I've soaked my hand in hot water, and had a go with some tweezers, but they're all so small I only managed to remove one.After looking up various techniques of removing splinters on the web, I've tried glue - didn't work at all, so I doubt Sellotape will work. The other interesting ideas are using Vicks Vapour Rub (to open the pores), using a paste of baking powder (to cause the skin to swell and push the splinters out) or leave them alone. For now, I'm leaving them.
But, I did double the size of my vegetable patch. It was much easier than when I tried before, so I think the frosts must have helped. It is now 1.5ft x nearly 4ft, so I'm happy with that, and will start on the double digging next (so hopefully by the time the warmer weather arrives, I'll have finished this much). Somehow, though, over the winter the compost container shifted and sunken slightly, with the base-opening bit (it opens like a door) fallen behind the patio slabs. Maybe it was a silly place to put the compost heap, but it's conveniently using up non-used space and is hidden from the kitchen view by a large bush. I'll need DH to lift the container back up onto the edge of the slab, so I can open the door again, to get my compost out.
So, my plans are to grow strawberries in a hanging baskets, tomatoes from a grow-bag over the trellis-arch, and carrots and onions in the ground. I don't want to be too ambitious, but I would like to grow something tasty.
Tuesday, this week, was lovely, so I finally managed to get back into the garden. I wrapped up DD2, and put her in the bouncy chair, got out DD1's balance bike of the shed, took out my spade, put my hand on the door to close the shed and got a hand full of splinters. Ouch. There's at least 20 of them in there, so if anyone knows of a easy way to get them out? Or is it best to leave them until they work themselves out? I've soaked my hand in hot water, and had a go with some tweezers, but they're all so small I only managed to remove one.After looking up various techniques of removing splinters on the web, I've tried glue - didn't work at all, so I doubt Sellotape will work. The other interesting ideas are using Vicks Vapour Rub (to open the pores), using a paste of baking powder (to cause the skin to swell and push the splinters out) or leave them alone. For now, I'm leaving them.
But, I did double the size of my vegetable patch. It was much easier than when I tried before, so I think the frosts must have helped. It is now 1.5ft x nearly 4ft, so I'm happy with that, and will start on the double digging next (so hopefully by the time the warmer weather arrives, I'll have finished this much). Somehow, though, over the winter the compost container shifted and sunken slightly, with the base-opening bit (it opens like a door) fallen behind the patio slabs. Maybe it was a silly place to put the compost heap, but it's conveniently using up non-used space and is hidden from the kitchen view by a large bush. I'll need DH to lift the container back up onto the edge of the slab, so I can open the door again, to get my compost out.
So, my plans are to grow strawberries in a hanging baskets, tomatoes from a grow-bag over the trellis-arch, and carrots and onions in the ground. I don't want to be too ambitious, but I would like to grow something tasty.
Weigh-in
Current weight: 71kg
Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: 3.5kg (although it has been longer than a week. Oops.)
Total weight loss: 7kg
I've not been particularly good, but am still losing weight, so I'm really pleased.
Again, this is the lowest weight I've been in adult-hood.
Goal weight: 10st
Weight lost this week: 3.5kg (although it has been longer than a week. Oops.)
Total weight loss: 7kg
I've not been particularly good, but am still losing weight, so I'm really pleased.
Again, this is the lowest weight I've been in adult-hood.
Monopoly
I love the game Monopoly. I often win (although I do enjoy it just as much even if I don't), am ever-so-slightly ruthless, and play totally within the rules - it's just not my fault if other people don't know the rules!
On one of the email groups I'm part of, somebody was selling Monopoly Junior, for just a couple of pounds, so I bought it. It arrived yesterday and is fantastic. It's brand new, and I've already played it with DD1 three times! The first time, I only cheated once (in her favour) and she won. Almost every time I passed it, I landed on the Loose Change (or whatever it's called) square, so when the money had built up quite a bit, I purposely re-rolled the die, before DD1 noticed, so I didn't land on it. I won't be doing that again. LoL. The second time, she got bored, (we had been playing for over an hour, as it was immediately after the previous game) so we just stopped and nobody won. The third time was when DH returned from work. As soon as he walked in the door, DD1 demanded we play, and I had been saying all afternoon that we should wait for Daddy. We played, with absolutely no cheating, and DD1 won again! So, I think she takes after me with her like of Monopoly. Especially considering she's only 3, and the box recommends it from the age of 5.
Already, she was adding up (making use of her Number Bonds - a term I've learnt from the latest book I'm reading "Maths for Mums and Dads") different ways to make £4, when she didn't have a £4-note. And we added up the larger notes, when I frequently had to pay her £8 or £10 in lots of small change. I can see Monoploy being a great HE tool. Well, that's my excuse to play it again, anyway. :-D
On one of the email groups I'm part of, somebody was selling Monopoly Junior, for just a couple of pounds, so I bought it. It arrived yesterday and is fantastic. It's brand new, and I've already played it with DD1 three times! The first time, I only cheated once (in her favour) and she won. Almost every time I passed it, I landed on the Loose Change (or whatever it's called) square, so when the money had built up quite a bit, I purposely re-rolled the die, before DD1 noticed, so I didn't land on it. I won't be doing that again. LoL. The second time, she got bored, (we had been playing for over an hour, as it was immediately after the previous game) so we just stopped and nobody won. The third time was when DH returned from work. As soon as he walked in the door, DD1 demanded we play, and I had been saying all afternoon that we should wait for Daddy. We played, with absolutely no cheating, and DD1 won again! So, I think she takes after me with her like of Monopoly. Especially considering she's only 3, and the box recommends it from the age of 5.
Already, she was adding up (making use of her Number Bonds - a term I've learnt from the latest book I'm reading "Maths for Mums and Dads") different ways to make £4, when she didn't have a £4-note. And we added up the larger notes, when I frequently had to pay her £8 or £10 in lots of small change. I can see Monoploy being a great HE tool. Well, that's my excuse to play it again, anyway. :-D
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
She went through the night!
In her own bed (cot) in DD1's room (which is now both their bedroom). Hopefully this will continue. Hurray!
After giving them a bath last night, I fed DD2 and tried to lay her in bed, but she woke up, and was disturbing DD1, so we decided to bring her downstairs. Before this, she had always gone to bed with us. Because I'm BFing, there doesn't seem much point putting her to bed without us, if I'm gonna be running up and downstairs every 5min. So, (without another feed) she fell asleep again, and we put her upstairs at 10pm.
At 4am I woke up (TMI: leaking), so went to the loo, got myself a drink, and expressed a little. By this point, I'm guessing DD2 could smell yummy food and it woke her up. So I went into the room, and gave her a BF. Note to self: find the blanket I used to keep in that room, as it's cold in the middle of the night, and put some tissues in there for when I'm sneezing, because it's cold in there. Afterwards, I led her down and she settled almost immediately, sleeping though until DD1 woke he up at 6am!
Also, yesterday I cooked a roast dinner, and gave some of the veggies to DD2. When I previously tried carrot, she wasn't keen, but I know that you need to try things 15-20 times, to determine whether they don't like something because it's new (after 20 times they will like it) or if they genuinely don't like something. I love carrots, so I didn't want any wasted, so only reserved 1 stick for D2. I also had some cubes of swede and some boiled potato.
Well, she wolfed down the carrot, like nobody's business. I'm going to cook her some more today. I tried her with the swede, but she wasn't fussed, and it isn't as sweet as carrot. Again, for the potato, which she has had before, she wasn't bothered by, so DD1 finished them up. Luckily, DD1 also loves her vegetables, and ate a big plate of roast dinner including carrots, swede, and sprouts (yuck!).
The only thing with this weaning malarkey, is that I'm not sure yet of quantities. Clearly at the moment I'm either getting it bang-on (unlikely) or I'm not doing enough. Today, when I cook the carrot, I will do half a carrot, just for DD2, and will let her guide me to how much she wants to eat.
After giving them a bath last night, I fed DD2 and tried to lay her in bed, but she woke up, and was disturbing DD1, so we decided to bring her downstairs. Before this, she had always gone to bed with us. Because I'm BFing, there doesn't seem much point putting her to bed without us, if I'm gonna be running up and downstairs every 5min. So, (without another feed) she fell asleep again, and we put her upstairs at 10pm.
At 4am I woke up (TMI: leaking), so went to the loo, got myself a drink, and expressed a little. By this point, I'm guessing DD2 could smell yummy food and it woke her up. So I went into the room, and gave her a BF. Note to self: find the blanket I used to keep in that room, as it's cold in the middle of the night, and put some tissues in there for when I'm sneezing, because it's cold in there. Afterwards, I led her down and she settled almost immediately, sleeping though until DD1 woke he up at 6am!
Also, yesterday I cooked a roast dinner, and gave some of the veggies to DD2. When I previously tried carrot, she wasn't keen, but I know that you need to try things 15-20 times, to determine whether they don't like something because it's new (after 20 times they will like it) or if they genuinely don't like something. I love carrots, so I didn't want any wasted, so only reserved 1 stick for D2. I also had some cubes of swede and some boiled potato.
Well, she wolfed down the carrot, like nobody's business. I'm going to cook her some more today. I tried her with the swede, but she wasn't fussed, and it isn't as sweet as carrot. Again, for the potato, which she has had before, she wasn't bothered by, so DD1 finished them up. Luckily, DD1 also loves her vegetables, and ate a big plate of roast dinner including carrots, swede, and sprouts (yuck!).
The only thing with this weaning malarkey, is that I'm not sure yet of quantities. Clearly at the moment I'm either getting it bang-on (unlikely) or I'm not doing enough. Today, when I cook the carrot, I will do half a carrot, just for DD2, and will let her guide me to how much she wants to eat.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Library Visit
DD1 got her 10th certificate for the Bookcrawl today! So, she's no longer part of the book crawl, but that won't stop us going to the library, she loves it too much. DD2 is halfway towards her 2nd certificate.
DD1 decided she wanted a story today, so as well as the usual rhymes, we read The Hungry Caterpillar, and learnt a new song about caterpillars too. (As soon as we got home, DD1 wanted it again, but I can't remember it. Hopefully next week I'll have learnt it a bit better.)
Afterward, there was also a meet with someone from the council about funded early years education. I said that we're not taking up our place, until at least Sept, because I want to HE. She mentioned some of the HE groups in the area (I've already met up with them) and said I could talk to one of her colleagues (an independent advisor) about schools in the area (she had already noticed how intelligent DD1 is, and we had a discussion about the Gifted and Talented register, and things) or about the legal side of registering to HE. I told her that actually there are no legal requirements to HE, and if your child hasn't been in school at all, they won't ever meet an education welfare officer and they will not be part of a register. She seemed interested, but let me know what services and help was around in the area.
So, the books we borrowed this week:
DD1 decided she wanted a story today, so as well as the usual rhymes, we read The Hungry Caterpillar, and learnt a new song about caterpillars too. (As soon as we got home, DD1 wanted it again, but I can't remember it. Hopefully next week I'll have learnt it a bit better.)
Afterward, there was also a meet with someone from the council about funded early years education. I said that we're not taking up our place, until at least Sept, because I want to HE. She mentioned some of the HE groups in the area (I've already met up with them) and said I could talk to one of her colleagues (an independent advisor) about schools in the area (she had already noticed how intelligent DD1 is, and we had a discussion about the Gifted and Talented register, and things) or about the legal side of registering to HE. I told her that actually there are no legal requirements to HE, and if your child hasn't been in school at all, they won't ever meet an education welfare officer and they will not be part of a register. She seemed interested, but let me know what services and help was around in the area.
So, the books we borrowed this week:
- Blackbeard the Pirate by Gowar and Phillips
- Sam's Spots by Jenner and Langley
- Stomp, Dinorsaur, Stomp by Mayo and Ayliffe
- See Inside Ancient Egypt by Lloyd Jones and Hancock
- Buster's Birthday by Campbell
- Roadworks by Sutton and Lovelock.
DD2's Birth Story - Aug 2010
My birth story. It's a bit long 
but towards the end my memory has gone so goes much quicker.
Saturday 21st August I woke up with period pains and backache again, although this time it felt different as it followed the described pattern of waves rising to a peak and trailing off again. They were about 30-40seconds long, but were irregular, ranging from every 10mins to every hour and a half. After googling for info, I decided that I was indeed in very early labour. Unfortunately, what I'd read said that could last from a few hours to a few days, so still no sign anything was going to happen soon. It was typical, though, because my mum went on holiday to France yesterday, and my sister (2nd on call for childcare) couldn't make this w/e either.
We spent the day pottering about, and in the afternoon I decided that I would send DH to the supermarket to buy the big list of shopping that I wanted in the house for my home birth (food for during labour, food for midwives, and food for afterwards that I've been waiting 9 months to enjoy again; plus some champagne and a birthday cake for baby ). By the time he came back, I was desperate for him to help me put on the TENS machine as everything seemed to be getting stronger and more regular. We phoned MIL to come down and look after DD, and when DH put her to bed (around 8.30pm) I phoned delivery suite. I said I was booked in for a HB, and after all the usual questions, the person on the end of the phone said “I assume you had a normal delivery last time?”. “Actually, I had an EmCS.” “And you booked a HB?” “Yes.” “And did your midwife go through the risks?” At this point, I didn't bother answering, and after a few moments of silence she said to expect a phonecall from the cmw on duty. About 20min later, the cmw called and said it sounded like I was in labour and because I'm VBAC, the first mw on call (I was speaking to the second mw on call) would come around and assess me and determine whether they would stay, or leave and go home. Fortunately, she had spoken to my normal midwife (who typically was unavailable) and knew about my case, and was more than happy for me to have a HB.
Around 9.30pm, I think, the first mw came round. She did try and persuade me to go to the hospital, and after speaking to her supervisor, I was even offered a WBAC in the hospital – what I'd asked for all along! However, I declined and said I was looking forward to my HB and had no intention of going to hospital if I didn't need to. She examined me, and I was found to be 2-3cm, and I was happy bouncing on my ball with TENS. After a fair while, she decided to leave and I would call her back later. DH and I were very grateful for that, because she seemed very despondent and discouraging, as every other word seemed to be hospital.
DH and I started to assemble our birth pool when MIL and SFIL arrived. We half filled the pool with water, with the plan to fill the remaining bit, at the right temp, later when I'm about to get in. Contractions were getting stronger, and I phoned the mw back after the ILs went to bed. She arrived (in a more positive mood, thankfully!) and has phoned the second midwife to come round. I was still bouncing on the ball, with TENS, listening to the hypnotherapy music and coping reasonably. Actually, both midwives said I was coping well, and I was told that when I got to 4-5cm I could get in the pool. Hurray!
I was examined again around at 2am and I had reached this stage, but decided that I would stay out of the pool for as long as I was coping. So, at 3am I took off the TENS and got into the pool: it was bliss. I felt like I was coping much better, and could easily change position and I was able to breathe through the contractions. The contractions did slow down slightly, but as I knew I would need to get out to be examined again at 4, I wasn't too worried. Unfortunately, when I had the VE I was found to be 4cm (so less than I was before I got in the pool), so I dried off, put the TENS back on, and sat back on my ball. The contraction did get stronger again, but didn't speed up, staying at 1 every 5min. At 5am I was advised to stop eating in case of transfer and CS.
By 6am I was examined again, and still only 4cm.
If things had progressed, I would have been able to get back in the pool, instead I was advised to transfer to hospital. I reiterated that I did not want to be induced, but the mws said that because I was a VBAC I would be offered a CS immediately, if I wanted it, so they cleared up their things and left.
By now it was hitting me that I had failed again. I was upset and disappointed, but I'd rather go in for a CS now, than to labour all day and need an EmCS at the end. On the good side, DD was now up, happy that Nanny and Grampy were here, and we were able to say goodbye before we left for the hospital. DH and I finished packing my hospital bag (that I'd only started packing yesterday when labour kicked off) and we drove to the maternity ward.
On arrival we were led to a room on delivery suite and it hit me again that I was in hospital and not getting the birth I wanted. When the mw came round, I said my request for a CS which she declined. I said that I was told because I'm VBAC I would be able to have a CS straight away, as I don't want to be induced. She said I didn't have to be induced if I didn't want to be, but I could not have a CS and my only other option was to go back home because I clearly was not in established labour yet. Now I felt worse than a failure. Of all the stuff I'd read about people being tricked to go to hospital, I felt that I had fallen for it, and now I actually arrived I was told I should've stayed home in the first place.
The mw wanted to monitor me for 20min, at which point I could go home if I wanted, so I agreed. By now, though, my contractions picked up and were getting stronger. A doctor came round and gave us the options. Interestingly, he said I could have a CS immediately if I wanted one, and the mw was there too, but he needed to go and check with theatre first. Now I was in the hospital I wanted that CS so we decided to stay. I was kept hooked up to a monitor and waited. I sent DH out to get a birthing ball for me and soon felt the need for g&a. By the time the doctor returned, my contractions had started up again and I was starting to dilate again. The pain was getting worse and I recognised that I wouldn't be able to cope too much longer, so I made my intention of an epidural known to the mw. I was still using g&a and TENS and ramping each up with each contraction, and demanding an epidural frequently. Eventually the anaesthetist came round to give the epidural, and things felt a lot better. (Not that I can really remember the time leading up to actually getting the epi.)
Then there was a mw shift change, and I had a mw who was with me when I laboured with DD, and a student mw who stayed practically the whole time. I kept contracting, had to have a few top-ups of the epi, but I was failing to progress again. This time I hit 8cm (the same 'magic dilation' I couldn't get past with DD) and was there for a good few hours. Yet again, I felt the sense of failure as I was beginning to consider a CS again, and I wished I was just given it when I asked first thing in the morning. I waited for as long as they would allow me, and finally I got to 8.5-9cm! I got stuck there again, for a few hours, but at least I had got past 8cm. They suggested that I have syntocinon drip. As I was induced with DD, and I know that synto increases the risk of scar rupture, beforehand I was adamant that I didn't want the drip. But by now, I was sooo close, and they explained that it would very gradually be increased and if I changed my mind at any point I would go straight for CS, so I agreed. Using the drip, did mean my epidural needed topping up again, but I finally reached 10cm. I was given an hour to 'rest' before I tried pushing, but I was fully dilated. Hurray!
Unfortunately, by now I'd been awake for what seemed a million hours (in reality it was about 7pm Sunday night) and was absolutely shattered and exhausted. In order to push, I had to wait for a contraction, hold my breath and push with all my might for as long as I could. I don't have too much memory of this, other than shouting that I couldn't do it. Another shift change at 8pm, and this mw made me focus much better on the pushing by counting each breath to 8. Not that I managed that very well (DH has just read this through, and said I managed much better with the counting than without it) but at least I had something else to concentrate on. Again, my memory is very hazy, but DH says I was pushing like this for a good hour or so, at which point they turned the synto off and said I should stop pushing. Now I have zero memory, but apparently I had to wait for an obstetrician who examined me, explained everything and then was taken to theatre for a forceps delivery. My next memory is of coming round in the theatre and asking a doctor what was happening, my midwife returned and explained everything. Said they would try forceps, and I would have to push again, and give me an episiotomy, but if that didn't work then I would be in place for an EmCS.
The epidural was increased to cover most my body, DH arrived in scrubs, and I had to wait for the next contraction. I started pushing and had to work through a few contractions, when I was getting upset again thinking I'd need a CS, and they said the head was through! Then the body, and baby was wrapped in a blanket and handed to me! A little girl, who cried straight away, and I couldn't believe I managed a VBAC.
DD2 was born at 11.34pm on Sunday 22nd august 2010 weighing 7lbs 15.5oz with a head circumference of 37cm. Not the birth I had planned, with much that I had ruled out, but she was delivered with a little bit of help and much effort by me.
I'm not planning on any more children, but I would definitely recommend a home birth, and/or a waterbirth to anyone who wants one. And if you are considered a 'difficult case' fight for what you want, and stay at home for as long as you possibly can before you do transfer, if you do.
but towards the end my memory has gone so goes much quicker. Saturday 21st August I woke up with period pains and backache again, although this time it felt different as it followed the described pattern of waves rising to a peak and trailing off again. They were about 30-40seconds long, but were irregular, ranging from every 10mins to every hour and a half. After googling for info, I decided that I was indeed in very early labour. Unfortunately, what I'd read said that could last from a few hours to a few days, so still no sign anything was going to happen soon. It was typical, though, because my mum went on holiday to France yesterday, and my sister (2nd on call for childcare) couldn't make this w/e either.
We spent the day pottering about, and in the afternoon I decided that I would send DH to the supermarket to buy the big list of shopping that I wanted in the house for my home birth (food for during labour, food for midwives, and food for afterwards that I've been waiting 9 months to enjoy again; plus some champagne and a birthday cake for baby
). By the time he came back, I was desperate for him to help me put on the TENS machine as everything seemed to be getting stronger and more regular. We phoned MIL to come down and look after DD, and when DH put her to bed (around 8.30pm) I phoned delivery suite. I said I was booked in for a HB, and after all the usual questions, the person on the end of the phone said “I assume you had a normal delivery last time?”. “Actually, I had an EmCS.” “And you booked a HB?” “Yes.” “And did your midwife go through the risks?” At this point, I didn't bother answering, and after a few moments of silence she said to expect a phonecall from the cmw on duty. About 20min later, the cmw called and said it sounded like I was in labour and because I'm VBAC, the first mw on call (I was speaking to the second mw on call) would come around and assess me and determine whether they would stay, or leave and go home. Fortunately, she had spoken to my normal midwife (who typically was unavailable) and knew about my case, and was more than happy for me to have a HB.Around 9.30pm, I think, the first mw came round. She did try and persuade me to go to the hospital, and after speaking to her supervisor, I was even offered a WBAC in the hospital – what I'd asked for all along! However, I declined and said I was looking forward to my HB and had no intention of going to hospital if I didn't need to. She examined me, and I was found to be 2-3cm, and I was happy bouncing on my ball with TENS. After a fair while, she decided to leave and I would call her back later. DH and I were very grateful for that, because she seemed very despondent and discouraging, as every other word seemed to be hospital.
DH and I started to assemble our birth pool when MIL and SFIL arrived. We half filled the pool with water, with the plan to fill the remaining bit, at the right temp, later when I'm about to get in. Contractions were getting stronger, and I phoned the mw back after the ILs went to bed. She arrived (in a more positive mood, thankfully!) and has phoned the second midwife to come round. I was still bouncing on the ball, with TENS, listening to the hypnotherapy music and coping reasonably. Actually, both midwives said I was coping well, and I was told that when I got to 4-5cm I could get in the pool. Hurray!
I was examined again around at 2am and I had reached this stage, but decided that I would stay out of the pool for as long as I was coping. So, at 3am I took off the TENS and got into the pool: it was bliss. I felt like I was coping much better, and could easily change position and I was able to breathe through the contractions. The contractions did slow down slightly, but as I knew I would need to get out to be examined again at 4, I wasn't too worried. Unfortunately, when I had the VE I was found to be 4cm (so less than I was before I got in the pool), so I dried off, put the TENS back on, and sat back on my ball. The contraction did get stronger again, but didn't speed up, staying at 1 every 5min. At 5am I was advised to stop eating in case of transfer and CS.
By 6am I was examined again, and still only 4cm.
If things had progressed, I would have been able to get back in the pool, instead I was advised to transfer to hospital. I reiterated that I did not want to be induced, but the mws said that because I was a VBAC I would be offered a CS immediately, if I wanted it, so they cleared up their things and left.By now it was hitting me that I had failed again. I was upset and disappointed, but I'd rather go in for a CS now, than to labour all day and need an EmCS at the end. On the good side, DD was now up, happy that Nanny and Grampy were here, and we were able to say goodbye before we left for the hospital. DH and I finished packing my hospital bag (that I'd only started packing yesterday when labour kicked off) and we drove to the maternity ward.
On arrival we were led to a room on delivery suite and it hit me again that I was in hospital and not getting the birth I wanted. When the mw came round, I said my request for a CS which she declined. I said that I was told because I'm VBAC I would be able to have a CS straight away, as I don't want to be induced. She said I didn't have to be induced if I didn't want to be, but I could not have a CS and my only other option was to go back home because I clearly was not in established labour yet. Now I felt worse than a failure. Of all the stuff I'd read about people being tricked to go to hospital, I felt that I had fallen for it, and now I actually arrived I was told I should've stayed home in the first place.
The mw wanted to monitor me for 20min, at which point I could go home if I wanted, so I agreed. By now, though, my contractions picked up and were getting stronger. A doctor came round and gave us the options. Interestingly, he said I could have a CS immediately if I wanted one, and the mw was there too, but he needed to go and check with theatre first. Now I was in the hospital I wanted that CS so we decided to stay. I was kept hooked up to a monitor and waited. I sent DH out to get a birthing ball for me and soon felt the need for g&a. By the time the doctor returned, my contractions had started up again and I was starting to dilate again. The pain was getting worse and I recognised that I wouldn't be able to cope too much longer, so I made my intention of an epidural known to the mw. I was still using g&a and TENS and ramping each up with each contraction, and demanding an epidural frequently. Eventually the anaesthetist came round to give the epidural, and things felt a lot better. (Not that I can really remember the time leading up to actually getting the epi.)
Then there was a mw shift change, and I had a mw who was with me when I laboured with DD, and a student mw who stayed practically the whole time. I kept contracting, had to have a few top-ups of the epi, but I was failing to progress again. This time I hit 8cm (the same 'magic dilation' I couldn't get past with DD) and was there for a good few hours. Yet again, I felt the sense of failure as I was beginning to consider a CS again, and I wished I was just given it when I asked first thing in the morning. I waited for as long as they would allow me, and finally I got to 8.5-9cm! I got stuck there again, for a few hours, but at least I had got past 8cm. They suggested that I have syntocinon drip. As I was induced with DD, and I know that synto increases the risk of scar rupture, beforehand I was adamant that I didn't want the drip. But by now, I was sooo close, and they explained that it would very gradually be increased and if I changed my mind at any point I would go straight for CS, so I agreed. Using the drip, did mean my epidural needed topping up again, but I finally reached 10cm. I was given an hour to 'rest' before I tried pushing, but I was fully dilated. Hurray!
Unfortunately, by now I'd been awake for what seemed a million hours (in reality it was about 7pm Sunday night) and was absolutely shattered and exhausted. In order to push, I had to wait for a contraction, hold my breath and push with all my might for as long as I could. I don't have too much memory of this, other than shouting that I couldn't do it. Another shift change at 8pm, and this mw made me focus much better on the pushing by counting each breath to 8. Not that I managed that very well (DH has just read this through, and said I managed much better with the counting than without it) but at least I had something else to concentrate on. Again, my memory is very hazy, but DH says I was pushing like this for a good hour or so, at which point they turned the synto off and said I should stop pushing. Now I have zero memory, but apparently I had to wait for an obstetrician who examined me, explained everything and then was taken to theatre for a forceps delivery. My next memory is of coming round in the theatre and asking a doctor what was happening, my midwife returned and explained everything. Said they would try forceps, and I would have to push again, and give me an episiotomy, but if that didn't work then I would be in place for an EmCS.
The epidural was increased to cover most my body, DH arrived in scrubs, and I had to wait for the next contraction. I started pushing and had to work through a few contractions, when I was getting upset again thinking I'd need a CS, and they said the head was through! Then the body, and baby was wrapped in a blanket and handed to me! A little girl, who cried straight away, and I couldn't believe I managed a VBAC.
DD2 was born at 11.34pm on Sunday 22nd august 2010 weighing 7lbs 15.5oz with a head circumference of 37cm. Not the birth I had planned, with much that I had ruled out, but she was delivered with a little bit of help and much effort by me.
I'm not planning on any more children, but I would definitely recommend a home birth, and/or a waterbirth to anyone who wants one. And if you are considered a 'difficult case' fight for what you want, and stay at home for as long as you possibly can before you do transfer, if you do.
DD1's Birth Story - Sept 2007
I didn't have the best of pregnancies with DD1 (frequent bleeding, I was told I'd miscarried, and then getting HG) so you would've thought I was due a good birth experience...
On Monday 17th Sept I had a phone call from the hospital at 11.30am to invite me in for induction. Typically, DH was in Oxford at the time. As a requirement for his funding, he is meant to do a residential course; and as the funding runs out at end of Sept, he was left with a choice of one convenient(ish) course. Initially, they said there were no spaces available but on Monday they called him and said one has become available. He drove into Oxford, paid for parking, paid for the bus into the centre at which point he got a phone call from me saying the hospital had called me in; so he phoned the course organisers and cancelled his attendence, got off the bus, crossed the road and got the bus back to the car park. Meanwhile, I got a taxi to the hospital.
By the time I arrived, it was about an hour after they phoned me and they had a bout of arrivals in the delivery suite. This meant I had to wait until it had been calmed down to be induced. DH soon arrived, and we spoke to a midwife. I wanted a waterbirth so knew that I couldn't have Prostin gel, but wanted my waters broken and hoped I could start labour naturally (you are given 2 hours for contractions to start; otherwise I would need an IV drip to start labour and would need to give birth on a bed. Unfortunately, despite what my usual midwife had said, the hospital's rules say that if you have any kind of intervention then you can't have a waterbirth. If I was that desperate to give birth in water, I could go home and hope labour would start naturally, however once Thursday arrived (2 weeks after EDD) I would be called in for induction and would need to give birth. I decided that I was fed up of waiting and would prefer to meet my little bundle of joy asap, to having a waterbirth - there's always next time (if there is a next time). By this time it was 5pm. I was given the option of Prostin gel immediately (but you need to wait 6 hours before you could go through to delivery) or have my waters broken in the morning. I decided that a good night sleep was more important, so opted for the waters to be broken. DH went home, and I stayed the night in the hospital. (I was already 2cm dilated, otherwise I would not have had the option of them breaking my waters).
At 7.15 the next morning they broke my waters. I had 2 hours for labour to start, so phoned DH and told him to come in and walked round and round the carpark quite a few times. Labour didn't start so I was put on a drip... and things went downhill from there. I don't have a good memory of what happened, but will describe things from my point of view. I will try to correct it where I know things are different.
Pain started very quickly. I did want to be active but felt sick as soon as I stood up, so I moved from the chair to the bed and laid down. I went on gas and air quite soon, and was sick. I remember watching This Morning (as I have done throughout my maternity leave so far) but had to switch it off when the cooking segment (usually my favourite) started as it made my nausea worse. Soon I was asking for Pethidene. It didn't do much so I asked for an epidural (by now the pain was so overwhelming I was delirous); something I didn't want previously. (In reality, apparently I was on pethidene for a few hours, but to me it felt instantaneous between that and the epidural).
I do remember the anaesthetist. He went on and on and on and on. I could care less - I knew the risks and what the procedure involved but by this point I didn't care and just wanted the pain gone. I could have sworn a couple of hours had passed with him talking. Actually, between him entering the room and leaving afterwards, only 30mins had passed. It seemed to take effect immediately, and I was lucid again. The epidural didn't removal all feeling - I could feel every contraction - but it did take the edge off the pain. Used in conjunction with gas and air, I was finally lucid again and, in a funny sort of way, I enjoyed the rest of my labour. I had the epidural topped up a few times as it was still painful, but not overwhelmingly so.
Unfortunately, labour wasn't progressing as well as it should have. I was dilating at a rate of 1 cm per 2 hours (usually 1 cm/hr is expected) until 8 cm at which point things stalled. I was 8cm for over 6 hours at which point the docs suggested a c-section. Yes! Yes please!
So, as quick as a flash, we were whisked away, DH scrubbed up, and we were in the operating theatre. It's a really strange sensation - I could feel every cut and stretch yet there was no pain. And at 1.13am on Wed 19th Sept, DD1 was born weighing 6lbs 14.5oz.
After 3 more nights in hospital I was dischared. I had a bit of pain in my abdomen and got the doctor to check me over. There's no infection, and over time the pain will reduce. Most the time, the pain doesn't bother me - only when I move from sitting to standing (and vice versa). Saturday I went home and decided to go to bed a bit early. Went to go into bed and OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!! The pain was excruciating, in the same place as before, and went right through to my back. I was howling in agony and DH and my mum were panicking. They phoned NHS direct (and the woman at the end of the phone wasn't helpful. She suggested I lie down - as if that wasn't what I was trying to do!) and it occured to me to phone the maternity ward. They suggested I go to the out-of-hours service attached to the hospital. I took more painkillers and eventually the pain eased enough for me to start moving again. I was stuck in one position for 30 mins!
Anyway, to cut the rest of the story short (DD1's crying so I should go feed her) the out of hours doctor referred me back to the pain hospital which readmitted me to the same ward. I spent 2 more nights there in observation and yesterday (monday) I was discharged again. I haven't ventured back to the bed yet, but am sleeping on the sofa. I did need help being lifted up and down, so that I don't lean forward. We've since bought a chair with arms (£3 wooden garden chair from Wilkos) and a walking stick so I can try and get a bit of mobility myself, for when we don't have any help here. (We've had/going to have my mum, MIL and my grandmother stay with us for a while to help. DH starts his job next week, so I really need to be a bit more mobile from then as I'll be on my own with the baby.)
Things are getting easier, though, so long may they improve!
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Swiss holiday, Nov 2006
Once upon a time, I had a Windows Live Space blog. For some reason it stopped letting me post, and apparently it's going to be closed down soon, but it has reminded me of some lighter moments, such as the comedy of errors when I went on holiday to Switzerland back in 2006...
Good thing I've got a good sense of humour. It's made me laugh reading that back. Hehehe.
For my holiday, I went to Switzerland with DH's family. They have a timeshare, so all we had to pay was flights! They even managed to get a rental car as part of the deal. We were going to stay in a chalet, but were able to use the facilites in the sister hotel (pool, gym, sauna, bar, restaurant, wireless etc). It's not ski season (I don't ski) so there was to be limited snow. I was looking forward to 5 days of relaxation, on top of a mountain.
So, ourflight was 6am in Bristol. We also booked MIL, DH's step-dad, DH's sister and friend's flights so we had their boking ref details etc. We set the alarm for 1am (I was flying back from amsterdam at 8pm the previous evening) and drove to Bristol arriving at 4am, in plenty of time for our flight. We gave MIL a call to see whereabouts she was (they were coming from South Wales, so we expected them to be just outside Bristol on the motorway) and she said they were still at home.
We had a coffee/cake and were wondering what do we do if they don't make the flight, since the chalet was booked in her name. They arrived with 5mins before check-in closed, were rushed through security and were the last people on the plane. Phew.Arriving in Switzerland, we went to the car hire place and they didn't have a car for 6 people. So, we were given two cars. As we're under 25 we had to pay extra for being a young driver and there was extra tax. To be on the safe side we (DH and I) decided to take out extra insurance - the basic stuff was already covered. They wanted to charge a ridiculous amount to have me as a named driver too, so only DH was registered to drive our car.
We drove in Switzerland without too much of a problem, but had to keep stopping as DH literally didn't go to sleep the previous night. He has(had) a paper submission [for his DPhil] due the following wednesday, so was working really hard and late to get as much finished as possible, and as the alarm was set for 1am he ended up not going to bed. Additionally, he's the type of person not to be able to sleep on planes.
As we got nearer the Alps, we started climbing this mountain. Fortunately, DH (and family) are from the Welsh Valleys so they're used to driving on tortuous roads. I'm not and I was petrified. After what seemed like a million miles (in reality is was about an hour) we safely arrived at the resort.
Entering reception, we were told that the hotel was closed (so no facilities), reception was only open a few hours a day, dinner at the restaurant had to be booked the previous day (with menu decided), one computer with internet access (which needed to be paid for) was only available when reception was - ie closed for lunch and after 5pm - and DH had his paper due in 4 days time... Oh, and we all had to pay tourist tax additional to what was already paid.
Nevermind, we arrived. The chalet was a decent size and I was looking forward to relaxing. Inside the chalet, we had central heating (I don't have that at home) electric cooker/over, pretty furnished kitchen, but no kettle. DH's family are big tea drinkers. There wasn't much to do that evening, but luckily someone brought some cards.
The next day, we went for a walk on the mountain. There wasn't any snow, but there was some terrific views, and even though I'm petrified of heights, I enjoyed it. We cooked food (fortunately we went to the supermarket before we climbed the mountain) and went to bed.
Overnight, it snowed, snowed and snowed some more. The morning looked like something from a Christmas card and we had 6 inches of snow! Of course, our hire cars were summer ones (not winter ones, nor did we have snow chains to attach) so we knew we may encounter some problems...--------I told DH that I'm considering driving to work in the new year (my current train season ticket lasts til Christmas) and he thinks I should see if I can shift my working hours by 30mins so I can leave work early to ensure I catch this train. I said, I'm more likely to try and shift it the toher way, so I start and leave work 30min later, but it will mean coming home an hour later than now, so I'm not sure yet. When DH finishes his degree, we want to live somewhere where we both can get to work in around 30mins. That would be ideal.-------
Anyway, back to the holiday...
I forgot to say that MIL phoned a week in advance to double check the facilities and they said they were all open. So when we arrived she complained and made the person at reception phone RCI (the timeshare people). they said they would get back to us first thing Monday (they were now closed for evening and closed on sundays) to let us know of any other opportunities. Well, Monday came and they did get back to us. They said we could go to Italy as a replacement. BUT they wouldn't change our flights (we owuld have to pay to do that) so we would need to drive! By the time we would arrive, we would have to start the journey back to Geneva to get the plane home! So we decided to stay where we were.
On Monday the highlight of our day was going to the bottom of the mountain to the supermarket. DH and I cooked fondue one evening (the kitchen didn't have a kettler, but did have a fondue set) so we bought lots of cheese and cream. I'd had fondue before but had never attempted cooking it. If I must say so myself, it was lovely. we had bread, croutons, apple, pepper, carrot and cuecumber to dip in. we also bought a large goats cheese, which we were going to fill with sugar and bake for a dessert a different day, and we bought stollen. Yum.
On Tuesday, it had snowed some more. As DH had to hand his paper in on Wednesday, I stayed with him all day whilst everyone else went out. They decided they wanted to see the nearby glacier. So, they went off in their car. Apparently, the fog was so thick they were told to turn back as they wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. So, they decided to go to the thermal baths. Closed for summer. So they went to a theme park. Closed for summer. So they went to another amusement place, and the only think open was some go-karts. So they went for a meal in a restaurant. Apparently the food was lovely, but they had to rush itdown and not have dessert because otherwise they would be snowed in. They then had to drive on the mountain road back to our resort. Except, due to the snow, the road hadn't been cleared and there was a lot of ice. The clever swiss people did have barriers on the side of the road - but only on the straight bits. Around the blind bends (of which there were many) there was no barrier, only a sheer drop at the edge of the road.
Meanwhile, we were in the chalet and DH was getting his work done until around 3.30pm when the power went out. In the mountains, the sun seems to set slightly earlier so we were in pitch darkness. Of course, this was the time when the others arrived back, and MIL was visibly shaking from the death-drive she had to endure.
Somepeople went down to reception to find out when the power would return, to be told "keep all doors and windows closed as it may last hours, it may last days". The only thing in the chalet which didn't run on electricity was the fondue set, so we lit that but it didn't give out much light.
So, they went to the shop to see if they could buy candles. We also needed toilet roll (meant to be provided) but cos there was 6 of us, we were close to running out. The shop's tills ran on electricity so wouldn't work. As such they said we couldn't buy the toilet roll. We couldn't even give extra money, nor leave our name/chalet number for it to be collected later. However, when they said they wanted a candle, they were willing to sell a tealight for 6.30CHF (that's around £3). After trying explain that if a candle could be sold, why not toilet roll, they said they didn't speak much english. So SIL and her friend stole one from the cafe's table top. That was the only light we had for the night, and was much brighter than the fondue thing.
Fortunately, the power came back on a short time later, but the shop would be closed in 15min, so DH ran down to the shop to get the much needed toilet rolls and a few odds and ends for tea.
On the Wednesday, DH and I wanted to go to the longest labrinthe in the world, but due to the weather, we didn't know if we would be able to make it back safely, as it only opened in the afternoon. we decided to go to a village at the base of the mountain and spent a couple of hours there before returning. Fortunately, DH was able to submit his paper on time.
Thursday was the day DH and I were due to come home, although everyone else were meant to be staying until Saturday. They paid extra to change their flights and returned on the same flight as us. Our flight was at 5pm in Geneva, so we decided to go there for the day. Driving into Geneva was fine, until we got there. It was very congested, the roads were confusing and we kept losing sight of each other. Fortunately, we thought ahead and I gave them my mobile so we could at least keep in contact. We found signs for a carpark, told them that's where we're heading, and went for it. We followed the signs, turned into the car par, went down the ramp, came to the barrier and thought "Bugger". We just went down the 'out' ramp. So, after lots of "Stop, stop, stop", "turn, turn, turn" "go back" "go forward" and the lovely smell of burning, we finally managed to reverse our way out. of course, by this time, a car was following us as he was coming up. It turns out, that sign was directing pedestrians. We eventually found the 'in' ramp (on the other side of the building) and waited there.
When MIL arrived, they were flustered too. It turns out they did the exact same thing. LoL. At least it wasn't just us...
We went into geneva, and by this time only had time for a quick coffee. It came to 20CHF and someone put down a ten, so I picked the note up and replaced it with a 20.
On driving out of Geneva, towards the airport, we couldn't find where to return the hire car. We also needed to get petrol. After much time and driving round and round in circles, we eventaully found the right place. By this point, we only had 30mins to check-in for our flights. MIL was already in the carpark but they were having a heated discussion. Apparently, there was a scratch on the car. They (DH's step-dad) said the scratch was already there, and they had documentation. Avis (the hire car people) said there was no such documentation and they would be required to pay 1200CHF. So, DH's step-dad opened his suitcase and tool everything out and did find the documentation. Phew. That was until the Avis woman pointed out that the scratch was marked on the wrong side of the car diagram. When we said this is clearly a mistake since there is no scratch on one side, a scratch (already there)on the other, obviously the checking out clerk made a mistake; she said no and we would have to wait for her supervisor. We said that check-in was almost closed but she said we had to wait. We made the decision to leave...
At Geneva, Easy-Jet is self service chec-kin. Of course, the machine I chose the printer didn't work. We managed to check-in with minutes to spare. So, of course, that meant security would be a problem, and yes the queues were massive. Fortunatley, we weren't the only people flying in this queue. DH and family stayed in the queue and I was floating around the front trying to find out if we could get past sooner.
By now, our flight was boarding and we'd moved about 2 feet. The security guard kept saying that we needed to join the back of the queue and could not go forward. When final call was heard, he relented and said we could join near the front - which we did - but we still weren't moving. Finally, another security person came by and he suggested we used another security queue which was further away from here, but nearer to our plane. So, about 10 of us, in total, made the mad sprint to the other security place. The walls were glass, so we were waving frantically trying to get the people-at-the-gate's attention. At this security place there was barely any queue and we went straight through. We were the last people on the plane!
After, breathing heavily for a few minutes, we calmed down and relaxed. I thought a nice baileys would make me feel better, so I opened my wallet to check I had the money. As I mentioned earlier, I was in Amsterdam the prevous week so had both Euros and CHF in my wallet. I thought to myself "why is this 10CHF note in the wrong section?" then it occured to me. At the cafe earlier, I must have put down a 20Euro note, not a 20CHF- which meant I essentially gave an almost 100% tip.
On arrival in Bristol, our luggage came out first, we went to the car park place and we got away fine. Of course, as DH's family were meant to be returning on Saturday, their car was in the middle of a million cars in a secure compound somewhere else, so they had to wait. But, they still managed to get back home before us.
So, that's about it. I've probably missed out the funniest* happenngs, but I do know that I could now do with a holiday...
*It's amazing how much fun card games, charades, name game, pub-name game, made-up-quizes, mr&mrs and all other games like that can be when there's nothing else to do. When playing Mr&Mrs the girls made up questions for the boys and vice versa. Of course, I had to be the one who answered first, when DH went out of the room, and my first question was "What is DH's favourite position?" How was I meant to know they were talking football-position? (Fortunately, I didn't answer like that, but said DH's favourite position was on the sofa, in front of the TV. hehe.)
-----
Oh, I forgot to say about the goats cheese. It turns out, it wasn't. It was some disgustingly smelly cheese (and I like my cheeses!) that had a big thick skin on and smelt of vomit. We put it in a bag, tied it up and threw it away. That was the most expensive thing we bought.
Good thing I've got a good sense of humour. It's made me laugh reading that back. Hehehe.
Why do I want to home educate?
I have both reasons for wanting to home educate and also concerns about the current school system.
This is not to say that I think all kids should be home educated, children are individuals and some thrive with more structure/authority that school provides, or love the safety and refuge offered at school if they have a hectic homelife. I don't think all adults should necessarily home educate. As some parents know that they 'could never be a SAHP', it logically follows that some (the same?) parents could never home educate. A happy parent, leads to a happy child, much more than a parent doing what they think should be best, to the detriment of their own (or their family's) mental and emotional health. And, there is also the group of parents who would like to home educate but don't or can't. Maybe they don't think they are academically able (there is *lots* of information out there, if this is you!), maybe they are worried about the legal side of things (in England, it certainly is legal), worried about opinions of friends and family, or financially cannot not work, thereby needing the school to be chidcare as well as the main educating body. Indeed, if it turned out that we couldn't survive and I needed to get a full-time job, I wouldn't hesitate putting my two into school.
So, why do I want to HE? Firstly, I think the philosophy is fantastic. As with much of my parenting, it is child-led, and HE provides the opportunity not only for education to be child-led, but also individually tailored to each child. It's like the ultimate private school that has been set up for a single child. As a SAHM to two pre-schoolers, I'm already HEing! Between me, DH and our extended friends and family, we've already taught language (oral and sign, and basic French), societal norms, counting, simple arithmatic, relationships, social skills, problem solving, songs, stories and telling them, art and crafts, physical activites, basic geography (the joys of having no family nearby!) etc etc. At least for primary school, I do believe that there is no need for this "system" to change. I do foresee that, as they get older, things will become more structured. I love books, and think there is great value in learning how to teach yourself something from a book, so I will naturally gravitate towards text-books. Having a degree from Oxford, myself, I do also see the value in qualifications. Being HEed doesn't prevent this from happening, or means that there's anything you can't learn, or have to go to school for.
But what about Socialisation?? Ah yes, the S-word. That's a big topic, that I won't go into here because I do not think school is the only, or indeed the best, place for socialisation to occur. Obviously humans, especially children, are social creatures, which is why I do not intend on keeping them locked inside my house all day, nor have them enrolled in our local prison, taking orders all day. Sorry, I mean school.
So, what are my concerns about school? Actually, my concerns are less about the fear of bullying or peer pressure (although I do recognise them as valid concerns, and good enough standalone reasons to HE), but the teaching, teachers and schools themselves.
DD1 is very clever (not just saying that as her mum) and I do not want her being told to sit on the story corner and read whilst everyone else catches up to her level. By the time that happens, she'll be used to doing not much and will be in for a shock when she's expected to work. Or maybe she would be told to do the very simple maths exercises, or read the beginning-to-read books, anyway even though they are well below her standard and she will be bored and frustrated. Maybe she will act up, due to the boredom, and labeled as a trouble-maker (as many boys are, especially because boys learn better when they are being active too). What if she doesn't develop the fine motor skills required to write until she is 6 or 7 (bearing in mind that many European countries do not start schooling until the age of 7)? If she knows the answer to a question, and the teacher knows she knows the answer, will she be told off for being stubborn/disrespectful/disruptive/etc for not writing down the answer quietly, when in fact she could be physically unable from doing so? Maybe she will enjoy doing routine worksheets, and then the bell will go for breaktime, and she will be forced to stop, even though she would happily continue learning and practicing throughout breaktime. Maybe they are studying a topic that DD1 is really interested in and she asks lots of questions; maybe the other pupils, or even the teacher, don't understand the questions/know the answers and tell her to stop asking questions. Will she be zapped of her current love of learning and thirst for knowledge? Or, she will be correct about something, but told she is wrong. Eg What colour is the sky? DD1 answers "it is colourless", and the teacher (who only has double C grade at GCSE science, maybe) says "no, you are wrong, the sky is blue", and everyone in the class laughs (maybe picks on, and is the start of bullying?) at her when in fact she is correct. The sky isn't blue, it only appears blue due to the action of light through the atmosphere. As a parent, should I be not answering questions correctly, so that my children with give the expected responses? Are schools more about coersion and control, or about real education?
This is not to say that I think all kids should be home educated, children are individuals and some thrive with more structure/authority that school provides, or love the safety and refuge offered at school if they have a hectic homelife. I don't think all adults should necessarily home educate. As some parents know that they 'could never be a SAHP', it logically follows that some (the same?) parents could never home educate. A happy parent, leads to a happy child, much more than a parent doing what they think should be best, to the detriment of their own (or their family's) mental and emotional health. And, there is also the group of parents who would like to home educate but don't or can't. Maybe they don't think they are academically able (there is *lots* of information out there, if this is you!), maybe they are worried about the legal side of things (in England, it certainly is legal), worried about opinions of friends and family, or financially cannot not work, thereby needing the school to be chidcare as well as the main educating body. Indeed, if it turned out that we couldn't survive and I needed to get a full-time job, I wouldn't hesitate putting my two into school.
So, why do I want to HE? Firstly, I think the philosophy is fantastic. As with much of my parenting, it is child-led, and HE provides the opportunity not only for education to be child-led, but also individually tailored to each child. It's like the ultimate private school that has been set up for a single child. As a SAHM to two pre-schoolers, I'm already HEing! Between me, DH and our extended friends and family, we've already taught language (oral and sign, and basic French), societal norms, counting, simple arithmatic, relationships, social skills, problem solving, songs, stories and telling them, art and crafts, physical activites, basic geography (the joys of having no family nearby!) etc etc. At least for primary school, I do believe that there is no need for this "system" to change. I do foresee that, as they get older, things will become more structured. I love books, and think there is great value in learning how to teach yourself something from a book, so I will naturally gravitate towards text-books. Having a degree from Oxford, myself, I do also see the value in qualifications. Being HEed doesn't prevent this from happening, or means that there's anything you can't learn, or have to go to school for.
But what about Socialisation?? Ah yes, the S-word. That's a big topic, that I won't go into here because I do not think school is the only, or indeed the best, place for socialisation to occur. Obviously humans, especially children, are social creatures, which is why I do not intend on keeping them locked inside my house all day, nor have them enrolled in our local prison, taking orders all day. Sorry, I mean school.
So, what are my concerns about school? Actually, my concerns are less about the fear of bullying or peer pressure (although I do recognise them as valid concerns, and good enough standalone reasons to HE), but the teaching, teachers and schools themselves.
DD1 is very clever (not just saying that as her mum) and I do not want her being told to sit on the story corner and read whilst everyone else catches up to her level. By the time that happens, she'll be used to doing not much and will be in for a shock when she's expected to work. Or maybe she would be told to do the very simple maths exercises, or read the beginning-to-read books, anyway even though they are well below her standard and she will be bored and frustrated. Maybe she will act up, due to the boredom, and labeled as a trouble-maker (as many boys are, especially because boys learn better when they are being active too). What if she doesn't develop the fine motor skills required to write until she is 6 or 7 (bearing in mind that many European countries do not start schooling until the age of 7)? If she knows the answer to a question, and the teacher knows she knows the answer, will she be told off for being stubborn/disrespectful/disruptive/etc for not writing down the answer quietly, when in fact she could be physically unable from doing so? Maybe she will enjoy doing routine worksheets, and then the bell will go for breaktime, and she will be forced to stop, even though she would happily continue learning and practicing throughout breaktime. Maybe they are studying a topic that DD1 is really interested in and she asks lots of questions; maybe the other pupils, or even the teacher, don't understand the questions/know the answers and tell her to stop asking questions. Will she be zapped of her current love of learning and thirst for knowledge? Or, she will be correct about something, but told she is wrong. Eg What colour is the sky? DD1 answers "it is colourless", and the teacher (who only has double C grade at GCSE science, maybe) says "no, you are wrong, the sky is blue", and everyone in the class laughs (maybe picks on, and is the start of bullying?) at her when in fact she is correct. The sky isn't blue, it only appears blue due to the action of light through the atmosphere. As a parent, should I be not answering questions correctly, so that my children with give the expected responses? Are schools more about coersion and control, or about real education?
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Weaning
We've started weaning DD2. She's over 5 months old now, and we're doing Baby-Led Weaning (as we did with DD1). She likes slices of banana, but wasn't keen on a stick of cooked carrot. She likes to suck the juice from raw red pepper (but not bothered by the yellow pepper) and will sometimes eat potato. So, at the moment, we're sticking mainly to banana. i have bought some butternut squash, so will try her with some of that this week.
As I'm breastfeeding (and even if I wasn't, it would be the same), milk will be her main source of nutrition until she is a year old, so there really is no rush. The point of weaning, at the moment, is to introduce new flavours, new textures and to get her used to chewing (mashing her gums) and swallowing solids.
As I'm breastfeeding (and even if I wasn't, it would be the same), milk will be her main source of nutrition until she is a year old, so there really is no rush. The point of weaning, at the moment, is to introduce new flavours, new textures and to get her used to chewing (mashing her gums) and swallowing solids.
Quote about national newspapers and literacy levels
Most children are expected to reach Level 2 at the end of Year 2 ... As an aside (as this is a book about maths not literacy) you only need to be operating at L2 to be able to read the Sun or Mirror!P47, Maths for Mums and Dads, by Eastaway and Askew.
Potty Training
We're potty training DD1 and it seems to be going well. The 'rules' are that in the house she is to be in knickers, at night she is in a nappy/pull-up and when out of the house she will either be in just knickers, or knickers with a nappy over the top (the idea being that she will still feel wet, but we won't have the mess in the car or wherever we happen to be out of the house).
In the main, DD1 is dry (typically she did have an accident this morning, because she was too engrossed in playing), and I've even started going on the bus without DD1 being in a nappy! I do feel that the 'training' is more for my benefit, rather than DD1, and that if I never put a nappy on her again (during the day) she'd be absolutely fine. I don't have that confidence, yet.
In the main, DD1 is dry (typically she did have an accident this morning, because she was too engrossed in playing), and I've even started going on the bus without DD1 being in a nappy! I do feel that the 'training' is more for my benefit, rather than DD1, and that if I never put a nappy on her again (during the day) she'd be absolutely fine. I don't have that confidence, yet.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Butlins and Tesco Clubcard Deals
Last year, we went on a really enjoyable holiday to Butlins in Minehead. We went in May, so during term time. The weather was warm and it was not too crowded. We stayed in a Silver Appartment and had Premium dinner and breakfast.
So, we've saved up out Tesco Vouchers all year, so we could use them again at Butlins this year. In December, Tesco announced they were changing the system, so rather than having 4x value, it would only be 3x value. So we exchanged all the vouchers we could, in the hope we could have an even more luxurious holiday this year, and exchanged them in time to still get 4x value: £590! When the Butlins vouchers arrived, included were the terms and conditions stating that the holiday had to be booked within 6 months (although not taken in that time) and the vouchers could be used to pay part or all of the holiday. When using vouchers, you cannot make use of any discounts/deals so we needed the 2011 Brochure to see the full prices. Unfortunately, the brochure only became available this past January.
DH and I decided what holiday we wanted: Gold appartment with standard dining package. I phoned up to use my vouchers and was told that the T&Cs had changed and they are only valid for use on accommodation, and the gold appartments, for the week we wanted to go was only £400-odd, so we'd wasted loads of money. (Once Tesco vouchers had been exchanged for a specific deal [Butlins] they are non-transferable.) I didn't book anything then, and looked to see how to make the most of the money. In short, I'd exchanged vouchers in December, and sometime between Dec and Jan the T&Cs changed. It would've been different if they had said advance notice of the change, so we knew what we were letting ourselves in for when we exchanged the money. I double checked the T&Cs on the Tesco website, and they have indeed changed.
DH was very annoyed by this, and determined not to give Butlins any more money than we had already spent. After spending hours (literally) looking at all the varioous options, we decided to go for a Blueskies appartment in Minehead. By now, it was nearly 9pm (phone lines close at 9pm) and after being on hold for a while, i finally got through. I explained I wanted to pay using Tesco vouchers, and the call-lady asked if I knew the new T&Cs. I said I did, unfortunately, and she remarked that was one of the milder reactions she'd had today! Obviously this was an ill-thought out policy which has not been popular with customers! Anyway, I said that i wanted a blueskies appartment, and she told me that she was unable to book those appartments - I would have to phone Minehead Resort directly - and not just that, I cannot use vouchers to pay for them! Nowhere in all the documentation, or online, does it say that vouchers cannot be used. I explained the situation, and she suggested to go for one of the Bognor hotels (we already had looked at this option, but there is no kitchenette in these hotels) but because we had enough vouchers to pay for the Blueskies outright, if we phoned up directly, they may make an exception for us. I put the phone down, phone Minehead, but their offices close at 7pm.
We then had to look at what options were available to us if we couldn't get Blueskies. We decided we'd try for a Blueskies, but if not, we'd go Silver in July. It would be worse than we wanted (not bad, as we stayed there last year), without food (don't want to give them more money), and much more crowded, which we didn't want, and don't think DD1 would like. It was the only way to make the most of the vouchers we had already exchanged, without feeling like we wasted nearly £200!
Next morning (yesterday), I phone Butlins Minehead. I asked about booking Blueskies and they said of course I can use vouchers. However, despite a vacancy for a 1-bed appartment showing on my computer screen, the man I was talking to said there were only 2-bed vacancies at £770. As DH didn't want to give Butlins any more money, we wanted a 1-bed which costs £565. We looked at different weeks, and finally found a 1-bed appartment for a week nearer our original choice anyway. I was in the middle of booking it, when I was told I would have to pay the deposit by card (£95) and could only pay the remainder with the vouchers. I stated that the T&Cs say I could pay all the holiday with vouchers, so the call-man had to speak to his manager. Fortunately, I was right. Hurray! As we opted for a cot, that counts as an extra, so I had to pay £10 by card, but I didn't mind if it reserved our booking, without having to pay the full deposit. Once I received the confirmation of the booking by email, I went to the post office and posted the vouchers by special delivery (another £5). Booked.
Now everything has been booked I do feel calmer. It's strange, I love camping, and yet think staying in a 1-bed appartment will feel cramped. LoL. At least we'll have a sea-view. There are plenty of activities to keep DD1 and 2 entertained, and although DD1 will have a double bed to herself (we'll be on the sofa bed, so we can stay up later) I'm sure we'll manage. And today I received confirmation that they have received the vouchers too. :-)
So, we've saved up out Tesco Vouchers all year, so we could use them again at Butlins this year. In December, Tesco announced they were changing the system, so rather than having 4x value, it would only be 3x value. So we exchanged all the vouchers we could, in the hope we could have an even more luxurious holiday this year, and exchanged them in time to still get 4x value: £590! When the Butlins vouchers arrived, included were the terms and conditions stating that the holiday had to be booked within 6 months (although not taken in that time) and the vouchers could be used to pay part or all of the holiday. When using vouchers, you cannot make use of any discounts/deals so we needed the 2011 Brochure to see the full prices. Unfortunately, the brochure only became available this past January.
DH and I decided what holiday we wanted: Gold appartment with standard dining package. I phoned up to use my vouchers and was told that the T&Cs had changed and they are only valid for use on accommodation, and the gold appartments, for the week we wanted to go was only £400-odd, so we'd wasted loads of money. (Once Tesco vouchers had been exchanged for a specific deal [Butlins] they are non-transferable.) I didn't book anything then, and looked to see how to make the most of the money. In short, I'd exchanged vouchers in December, and sometime between Dec and Jan the T&Cs changed. It would've been different if they had said advance notice of the change, so we knew what we were letting ourselves in for when we exchanged the money. I double checked the T&Cs on the Tesco website, and they have indeed changed.
DH was very annoyed by this, and determined not to give Butlins any more money than we had already spent. After spending hours (literally) looking at all the varioous options, we decided to go for a Blueskies appartment in Minehead. By now, it was nearly 9pm (phone lines close at 9pm) and after being on hold for a while, i finally got through. I explained I wanted to pay using Tesco vouchers, and the call-lady asked if I knew the new T&Cs. I said I did, unfortunately, and she remarked that was one of the milder reactions she'd had today! Obviously this was an ill-thought out policy which has not been popular with customers! Anyway, I said that i wanted a blueskies appartment, and she told me that she was unable to book those appartments - I would have to phone Minehead Resort directly - and not just that, I cannot use vouchers to pay for them! Nowhere in all the documentation, or online, does it say that vouchers cannot be used. I explained the situation, and she suggested to go for one of the Bognor hotels (we already had looked at this option, but there is no kitchenette in these hotels) but because we had enough vouchers to pay for the Blueskies outright, if we phoned up directly, they may make an exception for us. I put the phone down, phone Minehead, but their offices close at 7pm.
We then had to look at what options were available to us if we couldn't get Blueskies. We decided we'd try for a Blueskies, but if not, we'd go Silver in July. It would be worse than we wanted (not bad, as we stayed there last year), without food (don't want to give them more money), and much more crowded, which we didn't want, and don't think DD1 would like. It was the only way to make the most of the vouchers we had already exchanged, without feeling like we wasted nearly £200!
Next morning (yesterday), I phone Butlins Minehead. I asked about booking Blueskies and they said of course I can use vouchers. However, despite a vacancy for a 1-bed appartment showing on my computer screen, the man I was talking to said there were only 2-bed vacancies at £770. As DH didn't want to give Butlins any more money, we wanted a 1-bed which costs £565. We looked at different weeks, and finally found a 1-bed appartment for a week nearer our original choice anyway. I was in the middle of booking it, when I was told I would have to pay the deposit by card (£95) and could only pay the remainder with the vouchers. I stated that the T&Cs say I could pay all the holiday with vouchers, so the call-man had to speak to his manager. Fortunately, I was right. Hurray! As we opted for a cot, that counts as an extra, so I had to pay £10 by card, but I didn't mind if it reserved our booking, without having to pay the full deposit. Once I received the confirmation of the booking by email, I went to the post office and posted the vouchers by special delivery (another £5). Booked.
Now everything has been booked I do feel calmer. It's strange, I love camping, and yet think staying in a 1-bed appartment will feel cramped. LoL. At least we'll have a sea-view. There are plenty of activities to keep DD1 and 2 entertained, and although DD1 will have a double bed to herself (we'll be on the sofa bed, so we can stay up later) I'm sure we'll manage. And today I received confirmation that they have received the vouchers too. :-)
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