Mummy&Roo

It seems my life isn't my own anymore. I knew having a child would change everything and change my name to Mummy but I didn't realise I'd lose everything. I can't clean, I can't tidy, I can't read, I can't eat, I can't sit nothing. It's not even enough that I sit stroking her arm i have to do it an exact way. I know I'm not unique, I know every parent struggles but I can only see my own experience and darkness. This week I have worked 3 days at my employer out for 11 hours a day, 1 day where I did 7 hours self employment, half a day being shouted around by the tyrant and so far 4 hours today in which time she's broken me. In the brief windows of time where Roo isn't driving me mad the cat comes and claws my leg. In all honesty I want to run away from everything. I love my daughter, I will put her before me whenever it matters, I am a good parent. I'm just sick of her happiness always seeking to be at the expense of my own. Ne...

There's no getting around it, Roo is a wild child. She loves being outside, messy and mucky. She loves running, jumping and climbing. I can't even declare her a Tom boy, she's just Roo. Yesterday we went to visit a friend whose daughter is much less wild and much more calm, Ruby's wildness turns out to be contagious, they were dashing around being loonys. I was hoping that a busy and wild day yesterday would give me the chance for a quiet day where I could work. Nope she's still wild. The only reason she's calmed down today is a game has resulted in a cut finger. Only her first cut could calm the crazy. Let me be clear, she's wild but most the time isn't naughty. She's frustrating but it doesn't warrant telling her off most of the time. I count myself incredibly lucky for our childminder who is just as wild as the kids. Messy play, mud, rain she loves then and Roo gets to let her wild side out. So now, I'm going to enjoy my quiet cuddle ...

Today we joined our childminder and the gang at Forest School. Forest school is an opportunity for the children to play and learn in an outdoor, messy, fun setting. There's a mud kitchen, bug viewers, a den, mud art. They make natural crafts and then have hot chocolate and biscuits around a fire. While I was there they were planning future visits (they go weekly) and how they would fit them in with their topics. I now know this is going to involve making bird feeder and some food adventures with the fire. I can hear some of you already "there's a fire, and children?!" yes there is a fire but the children go no where near it, there is a visual barrier of sticks, lots of supervision and most importantly they are taught. How can children ever learn about fire safety if they're never exposed to fire? I agree that it's better they are exposed to and experience risk at an early age so they can learn to handle that risk rather than just developing a fear. This go...

Today I have not stopped, I know this is the case for most Mums but I'm dead on my feet. My day started when Roo woke me up at 6am. Daddy has a serious case of man flu mixed with an undiagnosed musculoskeletal condition so he was totally out of action last night and this morning. I got Roo ready and fought the traffic to drop her off with her childminder. I fought back through rush hour traffic to get home to the germ and the work I had to do. Cue 2 hours of making shopping bags, writing address labels and packing everything away. At 11am I got in the car to start the main part of the day, drop 11 parcels at the post office and jump back in the car to head to Hull, an hour and 20 minute drive. Got there an hour early but thankfully they saw me early. The reason I drove all the way to Hull is because I'm taking part in a voluntary (read unpaid) drug trial into the possible treatments for PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and that's the centre running the trial. Somet...

Roo has really developed into her threenager title and the tantrums are becoming more common. Coping with these tantrums is new to us, the older one didn't do it. I've racked my brain and I think I remember some Super Nanny tips from years ago. At the moment we're trying totally ignoring it and carrying on as if it isn't happening, but I'm not convinced that's working overly well. We've tried giving her cuddles when she's tantruming or explaining what's happening but that just resulted in me being kicked. Most of the time when she's tantruming it's because she's frustrated that she can't do something, she's so determined. Anyone have any toddler tantrum tips? Drop them in the comments, I'll give most things a try once

This was going to be a very different post. I was originally going to write about never promising a toddler something when the weather can have an effect. All week we have been promising to take Roo to the fair if she was a good girl. It worked and she was good (to be honest, she's normally pretty good I just like to reward it). So today we were going to the fair. It was only small but that suited us because less rides = less expense and Paw Patrol were advertised to be there today from 3 - 5pm. So originally I was going to talk about the fact the rain was making it less of an exciting prospect. It chucked it down at about 2pm and we were thinking about how not fun it would be in the rain. Well the rain eased and we headed to the fair at around 3pm.   Roo was telling us she was "getting so cited bout the fair" the whole way there and we were all glad we'd decided to head down despite the weather. Then we got there and they were packing it all away! I was ...

Yesterday I decided to make Roo a phonics game, it didn't go quite to plan.  My thought process was to create a game which teaches something important, something battery free and something we could play together. Great I thought, serious Mum points for me! I followed the early years guidance of teaching sounds in special sets, the first of which is s, a, t, i, p, n. I created letter cards and 9 images which match the sounds. I went for a simple first draft with the plan of creating a neater laminated one afterwards.  The game is simple, match the word sounds to the letter. Teaching letter recognition and sounds. At this point I was still basking in my amazing plan and the flurry of Mum points due to me. The first maybe 3 minutes of playing went really well, she was interested and liked the pictures. Then is went horribly downhill! Roo likes to be able to do things, she likes to feel smart and get applause. As soon as she realised she wasn't very ...

It seems recently Roo has discovered McDonalds in a big way and is constantly asking to go to "AckDonalds" or playing pretend where she goes to McDonalds. It has got me wondering, what is the huge draw with McDonalds? My first thought was, it must be the toy! Kids are suckers for anything with a "free" toy. As adults we realise it's not free at all but the allure of a toy and the thought it's free so a prize or something more special than just something from a shop. I'm not entirely sure it's just the toy though, Roo never seems bothered about what the toy is going to be. I expected devastation when she discovered it was no longer moji's and was now books, but no she is still totally happy with the book. Then I thought some more and I think I've got it! It's a restaurant which encourage children and childlike behaviour. No one tells you to make sure to keep your face clean, no one tries to make you use cutlery. The colours are bright...

Does anyone else have a fight at bedtime every night??? Roo isn't naughty she's just got far too much energy all the time and bedtime can take up to 2 hours! What's worse is she's smart! So she knows if she says she needs the toilet I'll have to pay attention because we're toilet training. She makes sure to just push so far so she doesn't miss out on any treats. Most nights we have: I want Daddy - Daddy goes up I want Mummy - Mummy goes up I need a wee I need juice I want more milk I need a poo I want *insert very specific teddy which hasn't been seen in weeks* I need a wee The problem is, if Mummy or Daddy's very thin shred of patience gets broken and we get cross with Roo she starts sobbing hysterically and that takes more calming down.  Before the perfect parent squad starts; she has a bedtime routine which has been set in place for months, involves plenty of winding down time, cuddles etc. We've tried later bedtimes, w...

For completing a product research questionnaire MAM kindly sent me a gift pack. It included 2 soothers, 1 small bottle and a Max the Frog Teether. It's the first time we've had a MAM teether and grumpy Roo needed a firm one as the water filled ones aren't doing the trick. First impressions it's very good quality (as I'd expect), it's easy for little hands to hold and it's firm enough to give a satisfying chomp. I will leave the Roo to use it and come back to update.

Roo is what I like to call an omnomnomnivore, she will eat anything and constantly so it's important to have snacks in for her. She's not overweight and in fact since learning to walk she's small for her age if I go by her clothing. One thing I've started keeping in the fridge is yollies. I bought the first pack with a skeptical look but got them anyway because other yoghurt options have ended up being used as hair gel! Well she loves them! She'd sit and eat a pack of 4 given the chance but I'm a meanie and limit her. I'm still very skeptical about the texture to the point where I've resisted more than a nibble but the taste is great. From my limited knowledge they seem like a good snack option as they're not too crammed with sugar and they don't end up everywhere. Word of warning though - if they get warm they get more liquid, not good for car journeys etc. Few drawbacks - Price, they're 4 for £1 (on offer) and a portion is 2 Pack si...