A Modern Mother

And exactly when did I agree to this?

I have an unspoken agreement with hubby that I watch the kids at all times. I say unspoken because I don't remember agreeing to be on a heightened sense of alert at all hours, in all places.  I tell the girls that I have eyes on the back of my head, so maybe that's where he got the idea.

On Sunday we decided last minute to drive down to Regatta. It was about 11 am, and the crowds were just starting to arrive.

I should have known when hubby stopped at the Telegraph stand and picked up a paper and an umbrella as a free gift.

Whatever rows your boat...

 

I went down to the school gate today with my big Nikon DX strapped around my neck.

My interview

Mum (44) interviews Emily (7), Alexandra (5) and HM (4):

1. What is something mum always says to you?

Emily: WHAT DID YOU DO AT SCHOOL TODAY.

Alexandra: WELL DONE.

HM: I DON'T KNOW.

My English garden

 

There's nothing better than an English garden at the height of summer.

I did it!

 

I did it!

I shopped.

I re-used my bags.

I fulfilled my promise.

Proof that pigs can be taught to fly.

These damn bags are going to be the death of me

Drove to town. Parked. Dismounted. Assumed ready position; I had exactly one hour to dash to the butcher and Waitrose before school pickup.

Locked Car. Walked away. Damn. The bags. Unlocked car. Where are they? They're here somewhere. Ewwww! What's that? A mouldy grape? I really didn't need to touch that. OK, forget the bags. I'll bring the groceries back to the car in the trolley and load them straight in.

Yes, the same as last week. Six stuffed chicken breasts. And smoked salmon. Please. Yes, they loved it. And some of that soft cheese, what's it called? 

No, not in a bag, thank you. It's Recycle Week next week. I've promised not to use them. Yes, I can manage. I have two hands and will balance everything on top of the biscuits. Thanks!

It's as easy as riding a bike and COMPETITION for bike gear

I didn't know when we bought our three daughters bicycles last weekend that it would test our marriage.

Brand spanking news one from Halfords. Pink. The two youngest got stabilisers, but at seven, Emily was too big. She would have learn to ride a bike the old fashioned way.

Come to think of it, I can't remember how I learnt to ride a bike. And it soon became apparent that neither could hubby. It's easy, right?

After a half hour of going round our garden at a snails pace and getting a back ache from holding the steering wheel, Emily started to get frustrated.

I did it again; I forgot the bags!

You'll know what that means if you're following my promise to re-use my carrier bags for Recycle Week. I failed. Again. I forgot the bags.

I took the girls to Tesco because I promised them each a magazine as an award for being good last week. Yes, I know all that plastic junk will end up as landfill, but let me tackle one eco-issue at a time here, and not try to boil the ocean.

As they were looking over their choices, an image of the inside of our fridge popped into my mind: there was enough milk for my coffee tomorrow morning (but not cereal) and there was only one yogurt and no sliced ham for lunches. I guess I had better pick up a few items while I was here to avoid mayhem in the morning.

Not a very good start (!)

Good thing this is a trial week since I haven't made a very good start at fulfilling my promise to re-use my carrier bags for Recycle Week ;-(

I had coffee in town, passed Sainsbury's and decided I needed a few essentials. What possessed me to get a six-pint jug of milk AND a sack of potatoes I don't know since I had a long walk home with just HM (my four-year-old) and the stroller.

After the amazing feat of pushing the stroller, carrying a basket AND sending a text with one hand (without running into anyone) I went to the till and the nice man asked if I needed carrier bags.

Recycle Week Tag

 

It's Recycle Week in the UK next week and Karen from the Rubbish Diet and Don't Tear Your Hair Out has set all mummy bloggers a challenge: how many can she get to take a recycling pledge and write about it?

She got me to promise to re-use my carrier bags for a week, and if I don't I won't be allowed to use Twitter for a whole week. Shudder.