« November 2009 | Main | January 2010 »
Liz at Living With Kids has asked for my highlights of 2009. So here goes...
1. Obama's inauguration. I was four when Neil Armstrong first set his human foot on the moon, and I clearly remember that day. I hope my daughter's remember where they were on 20th January 2009.
2. Our summer holidays. Spending six weeks with my parents in California was wonderful. The girls swam everyday in an OUTDOOR swimming pool. There was sun. Every day.
The end of the year is a time to reflect; 365 days, 600 packed lunches, 183 blog posts. Here's a list of some of my favourites...
1. The dry spell: Have you ever had one? Come on, admit it. I'm sure you have...
2. I woke up one morning and realised: OHMYGOD -- I'm Scottish.
3. The fleeting moment ... or just mummy rot? Someone told me once that you lose 10 percent of your brain cells with the birth of each child. I had three in quick succession, you do the math.
Our girls will keep tabs on Santa's journey tonight on NORAD's Santa Tracker. This organisation has tracked Santa's Christmas Eve movements since 1955. The site is perfect for children that are not quite sure Santa exists -- it contains "official" news reports and videos. Also fun for believers to watch Santa and his sleigh move across the globe (shhh -- don't tell them it's really a geography lesson).
Check it out for yourself (it's in seven languages).
Merry Christmas!
Photo credit: Weasel McFee
It DUMPED snow in the Thames Valley yesterday. I got stuck with the girls for THREE HOURS, and finally abandoned the car and walked two miles home.
So what do you do when life give you snow? Make snow ice cream of course!
Ingredients:
Continue reading "When life gives you snow, make snow ice cream!" »
It snowed in the Thames Valley yesterday. The flakes dissapeared as quickly as they came, but not before I had a chance to go into the garden and take some pics.
Disclosure: I received free tickets to see this film.
Sorry, I had to borrow that headline from a review in The Times. It was too good to ignore.
Sunday we dragged ourselves into London to see an advance screening of The Princess and the Frog, Disney's newest 2D animation film that caused a mountain of controversy and speculation during its three years in the making.
Why? It's Disney's first black princess fairytale. African Americans have been waiting for this for 86 years. Oprah was consulted. The internet ranted. Disney took all into consideration.
Disclosure - I received free tickets for this event.
To be honest, I wasn't particularly looking forward to reviewing a Pantomime. I fully understand that they are huge part of British culture. My husband remembers being taken to them when he was small, having an ice-cream and shouting "It's behind you" at the top of his lungs. I've only seen a few Pantos -- local productions where I knew most of the cast -- and I found them a bit difficult to get through. But Jack in the Beanstalk at the Oxford Playhouse really delivers -- dames, drama, dancing, and slapstick -- it's all there in a giant way. My five-year-old summed it up in a few words: "it was the best show ever".
Ex-Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan, who wrote and directed this production, cleverly combines modern themes with the age old story of the human eating giant and the bean stalk that grows and grows. The giant lives in a type of cyber city -- a place of laptops, computers, CCTV and heavy metal music (his idea of hell I wonder?) In the end, the giant disappears when we all close our eyes and pretend we don't see him or his world. Now that's a modern message.
Continue reading "A Giant Panto Production: Oxford's Jack and the Beanstalk" »
Last year I wrote a post about mummy blogging just starting to take off in the the UK. I had just created British Mummy Bloggers and frankly I struggled to come up with a list of 100 UK parent bloggers.
Now there are 800+ British Mummy Bloggers members and my inbox is so full of PR pitches I've had to open a new account.
So what happened in year? Mummy bloggers are hot. No, we aren't all running temperatures with swine flu. We're a hot commodity. I spoke with one PR firm yesterday that said they are ditching celebs for the "reality" factor that mum bloggers carry. Now don't go quoting this out of context. What I mean is that right now mummy bloggers are trendy. Who knows how long the trend will last -- but given what has happened across the pond, my money is on the longer term.
Continue reading "The state of British Mummy Blogging 2009 and predictions for 2010" »
My nearly 8-year-old was a bit stroppy last night and I did what any parent would do -- took away her Club Penguin cards. She wasn't very happy about it and left me this note while I was in the bath:
Dear Mum and Dad,
I am caping* outside tonight.
Tomorrow I will leave.
Emily
*I think she meant "camping".
Oh dear. What would the neighbours say if they saw her outside in a tent? It's way too cold.
(Do not fret, alls well that ends well. We had a cuddle before she went to bed and she told me she will be much happier when she gets a rest -- and her Club Penguin cards back).
This year I was on a mission to get my girls eating more than just chicken nuggets and sausage, beans and chips. Guess what? We did it!!
We now eat five out of seven meals together, and I only cook one dish. Who would have known?!
This is one of our favourites, and it's super easy to make. I wouldn't exactly call it low cal, but it is delish. You can get all the ingredients from the international section of Tesco.
Disclosure: we got free tickets to see this event.
Wow. I can tell the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures made a lasting impression on my nearly eight-year-old daughter. They made a lasting impression on me. And my husband. Syringes armed with harmful histamines, seeds seeped with deadly nerve poisons: Who knew plants were so vicious?
The Christmas Lectures are special. Given nearly continuously since 1825, their aim is to share science's latest discoveries with young people. They are now televised each year and a Christmas tradition with many families. We were lucky enough to be invited this year to hear Professor Sue Hartley of Sussex University talk about "The 300 Million Years War" between plants and animals. My daughter's exact words after seeing the engaging Professor Hartley were "It was WAY better than I thought it was going to be" and when explaining it to her four-year-old sister: "You don't know how FUN it was." I thought it was fantastic having a woman role model in a male dominated discipline (Professor Hartley is only the fourth female lecturer in 184 years).
Continue reading "The Christmas Lectures: It's hard not to be interested in science when..." »
My eight-year-old daughters best friend is moving to another country. Though the move is still a few months away, she is devastated. I can tell she is trying to make sense of the impending loss and is working things out in her mind.
"When Emilie goes, who will be with me at play time?"
"What about Josie?"
"She doesn't like to do the things I do. She always wants to play tag and talk about Go-Gos. Emilie like to make up plays, just like me."
My daughter has a point. At any age, it's hard when special friends move on. Though you can keep in touch, it changes the day-to-day routine. Something is missing. In a best friend's case -- a big chunk.
I've had a read of the Internet, and here's a summary of the best suggestions:
Continue reading "Is your child's best friend moving away? Top tips for coping" »
Not bad, actually.
A bunch of us got together this weekend at the London Zoo. It rained. It rained really hard. It was cold. But the atmosphere inside was buzzing and we had a fab time. It was nice to meet so many online personalities. We really are an eclectic group. What else would you expect with names like Potty, Rubbish, and NixdMinx. And bless the dads, they patiently let us gab away.
Thank you to Procter & Gamble for making it all happen. If you haven't checked out their new web site for women, www.supersavvyme.com, then head on over. It's a great site. I'm a contributor!
While we are on the subject of mummy blogging, the Cumbria Flood Auction is live. There's lots of cool stuff over there, and it's for a good cause (thanks DisneyMoviesUK for your donations).
Photo credit: Matt Crossick
