Thames Valley Mums Blog

Middle child syndrome - does it exist?

By having three children I've created - argh! - a middle child. I've heard it's not very nice being in the middle. My sister is a middle child and I asked her recently what it's like. Her reply began with "I'm not bitter, but..." In summary she said that the eldest one gets attention and the youngest one gets attention and the middle one doesn't because they're... in the middle.

Surely if you have three children then there's always going to be one left out? A lot of the time this could be the youngest because they're not old enough to do the things the other siblings do. But maybe this is compensated by the youngest getting more attention because they're the 'baby' of the family. Maybe an odd number of children is never a good idea? Maybe you should always aim for an even number? Maybe we should have a fourth? (little chance of that I think, husband has been mentioning the 's' word).

Snow!

I have pretty much everything I want. Lucky girl. So, the only thing I asked Santa for this year was a White Christmas. I figured thin thighs and a flat tum would be beyond his magical powers. Especially in my condition.

I didn't expect to get what I wished for.

It snowed a few days before Christmas. Proper thick snow that fell 6 inches deep and stayed put. For days.

Els got really excited then realised that snow is horribly cold and hard to play with when a) you only have woollen mittens not waterproof ones and b) there's only your mum to play with.

Something to do on a snow day...

First, check out the best of the British Mummy Bloggers Carnival, it's up over at A Modern Mother.

And while you are reading blogs, your kids can do this:

Paper Dali.

It's a great site that features FREE historical paper dolls. Choose from Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Biblical Times, American Revolution, King Arthur or the Wild West.

They were created by a home-schooling mother who loves history and doodling. When she couldn't find any colouring books to go with the era, she created her own.

So check it out, it will surely kill at least a half hour...

And if you get bored doing that ... make snow ice cream!

There are ten more tips for educational snow activities here.

This post was written by Susanna, a London Mums Blog founding contributor. You can read more at her blog, A Modern Mother.

Tracking Santa on Christmas Eve

Finally, Christmas Eve arrives and to encourage children to go to bed there is a website that tracks Santa's journey.  Noradsanta.org tracks Santa's journey with video clips featuring Mount Fuji, Sydney Australia and Egyption pyramids. 

 

There is an official time and very official sounding newsclips with some NASA styled commentary with beeps that give weight to its credibility.  Perfect for the doubters.  Apparently, the tracking of Santa has gone on for over 50 years and started by accident.  

 

It's very fun to prove that Santa is on his way.

On a less official website, emailsanta.com there is a naughty and nice list.  Answering a few questions helps the elves to determine what list you may be on for Christmas.  Lighthearted fun but the kiddies have taken to it and are quite concerned where they are listed.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

This post written by Charlene, a Thames Valley Mums founding contributor.

Swap Party anyone?

I hosted my first Swap Party on Wednesday evening.

Nothing to do with keys in a bowl or naked people in hot tubs, my Swap Party involved myself and ten lovely ladies who had been exhorted through email, Facebook and face-to-face invitations to:

"Bring any unwanted clothes, shoes, handbags, jewellery, accessories, books, CDs etc. A great excuse for a girlie gathering - and a chance for us all to update our wardrobes and keep a tight hold on our purse strings.

Do you have any help?

I was asked this question twice last week. Firstly by my GP at my ante-natal check-up and secondly by the staff at pre-school as I waddled in with an excitable toddler to pick up vomiting Podge.

"Er, no," was my reply. Because I don't. Lots of us don't. I'm not pleading hardship or asking for sympathy, it's something I'm used to and don't think about very much. By 'help' I'm assuming people mean a set of retired, helpful parents living round the corner who regularly do some babysitting, DIY and housework for you. I'm envious of anyone who has this arrangement as it would obviously make life a lot easier.

Lots of us don't have help like this because we've had to move around the country for jobs, our family have had to move or sadly our family aren't around any more. My Mum moves about quite a bit. She recently returned to the UK after living abroad and is an hour's drive from us. My Dad and in-laws are 3-4 hours drive away. My sister is an hour and a half away and my brother currently about 45 minutes away. He rarely stays in one place for long because he's in the armed forces.

Top five tips for enjoying Disneyland Paris

Ella and I had a great time at Euro Disney this Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather was amazing, the queues bearable (the longest we ever had to wait for a ride was 30 minutes) and the atmosphere happy and upbeat.

I had steeled myself for an onslaught of unbridled consumerism and in-your-face American-style Disney overkill but was pleasantly suprised.

I'm not denying that food and merchandise were expensive, they were. But the French are, well,  French and so their Disney-ness was expressed with a smile and a 'Hello Princess' (for Ella, not me). They were charmingly free of faux enthusiasm, tending towards friendliness instead. A refreshing experience for any visitor to Paris.

Planning the homebirth

I'm 36 weeks pregnant now. The midwife came round last weekend to talk about having the baby at home. She was meant to arrive between 3.30 and 4pm but she didn't get to us until 6.45pm. I was her twelfth visit. She's a great midwife and looked after me when I was expecting Fington. She's been doing the job for years and is ridiculously experienced and knowledgeable. She really puts me at ease. It's a shame that good people like her are so stretched in their work through lack of support (financial and otherwise). And yet she doesn't moan, she carries on and gets on with her job. When is the midwife shortage going to get addressed I wonder?

Anyway, as husband wrestled the boys into bed, the midwife went through everything I need to know for a homebirth. When I'm in labour and get to the point where I can't talk during contractions then I need to ring the delivery suite and they'll send out the on-call midwife. She'll then get a second midwife or midwife assistant to come out and join her. The only problem is Fington was born very shortly after I got to the 'can't talk' stage. If that happens again we need to call an ambulance.

Conversations with a Polish housecleaner

A friend of mine just moved to the area and wanted a housecleaner. I said I would ask our cleaner, Ivana, if she was taking on new clients.

Ivana is from Poland and very hard working. She lives here with her 14-year-old daughter; they have a flat in the center of town above a funeral home.

She is worth her weight in gold. She actually picks up things when she dusts, instead of going around them. I can tell when she has vacuumed, the large worn Duresta sofa, which can easily accomodate 10, is slightly out of place.

She is not much on conversation. Her English is limited. The only time she makes a point to say something to me is when she wants a day off.

Calling all children: Put on a Panto!

Panto season has started and to celebrate Robinson's has created Put On A Panto -- a cute web site that gives children all the tools they need to stage their very own Pantomime -- from planning, to practising to performing. It even includes invitations, posters and suggestions on making costumes.

Come on, I know you want to try it.

And if you'd like to win tickets to a local pantomime of your choice (for a family of five, worth up to £250) please visit A Modern Mother, Violet Posy or The Potty Diaries for a chance to win a fun night out!

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