Thames Valley Mums Blog

Prepping for late night Christmas shopping

I was prepping my eight-year-old daughter last night with some prescient phrases -- “no, we aren’t buying any balloons”, “only one cottton floss to share”  “we have gone on enough rides” and finally “it’s time to go home.” 

Funnily enough she laughed rather than burst into tears or scream as is usually the case when the setting is slightly different.

Tonight is the long awaited late night shopping in our town where the Christmas tree is lit, fun fair rides and games of chance are brought in along with the local shops spilling onto the streets with mulled wine and tasty nibbles. 

It’s always a very sociable night meeting mostly other parents and sharing a quick update before moving on or keeping up with fast paced children

Is blogging dead? Not on this side of the pond!

First, check out the Best of the British Mummy Bloggers Carnival. It's up over at Potty's and is a nice collection of cries tales from the trenches of motherhood.

Second, I read something the other day that is really bugging me.

Is blogging dead?

The debate is raging in blogosphere. Some prominent bloggers have decided to “retire” because, to sum it up, now that blogging has reached mainstream in the US, it’s not cool anymore.

Microblogging, such as Twitter, is now the “in” thing.

Autumn Leaf

Goodness, I have been stirring the pity pot recently. For a good few days after Els returned into the loving arms of her mother (that’s me btw), I’ve been cussing my fate.

I do occasionally have a good old wallow in the fact that poor lil ole me has to give up my only daughter for half the week (sometimes more) like a modern day Demeter.

Els isn’t at all like Persephone of course. She’s hardly been abducted to the underworld. When she’s not with me, she’s in the loving arms of her father. So there’s no real reason to grieve is there?

I know this. I really, really do. But lately I couldn’t help but bemoan my situation. Poor old Part-time Mummy. Denied the joys of full-time motherhood.

Credit Crunch Sundays -- Try a FREE family art workshop at the National Gallery

I’m going to share a secret. The National Gallery in London does FREE art workshops every Sunday aimed at the entire family to enjoy and learn about art together.

The workshops, run by professional artists, focus on an area in the gallery. After a short discussion, you are given insider tips and high quality art supplies and then set loose to create your own masterpiece.

It’s FABULOUS.

Did I mention it was FREE?

If you live near London, or are visiting with kids, you have to check it out.

FREE parenting classes -- what more could a wife of a Scotsman want?!

You can tell I've been married to a Scotsman for too long -- I get excited about anything that's free.

So when I found a memo from the school crumpled up on the bottom of Alexandra's book bag advertising a parenting class aimed at parents with reception children dealing with transition, I signed up.

And I'm VERY glad I did.

It had been ages since I'd read anything on emotional support for five-year-olds. When my first was born, I devoured every available book. After having three children in quick succession, the parenting books are replaced by Dr. Seuss (the former are in a box in the attic gathering dust.)

Another missed party

I just missed another birthday party. More accurately, my 4 1/2-year-old missed the party and I missed two hours of a child at a party time. I think I took it harder.

I have a vague recollection that when the festive invitation was handed to me my daughter took it gleefully out of my hands. Apparently it also went out of my conscientiousness as well never to be thought about again.

I hate when that happens.

There were indicators that something was amiss when she came home from school Monday and cheerfully mentioned that she had missed a party the previous day.

Best of the British Mummy Bloggers Carnival

The Best of the British Mummy Bloggers carnival is up on London Mums Blog.

Check it out, it is an eclectic group of posts on everything from losing weight to navigating London's transport system with children in tow.

So make a cup of tea, have a read, and discover the best of the British mummy bloggers... 

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

This half term was a huge success

Half term is over, and we had no trips to A&E. I consider this a huge success.

One year I had to deal with a two-year-old who got her finger nail ripped off by having it slammed in the door (her sister swears she didn’t do it) AND a three-year-old who broke her arm climbing out of her cot.

In the UK, kids seem to have time off from school every few weeks. I’m lucky as my children go to state schools. It’s worse at the fee-paying schools. The more you pay for your child’s education here, the more time off they get off school (I guess it comes in handy if you have a chalet in Chamonix and want to get full use of it).

Chuggington -- the next Thomas the Tank?!

I’m not a big fan of television. There’s not much worth watching. When it comes to a mediocre television drama or sleep – I’ll pick sleep every time.

Children’s television is different. Though parents don’t want to admit it, we often use TV as a type of babysitter, a way to keep the kids quiet while we steal away a few minutes to cook dinner, make an important phone call, or in my case, write a blog post.

The people who make kid’s programmes are very clever and have figured out that if they create something entertaining that will keep a child's attention, but also make it educational, parents won't feel so guilty about letting them watch it.

There were three in the bed, and the little one said...

Ella came into our room at 3am this morning, “Mummy, I’ve had a nightmare can I sleep with you?” Half an hour later, hot because I was sandwiched between Ella and J, I decided to slope off to Ella’s bed.

Unfortunately, my sneaking around woke up J who also decided he would be better able to sleep by himself. J got out of bed and went to the sitting room where he attempted to squeeze his six foot two frame onto our two seater sofa (bless).

At 4am, sensing something was amiss, Ella awoke to find herself stranded in our bed and came to find me. “I’m scared and all alone, mummy”. No problem. I went to join her back in my own bed.

The Best of the British Mummy Bloggers has moved house ....

The Best of the British Mummy Bloggers Carnival has moved house! Please go here for the schedule...