Category: Views & Ramblings

1. Country Kids : First signs of spring

   Posted on 8:26pm Saturday 7th Mar 2015

   I have to admit, I have been in hibernation. I love winter time (mainly for the excuse to wrap up in lots of layers and snuggle on the sofa) but over the past few weeks, I have been itching to get outside and blow away the cobwebs of winter so when I saw the first snowdrops, I was already putting away my winter boots.

   

   We woke this morning and had a play date arranged with one of the toddlers friends and rather than go to soft play, I suggested an early morning trip to the park. 

   

   Getting up early is not usually my favourite thing but the girls loved having the park to themselves, which is much more preferable for them (and ensures there is somewhere for us mums to sit!).

   

   Sadly both girls suffer from asthma, so running around too much has to be cut short by us "mean" mums, to allow them to catch their breath, so we retired to the coffee shop (and gave us a chance to catch up!).

   The fresh air this morning started my day off so differently to mooching around the house, cleaning and insisting the tween did her homework, it was refreshing to just get outside and enjoy the beautiful morning.

   The toddler wanted to get back outside this afternoon, so I was chasing her around at home on her scooter.......

   

   Unfortunately for them, the chickens were soon the focus of her chase. I was kind of hoping they maybe laying me an egg here but the toddler put paid to that.

   

   Despite no eggs, it was so good to be outside. This week has been a tough one for a multitude of reasons but being outside really does clear the head. Happy children makes for happy mums too.

   

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2. Put down the technology, pick up a book this half term.

   Posted on 7:35am Thursday 19th Feb 2015

   Put down the technology and pick up a book this half term. Sounds easy doesn't it? Well it should be, unless you have technology crazy children who love watching You Tube clips, playing on their apps and messaging their friends. A technology curfew has had to be instigated and I have dragged them (not quite kicking and screaming) back to books.

   

   I love that my girls are tech savvy but I also think that with so many devices available to help you with your every whim, there is the possibility to lose the ability to imagine, dream and use their brain. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge advocate of technology (I am never far away from it) but there is something special about holding a book and getting lost in the story.

   This is why I love The Works because there is something for everyone. They have shops all over the UK and (despite what I said about the technology curfew) you can also order online from a massive selection. They stock thousands of books at up to 90% off RRP, which definitely appeals to our money saving pockets, or in the words of the tween "means we can just buy more then Mom". I think I have her buy in here!

   

   The girls have a love of shopping (I wonder where they get that from) so once we have chosen from the books, stationary, arts and crafts at The Works, the next part is actually getting them to read the books once they have finished with the attractions of the sticking glueing and painting.

   Let them choose

   This may sound trivial but a child needs to "want" to hear or read a story. If they are not interested, they will switch off. Let your child's own interests guide his or her reading choices. It's okay to make suggestions, just don't force your conceptions of what your child should be reading onto your child. And, keep an eye on the reading level of the books your children choose, my eldest daughter will sometimes go for the easy option or pick something simply because she likes the cover picture.

   Reading aloud

   Encourage your child to read aloud to you an exciting passage in a book, or even a joke from a joke book. When children read aloud, don't feel they have to get every word right. Even great readers tend to skip or mispronounce words now and then. 

   Find time to read

   Whether it is before bed or after school, find a time where you can sit together and read. Make it part of your daily routine and this enforces that it is an important activity, not just something that you need to fit in between swimming or gymnastics or their favourite TV programme.

   As for me, I never seem to find time to read these days, so maybe if we get into this routine, I can have a browse through the books online at The Works and find some reading material and a little time just for me.

   

    

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   This is a collaborative post.

3. #Lastingchange : Postcard from Kenya

   Posted on 5:13am Monday 26th Jan 2015

   I had a blog post scheduled up for today, something about a minor family crisis that happened over the weekend on the Lilypad that I was going to share on the blog, but then an email dropped into my inbox from Team Honk. An email that talks about their visit to the Mothers 2 Mothers project in Kisumu, Kenya. An email that makes you want to do something.

   Kenya has the fourth-largest HIV epidemic in the world. An estimated 1.6 million people are living with HIV and 1.1 million children have been orphaned after losing one or both parents to the disease.

   Thanks to Comic Relief funding, Mothers2Mothers is helping pregnant women living with HIV to access the life-saving health services they need to prevent mother-to-child transmission. The project is targeting Nyanza province where prevalence of the disease is almost three times higher than the national average.

   Women often discover they are HIV positive during ante-natal care and mentoring helps them to come to terms with this, to deal with the side effects on antiretroviral drugs, to eat well and to deliver babies with the best chance of being HIV negative. Women also learn to breastfeed safely, and to avoid stigma.

    

   

   Team Honk are finding out more about these projects and through blogging, are sharing them with a wider audience. They met with Elizabeth who says: “HIV is just a condition, you can go further, you can make wonders, you can help others” #lastingchange . The project exudes positivity but continues to need help with funding.

   Breastfeeding is something close to my heart and the World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding while taking HIV antiretroviral drugs. Mentoring enables women to breastfeed safely #lastingchange

   So you can see that I changed my blog post for today, it was a small change in my world but the work being done by Comic Relief is making big changes across the world, let's see what else we can change?

   #lastingchange

   @RedNoseDay launches today for 2015. Let’s celebrate the difference donations to @ComicRelief make to lives across the world.

    

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4. New Year : New Projects : New Furniture

   Posted on 2:14pm Wednesday 21st Jan 2015

   We have been talking a lot lately about the new year and how that brings a fresh approach to things whether that is your lifestyle choices, your eating habits or just the push to have a spring clean but what about when you know something needs changing but you don't really want to change it?

   My husband has been talking about getting a new sofa and I even went as far as making a mood board on the styles I like ...

    

   

   
   

   New sofa moodboard by littlelilypadco featuring a 3 seater sofa

   Now I appreciate that this may be of no consequence whatsoever to the readers of our blog, but the reasoning behind this may make you smile. I talked about my birth story some little time ago and it remains without doubt one of the most empowering things I have ever experienced. The short version is that I sat on my birthing ball and breathed through the surprisingly strong initial surges while my husband was busy downstairs (we had opted for a home hypnobirth) preparing the mood with candles and inflating the birthing pool and had tried to call my mom and the midwife but no one answered! Unfortunately for me when baby decided she was going to make an early appearance, the rather large pool was no where near filled and I was forced to make my self comfortable on the sofa (you can now see where I am going with this post can't you?) and continue to practice my hypnobirthing techniques despite the deviation to the ‘plan’!   

   The little one arrived safely, in the comfort of our own home ..... on our own sofa (thank goodness it is leather) but there are still friends of ours that look a little uncomfortable sitting there when they visit. In fact we have one male friend who pointedly refuses to sit on it. (It is clean I promise .... the photo below confirms it).

    

   So you can see my dilemma, the truth is we probably do need a new sofa and let's be honest, I don't usually need much persuasion to go shopping but this sofa is where our daughter was born. How many people can tell their children that they were born right there <points to sofa>.

   So what would you do? Select a gorgeous new hardwearing sofa (although it is highly unlikely I shall be giving birth on this one) and throw away the old one (and the memories) or do we keep the birthing sofa forever?

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