Back in August, my mum bought the boys their school shoes for the coming term. A pair of Clarks for Jacob, some Startrites for Sam. Not much change out of £80, which is why I'm glad she buys them.
On Wednesday, I noticed that Jacob's shoes had split - one piece of leather had come out of it's stitching all the way down the side of the shoe. The other shoe was starting to go in exactly the same place. That's not very good, imo - £36 shoes lasting less than five months; Jacob isn't particularly hard on his shoes and apart from the split, they looked to be in pretty good condition.
The most irritating thing about this is that when we got him trainers in November, he'd already gone up a half size from August and will have grown more since then. If only his feet had stayed the same size I could have gone into Clarks in a state of high dudgeon and got a replacement pair - I'm not sure they're going to be quite so accommodating if he actually needs them in a bigger size....
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Cats of stupidity
At the beginning of December, Cosmo the cat got a small blade of grass stuck in his nasal cavity. The vets did all sorts of exploratory poking and prodding before they worked this out, and consequently we didn't get much change out of £500, all told. Thankfully, the insurance paid up and we were recompensed for everything but the excess and the additional dental work that was required.
On Thursday, the stupid moggy did it again. I didn't rush him to the vets immediately as he'd already managed to bring some of the stuck grass up and out, and wanted to see if the rest would come out too. But on Friday night he was coughing and retching and unable to keep any food down longer than a few minutes, so on Saturday morning Doug took him to the vet.
This time we knew what was wrong, so despite the vet saying "it might just be a tummy bug", Doug insisted that they put him under and wash his nasal cavity out; a few hours later, I got a call from the vet to say that they'd removed an enormous piece of grass from his nose and throat. Once again, they gave us the grass as a memento - last time it was a tiny piece about 1 cm long and so thin it was almost invisible, but this time it was about 5 inches long with barbs at the top; as the vet said, "I wouldn't want that stuck in my nose either".
This cost us £85. We should get £35 back from the insurance, but I'm starting to wonder at what point they write to us to tell us that grass removal will no longer be included in the cover.
Stupid cat.
On Thursday, the stupid moggy did it again. I didn't rush him to the vets immediately as he'd already managed to bring some of the stuck grass up and out, and wanted to see if the rest would come out too. But on Friday night he was coughing and retching and unable to keep any food down longer than a few minutes, so on Saturday morning Doug took him to the vet.
This time we knew what was wrong, so despite the vet saying "it might just be a tummy bug", Doug insisted that they put him under and wash his nasal cavity out; a few hours later, I got a call from the vet to say that they'd removed an enormous piece of grass from his nose and throat. Once again, they gave us the grass as a memento - last time it was a tiny piece about 1 cm long and so thin it was almost invisible, but this time it was about 5 inches long with barbs at the top; as the vet said, "I wouldn't want that stuck in my nose either".
This cost us £85. We should get £35 back from the insurance, but I'm starting to wonder at what point they write to us to tell us that grass removal will no longer be included in the cover.
Stupid cat.
Bedtime Reading
We're great ones for routine in this house. Ever since the kids were babies, we've had the same bedtime routine of bath, drink of milk, story, bed - although nowadays, I don't have to sing them to sleep (thankfully) - and we only deviate from the norm when we're on our hols. And as a rule, they go to sleep fairly soon after that - around 8ish. Only occasionally do they have nights when they can't settle and we still hear them mucking around upstairs after 8.30pm.
However, just lately, the routine has become disrupted. For a while now, Jacob has preferred to read his own bedtime story; because he doesn't like being on his own upstairs, this still takes place in the same location where Sam is having a story read to him. Occasionally, he'll curl up and listen to the story, but mostly he prefers to read something of his own.
Sam, for the most part, has been happy to be read to, apart from when he's going through his "tablet phases", where he wants to "listen" to an interactive story on the tablet - we have quite a lot of these, mostly Doctor Seuss stories, and as he is a whizz on the tablet, we aren't required to sit with him while he listens. But he too is starting to want to read by himself - probably because he very much wants to be like his big brother.
Slowly the bedtime routine is being eroded. And eroded further still by the fact that something has gone wrong with the mixer tap in the bath, reducing the hot water flow to a trickle - quelle horreur, no bath!! They've been having showers, instead, and I get the feeling that they're really enjoying this as it gives them much more time to read later.
So the only thing remaining from the routine of 7 years is the warm milk drink. This is one thing that they don't seem to want to do without, even in the summer. And I'm strangely hopeful that it continues, even if it feels like something a character in the Secret Seven would do......
However, just lately, the routine has become disrupted. For a while now, Jacob has preferred to read his own bedtime story; because he doesn't like being on his own upstairs, this still takes place in the same location where Sam is having a story read to him. Occasionally, he'll curl up and listen to the story, but mostly he prefers to read something of his own.
Sam, for the most part, has been happy to be read to, apart from when he's going through his "tablet phases", where he wants to "listen" to an interactive story on the tablet - we have quite a lot of these, mostly Doctor Seuss stories, and as he is a whizz on the tablet, we aren't required to sit with him while he listens. But he too is starting to want to read by himself - probably because he very much wants to be like his big brother.
Slowly the bedtime routine is being eroded. And eroded further still by the fact that something has gone wrong with the mixer tap in the bath, reducing the hot water flow to a trickle - quelle horreur, no bath!! They've been having showers, instead, and I get the feeling that they're really enjoying this as it gives them much more time to read later.
So the only thing remaining from the routine of 7 years is the warm milk drink. This is one thing that they don't seem to want to do without, even in the summer. And I'm strangely hopeful that it continues, even if it feels like something a character in the Secret Seven would do......
Saturday, 31 December 2011
That Was The Year That Was
And so I haven't blogged for a month. Not from lack of things to say, just a lack of time to say them. I've never known such a busy December - pretty much every day there were things in my diary that needed to be done or bought or attended or arranged. Most of these things were fairly minor, but just the build up of them left me feeling that I was going to collapse under the weight of my ToDo list. Now we get to New Year's Eve and everything has calmed down considerably - the only thing that *needs* to be done is for the boys to do any homework they've been given and pick up the school readers they've been studiously ignoring for the past fortnight.
I suppose it's traditional on New Year's Eve to gaze upon the year that has just gone and assess it. This took me all of two seconds; on a personal level, 2011 was a bit of a non-event. This isn't to say it was a bad year; we had some lovely times as a family - camping in Derbyshire, in Anglesey (with the rest of my family), the Deershed Festival, Lake Garda. And as a couple - in May Doug and I spent five days visiting Scotland while my lovely in-laws looked after the kids at home.
The kids had good years too - Sam has come on leaps and bounds at school and we're discovering just what a bright little boy he is, whilst he remains as fluff-headed as only my Sam can be. We were amused when his teacher told us that he has to go to the Year 2 corridor to get his reading books (because he's reading books from the 7-8 age range), but that they then have to send someone else to bring him back because he forgets what he's supposed to be doing :) My stand-out memories of him this year are as the lead role in the school production of The Gingerbread Man and singing in the school choir in Kirkgate at the Castle Museum.
Jacob has done well - his SATs results at the end of year 2 were very good, but the one I was proudest of was his handwriting being graded as average (2b). This might not sound particularly good, but at the start of the school year, his writing was probably worse than that of children in Reception; the effort he put in to improving it to the point where it was "average" was fantastic. And there were other, non-educational milestones met - he learned to ride his bike (finally) and started swimming strongly and confidently for the first time. Learning to ride his bike has been rewarded with a nice new bike from Santa.
The big thing that happened towards the end of the year was the new addition to the family. No, not a baby, but a puppy. After years of talking about getting a dog, we finally got Coco in October and she has been a delight and a pain in the backside in pretty much equal measure. She's five months old tomorrow and while we still have a fair bit of puppydom and its attendant frustrations to get through, she becomes a little easier every day. Rather like a baby.
As you've probably noticed, my review of 2011 is all about the other members of the family and not about me. One of the problems with being a stay-at-home Mum is that it is easy to let your life revolve around your children and to live your life vicariously through them. Since Sam started school full time in 2010, I have been revelling in the 5 hours a day that are child-free, some time for myself. Of course, it rarely works out like that; what I get is the opportunity to do housework, shopping and, dog walking without being pestered by the kids. All of these things take up the time I have for myself and it has got to the point where I think it would be impossible for me to ever to go back to work on top of everything else I have to do.
But I've decided to start thinking about ways of generating some income - obviously not up to the limits of what I previously earned, but just a bit of something, a bit of independence regained. So I'm currently thinking and researching the possible options - from Mechanical Turk to freelance audio transcription to forum moderation to dog walking. I'm prepared to give things a go and see how they work out; and if they don't work out, it's not the end of the world.
I've also started thinking about personal goals and what I have to do to achieve them. One of my failings this year has been the inability to finish things; I've always had a tendency to do this (which is ironic, as my BELBIN profile is as a completer-finisher) but this year I've struggled to finish books, to finish little projects or anything much of consequence. That's one of the reasons I've been viewing 2011 as a bit of a non-event; there's nothing I can point to and say "I did that".
I try not to be too introspective when I'm writing - I always think it sounds self indulgent and wearying, but I'm publishing the last three paragraphs by way of witness i.e. if I've put it in writing for other people to read, then I'll have to do it. Or at least attempt it. And rather than say "I'll blog again on NYE 2012 and let you know how I've got on", I'll give myself a tighter deadline. So I shall blog again on 31st January with a little update as to how I'm getting on. If I don't, feel free to shout.
I suppose it's traditional on New Year's Eve to gaze upon the year that has just gone and assess it. This took me all of two seconds; on a personal level, 2011 was a bit of a non-event. This isn't to say it was a bad year; we had some lovely times as a family - camping in Derbyshire, in Anglesey (with the rest of my family), the Deershed Festival, Lake Garda. And as a couple - in May Doug and I spent five days visiting Scotland while my lovely in-laws looked after the kids at home.
The kids had good years too - Sam has come on leaps and bounds at school and we're discovering just what a bright little boy he is, whilst he remains as fluff-headed as only my Sam can be. We were amused when his teacher told us that he has to go to the Year 2 corridor to get his reading books (because he's reading books from the 7-8 age range), but that they then have to send someone else to bring him back because he forgets what he's supposed to be doing :) My stand-out memories of him this year are as the lead role in the school production of The Gingerbread Man and singing in the school choir in Kirkgate at the Castle Museum.
Jacob has done well - his SATs results at the end of year 2 were very good, but the one I was proudest of was his handwriting being graded as average (2b). This might not sound particularly good, but at the start of the school year, his writing was probably worse than that of children in Reception; the effort he put in to improving it to the point where it was "average" was fantastic. And there were other, non-educational milestones met - he learned to ride his bike (finally) and started swimming strongly and confidently for the first time. Learning to ride his bike has been rewarded with a nice new bike from Santa.
The big thing that happened towards the end of the year was the new addition to the family. No, not a baby, but a puppy. After years of talking about getting a dog, we finally got Coco in October and she has been a delight and a pain in the backside in pretty much equal measure. She's five months old tomorrow and while we still have a fair bit of puppydom and its attendant frustrations to get through, she becomes a little easier every day. Rather like a baby.
As you've probably noticed, my review of 2011 is all about the other members of the family and not about me. One of the problems with being a stay-at-home Mum is that it is easy to let your life revolve around your children and to live your life vicariously through them. Since Sam started school full time in 2010, I have been revelling in the 5 hours a day that are child-free, some time for myself. Of course, it rarely works out like that; what I get is the opportunity to do housework, shopping and, dog walking without being pestered by the kids. All of these things take up the time I have for myself and it has got to the point where I think it would be impossible for me to ever to go back to work on top of everything else I have to do.
But I've decided to start thinking about ways of generating some income - obviously not up to the limits of what I previously earned, but just a bit of something, a bit of independence regained. So I'm currently thinking and researching the possible options - from Mechanical Turk to freelance audio transcription to forum moderation to dog walking. I'm prepared to give things a go and see how they work out; and if they don't work out, it's not the end of the world.
I've also started thinking about personal goals and what I have to do to achieve them. One of my failings this year has been the inability to finish things; I've always had a tendency to do this (which is ironic, as my BELBIN profile is as a completer-finisher) but this year I've struggled to finish books, to finish little projects or anything much of consequence. That's one of the reasons I've been viewing 2011 as a bit of a non-event; there's nothing I can point to and say "I did that".
I try not to be too introspective when I'm writing - I always think it sounds self indulgent and wearying, but I'm publishing the last three paragraphs by way of witness i.e. if I've put it in writing for other people to read, then I'll have to do it. Or at least attempt it. And rather than say "I'll blog again on NYE 2012 and let you know how I've got on", I'll give myself a tighter deadline. So I shall blog again on 31st January with a little update as to how I'm getting on. If I don't, feel free to shout.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
An expensive week so far....
On Monday evening, one of the cats (Cosmo) started coughing and retching violently and was generally ill enough to warrant a visit to the vets. Respiritory illness was originally diagnosed, with a warning that it could also be something stuck in his respiritory system; added to this was the fact that he'd got a hole in one of his teeth. Anyway, after much worry and faffing, today they put him under and had a root around to see what they could find; what they found was a big blade of grass stuck in his nasal cavity. They also removed the holey tooth while he was out for the count.
I'm going to collect him later on, but have already been warned that this is going to set us back by £300 to £400. We have insurance, but that doesn't cover the tooth removal; however, by doing it as part and parcel of the operation to remove the grass, it should make it a whole lot cheaper i.e. we won't be paying for the general anasthetic etc, just the vet's time.
Still, it won't be tuppence ha'penny. And added to the fact that my Sat Nav was pinched from my car overnight, it is proving to be a very expensive week. So much so that Jacob's christmas present bike went from a posh ultra-cool one to one from Tesco that I could get through the Club Card Voucher swap. Squeezed middle indeed.
I'm going to collect him later on, but have already been warned that this is going to set us back by £300 to £400. We have insurance, but that doesn't cover the tooth removal; however, by doing it as part and parcel of the operation to remove the grass, it should make it a whole lot cheaper i.e. we won't be paying for the general anasthetic etc, just the vet's time.
Still, it won't be tuppence ha'penny. And added to the fact that my Sat Nav was pinched from my car overnight, it is proving to be a very expensive week. So much so that Jacob's christmas present bike went from a posh ultra-cool one to one from Tesco that I could get through the Club Card Voucher swap. Squeezed middle indeed.
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Stranger Danger part 2
And so it turns out there is rather more Stranger Danger in the area than we'd anticipated - both schools sent out warnings yesterday that a black car with two men had been seen in the area, trying to entice young girls into their car.
Its a good sign that the girls in question were sensible enough to refuse and then report it, although I can't imagine that having tried their luck and failed, the men in the car would be stupid enough to stay in the same area.
Its a good sign that the girls in question were sensible enough to refuse and then report it, although I can't imagine that having tried their luck and failed, the men in the car would be stupid enough to stay in the same area.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Christmas Menu Trial Run
We're having guests for Christmas (queue a joke about most people having turkey, boom tish); it has been a couple of years since anyone graced our table over the festive season and so I'm actually having to think what to cook - not just for the main meal, but for supper on Christmas Eve, breakfast on the big day and a Boxing Day lunch as well. While I'm not getting *too* adventurous (no, Doug, we are NOT having goose), this is something that requires a little thought and a bit of planning. It also offers the opportunity to trial a few of the recipes on the run up to the day, before deciding exactly what to cook.
We started last weekend. Two potential contenders for Christmas Day breakfast and Christmas Pudding Replacement were rustled up, with varying results.
First up, Bacon and Parsley Hotcakes, served with a poached egg and a dollop of creme fraiche. I quite liked these but they had strong cheddar in them, giving them a rather over-powering cheesy taste; maybe a milder cheese would work better. Unfortunately, neither of the boys liked these (or rather Sam didn't, Jacob just refused to try them full stop), which rather rules them out as a potential breakfast dish.
The second dish was Sticky Orange and Marsala pudding, which was awesome, according to me, Sam and Doug. Jacob, however, didn't like it at all, which may be the deciding factor when we come to make a choice - which is a shame because it was easy to make and you can prepare and steam it up to 3 days before you eat it; a bonus for Christmas Day when every gas ring is being used to make your main meal.
This weekend; Chocolate Amaretti puddings with Almond Toffee Brittle.
We started last weekend. Two potential contenders for Christmas Day breakfast and Christmas Pudding Replacement were rustled up, with varying results.
First up, Bacon and Parsley Hotcakes, served with a poached egg and a dollop of creme fraiche. I quite liked these but they had strong cheddar in them, giving them a rather over-powering cheesy taste; maybe a milder cheese would work better. Unfortunately, neither of the boys liked these (or rather Sam didn't, Jacob just refused to try them full stop), which rather rules them out as a potential breakfast dish.
The second dish was Sticky Orange and Marsala pudding, which was awesome, according to me, Sam and Doug. Jacob, however, didn't like it at all, which may be the deciding factor when we come to make a choice - which is a shame because it was easy to make and you can prepare and steam it up to 3 days before you eat it; a bonus for Christmas Day when every gas ring is being used to make your main meal.
This weekend; Chocolate Amaretti puddings with Almond Toffee Brittle.
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