by iamcrabstix | Mar 20, 2017 | Misc
Being a full time working mum, got me feeling like…
via GIPHY
Trying to pretend that my brain actually works, whilst remembering nothing about what I used to do before the baby was born:
via GIPHY
Feeling like I’ve done a shift at work before 8am thanks to changing nappies, feeding baby, packing up food, clothes and toys for the day, feeding cat, getting dressed, attempting to look human, having a coffee and dropping baby off at Grandmas for 7.30am:
via GIPHY
Remembering how crap it is being stuck in a queue of traffic:
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Every time the other half mentions they don’t have any clean clothes or the house is a mess:
via GIPHY
When you realise, on a Friday, that when you leave work you don’t have to leave the house for three whole days if you don’t wish to:
via GIPHY
by iamcrabstix | Feb 27, 2017 | Misc
Happy Pancake Day, or as I prefer to call it – Excuse To Eat Nutella Day. Did you know that pancakes traditionally have baking powder or baking soda in them? ….. any recipe without this ingredient is actually a crepe! MIND BLOWN! I’ve never known anyone put baking powder in them, ever!
So here is a recipe for an actual PANCAKE not a crepe. I have not made this recipe up, I don’t own the rights to this recipe, but don’t be stealing this for your own blogs, you scamps!
What You Need To Buy From t’Shops
135g plain flour (that’s plain, not helicopter)
1 tsp baking powder (verrryyy important, ‘memba it’s crepe without it!)
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
130ml milk (even if this is your baby’s milk, this recipe is not suitable for BLW!)
1 large egg, lightly beaten (not battered to death)
2 tbsp melted butter
1 jar (the biggest you can find) Nutella
Method
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a bowl, the bigger the better. In another bowl, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then plonk in the melted butter.
Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth batter. Keep going until you have knocked seven bells out of those lumps. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
Put your frying pan on and stick in a bit of butter – this recipe isn’t SW friendly so don’t even worry about using that Fry Lite fresh air stuff. When the butter is melted, add a ladle of batter. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown. It should be about a cm think in the end, don’t worry about getting your ruler out or anything, just check that it isn’t too mushy in the middle.
Get the biggest spoon that you can find, or wash your ladle, and pile on as much Nutella as you can get on the pancake. If the pancake is still hot whilst you do this, the chocolate should spread well and you could be able to cover the entire thing so that you don’t have to taste how crap it actually is.
by iamcrabstix | Feb 17, 2017 | Misc
Our cat, Orla Kitty, is a very important member of our family. When we were planning to have a baby, one thing we agreed on was that we would make lots of effort to get the cat ready for having a baby in the house. We felt as though we knew our cat very well and that she is very chilled, so didn’t anticipate any problems – but we were moving house whilst I was pregnant, the cat and I moved twice in fact, as we had to stay with my mum for five weeks. So the cat was put through a lot of changes in a short space of time.
Here is how we tried to get Orla ready for the baby:
1.Feliway defuser plugins
These defusers omit pheromones which are similar to those that a cat would secrete when they mark their territory – like if you’ve ever seen your cat rubbing their cheeks on something to mark it with their own scent. I guess it is tricking the cat in a way, to think that it is a safe environment that smells of them until they get used to it. If the cat gets stressed by the new baby, but the place still smells of them, they are less likely to be stressed. We used these for two months in a row, because we had to get her used to being at my mum’s house, then the new house, then three weeks later; having a baby in the new house.
2.Allowing her to explore the nursery
Rightly or wrongly, we kept the door of the nursery open for Orla to explore ahead of the baby being born. Once she found there was nothing of interest in there for her, she stopped going in. As she was getting used to the new house, she liked doing a nightly check of her territory, almost like a security guard, so a closed door was more interesting to her than an open one. The mattress was obviously still in the wrapper and all of the changing surfaces were antibacterial-ised ahead of using them.
3.Bringing home baby’s blanket from hospital for her to smell
I had to stay in hospital for one night, which allowed us time to bring a blanket home, which the baby had used for Orla to smell to give her time to recognise the baby’s smell. He must smell like me or an extension of me, because we have never had a problem, she’s accepted him from the start/not been that bothered about him. All through my pregnancy she was fantastic – I have read somewhere that she could probably hear the heartbeat and detected the hormones, not sure how true that is.
4.Giving her a place of safety at a height
Orla has two cosy mats on either side of our living room windowsill, which were great as she liked to know who was visiting, but she was out of the way so people couldn’t get to her. She also has a cat tree in the living room and another in the conservatory, as well as a bed upstairs in the study, so she always has somewhere to go that is just for her.
5.Giving her an escape route
If the baby cries in temper – the cat leaves the room. It remains important that she doesn’t feel trapped, therefore we have fitted catflaps; one to our back door to allow her to get outside when she wants and one between our kitchen and utility room. This also means that we can close off the utility room and keep her food in there – which provides a quiet, safe place for her to eat and also stops the baby getting to the food in future.
We are very fortunate to not have had any problems using these methods to help our cat adjust, obviously we are only eight months into our journey and this may change when the little one can pull her tail etc. The information above worked for us based on our cat’s nature and personality (and also me watching a lot of ‘My cat from hell‘ on Animal Planet), all cat’s are different, so please don’t use the information above as gospel!
by iamcrabstix | Feb 10, 2017 | Misc
Have had no interest in updating this lately. Few things going on – going back to work being the most imminent and life changing. I’ve been to the doctors, I’ve done their checklists and hurrah, I have a label. I’m not going to agree with their diagnosis, I am no different to any other mother who has to go to back to work. I doubt any mother wants to be separated from their child, I think if every mother were to go to the doctors three weeks before they were due back at work when they’d rather spend every day with their baby, the answer would be the same!
But I’m a much better mother to him working full time, working for the things we have and showing him exactly that – you have to work for a living if you want things in life.
My way of dealing with this big change to our lives is through using mindfulness. Focusing on my breathing, thinking of something positive and focussing on that has worked for me in childbirth (see my post here).
According to http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/: ‘Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.
Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.’ You can read more about this here. I think this definition sums it up beautifully.
I first heard of mindfulness in my hypnobirthing book and a few of my family members who work within the mental health section of the NHS have said that they have seen an increase in it being used and they agreed that it was very good. I’m hoping to go see Ruby Wax talk about it very soon too (she has a written a book after completing qualifications in it, so she’s a great advocate and source).
I’ve created a board on pinterest, which I hope you will follow if you ever have times which challenge you. It is full of silly phrases to put a smile on your face and things to focus the mind on the positive, such as gratitude prompts.
[pin_board url=”https://uk.pinterest.com/iamcrabstix/mindfulness/” size=”custom” image_width=”100″ board_width=”500″ board_height=”350″]
by iamcrabstix | Jan 25, 2017 | Misc
‘Liebster’ is Germanic in origin and can mean dearest, sweetest, kindest, nicest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute and endearing. Shows how much I listened in GCSE german as I thought it was sister!
This award started back in 2011 and exists only on the internet, given by bloggers to fellow bloggers to recognise their work and a way to promote their own and others’ blogs. It is also a great way to encourage camaraderie within the blogging community.
It was extremely good timing that Rainbows Are Too Beautiful tagged me in this post. I was able to pass her blog details on to a lady whose son has recently been diagnosed with autism, I thought it was a fantastic blog for her to look at and see the level of support mums offer each other and the fact that she isn’t on her own with some of the questions she probably had. So thank you, Ann!
1) Say hi to the person sweet enough to want to know more about you – and display your award with pride
2) Answer the eleven questions the gives you.
3) Give eleven random facts about yourself ( like Ann, go to my about me section, that’s all you’re getting!)
4) Nominate some other people that you think are deserving of this award
5) Let them know you have nominated them
6) Give them eleven questions to answer
Here are the questions I had to answer!
1. Where did you go on your first date?
For a walk around the town we both worked in – I was given a grand tour of the first part of Britain to be bombed in the first world war. We were also papped on this date by a newspaper photographer, so everyone my partner worked with knew we’d been out!
2. Where did you go on your last date?
Cinema on Sunday to see Star Wars.
3. Do you know any children with special educational needs?
(You may be surprised to know that around 15% of children need extra support in school and nearly 3% have an EHCP that gives them even extra help. That means in a class of 30, four children will need more support and one may need a lot more.)
Yes, my cousin Lewis who has Downs Syndrome and is one of my favourite people in the world.
4. Have you ever met anyone with autism?
(In theory if you know 100 people then you may know at least one with autism, but it doesn’t quite work that way. Particularly the case if you work as only 32% of autistic adults are in any kind of paid work.)
Yes, many. I work in an art college and we have many students on the autistic spectrum.
5. Wine/beer/coke or water?
Diet Coke, addicted.
6. Starbucks or Costa?
Neither. Never understood the fascination of paying £3 for a coffee when I can buy a jar of stuff for that.
7. Favourite toast topping?
Butter (lots of)
8. Favourite chocolate bar?
Cadbury’s caramel
9. Most disliked item of clothing?
Gilets – surely your arms get cold!
10. Flats or heels?
Flats. My hips and back would never forgive me if I wore heels.
11. Best place you’ve been on holiday with the kids (I’m fishing for ideas)?
He’s only ever been to Kielder as he is only 7 months old! So, Kielder!
My questions for my nominees!
- If you were a chocolate bar, what would you be?
- If you had to choose one thing to save from your house, if it was burning down, what would it be (the people and pets are already out)?
- What is your favourite holiday destination?
- If you had to put one thing into Room 101, what would it be?
- What is the worst parenting advice you have received?
- If your TV was stuck on one channel would you prefer for it to be stuck on 24 hour Teletubbies or 24 hour Peppa Pig?
- How long was your labour?
- Who is your celebrity crush?
- If you could have dinner with two celebrities (alive or dead) who would you pick?
- Do you watch any soaps?
- Who is your favourite singer?
I’ve nominated a few people in our blogging support group that I’d like to know more about
Mummy to Logan (it is her birthday tomorrow so this is her present hehe)
Goldust Blog
Hey Whinge
The Amphletts
by iamcrabstix | Jan 16, 2017 | Misc
Bedtime Tag Quiz.
Thank you to the lovely Roxanne at Every Cloud Mummy for the tag. My answers to the bedtime tag quiz are below!
1) Describe your usual bedtime routine.
My cue to go to bed is usually when RLT’s video monitor starts beeping that it needs recharging. I love being in bed, it is my favourite place in the world.
2) What are your favourite pyjamas?
My home alone ones! I got them for Christmas, but when you are faced with opening the drawer to get a fresh said, who isn’t going to pick Kevin’s cheeky face over some boring plain ones!
My home alone PJs as featured on Christmas Eve!
3) What is your current bedtime reading?
Frazzled by Ruby Wax is what I have waiting to be read…. I haven’t started it yet. I can’t remember the last time I read a book for my own enjoyment.
4) What would I find on your bedside table?
A load of crap! Baby monitor, coconut oil, deodorant (we’ve just had people stay over and I usually get dressed in the room they were staying in, so grabbed stuff and put on my bedside table) glass of juice (the glass Orla Kiely as standard), a bottle RLT has just finished (we’re currently chilling in bed until the heating kicks in downstairs!), Urbay Decay Naked 2 pallette and one of those things that sucks snot from babies noses.
5) What scent makes you sleepy?
I don’t think I have a sleepy scent? Possibly Johnson’s Baby stuff as the smell is nice and relaxing.
6) What is your usual bedtime and wakeup time?
Depends, weekends I’ll be up 11/11.30, sometimes on a week day I’ll be in bed by 9, all depends on how the little one has slept. Wake up usually 6/6.30 with RLT, as his daddy is leaving for work, give him milk and we both fall asleep again for an hour or so.
7) What are your top three bedtime products?
I’m not really one for lotions and potions. (I know, I bet you’re amazed at how I can look so young without them ;-p ) I do use Johnson’s clean and clear face wash religiously every day, twice a day and have done for many years.
8) What is your most common sleeping position?
On my front – but I couldn’t sleep like this when I was pregnant and 10 weeks after I had RLT, we were in a car accident, so I wake up in agony now and have to shift to my side.
9) Do you have anything you like to take to bed with you?
The monitor and a glass of juice. I don’t think I’ve ever drank the glass of juice, though, it is always to take back downstairs in the morning.
10) What is your worst bedtime habit?
Sitting on my phone reading pointless articles from the tabloids for hours after I have said I am going to bed. I don’t even know who most of the celebrities are when I read the showbiz sections, yet I still sit and read them!
I tag:
Nicola from Mummy to Dex
Hayley from Devon Mama
Lisa from Lisa Cowan
THE TEN QUESTIONS FOR MY NOMINEES TO ANSWER
- Describe your usual bedtime routine.
- What are your favourite pyjamas?
- What is your current bedtime reading?
- What would I find on your bedside table?
- What scent makes you sleepy?
- What is your usual bedtime and wakeup time?
- What are your top three bedtime products?
- What is your most common sleeping position?
- Do you have anything you like to take to bed with you?
- What is your worst bedtime habit?
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THE RULES OF THE BEDTIME TAG:
Step 1: Thank the person who nominated you, and link back to their blog.
Step 2: Display the Bedtime badge; which you can find at the top of this post. (save the picture)
Step 3: Answer the ten questions included above.
Step 5: Nominate between three and five fellow bloggers to take part, and set them the questions.
