The pain of Potty training......

I have been dreading this for months.

Last week S has started asking to use the potty. So off we went potty shopping. She became obsessed with one in the shape of a car so that was it potty chosen.

Theres a picture of said Potty

When we got home I just let her run around in her t-shirt with no nappy on expecting lots of accidents.

To my amazement there were none all day every-time she needed to go she went to the bathroom to use her potty, she didn't really want/need me with her. When she'd finished she call me up to have a look. If she did something she got a sticker for her reward chart.  I had to abandon the stickers as my child pees a lot!  there wasn't room on the chart for 20 stickers a day :-)

We are now on Day 7 we have had a total of 3 accidents I am so proud of her. We went out yesterday for most of the day that was the first time we had ventured out for so long. Everything went well I would ask her every 15 minutes if she needed to go.

I do think we have a long time to go yet, shes still not dry at night and refuses to poo in the potty at all.

It has been a bit stressful but nowhere near as stressful as I thought it would. Thankfully.

Social Media

I have accounts at Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest (my current Addiction), Many forums and of course my blog here at blogger.  I have an Iphone which my husband would say is always stuck to my hand, It is far to easy to become addicted to checking in with Facebook, Twitter etc.

If I chose to I could spend all day spending time messing around in my online life. Is Social Media a hobby that can be put aside or more?

I often wonder how we kept in touch with our Real-life friends before Facebook. We now read their status updates and click like. Is Facebook a poor substitute for Friendship?

I often find it strange that people like to tweet about things so personal as Relationship break-ups, Live births and even deaths. Then theres the ones who post that they've just been sick or my personal favourite only 10 more sleeps to my holiday etc. Are we all attention seekers? Do we really need to tell the world everything?

My family like to say that my life is on Facebook, I can assure you its not, yes I post photos and status updates but I would never post anything really personal.

I have made some real-life and virtual friends through Facebook and Net-mums, but sometimes I feel like I am wasting any spare "me time" facebooking and chatting to friends. I feel the need to restrain myself a bit and take a step back If even a little from the Social media bubble.

French children don't throw food!

An American married an English man and lived with him is Paris, where she had a baby. In England or America she would have found sympathy from other sleep deprived new mums. But motherhood in Paris was different.

Babies slept through the night from 2 months old they eat a varied and sophisticated diet and didn't throw their food around. The mums were not knackered and covered in sick. Thy looked sexy and had their own grown up lives.

Do the French make parenting look like a breeze?

As a mother of a 2 year old I am intrigued.

In a study done by Princeton discovered that mothers in America found parenting twice as unpleasant as mothers in France.

When a French baby cries at night the parents go in wait and observe for a few minutes. left alone it might self-sooth and go back to sleep. If you rush in your training it to wake-up properly.

French Babies wait. long stretches from one feed to the next and when they are older they wait until 4pm for treats. Toddlers will wait quietly for food in a restaurant. This waiting, according to the French is a early lesson in self-reliance and that your baby is capable of learning and cope with frustration.

There are no children's menus in restaurants, French children are trained to eat everything.

All in all French mothers are more detached they sit at the edge of the playground chatting to friends, while leaving their toddlers to get on with in.

I do exactly that when I'm out with S at a park or soft play or at a mums and tots group, I just let her get on with it rather than follow her about.

My Self Portrait

I really do not like having my photo taken so, Its a really big deal for me to put this up here. Its not the best photo as it was taken on my phone. It's a recent one of me and S. I am linking up with  The Paper Mama's self photo challenge


Obsessing over…

Pinterest, I could spend all day there, Baking (cupcakes and bread mostly), The fabulous baker brothers and my new obsession with twitter. 

Working on…

My Blog, Trying to lose the last 6lbs that I cant seen to get rid off, Being a bit more of a yummy mummy than slummy mummy, keeping up with all my housework, plus finding a new home for my sewing machine, theres no where for me to go and be creative (maybe a bigger house is in order)!

Thinking about…

A holiday, Potty training... not looking forward to that one, finding another college course to do as my recent one got canceled.

Anticipating…

My Sisters wedding in August (thankfully I'm no longer a bridesmaid... She wanted to dress us all in bright Pink). 

Listening to…

Lana Del Ray I love her voice, snow patrol, 

Eating…

Well, right now I’m having a coffee 

Wishing…

There were more hours in the day

1000 miles mummy

This amazing lady is Heather Cook, she will along with her 22 month old be walking 1000 miles for baby charity Tommy's. Tommy's - a brilliant charity working to protect unborn babies and educate expectant parents in the hope of cutting the rate of stillbirth and prematurity in the UK. Heather and Lola will be walking 3 miles every day, she's already clocked up over 100 miles so far. If anyone would like to donate to such a worthy charity can visit the just giving page www.justgiving.co.uk/1000milesmummy

Sickness oh sickness

S goes to nursery on a Friday 9 to 2. They always have signs on the door Informing us of any sickness doing the rounds.

Today it is chicken pox and Scarlett fever (my husband thinks it sounds somewhat medieval)

I know that I can't keep S away from sickness but, it does make me feel guilty as its our choice to send her to nursery at all. Like I say she only goes one day a week so maybe that's lowers her chances of catching too much? I am being naive to think that? Maybe.

I really don't like her getting sick. I don't think any parent does. I think my fear stems from her having a seizure last year caused by a high temp, it was probably the most scariest thing to happen. This makes me completely stress our anytime S has a temp. I am one of those paranoid parents because of it. Calpol at the ready at the first sign of a temp.

Should children be free to roam and explore as they wish?

I am sitting catching up on the world. I've lost a couple of days helping a friend out, buts that's another post.

I came across an article in the I newspaper. It got me thinking are we too overprotective of our kids these days? Do we "cotton-wool" wrap them as the government suggests we do.

A report published by a children's charity say, that 1 in 5 children never play outside. A third have never climbed a tree or built a den and 1 in 10 children can't ride a bike.

I think I am more for letting S do things that my husband wouldn't like when we go to soft play he would tend to follow her around and would definitely not allow her down a slide on her own like i would. I think even though she's only two and a half she should be given a little bit of freedom from all overprotectiveness if she falls she falls it's all part of growing up.