Safer Internet Day...and why the hell do you put those pictures up anyway???

We all have them, those Facebook friends that we all secretly want to unfriend.
You know the ones, filling up your timeline with their baby news. I'm not talking about 'Look how clever we are, we just had a baby!' Those guys I like. Congratulations to you. I am glad everyone is happy and healthy, but I don't want to hear about it 12 times a day for the next 15 years!

Yes, your baby is cute, clever, funny and just an adorable little piece of heaven. But that’s just the point, it's YOUR baby. Yours. It's not that I don't want to see them, I do. I just think people don't think of the bigger picture. The internet is not a safe place. it's just not. No matter what privacy settings you have and no matter how much you monitor, it's not a safe place. How often have pictures of friends-of-friends popped up on your time line? Pictures of people you don't even know?

I don't need to see 'first day of school in my uniform' photos.
I don't need to see 'how cute am I in my new bathers Granny bought me?' photos.
I don't need to know which park you play in, or that you are currently obsessed with every passing puppy because Mummy won't buy you one.
I just don't need to know this stuff, and neither do the weirdos out there on the net.

Not to mention the kind of example / precedent you are setting for your kids to follow when they start posting about themselves. Think about what you are posting and the kinds of things you are posting about. Now when your daughter is 16, do you want her continuing on that line of post? 'Here's me in my bathers' or 'Off to buy a new bra’??? I recently read an article about a blogger who wrote about her sons first signs of puberty!?!? What???

 My children don't belong to the world; they are not there for anyone else to see. This is my family. I am very protective of my family, as any parent would be. I wouldn't let a random stranger on the bus take their photo. If I was at the park and someone was taking their photo you can be sure they would get more than just a piece of my mind. I don't talk about their problems to anyone but trusted confidants, and maybe not even then! So why would I just post this stuff for the entire world to see?

And while we are at it, make sure it's just YOUR kids you are posting about. We all have different standards when it comes to social media, don't just assume everybody feels the same way as you do.

I really don't understand why people think it's OK to do this. I feel that we have become a society that gets its self-worth from the number of 'likes' we get. I get it, when you are a stay at home parent these little bundles are an all-consuming part of your day, and you want to share about your life. That's OK. Just make sure it's YOUR life you are sharing about.

The internet is forever! One day your kid's peers are going to be able to see everything you have ever written or posted about them. Make sure you paint them in the best possible light.


Check out this post from the BBC website, simple tips to remember whn posting about your kids.
Happy Safer Internet day!!


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38893963

Our Star Wars Addiction and the DIY Lightsabers

Currently we are obsessed with Star Wars. OBSESSED I tell you.

Luckily lightsabers are the easiest thing in the world to make, and they bring so much joy.

Toilet roll, Al foil, electrical tape, tissue paper and cellophane.....ala peanut butter sandwiches.

I'm not going to insult you by showing you how it's done; Toilet roll, Al foil, electrical tape, tissue paper and cellophane...you know what to do.

This post (and all previous and continuing posts) can now be found at the following link

 http://cantankerous-kitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/our-star-wars-addiction-and-diy.html

Pseudo Keto Kids

Since Christmas we've been trialling a keto diet with the kids.

We have a recently 4yr old and a newly 2yr old. So tantrums are pretty much a regular occurrence in our house. But we were getting to the point where the kids couldn't self regulate or bring themselves back down from their heightened tantrum state.

We pretty much know that sugar makes kids bounce off walls. Well, the body processes carbs in the same way it does sugar. Carbs are sugars.

So while my kids are eating porridge for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and some kind of rice/pasta dish for dinner, their sugar levels are riding some crazy waves.  No wonder they can't control their emotions.

So far the experiment is going well. We've cut out all processed carbs...bread, cereal, rice, pasta, etc. We've not worried too much about fruit and vege. Dried fruits are just sugar nuggets as are grapes, but most other fruit and vege we've been pretty lenient with....and we must have the only kids who don't eat potatoes anyway!

For the most part this change in diet has worked really well.  When we have introduced say a slice of toast for breakfast, we notice the difference pretty quickly.  And our eldest is starting to understand that 'agitated' feeling he gets when sugar levels are bouncing around.

It's a work in progress.  Watch this space.

Why Compact?

Why compact?

Well I can still fit into the earrings, and possibly the shoes, I was wearing in high school. So there goes any illusion of a cute little petite mummy.

It’s more about our lifestyle really. We lived in a studio apartment till our eldest was one. We didn’t have a pram till he was about 15 months. And all the usual things that people tell you are essential to child rearing, just don’t factor into our lives.

No huge prams, nappy bags, change tables, all the latest gadgets and whowhar just didn’t and don’t figure into our lives.  Hell our babies didn’t even have a cot. Moses basket to toddler bed. I will leave the house in the morning with three kids under 4, a nappy in my pocket, a handful of wet wipes and a baby grow (just in case we have a tsunami poo…you know what I’m talking about, we’ve all been there).

Our life is really simple. The kids have everything they need. They are happy and well fed. And while our life has obviously changed since we had kids, it’s still pretty much the same. We don’t have family to help us out with childcare, so ‘date night’ has become less so. But otherwise we still have great holidays and generally go about our business as usual…. with three kids in tow.

Yes, I am that mummy, sitting in a wine bar with her friends on a Saturday afternoon, with a baby strapped to her chest. #Itsathing

The Good , the Bad and the Ugly

So, I guess my plan for this blog is to document my travels as a parent. The good, the bad and the ugly! And yes there will be plenty of ugly!!!!

There is way too much pretending about our little angels and how wonderful they are. Well my little Tarquin sprouts rainbows. Yeah, my kids too, usually after they’ve just eaten what seems like the entire contents of the craft cupboard. Of course he sprouts rainbows, usually glitter covered rainbows. Right before bed time. Just after his bath. So we have to put him back in the bath to de-glitter, and usually his little brother too, as he did just throw up all that glitter onto said little brothers head. Oh the joys.

The reality of it is we are on first name basis with the lady at the bottle shop.

I wanna be that voice of reality. Hey your kids look happy, well fed and no one’s killed anyone…. you’re doing a great job!

I do loads of craft with my kids…. mostly because it keeps me sane. You know how they do craft in mental institutions? Well it’s kind of like that. I want to share some of that with you too. And show you that you don’t have to have a lot of time, space and money to really enjoy being with your kids and to do educational things with them without them even realising they are learning! You don’t have to be a Mensa member to help your kids reach their full potential. And more importantly, even if you're not great at it, your kids will think it's the best god dam fairy they've ever seem...even if you were trying to make a frog.

Just trying to make it through the day

So, I'm a new mum again, for the third time. I love being a Mum, don't get me wrong. I totally believe it's the best job in the world. But there are days, yes there are days!!!! You know what I'm talking about. Those days when you just want to climb into a cupboard and eat the entire contents of the biscuit tin.
We're all just trying to make it through the day.

Sometimes I think we over complicate life. Especially life with kids. My husband and I went inter railing a few summers ago. Four weeks travelling around Europe via the train system. It was wonderful. We had an 18month old and I was 5months pregnant with our second. We had two small backpacks, the kind you take to the gym, and a fold up pushchair. That's it.

Life doesn't have to be overly complicated. We had everything we needed. On the few occasions we needed to do laundry, we'd drop our stuff off in the morning on our way out. Then pick it up on our way back in the evening. Too easy.

I'm the kind of person that feels claustrophobic if I have too much stuff around me. I don't understand the need for giant nappy bags. Even before babies I could never see the point of giant handbags. What's that important that you can't leave home without it?

I'm just struggling to make it through the day. Like everyone else. But I really believe if we just let go a little. Keep it simple. Then maybe we will be able to find that space to just ….. breathe.