Money, Money, Money

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Starting a family was a huge shock to the system. Obviously not the whole baby part, my growing stomach, constant heartburn and lack of lung capacity were a fairly good indication of that.

The part that sent resounding shock waves through our little household was the impact to our finances; one month we were bringing in two comfortable salaries and not really worrying about monthly expenditure, the next month I was on half salary and we were beginning to tighten our metaphorical belts.

I launched into full-on money-saving mode, drawing on the skills of my mum exhibited in my childhood. I made pasties, lots of pasties. I’m a bit of a dab hand at making a few root vegetables, a small block of cheese and some shortcrust pasty stretch to accommodate a fair few meals during the month!

Other money-saving tactics involved walking as much as possible to cut down on petrol used, not going out as many times a month, cutting right back on take-aways to one treat a month, and re-evaluating our subscriptions and energy deals. As my husband is not such an expert with a rolling pin, and walking forty-five minutes to work every day wasn’t feasible, he was in charge of tackling the subscriptions. Out the window went the movie packages, we changed providers for broadband and telephone deals, and we reassessed the electricity prices that we were paying.

As we are beginning to contemplate the possibility of having another addition to the family, I think it’s time we started to reassess the finances again.

Now, where’s my apron?

This is a sponsored post.

Square Eyes? Angry Eyes More Like! (Or Where CBeebies Get It Wrong)

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I don't tend to rant on my blog, possibly a little bit on twitter, definitely in real life. My blog, however, tends to stay nice and safe. Therefore, please excuse this mini-rant.

Last week, I was sent a press release from CBeebies about their new and upcoming programmes, and a few changes to the schedule. I've been meaning to blog it since I had it, but you know how it is, other things happen and suddenly it was the Monday morning when the 'Love to Learn' block started.

At 9 o'clock.

When Show Me, Show Me should have been on.

I'll just give you a moment to allow that to sink in shall I? ….

…

… sorted? Right, good. See in this household, and I'm pretty sure in hundreds of thousands of others nationwide, Show Me, Show Me is an institution and a matter of routine. CBeebies don't really demarcate the passing of time throughout the day, apart from luncthime and the bedtime hour, so Show Me, Show Me is one of those natural timings for the children. They know it's the start of the day proper.

That's aside from the wonderful educational content of the programme, the old-fashioned or traditional play style, the songs, the acting, the interaction from children, the slight innuendoes planted for parents. I have compared Show Me, Show Me in the past as being like Playschool but for our children's generation. And we all know how that ended when they stopped showing that.

Now, I know that CBeebies have merely reshuffled the schedule to accommodate this new learning block, and not taken Show Me, Show Me off the air for good, but that brings me to my next point.

My son is two years old and he won't start school until September 2013, therefore I do not want him to experience a 'lesson' until then. Even then he won't because of the introduction of the Foundation Phase, which promotes learning through play and experience. I've watched the new 'Love to Learn' block for two days in a row, and it doesn't sit comfortably with me; it feels like forced learning. Someone said to me (earlier on twitter), "Well, turn it off then!" but really that's not the point is it? Of course I can, but surely a television company don't want you to do that? They want you to stay tuned? Keep the schedule as it is, and I won't be.

I don't have a problem with any of the programmes: Numtums seems a little simplistic but that's just me; I'm not a personal fan of The Numberjacks but The Boy loves it; and you can't go wrong with Alphablocks or Abadas as far as I'm concerned. Each of these programmes is good, however combined together into a 35 minute block I think has been a wrong decision. I think they have more effect when they are interspersed with the other programmes; more of a drip-drip gentle learning than 'here are letters and numbers: learn them'.

And yes, I'm a teacher. And yes, my son knows his colours, shapes, recognises single digit numbers and can count to 39 (40 is 30-10 according to him). And yes, he typed his name on the laptop the other day. However,  this has all happened through gradual play activities and learning through play. Not through 'here, you must learn' activities or television programmes.

Now, anyone who knows my blog will know that I adore CBeebies and feel that they never get it wrong.

However, CBeebies, you've got it wrong: put Show Me, Show Me back on at 9 o'clock and lose the 'Love to Learn' block please. It's not helping the channel or our children's education.

Weekend Activity: First Weekend of Spring

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Saturday morning beckoned, bright and sunny. It was a refreshing change to the grey drudgery of the past week and so, after a slow start to the day, we headed down to Cardiff Bay Barrage to get some fresh air and blow the argumentative cobwebs away.

The Boy is becoming so confident on his scooter, it's fabulous to see. I just need to get daddy to have more confidence; he rushes over everytime he stumbles or crashes, whereas I'm the one who is standing back and saying "stand up then, brush your hands down!" to The Boy. It's hard work, but maybe it's the teacher in me, he'll cry if he's hurt himself and he's got a helmet on to protect his head. It's working too, so those parents who smirk at it can bugger off!

While on the barrage I managed to take these two photos, which I'm quite proud of. There's a lot of interesting angles and lines down there: the whole barrage is a real work of art. In the right hand picture, the 1950s style hut is actually a bright pink, but it didn't come out properly so I desaturated it.

And so to Sunday: I declare the 2012 season of sandcastle building well and truly open!

We built sandcastles, we went paddling in the sea (in our wellies), we played football, we ate sausage and chips on the beach (I had cheese and chips), we scooted along Barry Island promenade and we had a Mr. Creemy ice-cream. It was a balmy 15°C; madness for a Sunday in February!

When we came home, we decided to get a head start on planting some seeds we'd been sent.

I have a feeling that The Boy is going to love gardening this year.

—

I'm linking this up to Country Kids

Spring Has Sprung!

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Last week, the doorbell went and, as usual, The Boy rushed to the porch door.

"Postman!" he shouted, and turned away. I went and rescued the dejected looking postman and the large box that he was carrying, which ironically was addressed to The Boy. When he realised this, he squealed with delight and was eager to open it up.

This lovely gardening kit was sent to him from innocent so that he could plant his own seeds and take part in the exciting promotional project that is going to be featuring for the next few weeks. Throughout March and until the end of April, every box of the innocent kids’ smoothies or fruit tubes will come with its very own pack of easy to grow seeds. There are six different varieties to collect including carrots, tomatoes, cress, basil, violets and sunflowers – all of which will show little ones how a garden grows.

So yesterday afternoon, we did some gardening. First we made some eco-friendly newspaper plant pots, the brain-child of Christine from Climbing Rainbows.

Then we planted our seeds into the newspaper pots, but we saved one set of seeds for a special pot to be kept in a secret place. More on that in a bit!

In total, we planted sunflowers (my favourite flower), violets, basil, tomatoes, carrots and cress. We'll be planting more seeds over the next few weeks; peas, courgettes, leeks, and seed potatoes. Gardening is an important activity to help teach your children about the world around them, how things grow, what is needed to keep plants alive, etc. While planting these seeds, we discussed that they needed water and warmth to start them off, and then once the leaves have appeared that they need sunlight. We counted the scoops of soil we put in, talked about textures and materials. Gardening is such a fun and educational activity, that really provides children with a sense of achievement.

While waiting for our seeds to grow, we'll be visiting the innocent gang's garden and uploading photos of our plants' progress. Join in with the seeds that you get from the innocent smoothies 4-pack boxes and learn some top gardening tips, upload photos andyou could be in with a chance to win cool prizes from innocent's friends at Rocket Gardens and the Royal Horticultural Society.

And so to the competition.

But not quite yet. In about a week's time, I will be posting on my blog, a photograph of one of my plant pots but in a secret location. I'll also be posting photos on twitter and instagram of the seeds as they grow, using the hashtag #innocentseeds. The competition will involve guessing where the special pot is, and what is growing in it. Correct entries will be placed in a virtual hat (otherwise known as Rafflecopter) and one of those clever souls will win a innocent smoothies gardening set like I received.

Monday 27th February 2012 – 'Duvet' (58/366)

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Last night we made the monumental move to a duvet rather than his sleeping bag. We think that the reason he's been so disturbed at night recently is because he has had barely any room to move in his sleeping bag. We were anxious because he really did love his sleeping bags and the security that they brought him. However, he adapted well although he did end up wrapping himself in it. Naptime today, he wouldn't go down to his sleep in his cot as he does at night, I still needed to cuddle him to sleep before putting him down. Early days though, we'll get there.

Sunday 26th February 2012 – 'Sandy Feet' (57/366)

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One of my favourite photo projects that gets linked up to Project 366 is from Peg at 'The Tao of Me'. An American photographer, married to a Scottish builder and living in Brazil, Peg has come up with the fabulous theme of 'From Where I Stand' for her own photo a day project. I love the editing style and the different photos that she comes up with, of basically her feet.

Hopefully, she doesn't mind but I've decided this week's theme is going to be emulating hers. And so I bring you my first 'From Where I Stand', or in this case; 'sit'!

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