Like Mummy

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At Christmas we bought The Boy a little laptop of his own in the vague hope that he'd stop wanting to fiddle with ours. Fat chance! It wasn't a proper laptop; it was one of those Learning Laptops from the Early Learning Centre (£17.00). Unfortunately he wasn't at the right stage of development at that age and wasn't at all interested in it. It has been given the odd cursory glance and prod until today.

He wandered into the dining room where I was sat with the laptop and looked at me. The Boy then toddled off and returned with his own laptop. He proceeded to place it on the table, climb up into his chair, strap himself in and play with the laptop. The photo is my 365 for today.

However, I wanted to show you what happened next. The Boy's clearly learnt more in the last few months than I originally thought.

 

Top Five Finals

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This week Kate literally Takes Five, while Keith takes over. Chronicles of a Reluctant Housedad (one of my favourite recent finds) is caretaking the Listography this week and has launched onto the scene with a cracker:Top Five Finals.

His own Listography sets the scene of his finale moments inspired by the recent non-event that was 'The Rapture'. A few others have also shared their final five things they'd do before kicking the bucket but I'm going for something different.

I'm a little bit fiery in temperament. I like to blame it on being a Leo, using Astrology as a get-out-of-jail-free card works with some people. However in reality, it's because I'm short-tempered. So this is my:

Top Five Final Straws

1) There is nothing more likely to make the kettle boil than insolence. Specifically answering back. In school I remain as cool as a cucumber while inwardly I am strangling the little blighter. They get the raised eyebrow and lose their break-time.
2) Eye-rolling. Very much linked to the last one. If you want me to gouge your eyes out, that is the way to ensure it happens. Although I am unlikely to because it is a) icky and b) illegal.
3) Parking in the wrong space. Are you disabled? Are you?! No? THEN MOVE! I'm sorry but do you have an infant with you? What do you mean there were no spaces left in the disabled bays!! Teenagers do not count as children in this case! And while I'm at it: if you leave your children in the car with your partner and they are not getting out of the vehicle, then you don't need the space!
4) If you want me to move my trolley so that you can get your natural, live Greek yoghurt with pre and probiotics then say the magic words "excuse me please". Otherwise I will not move! And I will say something to you if you roll your eyes at my husband behind his back you ignorant woman! (Yes this happened earlier in Tesco's, she was virtually climbing on his back she was leaning so close).

However all of these things mean that I must not allow myself to lose my temper. I am a 30 something mother who needs to set a good example to The Boy. But most of all because the last time it was the final straw…

5) I threw a cheap Ikea glass across the kitchen floor. It bounced across the ceramic tiles breaking four of them and came to a rest against the fridge. Undamaged.

This has been brought to you by a woman on the edge following a shopping trip to Tesco's on a Bank Holiday Sunday.

SIGG EcoBottles

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A little over a month ago I was chosen to be the first mummy reviewer for SIGG EcoBottles.

I know some of you maybe wondering who SIGG are, and that's kind of the point of this post isn't it? Ok, so SIGG was founded in 1908 in Switzerland and today is the leading brand of reusable water bottle in the world. SIGG bottles are made from a single piece of pure aluminium and use modern and very funky designs, trendsetters like Vivienne Westwood, Sienna Miller, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Zac Efron and Cameron Diaz know what they're talking about don't they? There is even one in permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

This video of how the bottles are made is actually really fascinating, please take a few minutes to watch it.

Since The Boy and I (see, I can do grammar) have taken charge of our SIGG EcoBottles, we've found them invaulable. The Boy had a few drinks bottles, mostly well known brands of tippy cups and made of plastic, which of course we never left the house without. However, I would often forget my own water bottle. Mainly because I didn't have one! Or I'd end up fishing out a battered plastic one from the recycling and trying to wash it in a hurry to refill, making myself stressed and late. Although being honest here, I'd forget and end up having to buy yet another plastic bottle that gets binned or recycled. In the UK alone 250,000 plastic bottles are dumped every hour.

This is not good. I pride myself on being a little bit of an eco-warrier, in areas that I can be. We recycle everything that we can, and I am always amazed at how much plastic there is, but really we should make more of an effort to prevent the need for this. As a primary school teacher who has taught the theme of environmental impact for several years, I know the importance of teaching about the four 'R's: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Really they should come in that order. Refuse to accept that extra packaging in the first place. Reduce the amount of waste that you are creating by reusing and recycling (Plastic bottles constitute close to 50% of recyclable waste in landfill sites). However, recycling should really come last of all in order to reduce the impact on the world's resources by having to use a process to create another product.

This is where the SIGG EcoBottles come in to adjust an area of my life which impacts on the world in which we live. By cleaning and resuing my SIGG EcoBottle I haven't bought a single plastic bottle of spring water in over a month. I would normally have bought, maybe fifteen? That's fifteen less items of plastic that need a process happening to them in order to be reused. There is of course another issue here. We live in Britain. We have good, clean and healthy tap water and there is no need whatsoever to have to buy spring water.

The reasons why I love my SIGG EcoBottle in a nutshell:

  • it is environmentally responsible to reuse a bottle rather than recycle (and saves money!)
  • it is funky and pretty with a nifty little design on it (all the girls in school admire it)
  • because it's made of metal, it keeps the water cool for ages
  • it is lightweight yet very robust
  • it has a variety of accessories, like a fliptop lid to suit your needs.

This is where you can get your mitts on a SIGG EcoBottle and be one of the cool people that is frugal and environmentally conscious.

Competition

I have teamed up with SIGG EcoBottles UK to offer one lucky reader the chance to win this Barnyard Fun bottle for their child. They normally retail for £14.00 so this is a treat indeed and one that your little one will adore.

In order to be in with a chance to win this funky bottle we would like to know how you would make the world a better place! It can be comical or serious, it can be as simple as teaching children to say 'thank you’ or as complex as ‘building clean water fountains across the world’. This is our example.

TheBoyandMe would make the world a better place by cheering people up with our silly and funny antics.

Comment below completing the phrase: "I would make the world a better place by…"

  • One more entry can be gained by tweeting:

I want to win a @SIGGEcoBottleUK with @TheBoyandMe's blog https://www.theboyandme.co.uk/?p=2868

Again please leave an additional comment for this.

T&C

Competition closes Saturday 18th June 2011 at 8pm. I will draw the winner using random.org and notify them that evening. If they have not replied by Monday 20th June 2011 I will redraw. UK entrants only. Facebook and twitter are not affiliated with the running of this competition and have no responsibility for it.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Thank you so much for all your entries into the SIGG EcoBottle competition. There were some fantastic thoughts on how to make the world a better place, from ensuring that everyone was allowed to have at least 3 duvet days a year to by smiling at random strangers.

But of course, in true Highlander style, there can be only one. So using my faithful companion www.random.org I have a winner:

Congratulations Helen Jessup from The Crazy Kitchen! You've won a fabulous Barnyard Fun SIGG EcoBottle for your little one. He's going to love it! And who says being the first to enter doesn't pay off?

Thanks to everyone for entering, please check out my other competitions over here.

ShowOff ShowCase: The One That Should Have Done Better (3)

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This weekend I'm reverting to the very popular: 

The One That Should Have Done Better

We've all got those posts that just didn't get the views or comments that they should have. Maybe they were published on a busy day or you didn't get the chance to advertise it as much as some of the other posts. Either way, wouldn't it be nice to find out if actually they were well written, but they just slipped through the cracks?

This is your chance. Find that post, add my nifty html to the bottom of the post which will generate the pretty little badge and bang that drum shouting:

This is The One That Should Have Done Better.

ShowOff ShowCase