Mini me....

A friend took some photos of my boys yesterday and text me later in the day to comment on how much my eldest son looks like me....it's true he really does (my Dad is often spooked by the similarities between us. At this point I think I should  clarify he's a really pretty boy...I am not a masculine looking woman...well I hope not...I would invite comments on the picture below at this point but don't think I want to invite that!)

Anyway I digress......so this got me thinking as Evan may look just like me but every single inch of his personality is his Dad.

Confident, a born leader, competitive, not the most tactful or sensitive soul in the world and never-ever (like..ever!) wrong!

I make him sound awful but he's not - just a super strong character.

Almost six year old Gabriel on the other hand has physical elements of both Dan and I (and strangely my Nan's jawline...weird!) but personality-wise he is me!

Kind, funny, sensitive, creative and sadly a born worrier!

Other than being our second born Gabriel has been brought up no differently to Evan. I had lovely straight forward pregnancies and births with them, was on mat leave for the same amount of time, they went to the same nursery and are at the same school.

So...... maybe nature is as powerful as nurture.

I firmly believe in bringing up our children in a manner that ensures they are kind and decent human beings but I also firmly believe I will never be able to fundamentally change either of them.

Evan will always call a spade a spade and Gabriel will always have that little nagging worry-genie on his shoulder.

x

I really am crap at this....

....blogging malarky!

I must do it more because when I do I feel a bit like I've had a quick burst of therapy. It's just the 'modern' way of keeping a diary isn't it? I remember the days of writing in my secret lockable diary every single day - which boy I currently fancied, what I was wearing, what I'd had for tea! How thrilling. Life is slightly more exciting now (only slightly) but I do think I'm too old for a pink diary with fluffy pen....or am I?!?

So what's been going on with me

Well there's been trials and tribulations this half term with my boys.

Eldest is super confident, super clever and if I'm honest has got a bit of an attitude brewing - don't get me wrong he's an amazing kid and I am uber-proud of him but sometimes his freight train approach to life gets him into bother. He upset another boy at school, his Mum phoned me, I took all she was saying as a complete assassination of my son's character...you get the picture. Anyway, all sorted now and a fab parents evening last night reassures me my boy is not a nightmare in the classroom or playground...perhaps just needs to learn when to 'sshhhh' (just like his Dad!)

Then youngest son was prescribed with his first glasses. Now, he does genuinely look awesome in them and he can see what a difference they make to his 'wonky' (his description) eyesight but he is a worrier and we endured a good few weeks of worry about being different and being laughed at 8-( Turns out Vision Express don't exactly live up to their name.....4 weeks to make a pair of kids specs...really?!?! so he had a lot of time to stress. Anyway he's got them, looks cooler than I ever will and his mates think so too. Phew!


Work has been good - youngest son gets the worry gene from me, so I have been stressing about being too busy, not busy enough, over-servicing, forgetting things, sending out a press release with a naff headline...you get the picture I'm a worrier but all in all work is fab. I work with my best friend, at home, I can stay in my PJs if I want to...how bad could it be?

So today is the last day of school before 2 weeks off - I'm doing the usual juggle but has some fun planned too. It also happens to be my husband's birthday and our 10th wedding anniversary during the school hols so I think we can safely say a little bit of wine will be consumed and I'll then be 'slim-fasting' so I don't look like such a heffer on the beach when I go to Dubai with my size 10 Mum at the end of April!

Happy Easter one and all and I promise I'll try to blog more than once a decade in future....Claire x

Balance....

Today is a rarity in that I feel I've got life perfectly balanced.
Just wanted to share


Help with reading at school - check
4 hours of work with some great results - check
Dog walked & my exercise quota - check
Homework done - check
Homemade dinner is delicious - check
Clean house - check
PTA admin - check

Quite how I fitted all of that in I'm still not sure but wow what a day - hope I manage many more like it.

Claire x

How do you encourage good behavior?

On the whole my boys are fantastically behaved. They don't hit, bite or swear. Their school reports have always been glowing, we can take them anywhere and know they will behave appropriately and their manners are generally brilliant.

But....


.....ah yes isn't there always a but....


.....this hasn't come easily and the number of charts, reward systems and downright bribery I've tried over the years is huge!

We've copied their school system of smiley face charts - lose a smiley face for bad behaviour and lose 5 minutes of TV time / computer time / football time as a result.

We've flipped that on it's head and given smiley faces for good behaviour - earn 10 in a week and get a treat .

We've listed out simple rules for them to follow 'brush your teeth' 'do your homework' 'be kind to your brother' and dished out ticks and crosses.....


.... you get the picture?

Well, this weekend we had one poorly boy, one emotional boy (a tricky Mecanno set sent him over the edge) and a very fed up Mummy. I uttered the words "I am a terrible mother" to myself, had a little cry and then put the kettle on and pulled myself together. I screwed up the complicated reward charts (they really were complicated!!) and decided to go back to basics.

We now have one rule in our family "Do as you are asked"

It covers all bases - teeth, getting dressed, tidying room, making bed, being kind etc etc etc and really should be easy to follow.

We have a big smiley face and a big sad face. A little bit of each gets coloured in each time they do as they are asked first time and it may only be Tuesday but the smiles are looking colourful and the frowns are so far blank!

I hope (really, really hope!!) I've hit the nail on the head and this simple approach will encourage good behaviour but I'd love to hear fellow parents ideas.

x

Supporting local business

I live in a busy town and we benefitted from a sparkly new shopping centre a couple of years ago. The choice of shops, restaurants and hairdressers has been greatly improved and has proven to be a great success for the town.

I however don't visit very often as I have made a conscious effort of late to support local businesses.

There is a parade of shops within 2 minutes walk of my home - I have my hair cut and coloured at the mother and daughter run hairdressers, buy my children's football cards and sweet treats at the father and son run newsagents, purchase my bottle of wine from the local off license.

I'm not completely against high street or supermarket of course - but where I can I support businesses within walking distance.....do you?

POOH!

Do you think I've gone mad? I am after all blogging about pooh!!

Well just I am mad, but not in that sense. I'm cross, angry, annoyed....yes MAD!!

Those of you who know me will know I have a dog, you may also know that walking my dog has helped me to shed a not inconsiderable number of pounds since we entered 2012 (24 to be exact!)

Come rain or shine (and let's face it, more rain than shine so far this spring) I pound the pavements of High Wycombe en route to a woodland walk where we both burn some calories and enjoy the fresh air. However today both of my walks were ruined by pooh!

Why oh why can fellow dog owners not "scoop the poop?" I admit it isn't the most pleasant of tasks but with scented poop bags, designer poop bag holders (yes really) and plenty of poop bins scattered along the favored dog walking routes in my area I believe there is NO EXCUSE.

In the middle of the pavement - pooh!

On the grass verge - pooh!

At the park  - pooh!

In the woods - pooh!

Not only is it disgusting, it is a health hazard to us humans and to dogs - many nasty diseases can be spread - as a Mum of two young boys it worries me greatly that our local playing field and park is one of the offending areas.

So come on dog owners, act responsibly and pick up the poop ......at the very least so that I can start blogging about more palatable subjects!

A holiday....in more ways than one

I am just back from a wonderful week of sun in Lanzarote. Spending some quality time with my husband and children was just wonderful - and it wasn't just the lazy sun filled days, fun in the pool and building sand castles at the beach that helped to recharge my batteries but the chance to switch off from email, Facebook, Twitter, online news .........

I am one of those people you may have read about in recent articles who is a tiny bit (okay.....hugely!) addicted to my smart phone. It is by my side all of the time. If it is charging my even smarter tablet is with me......I literally never switch off! But why? It's not as if the world will end if I don't check my emails or Twitter feed for an hour but I feel that in an age where we CAN be contactable, by several different sources, all of the time.....I really SHOULD be!

If there are un-read emails in my inbox I feel a bit squeamish. Unacknowledged Facebook comments make me nervous and I don't want to be rude by not thanking a Tweep for a retweet.

If my phone rings I answer it - I have even been known to lock myself in the bathroom to take a work call if the kids are home from school!

I remember back in the mid-90s when I landed my first job in a pharmaceutical PR agency - the fax machine was the centre of the office, voicemail didn't exist and we had one computer that had a generic email address on it, each of the team got a timed slot in the day to use this computer to send and receive emails........sounds like another age doesn't it?

So back to holiday - I did send the odd text -  even though I'm 35 my Mum still likes to know I've arrived safely (bless her!) but I didn't glance at Facebook or Twitter, was blissfully unaware of what was going on in the world and emails waited until I arrived home.

So my post-holiday resolution is to try not to be too over-the-top about being contactable. My phone will always be by my side - after all as a PR if a journalist needs to speak to me they need to speak to me and I always want to be contactable by the school in case of any emergencies.

But evenings, mealtimes, bedtimes and weekends will see my smart phone stashed away and all of my other devices switched off!

I'll try very very hard......watch this space for an update