Terrible Traffic and The Very Quiet Lion

OMG my forty five minute commute to work this morning took nearly two and half hours.  An hour and a half into my journey, I found myself stuck in grid locked traffic on Hammersmith  bridge, with the petrol light flashing and in desperate need of a wee. With absolutely no way out, except over the bridge, which I must say I did contemplate, I had to sit it out, watching and waiting and holding on very tightly to my bladder.  I arrived at work late, dishevelled and very grumpy.  It was not a good start. 

On a brighter note William moved up to the toddler group at nursery today and thanks to the support of his very quiet lion, (his favourite toy) he had a fabulous day!  At least one of us did...............................

Silent Sunday

Five Things I Want You to Know About Me and Why

I came across the Friday Club Parenting Carnival this morning and I Love it!  So here goes. Five things I would like William to know about me.

1. I am very passionate and have deep rooted beliefs.  One of which is, if I die, I would want Daddy to be happy and find love again.  I know it would be hard on you, but please don't be angry with him, I would never want him to be lonely.  This is very important to me.  
2. I wish I had  travelled before I settled down but was too afraid.  Take life by the horns and enjoy every minute, we will always support you, even when you make mistakes.
3. It took me a long time to learn that no one or nothing is perfect. Never stop  dreaming but always appreciate what you have, you  never know when it will be taken away.
4. I love to sing, especially in the car! You don't have to be the best at everything, enjoy doing some things,  just because....

and the fifth, most important thing I want you to know is, no matter what , you are my wonderful son and I will always love you! ..........

Women are from Venus and Men are from WHERE......?

Twice today, my lovely  husband has proved to me how very different the two sexes are.  Once when I asked him to remove a few of my grey hairs and he graciously peered down over my head (I was obviously sat blogging at the time) and replied "I can't  wife, I don't have enough time, there's too many!" and then earlier in the day when I caught him teaching William, how to shake hands with his best buddy Harry instead of kissing him goodbye.  Poor William loves to kiss everyone, especially his cocker spaniel, so he really doesn't understand why he shouldn't kiss Harry too!  Very funny.....

Car Keys, Boots and Google Chrome

I've often wondered, until today that is, how people manage to lock their keys in the car.  Don't you need  the keys to lock it? I used to question.  It appears not.  Car boot clicker clicked, boot open, bugaboo out, boot closed and where are my keys, of course, they're in the boot!  I didn't unlock the car as I only went into the boot and the boot locks automatically when closed.  So there we have it, me and William out in the rain with no house or car keys!   Luckily for me I bumped into my lovely husband on the way into town and  he saved the day. ..

Oh and I down loaded Google Chrome today and it's amazing! Definitely making blogging easier..

Oh Pants!...........

At last I'm getting organised and have ordered the essentials for toilet training.  We're  heading towards the 18 month mark and with plans to add a new addition sometime soon, we thought we better get on with it.  I bought William possibly the smallest pants i've ever seen and couldn't help but giggle when my excited tot came scuttling towards me with his teeny, tiny pants pulled tightly over his head! 

My sister has convinced me to skip the potty and train straight on the toilet, so I ordered our lovely new family loo seat! I have a feeling the next few months are going to be very interesting.............

The Best of Friends

This week I enjoyed spending some last minute girl time with one of my special  friends,
before the imminent arrival of her very own bundle of joy.  We managed to have a whole evening together,  with no children or husbands.  What a luxury.  Though how times have changed. The best of  friends sat side by side on the couch,  feet stretched across the pouffe,  a large packet of digestives sat proudly between us and cups of tea grasped firmly in hand.  One looking fit to explode with a not quite but nearly nine month bump and the other sporting an 18 month post partum paunch. Nostalgia descended upon us and we reminisced over fiestas in Frigliana and being sozzled at  Sunday club whilst disgracefully dunking our digestives.   We're definitely not yet Yummy Mummy's, but we 'll keep on trying! Fingers and toes crossed for a safe arrival........

Alcohol Hand Rub... Is it as good as we think?

I attended an infection control update yesterday and it raised a very interesting discussion around the use of alcohol hand gels by the general public, specifically considering myths about their effectiveness.  With the ever increasing media hype around swine flu and winter stomach bug viruses, sales of hand gels have rocketed.  No baby changing bag seems complete without it, including mine! But what do really know?  One common misunderstanding is their ability to kill the norovirus, the germs responsible for half of all food poisoning outbreaks and the major cause of winter vomiting in the UK. A recent study found that although bleach based disinfectants can reduced the amount of norovirus  on  stainless steel surfaces by 1,000 times, alcohol based products were found to be 100 times less effective and also as much as 40% of all household cleaners are ineffective too.  Both the NHS  and the UK Health Protection Agency regularly publish guidelines directed at hospitals and schools to remind staff that alcohol based hand gels will not kill the virus.  Read more at http://thefamilygp.com/

This is not to say they don't have a place, as clearly they do, especially in the prevention of spreading everyday viruses like the common cold or flu or for convenience when soap and water is not available.  However the evidence is mounting, suggesting the use of alcohol hand gels seems to be replacing good old soap and water, still the gold standard of hand hygiene according to the Health Protection Agency.  What are your thoughts  I would love to hear your comments.....

Teething.....a pain in the bottom!

Tooth ache is inevitable but according to William, having a sore bottom is completely unacceptable and intolerable.   So far as his mouth is concerned we have been let off lightly, instead he breaks out in the most hideously painful  looking nappy rash, which no amount of creams or gentle care and attention can soothe.  After witnessing my toddler running around clenching his bum cheeks and screaming hysterically when I approached with the wet wipes, I knew I needed to find a solution. I

have used all manner of creams and ointments to help manage this problem and since William was 2 months I've used bepanthen, which I have favoured above them all.  I didn't realise however, until I took the time to read the literature properly that it works much more effectively used sparingly after every nappy change.  As a tiny baby I did this instinctively but as Bo grew older and toughened up I used it only when I thought necessary.  I didn't consider how vulnerable our little ones bottoms are during teething, in hindsight, this was the time I should have been using it the most.  Now back in daily use (in conjunction with bethanthen wipes) he once again has a bottom, well, as soft as a babies bottom.............!

Nappy Brain or Bad Driver?

Today for the first time since returning to work six months ago,  I actually managed to drop Wills at nursery, complete my one hour comute to work and arrive safely in one piece, on time, at my weekly management meeting.  Phew............. Well it was all too good to be true, the day ended with me obliviously driving the wrong way up a double laned one way street! As if a head on confrontation with two 4x4's wasn't  bad enough, the only way out of my sticky situation was to strategically reverse back on to the very busy High St Kensington.  I can only hope the cameras missed me and I don't recieve a hefty fine to add salt to my very embarassing wound.

Here at Last

I began this blog back in August last year believeing it to be a fun way of filling nap times.   I hadn’t quite realised how little time I would have balancing a toddler and working, so its taken until now for me to get myself together.  However, here I am, hoping to give an open and honest account of my life with my husband, son, cocker spaniel and hopefully sometime soon another new addition.   Now my husband and I finally feel like we have our lives back, we’ve decided sometime in the not too distant future, to take the plunge and do it all over again!  If you enjoy reading and want to join me on my journey, please feel free to subscribe and maybe click on an advert (apparantly only generates enough income for a starbucks or two, but with one at the end of the road I’m not complaining!)  Happy Reading……