Changing Times

Just lately I've been feeling a bit sad that our fab group of mums and babies that have been meeting at least once a week (at one stage three times a week) for the last four nearly five years is gradually disbanding. It started when our little ones who we met through started school in September. Even though most of us still have little ones home with us in the day you just find yourself less inclined to submerge yourself in the mum and toddler group circuit and the day gets filled up so quickly between the time you drop off at school until you pick up.
I know it's a natural progression and part of me enjoys having a life away from total babydom and of course I'm pleased that the business is steadly growing and yet another part of me hankers for the days filled with baby groups, swing parks, coffee mornings, endless rounds of nursery rhymes, lounging around in my dressing gown till lunchtime and watching trashy daytime tv. I miss nursing a little baby and having to sit down and rest to do it while enjoying a cup of tea and biscuit or ten! It feels so sad that I'll never have those days back. At the time you think it will go on forever and curse the sleepless nights, endless feeds, baby sick down your back and not being able to hold a onversation that doesn't involve the contents of your babys nappy or suitable first weaning foods.
I remember crying when my eldest who's almost 16yrs started school because it was the end of an era and I had no other kids at home with me to take my mind off the void I felt. How on earth will I cope when my smallest and last baby starts school.
I wonder if other mums feel the same way or if they can't wait to get out of the 'baby days'.
Maybe I should buy a puppy.

Poorly Boy Miraculous Recovery

You'd never believe that this time last week he was laying in a hospital bed hooked up to a drip and feeling decidedly sorry for himself. So where do you think he is now? Possibly you might think he's resting in his room or you might consider that he's catching up with all the school work he missed in the last couple of weeks or maybe even revising for the french oral GCSE that he missed and is taking next friday. Well not a bit of it! He's down the town with all his mates as if he's never had a days illness in his life. Children/adolescents have always amazed me with their amazing ability to bounce back from serious illness. If only I had the same sort of recovery rate. I am still suffering from the shock of him being carted off in an ambulance and the sheer exhaustion of trekking backwards and forwards to visit him in the hospital and then once he was home running around playing nursemaid and general skivvy. I need a holiday!
Hubby is away at Brands Hatch for the weekend and sleeping on a mattress in his van which he informed me was very cosy and comfortable to which I suggested that maybe he'd like to sleep in it permanantly! I dont like being on my own with the kids at the weekend. I live for the weekend and a change of routine with a bit of help with the kids.
I've just been reading some blogs by likeminded people who are trying to live a 'greener' and documenting their experiences and I was horrified at some of the tones of the comments from readers about the fact that the poster was trying alternatives in her dishwasher along the lines of 'call yourself green, why have you got a dishwasher?' only ruder. It really made me cross especially as research points out that it is more 'green' to use a dishwasher fully loaded than washing by hand. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/08/dishwasher_vs_h.php
I really hate the way that if you are making an effort to go green everything you do is scrutinised by some people and you are expected to do everything absolutely perfectly and to know everything that you can't possibly know without years of research and too much time on your hands. The green zealots are simply turning people off by condemning peoples efforts. I'll get off my soap box now.

FAIR TRADE ECO FRIENDLY PARTY BAGS
On a lighter note one of the ladies (Ellie) at a mum and toddler group I go to has launched a range of fair trade eco friendly party bags for kids. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Earth-Mother-Party-Bags It's a super idea and I wish her all the best with her new venture. She has given me some samples and business cards to take to my eco parties to promote the bags.

Cloth Nappy Enquiries

In the last few weeks cloth nappy interest has really taken off which is super. I love meeting new and nearly new mums and showing them my range of nappies. They are always so amazed to see poppers, velcro, funky patterns and cute designs. It's amazing how many people think that all you can get are white variations of terry towelling type things and that they need soaking (no!) napisan (no!) boiling (no!) and washing in a seperate load (no!). It's all easy peasy lemony squeezy these days. If I can do it anyone can. You'll have to contact me if you want to know how it's done in these enlightened times.

And finally at last I have had one response from an advert that I placed in a parenting magazine that cost me £200!!!! The mag has been out since march and is distributed to all the local parenting haunts ie indoor play areas and restaurants etc and this is my first respose. It's not a sale as yet just an enquiry but I live in hope.

My clothes rail arrived yesterday for my fair trade clothes which I'm so excited about. I can't wait to see what the general opinion will be. I just need to get the party bookings as they're a bit lean at the moment as I haven't really pushed them recently.

I ordered some more soap pods for my laundry from different company which arrived yesterday and I hadn't realised that with this particular lot you have to bash them with a rolling pin to break them up. At first I thought it would be a big hassle and that I wouldn't order this particular brand again but woohoooo I cannot recommend highly enough a couple of minutes of bashing something with a rolling pin! What a stress relief, hold me back. Now I just want more so I can have a bit of therapuatic rolling pin bashing!

24/4/07 Run Ragged.

So the poorly boy is home from school and not only can he not do his usual chores so I'm having to do them but he also has me run ragged fetching his numerous medication, hot drinks, cold drinks, healthy and not so healthy snacks. He's also thoroughly depressed which is dragging me down too! I am not good at looking after ill people. I am impatient and bad tempered but unable to show it as I know he feels pants and it isn't his fault.
I notified his school secretary that he was in hospital on monday and so far his form tutor hasn't bothered to phone for a progress report or to tell me what's going to happen about the GCSE's he was meant to be taking. GRRR!
To top it all the middle small person (4yrs) is off school with an upset tummy. This is not a happy home at present.
I am so behind with the business at the moment. I have decided to branch out and stock fair trade, eco friendly clothes from a great site called www.nomadsclothing.co.uk I've been needing to sit down and place an order for days and finally got round to it today. I also had to order a portable clothes rail to hang it all on at my eco parties. I had to spend a minimum of £250 to qualify for trade discount which has made me a bit nervous and panicy about selling it. What if everyone hates it and I'm out of pocket? I'm only a small company and can't afford to make buying mistakes. But equally I'm really excited and can't wait to start showing the stock to my customers. So watch this space.

23/4/07 Poorly Boy Home

He's home but very weak and sleeping loads. I've never seen so many pills for one person. He has to take penicillin, another unpronouncable and definately unspellable antibiotic, ibubrufen and paracetomol.
Official diagnosis is glandular fever. His spleen is inflamed so he's not allowed to do any contact sports for a few months which isn't ideal when your taking a PE gcse!
It's been a manic few days and the house is such a tip. I ran out of ecover dishwasher tabs over the weekend (the dishwasher is one thing I struggle with for making my own detergent, I just can't fing anything that works) so I tried to substitute it with some natural stuff. I tried sprinkling everything with bicarb of soda as Janey Lee Graces book suggests and everything came out reasonably clean but with a white powdery residue which hubby moaned about. I can live with it. Next I tried natural soap flakes which were a disaster, everything was a filthy and needed to be re washed which is hardly eco friendly.
Finally today I had the chance to get to the shops and get some stuff that actually works, hurrah!

22/4/07 Poorly boy on the mend.

Just spent a few hours with him and he's improved loads (amazing what a night of intravenous drugs can do) He is able to talk now and swallow. Last night he could only whisper and could barely swallow water. He's eaten lunch which is fab. He's got to stay in at least till tomorrow having the drugs. No definate diagnosis as yet but they pretty sure he has glandular fever amoungst other things.I feel so guilty. I'm the sort who never makes a fuss when the kids are ill and packs them off to school unless they are vomiting and although I didn't make him go to school and have been feeding him cup a soups I probably haven't been too sympathetic. In fact I admit I was getting pissed of that it was taking so long for him to get better. I just didn't realise how ill he was. It was dh who called the ambulance when he got in last night. I never would have done that! But so glad he did.I took ds some marshmallows, revels, lucazade, yop drinking yogurt hubba bubba and 'shoot magazine which hopefully make up for my inadequicies SP? in the florence nightingale department. Of course if I was agood mum I would have taken fruit, smoothies, vitamins and homework! lol

22/4/07 Poorly Boy

Last night my eldest son (16yrs) was carted off to hospital in an ambulance.
He's been poorly for almost a fortnight with what I thought was just a viral infection but he's been getting increasingly worse in that time with a sever sore throat (he's barely eaten and lost over 9lb in week) high fever that we couldn't get down even with ibubrufen and general lethargy. He's not been off the sofa or bed for about 4 days except to see the gp thurs am who gave him antibiotics and mentioned glandular fever. He went down hill rapidly from then onwards, trouble breathing, delirious, swollen lips nose and cheeks, by this stage very dehydrated and listless so we made the decision to call an ambulance.
The upshot is that he was admitted to A&E at 11.15pm, seen by two Drs who both diagnosed different things but neither were sure. First said extreme allergic reaction to antibiotics, second said glandular fever with complications (no kidding). So he was finally sent up to the ward at 4am and has had steroid, fluids and antibiotics intraveneously overnight.
I came home at 5am to get my weary head down and was woken by the littlies at 7am, grrrrr!
I just rang hosp and he's going to be there at least till monday so obviously I want to be with him but I have an upset stomach which I think is just a respose to the stress but there are signs all over hosp saying not to visit if you have had an upset tummy or vomiting in the last 24 hrs!