Parenting advice: Do as I say, not as I do

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen a parent (sometimes me) shouting at the top of their voices at their children; "WILL YOU STOP SHOUTING AND BE QUIET!"

I understand the compulsion as I've have been there.  But it's interesting how often you see it happen: a parent asking their child to do something that they are not doing themselves. 

I've now worked out the solution for us in the case of shouting.  When our two girls are screaming at each other, sometimes in anger, sometimes just because they want to be heard over each other, I pause (to take a breathe and ensure to be calm) and make sure I walk right into the fray, crouch down to their level, gesture for them to look at me and I, ever so quietly, tell them that there is no need to shout at each other or me, as we are not a million miles away.

It's surprising how effective speaking quietly is.  The sudden change in volume, coupled with their need to go quiet in order to hear my words, has a drastic impact on the decibel level in the room.

Besides; I shouldn't expect them to be quiet if I am allowed to shout.  In the same way you can't teach children to be honest if you regularly lie, or to be reliable if you are constantly late. 

Are there any things you do, but that you try and teach your children not to do?  My vice is chocolate.  I try and teach them to eat healthily but regularly find myself sneaking a biscuit on the sly so that they don't want one too.  How bad is that!?

Click on 'Comments' below to let me know your parenting "do as I says", or track me down on Twitter or Facebook .

Domestic goddess tips: Washing powder scoops

 
No longer are we sold scoops with our washing powder. 

When you ring the number on the box to request one, you are sent a cardboard container that lasts approximately 10 seconds. (Alright; I might be exaggerating.. but not a lot)

So here's my tip.  You simply need an old clean plastic milk container, your existing cardboard scoop (or some way of measuring quantities), a permanent marker and some scissors.

Cut the milk bottle, as shown in the picture and, using your old scoop, measure the standard amount you need for a wash and pour it into your milk bottle scoop. 

Mark, with a permanent marker, the level the powder reaches.  You can mark more than one level for the various different types of wash you do.

And there you have it.  A new scoop.

It will, eventually bend at the edges, but it lasts longer than the cardboard version, can stand up with powder in it, and it's easy to make a replacement.

You can also use this idea to make impromptu spades for children that break their plastic ones playing in the sand. 

I'd like to give a shout out to the children's programme 'Balamory' which is where this idea came from.

If you have any other tips to make the household chores a little easier or to save a few pennies, please get in touch and I'll share them with other readers.  Please click on your preferred coffee cup over to the right and send me your ideas.
 

The Looney Tunes Big Faces Collection on UltraViolet: A review

I am delighted that the lovely folk over at Warner Bros. have asked me to test out their latest DVDs using a new method of storing and watching... Ultra Violet (UV).

If you've never heard of UV, let me explain. 

Imagine you buy a DVD.  You pop it in your DVD player and watch it on your TV.  But you don't have time to finish watching it before you have to run out and catch a train.  You take your mobile phone, or tablet, with you.  Sit on the train, click a couple of buttons and you are watching that DVD again.  You haven't downloaded it, (you can if you like but it's not necessary) you are watching it live, streamed from your UV account.  It's like having a virtual video store.  Not only that, but if you pause on one device, and then start watching on another device, it knows where you got to and plays from the correct place.  Honestly.  

All you need to do is buy an DVD with a UV voucher code in the box, enter your code on-line, and voila, your latest purchase is added to your on-line UV collection. 

Warner sent over Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny from The Looney Tunes Big Faces Collection for us to test out.

I followed the instructions on the voucher found inside the box.  You need a UV account and a linked Flixster account, both of which take a couple of minutes to set up and link together – it talks you through it and if I can do it, anyone can.  The UV account stores your films in a cloud and you watch them through Flixster.  There's a Flixster app for iPhone, iPad and Android, so once you have the Flixster app on your device and are logged in, there are your films! 

The advantage of UV is that we now have Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny available at home on the DVD and on my phone and on our tablet.  I could access it on a laptop or frankly any device with an Internet connection if I chose to.  It's helpful when we go to swimming lessons for the elder, but the younger has to sit and watch.  She gets easily bored normally.  But now she has the option to watch her favourite cartoons.  Even in a public place Tom and Jerry is perfect – as who needs sound?

One potential downfall is that, if you don't 'download' in order to save storage space on your individual devices, then you are watching over the Internet.  Whilst the streaming so far on the tablet is fine, it has buffered a couple of times when watching on my phone.  You are at the mercy of the strength of the Internet connection I think.  I'm sure any techie people can tell me if I've understood this incorrectly!  Obviously, those you've downloaded to the device will be fine and you can watch those without an Internet connection; good for long journeys in the car.

However, a great advantage is that you can control which titles in your UV collection children have access to; so there's no need to worry about the little ones starting to watch age-inappropriate material.  And you can set up to five different users to access your UV collection, each with their own log-in and passwords, and each able to customise which titles they see.  The family DVD collection is suddenly accessible anytime, anyplace, as long as it's UV!

The best thing about UV is that it enables you to future proof your film collection, so if discs get scratched, snapped or drawn on by little ones, you are still able to watch the film again and again.

The kids love having access to these DVDs on my phone.  My only problem now is that they want their own iPods or iPads so they can watch themselves!  At 4 years old and 6 years old I'm sticking to my guns and NOT going down that route yet!

And what about the titles?  I've lost count of the number of times Bugs Bunny has said "what's up, doc?"   It's safe to say that our daughters have discovered the delights of the Looney Tunes characters that we grew up with.  From my point of view the cartoons are just long enough, but not too long.  So I can say 'just one more', and they get advance warning that TV time is nearly over, yet get another episode, and I don't feel like I'm letting them watch too much TV.  In short; they love them. 


We were sent two titles from The Looney Tunes Big Faces Collection for the purpose of reviewing the DVDs and UltraViolet.  This is an honest review of the products.

The BritMums beauty round-up: Collecting the best BritMums beauty blog posts each month

You may or may not be aware that I am lucky enough to write for the BritMums Blog.

I'm still not entirely sure how it happened.  One minute I was sending a light hearted tweet to the BritMums team suggesting that, of all the great round-ups that they regularly publish, they didn't appear to do a monthly round-up of beauty-related blog posts.  As a parenting and beauty blogger I was interested in what other mums were blogging about on the beauty front.  Were they blogging on this subject? Or once you have children, does it really all turn to talk of nappies to the exclusion of skin care or hair fashions?

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on whether I'm having a productive writing day, the response that came back was; "Great idea, we'll set you up to start it next month".  Hmmmmm. What had I gotten myself into?

My reaction was a simultaneous "oh, pants" and "brilliant!"  And today my third beauty round-up, Shedding the pounds, goes live on the BritMums blog.

I now have to remember to bookmark the great blog posts I come across that provide skincare, make-up, haircare or other beauty advice.  It's an added pressure, but the great advantage is that I'm discovering some great tips and making new friends.  I am so pleased that the Britmums team had faith in me as I'm really enjoying myself.  Thank you!

This month it's all about weight loss.  Enjoy it and let me know what you think and what sort of beauty posts you'd like me to look out for.
 
Those of you who want to contact me, share your own beauty tips, or pass on your advice on how to be a yummy mummy, are welcome to comment below, or to join me on one of the many social networks I tend to roam in these days.  Sign up to follow via Google+, Twitter, Facebook or RSS feed via the feed reader of your choice (click the links here, or pick a coffee cup over on the right to click*)

If you're a BritMums blogger and you'd like your beauty posts featured in the monthly round-up, please comment below to let me know who you are, and sign up to follow via Google+, Twitter, Facebook or RSS feed via the feed reader of your choice (click the links here, or pick a coffee cup over on the right to click*) so you don't miss the monthly reminder to send me your links.  


*I am somewhat over excited by my new coffee cup social media icons. :-)

Staying true to yourself

For me, staying yummy is all about looking and feeling my best.  Doing the work for your self to ensure you have enough energy and sleep, that you've eaten the right foods to be healthy, and are spending your time with people that you love. 

I have always had a strong work ethic and believe you get what you put in.  That's how it's always been for me.  I used to work for myself and you really notice it when it's up to you how many pennies you are going to be carrying to the supermarket with you.  Put the work in and the rewards will follow.  It helps if you can multitask!

But it's important to stay true to yourself.  Whatever job you do you should be happy in it.  Even if you don't love it, you are happy enough to do it; take home the pay check and enjoy the rest of life; family, hobbies, films, music, books, crafts, cookery, bell ringing..... whatever floats your boat.

I am lucky enough to work within an organisation that I admire, and have been successful in obtaining a new job; a promotion; starting soon.  I am looking forward to the challenge (I'm an accountant by the way - alright, don't yawn) and I will be working hard to prove that they selected the right person for the job; which of course they absolutely did, so it should be easy to demonstrate!  I love what I do, so even though it's full-time I'm hoping it will help me stay looking and feeling my best and all the more yummy. 

But I am an eclectic individual, to say the least, and to balance me out - to feel like a rounded, whole, yummy mummy, I need creative outlets like this blog.  So today; my elder daughter, who's now 6 years old, helped me play about with a camera taking pictures of our favourite teddy bear.  What mum doesn't multitask? This was a job I wanted to do for the blog, but became a great game for her 'playing photographer' too! 

Teddy's going to become very recognisable on this blog; this is what you might call a 'teaser' post; so I thought I'd treat you to a sneak preview of one of the shots we took. 

Now that's one chilled out bear!