Eldest child: "Thank you for my new Disney clock, Mummy. I love it"
Youngest child (at the top of her voice): "I want a new cock, Mummy. I want a big cock!"
Mummy and daddy: peels of laughter
Youngest child (realising she's said something funny, just not knowing what): "BBBBiiiiiigggggg Coooooccckkk!!!!!!!!"
Eldest child starts mimicking to get in on the act.
Inappropriate shouting continues for a good 2 minutes.
It's a good job we weren't in the middle of the supermarket.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Friday, 10 June 2011
How to cope with loosing sleep!
I have always had trouble getting up in the morning. I'm a grumpy, impatient, groggy mess for at least an hour. That is an hour after I get out of bed, and generally I've been slamming the snooze button for a good 20 minutes before then.... becoming more and more annoyed at that button in the process.
Before I had children I used to be able to sleep until 8.30am and still get to work for 9.30. I'd then work until 6pm, as I seem to be at my best between 3pm and 6pm. This pattern was so distinct that my colleagues began to deliberately avoid asking me stuff until late afternoon. And even though I was going to bed before 11pm and getting over 9 hours of sleep, I still wasn't lively and awake in the morning.
Now I have 2 young children and I never get up in a good way. I always feel angry at the day for starting before I'm ready for it. I feel frustrated that the children and my alarm clock wake me up. And I'm envious of my husband's apparent ease at getting out of bed in the morning happy and fully awake.
I've tried one of those Lumie light clocks. It's helpful to an extent, making waking up on those dark winter mornings slightly more palatable. But it has had no effect no effect on my morning mood. So now I've had enough. I thought about it; worked out that I wake up slightly less grumpily if I'm woken up whilst dreaming vivid dreams, and I thought I'd make the effort to learn more about sleep and how it works so as to better understand how I can help myself.
It turns out that we sleep in cycles of about 90-110 minutes, and each cycle contains various stages; drowsy sleep(1), light sleep(2), deep sleep(3&4) and REM sleep, with us working through them in this order; 1,2,3,4,3,2,1,REM for a couple of cycles, and then loosing number 4, then number 3 on the next couple of cycles. It also turns out that if your alarm clock wakes you up in the middle of your deep sleep you'll feel groggy and unhappy as this isn't the natural point at which to wake. You actually want to wake up whilst in REM sleep; or whilst you are having those dreams! Meaning the length of time between falling to sleep at night and waking up in the morning is the important part; not what time it happens to say on the clock when you wake. Of course the length of the stages and cycles will also vary from person to person.
So going to bed late does indeed throw out the natural rhythms as you will interrupt your sleep with the alarm at a different point to usually. The time; 6am; may be the same, but your body won't be at the same point. (read more here)
So I'm going to try going to bed at 10pm, with an aim to be asleep for 10.30pm, 1 cycle would take me to 12.20am, another to 2.10am, another to 4am and the final to 5.50am. But since 5.50am would be the end of that cycle after a longer period of REM sleep and I'd be about to move back into stage 1, I'll try setting the alarm for 5.40am on the basis that I should be in the middle of REM then.
It seems very early.
I usually try and set the clock for 6.15am and drag myself out of bed at 6.30am. Today was particularly difficult, but I went to bed early last night and was asleep by 10.30, so was probably back in the stage 1 when the alarm went off.
It all sound a bit complicated, but I'll experiment and let you know how I get on. Of course, in an ideal world I'll be getting up and exercising....! Hmmm. Baby steps....
Before I had children I used to be able to sleep until 8.30am and still get to work for 9.30. I'd then work until 6pm, as I seem to be at my best between 3pm and 6pm. This pattern was so distinct that my colleagues began to deliberately avoid asking me stuff until late afternoon. And even though I was going to bed before 11pm and getting over 9 hours of sleep, I still wasn't lively and awake in the morning.
Now I have 2 young children and I never get up in a good way. I always feel angry at the day for starting before I'm ready for it. I feel frustrated that the children and my alarm clock wake me up. And I'm envious of my husband's apparent ease at getting out of bed in the morning happy and fully awake.
I've tried one of those Lumie light clocks. It's helpful to an extent, making waking up on those dark winter mornings slightly more palatable. But it has had no effect no effect on my morning mood. So now I've had enough. I thought about it; worked out that I wake up slightly less grumpily if I'm woken up whilst dreaming vivid dreams, and I thought I'd make the effort to learn more about sleep and how it works so as to better understand how I can help myself.
It turns out that we sleep in cycles of about 90-110 minutes, and each cycle contains various stages; drowsy sleep(1), light sleep(2), deep sleep(3&4) and REM sleep, with us working through them in this order; 1,2,3,4,3,2,1,REM for a couple of cycles, and then loosing number 4, then number 3 on the next couple of cycles. It also turns out that if your alarm clock wakes you up in the middle of your deep sleep you'll feel groggy and unhappy as this isn't the natural point at which to wake. You actually want to wake up whilst in REM sleep; or whilst you are having those dreams! Meaning the length of time between falling to sleep at night and waking up in the morning is the important part; not what time it happens to say on the clock when you wake. Of course the length of the stages and cycles will also vary from person to person.
So going to bed late does indeed throw out the natural rhythms as you will interrupt your sleep with the alarm at a different point to usually. The time; 6am; may be the same, but your body won't be at the same point. (read more here)
So I'm going to try going to bed at 10pm, with an aim to be asleep for 10.30pm, 1 cycle would take me to 12.20am, another to 2.10am, another to 4am and the final to 5.50am. But since 5.50am would be the end of that cycle after a longer period of REM sleep and I'd be about to move back into stage 1, I'll try setting the alarm for 5.40am on the basis that I should be in the middle of REM then.
It seems very early.
I usually try and set the clock for 6.15am and drag myself out of bed at 6.30am. Today was particularly difficult, but I went to bed early last night and was asleep by 10.30, so was probably back in the stage 1 when the alarm went off.
It all sound a bit complicated, but I'll experiment and let you know how I get on. Of course, in an ideal world I'll be getting up and exercising....! Hmmm. Baby steps....
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Entertaining the children this summer
Head for the National Trust properties near you this summer for plenty of activities for the children. Find an event near you, or simply take a picnic for a low budget day out across the UK.
Entertaining the children on a budget...!
The girls have got a week off this week. And so, as a working mum, I have had a few days off work to spend some quality time with them. But therein lies the challenge. In my head "quality time" involves travelling to purpose built adventure parks where we laugh together, skipping along eating ice creams, the sun shining, everyone relaxed and happy.
Alright, I know, I'll try and grasp reality again. Day trips with two under 5s is a little bit more like strapping a shield to your arm and trying to slay a dragon with 2 heads. You need skill, strength, plentiful snacks, eyes in the back of your head, plasters and antiseptic, and a spare kidney to cover the costs.
So, today we left the house with a small changing kit (3 nappies, wipes and sacks), 4 juice boxes, a bottle of water, a packed lunch, buckets and spades and a total of £5.40 ($8.89) in change. Safe to say that we were on a budget. So it was to a nearby park, recently refurbished with swings, slides, and a sand pit (obviously), that we headed. Turns out that the land train was in residence and my youngest absolutely loves trains, so it was an interesting education for the children as I tried to explain that the money I'd bought with me was just for ice creams, and if we wanted a ride on the train we probably couldn't also afford the ice creams.
They were surprising receptive. And lucky. As I discovered that the cheapest ice creams were in fact affordable, so they got to do both. The lesson for my eldest was that she couldn't have the fancier ice cream she'd had her eye on.
But the sun shone. We made sandcastles. Ate our packed lunch in the rose garden. Rode the train. Ate the ice creams. And had a thoroughly lovely day. Interestingly I came home with 90p and I expect that if I'd have taken £10, or even £20, I would probably still have come home with 90p. So we did indeed manage a lovely day on a budget. Never underestimate the lure of a simply swing set and sandpit.
I left the dragon at the scene.
Alright, I know, I'll try and grasp reality again. Day trips with two under 5s is a little bit more like strapping a shield to your arm and trying to slay a dragon with 2 heads. You need skill, strength, plentiful snacks, eyes in the back of your head, plasters and antiseptic, and a spare kidney to cover the costs.
So, today we left the house with a small changing kit (3 nappies, wipes and sacks), 4 juice boxes, a bottle of water, a packed lunch, buckets and spades and a total of £5.40 ($8.89) in change. Safe to say that we were on a budget. So it was to a nearby park, recently refurbished with swings, slides, and a sand pit (obviously), that we headed. Turns out that the land train was in residence and my youngest absolutely loves trains, so it was an interesting education for the children as I tried to explain that the money I'd bought with me was just for ice creams, and if we wanted a ride on the train we probably couldn't also afford the ice creams.
They were surprising receptive. And lucky. As I discovered that the cheapest ice creams were in fact affordable, so they got to do both. The lesson for my eldest was that she couldn't have the fancier ice cream she'd had her eye on.
But the sun shone. We made sandcastles. Ate our packed lunch in the rose garden. Rode the train. Ate the ice creams. And had a thoroughly lovely day. Interestingly I came home with 90p and I expect that if I'd have taken £10, or even £20, I would probably still have come home with 90p. So we did indeed manage a lovely day on a budget. Never underestimate the lure of a simply swing set and sandpit.
I left the dragon at the scene.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Worried your child isn't doing well at school?
Seriously, don't fret!
Particularly if they are in Reception and are young for their year.
My daughter is now 5 years old, as of last week; and she is writing well even if the teacher continues to criticise her method of writing (she likes to start at the bottom of letters, not the top. I'm a big believer in results, not method, so can't see why this is a problem), and she is reading well, struggling only with naughty words like "was" and "here" which don't sound like themselves at all when you try and sound them out a letter at a time.
She's been at school now since September 2010. 8 months. Her sister won't start school until a week before she turns 5 years old, and therefore, in order for her to be anywhere near the same stage as her sister as at her 5th birthday I will have to have taught her all the stuff that school have been teaching my eldest for the last 8 months.
And so, when the teachers compare my eldest's performance (one of the youngest children in her year) with the oldest children, I am frustrated, as the developmental differences between children of 4 and 5 years old is vast, and yet the teachers seem insistent on them all being the same.
Don't worry. Don't fret. Reading and writing are important. But they are only young, and have plenty of time to work it out. Plenty of time.
Convinced yet?
Particularly if they are in Reception and are young for their year.
My daughter is now 5 years old, as of last week; and she is writing well even if the teacher continues to criticise her method of writing (she likes to start at the bottom of letters, not the top. I'm a big believer in results, not method, so can't see why this is a problem), and she is reading well, struggling only with naughty words like "was" and "here" which don't sound like themselves at all when you try and sound them out a letter at a time.
She's been at school now since September 2010. 8 months. Her sister won't start school until a week before she turns 5 years old, and therefore, in order for her to be anywhere near the same stage as her sister as at her 5th birthday I will have to have taught her all the stuff that school have been teaching my eldest for the last 8 months.
And so, when the teachers compare my eldest's performance (one of the youngest children in her year) with the oldest children, I am frustrated, as the developmental differences between children of 4 and 5 years old is vast, and yet the teachers seem insistent on them all being the same.
Don't worry. Don't fret. Reading and writing are important. But they are only young, and have plenty of time to work it out. Plenty of time.
Convinced yet?
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