Cooking Masterclass: Rock Cake Recipe

Rock Cakes are an ideal recipe for toddlers, they require lots of 'direct' contact with the ingredients and can be moulded into all manner of fun shapes.
This recipe is based on an old Good Housekeeping cookery book, but I have adapted it a bit to our tastes. It will make about 16 rock cakes, but this all depends on how big or small your toddler chooses to make them!

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees
• Grease a non stick baking tray
• Measure 8 ounces of self raising flour and put it into a bowl
• Measure 4 ounces of butter and put that in the bowl with the flour
• Get your toddler to rub the flour and butter together using their (washed) hands
• The mixture should resemble breadcrumbs
• Measure 4 ounces of sugar and add this to the bowl with the above and mix
• Measure 3/ 4 ounces of sultanas ( the recipe book suggests mixed fruit, but we prefer sultanas and sometimes add glace cherries)
• Add the sultanas to the mixture along with a pinch of salt
• Then we add one teaspoon of cinnamon, (however you can add half a teaspoon of mixed spice and half a teaspoon of nutmeg instead if you wish)
• Add a beaten egg and some milk to the mixture and get your toddler to use a spoon to mix it all up, so that it becomes doughy and mould-able
• Now the really fun part; one toddler handful equals one cake. Get them to mould it however they want and place them onto the greased tray
• Place them in the oven at 180 degrees centigrade for between 15- 20 minutes

Enjoy them hot with some clotted cream, custard or just on their own...

Cooking Masterclass: Rock Cake Recipe

Review; Flexibath

The Flexibath is one of those ingenious ideas that you wish you had thought of. It's literally a baby bath that folds up, making it suitable for smaller bathrooms and travelling.
Whats more the Flexibath has received 2 prestigious design awards in Denmark and has been declared one of This Morning's best baby gadgets. The 'must have' for 2010! With this in mind we were given the chance to give it a test.

Bath-time in our house has been full of up's and down's. Over the last three years, we have had babies clamoring for a bath and babies positively refusing to have a bath. we have holidayed with our large standard baby bath and we have holidayed without. The one thing that we have done though, is save a lot of water by not using the big bath! This is why I recommend all new mums to invest in a baby bath; you will save money!

Having reviewed the Flexibath, I think that if you are going to buy a baby bath, this is probably the one to get. For these reasons;

• Its surprisingly compact, you won't have to make a lot of space. It can fold away and be popped under the cot or by the bathroom cabinet.
• The rubber lines which mark out the folds and the non-slip base make it a lot safer than a standard baby bath, your baby won't slip and slide about.
• The plastic is good quality and will last for some time.
• It comes in a range of funky colours!

I like the Flexibath primarily because it folds up and can be shoved out of the way. The way it folds is so simple it can be done in literally two seconds. Fifi enjoyed her bath in it as it is a fairly small safe place.

I think the size is one of the main draw backs; despite what the marketing says about it being suitable up until the age of four, it was too small for Toddler boy who at three, is not enormous by any stretch. By the time he fitted in, a lot of the water had been displaced! I was also concerned about how sturdy it was for him.

The only other criticism I have (and its a tiny one), is that the catch which helps you to clip it together hangs over the edge of the bath when it is opened to use it. This is a really tempting little bit of plastic for a child to hang onto, its also a little bit scratchy and can catch your baby if you are not careful.

In summary, the Flexibath is a really great product, at £29.95 its a bit more costly than your average bath, but the space saving implications outweigh the cost. If you are looking for suggestions for your 'baby list' you can't go wrong with this one.

Review; Flexibath

Review: Hotter Shoes

I've posted here before about how I haven't bought any shoes for years. This is partly my meanness, but also because I simply can't find anything comfortable and practical enough for me. I try to walk everywhere, this involves long distances. Frankly, I am stuck with a choice of Clarks shoes, or Clarks shoes, it just doesn't feel 'directional'. I could not believe my luck when an email popped into the box from the PR company representing Hotter Comfort Concept shoes.

Hotter shoes are a British company based in Skelmersdale, Lancashire that focus on the manufacturing of comfortable shoes. They have developed their own ‘Comfort Concept’ technology in the sole of the shoe that injects millions of tiny air bubbles to make a very light weight shoe. They also have a deep toe bed so that toes can move easily and flex out and concealed padding to offer even more comfort. The leather is soft, this helps them mould nicely to your feet.

Looking at the website, I have to admit, that I didn't think there was a great deal of choice for someone of my age. Many of the styles were clearly aimed at a slightly older market. However, there are a few gems such as the Starshine, and the Shake ones that I received to road test. These are, as my friend Jenni put it "...the sort of shoes that I have been searching for ages for, ideal for pushing the buggy, looking reasonably smart, but being comfortable..". The thing I liked about them was the choice of colours, it's hard to find shoes of a colour that are acceptable to go with a summer dress, but there are a few here.

The shoes arrived really promptly and were well packaged. It looked easy to return them if you weren't happy. This is something that does worry me about buying shoes off the Internet, as sizes and fit can vary a great deal. I was really surprised being a pessimist, but the shoes did fit me, the adjustable Velcro straps tighten them enough for them to be nice and comfortable.

In the name of fashion, I road tested my new footwear around the Galleria Shopping Centre in Hatfield. Not to far to walk in case of injury and a fairly child-friendly environment should I be left limping. I'm pleased to say that the shoes were great; they didn't rub, they were nice and comfy and I felt able to run after Fifi on her rampage around the shops with great ease. In fact, they were more comfortable than the pair of riding boots I've been clomping around in!

Hotter Comfort Concept shoes seem to retail between £50 and £60, as far as I am aware this is about the average price of a pair of shoes nowadays. The shoes are well made, unusual. It's great to be able to support a British company and I'll be keeping my eye on them with a view to acquiring another pair in the near future.

Review: Hotter Shoes

Songs and Memories Meme

Sally at Who's the Mummy blog tagged me in this meme a few days ago.

These are the rules: “Name a song that reminds you of something, that has a story for you. Not necessarily your favourite song or a even a song that you love, but a song that instantly takes you back to that time and place.”

I have been finding it hard to think of one song above all others that takes me back to a place in time. I could name about 40 all of which take me back to moments in my life. Music is important to me, it always has been and I really do have a mental (this sounds wrong- but you know what I mean) soundtrack to my life.

Anyhow, as its Friday I have selected Madonna's classic "Into the Groove"


This song reminds me of my childhood. Me and my sister jumping up and down on the bed, desperate to be a cool as Madonna wearing our lace gloves and tying pom-poms in our hair. It reminds me of fun, happy times, of summer and of a sudden awareness of fashion. It's an instantly up-lifting song which brings a smile to my face even now.

I'm not sure who has done this one, so if you haven't- consider yourself tagged! That means you in particular Daddacool...

Songs and Memories Meme

Wordless Wednesday; You Can Never Have Enough Interactives

Wordless Wednesday; You Can Never Have Enough Interactives

Happiness is a wooden chair

It seems to me that if you are between the age of 1 and 3, the best thing in the world is a wooden chair. You can climb on it, rock on it (mild peril), sit on it, sit your toys on it, draw on it, gnaw it. What more could one possibly want?

Happiness is a wooden chair

At work with big knickers

As you all know I work in a museum, we have a vast, varied collection which does include big knickers of the historic variety. In fact, I did spend some time documenting them. Most interesting to see how they have changed over time in size, construction and fabric. But that's not what this blog is about.

You see, today, for the first time since pregnancy I felt compelled to wear some big knickers. Proper Bridget Joners. I've never done this before, but at the moment I have a thing about general fatness. My arms look fat and my tummy looks flabby. I also have a thing about not looking like a frumpy mummy. The two are not a good combination for someone who used to run three miles per day and do 100 sit- ups and 100 press-ups morning and night.

Big knickers are not comfortable, especially when one sits at a desk. Big knickers are not terribly flattering in profile. Big knickers are a sign of apathy about healthy eating. Big knickers do not contribute to overall feelings of attractiveness. Big knickers are a sign of age. Soon I will be closer to forty than 21 (ahem, ok 30). I think I'm having a mid-life crisis early. Big knickers are not for me. They also make you feel incredibly self conscious at work.

At work with big knickers

Sleepytot Competition

Lucy at Sleepytot has been really helpful to us here offering lots of free advice to deal with Fifi's sleeping issues. I love her Sleepytot comforter, well, Fifi loves it I am in awe of it. In fact, I thought it was so good that I have been buying them for all my friends with new babies!

Anyhow, she sent me this press release for a competition she is running. I post it here because, aside from anything else, I think its worth heading over to her site to have a little look.

Looking back on all the baby stuff you bought or had given to you from friends and family, how much of it did you actually use?

Since the day your little bundle arrived, you’ve probably been on the steepest learning curve of your life. There's no other role which forces us to learn so much, so quickly, while working on the job 24 hours a day!

With this comes the stuff you buy to actually solve a problem, to make your life easier, and to make your baby happy. It seems that we all come to the end of the first year with three baby products that we rave about.

It might be a fantastic toy, a baby sleep product, something for bath time, a baby guide book, or a feeding product. Anything that made your life easier.

Whatever it was, Sleepytot want to know about it. Why? Because they’re compiling the first ever Practical Baby Gift Guide. This ultimate guide will be totally free and available to all parents and parents-to- be, their friends and their families.

In return for your feedback, your email address will be entered into a prize draw to win £50 of Sleepytot vouchers.

Head over to Sleepytot (http://www.sleepytot.com/community.phtml) to vote today!

Sleepytot Competition

Washing, the easy way

I'm quite ashamed about this one, but the other say I was looking at the enormous (no, I mean really enormous) estimated 8 loads of washing, pile of washing and I thought to myself that this must be what they invented Fabreeze (or other branded/ non-branded potent smell eradicators) for.

So anyway, I availed myself of some and before you knew it, there was a few more days wear in some jeans, trousers and wool jumpers. Ahem. But think of the greenhouse gas emissions I am saving! I remember reading somewhere that doing the laundry was one of the major contributors to climate change. There, that's a few more nano-seconds of planet Earth then. That's the hubby's electricity bill reduced. That's a fresh perfume smell whenever someone wearing those items of clothing walks into a room. A win- win all round. Why is it that I feel so incredibly ashamed of myself then?

Washing, the easy way

Book Review; Little Croc's Purse by Lizzie Finlay

Little Croc's Purse was given to us for review by Random House. This is the story of a little crocodile who finds a purse full of money, he then finds himself in a dilemma about what to do with it and is given lots of advice by other crocodiles. Thus allowing the author to cover a lot of moral and childhood themes including bullying, friendship and looking after your stuff.

All in all, this is a wonderfully illustrated and presented little book with some great opportunities for discussion. I think that my nearly three year old is still a little bit young to appreciate the themes, but we did enjoy looking at the illustrations and talking about each of the crocodiles and their personalities.

Personally, I enjoyed looking through this book and reading it to him. It's a real visual gem with a thought provoking tale. I feel quite inspired to make a little fabric crocodile for him. so, another book to recommend and one which will stay on our bookshelf for a good few years to come.

Book Review; Little Croc's Purse by Lizzie Finlay

Book Review; Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates

Random House publishers asked me to try this book out with Toddler Boy and Fifi and I am only too happy to oblige! Dog Loves Books is the story of Dog who loves books so much, that he opens up his own bookshop. At first, the bookshop is unpopular, so he decides to read all the books. When a customer finally comes in, he knows which books are the ones to recommend.

This is a genius story which we read when Toddler Boy's friends the Little Garden Helpers were over to play. It kept all the kids amused and best of all, the story is one that subtly encourages children to read more. We like a bit of good brain washing in this house, so I heartily approve of the story. The illustrations are nicely unusual and felt accessible. Overall, the book is nicely presented. It's great to find a book that my children like which doesn't involve super-hero's or television/film characters!

This book has become a firm favourite in our house and has sparked off a few drawing sessions. Well worth acquiring, if you have a toddler. It scores very highly in our house!

Book Review; Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates

Fifi's home-made dress and handbag

For the first time in ages, I actually bought a pattern for this dress, the reason being that I find it difficult to judge the size of an armhole.I thought that if I bought a really basic simple pattern, I could adapt it lots of ways. I chose Butterick 3772. This has to be one of the worst patterns I have ever bought. It's far too simple, meaning that it doesn't hang very well, the armholes are too small and so it defeated the point of me buying it. It's put me off buying Butterick patterns. However, I do love the material that Anjie gave me and I think it looks quite sweet.

I also made a matching felt lined handbag. This was really simple to do, I simply took an A4 sized sheet of felt and cut an oblong of material fractionally larger. I chopped some handles off an old cloth bag (I couldn't be bothered to make some). I doubled over the cloth at the top of the bag so it formed a nice edge and slipped the handles between the cloth and the felt. Then I pinned them in place to they would hang properly. I then machined across the top, both sides. I machine sewed some rick-sack across the machining for a bit of detail. This resulted in a nice neat edge with the handles slipped in so they don't catch on anything. Next, I pinned the sides of the bag together (inside out) and machined down each side. I turned the whole thing the right way around and that was it. 5 minutes tops! If I get a chance I will try to draw an illustration, but to be honest I'm sure you all know how to do it.

Fifi's home-made dress and handbag

Review; The Handpicked Collection

A few weeks ago, I received a really lovely email from Joanna who runs The Handpicked Collection. She wrote suggesting a few products for me, Toddler Boy and baby Fifi and asked me to do nothing more than have a little look at the site and let me know what I thought. I was intrigued, as I don’t often get such well thought out emails and so I went along to the site.

The site has a range of thoughtful products for mums and kids. There are some unusual gift ideas, which is really helpful if you are like me and end up resorting to an M & S or HMV gift voucher for most people! I found it easy to navigate through and I liked the design. But what about the products? Well, I was lucky enough to receive a metal tea set for Fifi and a bag which converts to a playmat for Toddler Boy. These came really promptly and well packaged.

The All in One Playmat and Bag is an ingenious thing and does exactly what it says. It’s just the right size for Toddler Boy, who loves it, partly I think because of its dual functionality which seems to keep him intrigued for ages. I can see myself using it to go on our annual summer holiday to North Norfolk. What’s more, It’s a sort of self storing thing, once they are fed up with the mat, you can use it to store toys in for a while and then get the mat out again. Alternatively, I think it will be really great for those summer picnics at the park or a friends house, as it’s an ideal size for filling up with crisps, bagettes and so forth. If I had known about this when Toddler Boy had just been born I could have taken it around to peoples houses for him to lie on, filled with baby toys. I think this is a great product.

The Unbreakable Tea Set This comes in a lovely pink carry case and is a really tasteful design rather than the garish plastic ones that are available. I have to admit that Fifi really looks cute using this, but she is a bit little and so it has proved a real hit with Toddler Boy, his aliens, robots and Batman have been having some very stylish tea parties. At the moment it appears indestructible. I think this would be a really good buy and if someone had bought it as a gift for Fifi, I would have been very pleased.

If you get a chance have a look at Joanna’s site, she’s clearly a mumprenuer with an eye for design and nod towards practicality. I’m impressed and I can see The Handpicked Collection providing me with some unusual gifts for years to come.

Review; The Handpicked Collection

Concentration

I am constantly amazed by the different levels of concentration children seem to display. For example, my children will colour in pictures for all of about 3 minutes. However, they will happily watch films for hours on end. They will sit and do a jigsaw puzzle until there is about 3 pieces left until completion, then they will wander off. They will re-enact complicated scenarios (usually battle ones) time and time again, but they won't do the Waybaloo yoga for more than a few minutes. At the childminders, Fifi will wander around with a pushchair for ages and ages, at home it's a dash across the living room then a play with the WotWot toys, then a dash across the living room. Fine, that is children.

However, since I had them my concentration is slowly vanishing, I'm doing 7 things at once and forgetting about the first. Last night, I managed to start knitting a jumper, sewed a handbag for Fifi and half loaded the dishwasher. I used to be able to concentrate on writing an academic paper or gardening or sewing one thing for hours on end. I never thought that children would have such an impact on me!

Concentration

Review; Didicar Ride On

Warning! I love the Didicar (which Toddler boy was gifted), if you want to find out why read on….

When the Didicar arrived, I have to admit to being a bit skeptical as it didn’t seem to balance brilliantly at the front. This is the result of the absolutely genius design that allows the person riding the car to move it purely using the power of their steering. In fact, there are a couple of rubberized foot rests for the driver to rest their feet on where you might expect pedals to go.

One of the main issues for us is that it doesn’t work on carpet, it will only work on flat surfaces. Unless you live in a mansion with wooden flooring, these are quite hard to come by. Our garden paths are uneven, so this presents an obstacle. In fact, the only place that it works well (and safely) is the local park, since the kitchen isn’t really long enough.

In fact, a quick go in the kitchen highlights the only slight flaw in the design of the Didicar. At the front it sort of tapers to a point. It’s a rounded point though, which is fortunate as the toddler’s favourite thing to do at the moment is to drive it at speed into my ankles. This is the sign of a good toy in my book, the joy the toddler gets out of riding the Didicar into my ankles is second to none and he needs a bit of joy at the moment.

You are advised to make sure that you don’t let you child use the Didicar near a road. This is sensible advise. So, picture the scene at the park, me dragging the Didicar along with a pushchair which has Fifi in it and Toddler boy hanging off my arm. I’m persuading/warning him not to go down the hill at the entrance of the park at high speed in the Didicar. Excitement building. I’m feeling a bit out of my depth…

The best place to try it out is the netball court by the childrens play area. The Didicar is bright red, so there is no chance of going incognito. Toddler boy briefly manages to stop bouncing up and down in excitement long enough to get onto it. Soon he’s whizzing up and down like a madman, a mixture of mad arm wiggling on the steering wheel and when his arms are too tired, his feet go down and scoot him along. It really is a total success for Toddler boy.

The Didicar came ready assembled for ease of testing but to ensure a fair review, we did get a copy of the instructions. A quick look through them and they do look fairly daunting, not as daunting as the trike hubby cursed over on toddlers 2^nd birthday, but certainly not the sort of thing you’d find easy to put together with two small children “helping”. It is mostly plastic with a metal steering shaft and some fittings but it feels like the right sort of plastic, not cheap or brittle, good quality and solid. However, I’d suggest construction prior to the child seeing it.

In conclusion then, the Didicar offers something a bit different in terms of design and way of propulsion.

It’s a great product for toddlers and their slightly older siblings. It’s also easy to pick up and should have some decent staying power with your children. I’ve also had a go and its brilliant fun (just don’t tell anyone). At just £39.95 it’s really reasonably priced for what it is. If you want a ‘ride on’ you won’t find anything better. I’m totally sold, now where can I buy an adult one…

Review; Didicar Ride On

If Only....

Fab maternity wear company Isabella Oliver sent me an email about their latest collection of dresses which you can find here. The stuff looks brilliant and it makes me feel rather envious of all those pregnant ladies out there.

Anyhow, they did a show at New York Fashion week which featured US television personality Bethenny Frankel (who I have never heard of). It did make me wonder how she achieved such a fashion look. I mean I can't look that good and I'm not even pregnant! No really, just how does the normal everyday human could look as good as that? How is it that these people don't have pregnancy acne? How is she strutting down the catwalk and not hobbling in a half bent over shuffle? Why doesn't she have bags under her eyes and ingrained salty tear stained cheeks? If only...

If Only....

Another Happy Day at A & E

I' m currently using up my annual leave from work. I had a fab day planned including a lunch at Pizza Express with my lovely little boy. It was not to be, he has been in the wars recently; swine flu jab, being bitten at school which lead to a Hepatitis B jab and some potent antibiotics and a coldy/flu/ cough thing. This morning he got THE RASH. So, I thought better pop him along to the doctor's, after all he has a high temperature, a non-blanching rash, etc etc I don't think I'm an overly paranoid mummy, but I am on first name terms with the doctors receptionists, so maybe I am.

I wasn't too worried, I actually convinced myself it was an allergy. The doctor thought otherwise and before I knew it I was re-united with the lovely team at the Children's A & E Department of our local hospital. The poor little fella was traumatised before he even set foot in the door. I don't blame him, especially after the broken foot incident. All I could think was whether or not they would give me lunch and the logistics of me going to the loo whilst dealing with a traumatised toddler alone. Somehow, I think I was trying to blank out the potential horror of the situation I found myself in.

Anyway, after several traumatic attempts at temperature taking, chest listening and so forth, we had the actual horror of blood tests and cannula's. Less said about these the better. As I thought, the final results of the day were that he is alright, I just need to monitor, Calpol etc. I cant tell you how grateful and relieved I am. Or how alone and helpless I felt through it all.

My selfish side did enjoy the cuddles I got from my oldest baby, I hardly ever get them nowadays, as he likes to prove he is a big boy. It was also the first time he called me 'mummy' and not 'mum, claire, mumma'. Somehow thorough it all, we did re-connect and it was lovely having the focused time with just us two. I can't tell you how happy I am he is alright.

This brings me to the team who looked after him, there were brilliant play specialists who distracted him and assisted me. A lovely male nurse who is undoubtedly a great role model for the little boys who visit the department and some really patient paediatricians. I was shocked to overhear how hard these staff work and how long their hours are. I felt humbled. I also learnt that the toys, books, stickers and videos which make such a difference are all donated by members of the public. It's quite hard for the team to get these things, as a hospital is not an obvious place to donate them to. So, if you find yourself wondering what to do with your toys, kids books, DVDs etc instead of taking them down to the charity shop, please spare a thought for your local hospital as they can really make a difference there. We can vouch for that!

Another Happy Day at A & E

It has sunk in

Ten years of Valentines cards from the hubby and I mark it for him by making him cook the dinner for his two children whilst I indulge in my favourite hobby of the moment, sewing.
A DECADE
I can remember the fabulous meals out we used to have, places such as The Gay Hussar in London's West End. However, best of all the Chinese take-away's at home, just the two of us.
It's no longer the two of us, now it's the four of us and times have changed. For the better. Most of the time.
Here's to another decade. It's a shame that all I can think of is the potential weight of chocolate that will pass between us and has passed between us in that time. Hmmmm

It has sunk in

Training Husbands

Right, as we all know correct and appropriate training of the husband is of vital importance to running an efficient household. I think I'm doing reasonably well, even if I haven't managed to train his associated family in any way, I have at least managed to drill some reasonable behaviour into the hubby. For example, I don't have to deal with random socks and pants on the bedroom floor, they are put straight into the washing basket. Dirty plates etc are generally put straight into the dishwasher and he even tidies up toys as they stray around the living room. There are no random piles of rubbish in the main living areas of our house and AND the toilet seat is always in an appropriate position for me, if you catch my drift.

However, in my manual of household rules which must be adhered to at all times, I clearly forgot to include rules for cooking chicken and taking over in the kitchen. On Sunday, this proved mildly irritating as he managed to feed the entire family a seriously undercooked chicken. I think we have escaped unscathed, at least, so far, but it has proved a little bit of a worry. Still, at least he tried and for that alone I am grateful.

With this in mind I realise just how lucky I am, I have a wonderfully supportive husband who really does try his best. When I look back and think of the boy who I first moved in with, I am overawed at the effort that he must have put in just to impress me. He has gone from someone who didn't know one end of a screwdriver or hammer from the other, to someone who could happily build and plumb an entire kitchen and will turn his hand to anything from replacing our guttering to changing nappies at 1 am. He is more of a childcare expert than me and he helps me choose clothes, decide on what to feed the family and is not ashamed to read Red magazine and comment on things in it. He juggles this with extreme laddish bouts of football and computer gaming. Just how did I achieve all of this? To be honest, I have no idea but when I have consulted the hubby on his brainwashing I shall be writing a manual about training your husband!

Training Husbands

Meme: ' You're Welcome'

Blogging friend and frankly inspirational woman Lisa, aka The Mummy Whisperer has tagged me in the 'You're Welcome' meme. This one was started by another blogging friend of mine, Sally from Who's the Mummy blog, who is frankly superhuman in her ability to juggle balls/ blogs.

As Lisa so rightly notes, I have struggled a bit with the growth of the mummy blogging world and its cliques and communities. You see, the thing is I am never all that keen on being stuck in a room full of people all with the same interest. I find it supremely boring in the real and virtual world. I am just not interested in reading a hundred different interpretations of the same thing. So shoot me. I really cannot understand the need for people to form cliques and groups with those that they haven't even met in the real world. Within all this, I think it breeds competitiveness in myself and others.

I am also not great at dealing with conflict and this seems to flare up periodically in the mummy blogging world. Frankly, I cant be bothered to deal with it, so when I get drawn into it, I can be quite abrupt. I then tend to think about it and analyse it and get no-where, and do nothing, yet usually by my lack-lustre efforts, somehow supremely annoy the other party. So perhaps i'm actually good at it. I would say that I think the approach that I take is rather a male one, in fact I know it is. This is without doubt the result of working with men for years and years. Perhaps a good approach on-line, afterall it was men who pioneered internet forums!

I have tried quite hard to distance myself a bit from the mummy blogging community during the last year. It is quite hard given the title of this blog though. I also find that I am reading more and more craft blogs. For me this is a good thing and my virtual life has been better for it.

So anyhow, I'm supposed to tag three blogger's who I think are great at community building and blogging and recommend some new blogs to them. I am slightly changing this to blogger's who I think are great and these people are:
Daddacool: He's my hubby and is great
Mummy do that: Always a fab read
Aussie Mummy: My former colleague and Australian friend

So anyway, new blogs that I think you should visit:

1: Little Garden Helpers, my friend Jenni's blog. This is a delightful record of the journey that she is taking in trying to become self suffient in vegetables and garden with children.

2. Indietutes I've been looking at this more and more recently, its full of lots of great sewing ideas.

3. Frog blog by Frog in the Field. Frog (Caroline) is a twitter friend of mine and a real life friend of Dulwich Mum. I love reading about her life and she often makes me laugh!

The rules (lifted directly from Mummy Whisperer)

• Everyone: Visit the new blogs I’ve introduced you to. If you like them, subscribe!
• The blogs I tagged: Recommend three new blogs you’ve discovered and loved
• The blogs I tagged: Tag three other bloggers and ask them for three new blog reads on the meme of ‘Your welcome’.

Meme: ' You're Welcome'

Review: Cosatto You2 Twin Stroller

One of the problems with having two babies quite close in age is transporting them around. When you have twins, you know where you are, you can buy the appropriate pushchair right at the start. When you have two in as many years you get into the realms of buying additional pushchairs. Lets face it, as nice as it is to carry your baby around in a sling, it’s not all that easy to sort out a toddler with a baby in a sling attached to you and you can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as you get just far enough away from the house without a pushchair (if you go down the walking route) to make it unfeasible to go and get the pushchair, your toddler will sit down and refuse to walk. Unless you are a superhuman mummy capable of growing multiple arms, it is a lot easier to just get a double buggy.

When buying a double buggy you can either go down the route of double decker or side by side. I went down the double decker route which is great for shopping. However, now the baby is bigger she likes to see where she is going and really doesn’t like going in the bottom deck. Hence I can now see the value of a side by side buggy/ stroller.

Fortunately for me the lovely bods at Cosatto took pity on me and asked me to review the You2 Twin stroller. This is a funky stroller that comes in a variety of colours to match your babies. We got a boy/ girl one. It has a pink seat and cosy toes for the girl and the blue equivalent for a boy. It is striking and I was initially interested to see what people made of it. However, it seemed to elicit lots of kind comments from people in the street some who even asked me for more information about it. I am told that Jemma Kidd has one. Finally, I’m part of the trendy set. You can find all the technical specifications here

The You2 buggy comes really well equipped with bottle warmers, the loveliest fleecy cosy toes and a raincover. The raincover is easy to use and the bottle warmers hang from the frame of the pushchair. The cosy toes are fantastic quality, the best that I have come across. The only criticism of them is that they are a little bit small, baby Fifi at 1 year old is just about getting to the age when it will soon be a bit small and toddler boy can't fit into his comfortably.

In terms of maneuvering the buggy, it’s surprisingly easy to move. In terms of the width of it is only 10 cm wider than my Phil and Teds. However this does come at a cost, the widths of the seats are a little bit smaller than in your standard buggy and Toddler boy at 2.5 years is a little bit squashed in his. However, the fact that he can hold hands with his sister outweighs this for him at the moment.

Weight wise, all double buggies seem to be quite heavy and this is no exception. I have to admit, I do find it quite a struggle to get this into the boot of the Zafira. It’s not easiest to maneuver and it takes up a lot of space. However it’s really great for folding and putting in the porch.

The umbrella fold of the buggy makes it quick and simple to put up and down and far less fiddly than most standard pushchairs. This is a really good feature when you are trying to manage two children!

The other brilliant feature is the shopping basket, it’s essentially double that of a standard stroller. Fab! I love this. The double decker style buggies often seem to put the feet of the second baby in the shopping basket. This has caused me no end of aggravation at the supermarket. No issues like this with the You2, take it to the supermarket and spend with freedom.

In terms of quality, theYou2 is really impressive. This is a well made, sturdy pushchair which looks to me that it will last and last. It doesn’t have pneumatic tyres so no incidents of punctures (this is a very good thing) and the wheels are easy to replace/ repair. I can’t fault this.

It's also great for hubby. He's well over 6 feet tall and has trouble with all our other buggies because he has to stoop and the handles are too close to the back of the buggy, which means he has to take a short shuffling gait to avoid kicking the back. However, with the Cosatto the handles are further apart which reduces the stoop and he doesn't seem to kick the back either. Out of all the buggies he's pushed, this is by far his favourite.

All in all, this buggy represents really great value for money. If you are looking for a funky, unusual, well- made double stroller then I cannot recommend this one highly enough!

Review: Cosatto You2 Twin Stroller

Guilty Shopping

The other day I looked at my current favourite on line shop ASOS and did that thing which we all do. I filled my virtual shopping basket with, oh, about £150 worth of shoes, dresses and tops. Not an unreasonable amount, I mean I go to work, so why not? Then I broke out in a cold sweat, hmmn, perhaps I should be a bit more frugal. Ok, assess each item. Those shoe boots, well they do have a four inch heel, they are quite glamorous, I do love them, look! They are just like Sarah Jessica Parker's. I dunno, they might look silly with the pushchair. Perhaps not. That lovely 'to die for' knitted dress, I love it. I dunno, I do have one. Anyhow, I narrowed it down to about £50. It was nearly 11 o'clock at night. Sod it, can't be bothered now. The shopping frenzy moment has passed. Back to the old student clothes.

Then yesterday an email popped into the box. Upto 80% off Frugi sale. Frugi are one of my favouritest clothes shops. For my children. They sell nice ethical, organic clothing. Some of it can be a little bit twee, but on the whole its lovely. 80% off, another cold sweat. I. MUST. SHOP. After all, the children don't already have so many clothes their wardroobes are bursting at the seams, thanks mainly to my lovely friends Louise and Jenni. But 80% off. Anyway, the upshot of his was a £70 spend. Lots of things for next year, so that justifies it. Think, I'm saving hundreds of pounds.

This brings me to the real point of this blog. Why can I not justify spending anything on myself at all? Not even a chocolate bar. BUT, I can spend hundreds of pounds over the course of the year on clothes, toys, magazines and books for my children. I don't think I am alone. I know plenty of bag ladies whose children are dressed in designer togs and travel in the poshest of prams. It's one of those parenting Guilty Secrets and something I need to tackle. From this moment on, expenditure will be on ME, ME, ME (with a little bit on the hubby- but he is more interested in brewing real ale and watching football anyhow)...

Guilty Shopping