'F' is for 'Friday with Friends'

Today's post is a little late, as we've been winding down after a busy day spent at New Walk Museum in Leicester looking at dinosaurs! Annoyingly, 'D' has already been and gone, as it would have made today's title a little easier! 'Friday with Friends' seemed fitting enough though, as we did go with friends, and a fantastic time was had by all. I was hoping Freya would tell you all about it, but she was flagging by the time we got around to recording her, as she had spent the afternoon wandering around the museum drawing pictures of pretty much all the dinosaurs she saw!

Some pictures of our day....

Freya's drawing of the 'Barrow Kipper'

The 'Barrow Kipper' (Arranged for display by Arthur Cruickshank: I know some reading this blog may be interested in that!)

Little sister Lola

'E' is for 'Elephants Eating Easter Eggs'

Well, I thought it'd be a shame to let Easter pass without Freya having something to say about it. To be honest, I thought she'd just tell me all about how much chocolate she would like to eat. Instead she decided to tell a story, though it is about Easter eggs, so I was nearly right. The elephant in her tale eats, very specifically, '5 Easter eggs and 1 marshmallow'  because that's what she was given last week in her nursery class by the Easter bunny, and so, in Freya's head, that's what everybody gets! I'm kind of hoping I get more though....

'D' is for 'Daddy'

Today's video should probably come with some sort of health warning. I thought the subject might be quite comical, but Freya has veered away from the normally funny things she says about her Daddy and instead said some really sweet things. It's a bit vomit-inducing, and it's actually made me look a bit bad really, which isn't what I was going for at all. She was a bit reluctant to start today (note the roll of the eyes when she starts) which makes me wonder if she'll get to Z. This child labour isn't all it's cracked up to be! Once she gets going though, she reels off an impressive list of everything her Daddy does for her. You're probably left wondering what I do. Evidently, nothing! Get the bucket ready....

'C' is for 'Cinderella'

So, today I decided to get Freya to re-tell a story as yesterday we had trouble getting her story to go beyond a description of her character getting up, having meals and then going back to bed! Turns out, Freya prefers her stories short and sweet if she's the one telling them. This is in stark contrast to bedtime, when Mummy or Daddy's stories are never long enough! Enjoy.

'B' is for 'Bumblebee'

Welcome to day two of the A-Z challenge and another glimpse into the mind of my small child. Today Freya decided to tell us a story about a day in the life of a bumblebee, including her wonderfully simplified explanation of how a bee makes honey. The echo you can hear in the background is little sister Lola trying to join in. That might give you some indication of the constant level of noise in our house!

'A' is for 'Astronaut'

After weeks of trying to think of something interesting to do for the A-Z challenge, I'd pretty much drawn a blank. So, I've resorted to my secret weapon- my daughter Freya. Friends have often told me I should share some of her pearls of wisdom, so here we go. For each day, Freya will be telling a story about something beginning with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. We've already had some suggestions from friends about what she should talk about, and any more suggestions will be considered!
Enjoy a daily glimpse into the weird and wonderful mind of a 4-and-a-half year old!

Think we modern mothers have it all too easy?

 

The following is a column I wrote for a competition in my local paper. Let me know what you think! 

“It’s a hard life isn’t it Mummy?” shouts my four year old from the toilet. A plethora of amusing observations like this emerge from her ‘unique’ mind every day. But she’s quite astute. For parents today, trying to raise children is nothing short of terrifying.

Of course there are those who insist we ‘have it easy’ in comparison to, say, half a century ago. Washing machines and tumble dryers make light work of laundry, dishwashers mean we needn’t  worry about whether our ‘hands that do dishes are as soft’ with fairy liquid, the lucky among us have cars to ferry our children about, and at home, we have the luxury of yet more gadgets and gizmos to entertain our offspring. It sounds fantastic, but it’s essentially a flawed ideal.

Rewind 50 years. There were no ‘white goods’ in the average kitchen, but how many women went out to work between house-keeping and child rearing?  Most parents nowadays have little choice but to work, and the pace of life because of this can be spectacularly frantic. If I had to do everything without the aid of ‘mod cons’, as well as work, my children would most probably be starving and sitting in their own faeces, having half killed each other through forced interaction.

Lucky for them I do have these things. As for TV and games consoles, I have moments of despair, (as I’m sure many parents do), when I long for my children to show even a vague interest in the world beyond Little Big Planet or Doctor Who. But these gadgets are a lifeline for frazzled parents, who, when feeling like we’ve run a marathon before we even leave the house to go to work, just don’t have any energy left for our children. We can’t entertain the idea of letting them roam outside, due to the pure fear our media has instilled in us. We even worry that the very generation bemoaning the ease of parenting today, will berate us for letting our youths ‘wander the streets’.

So, take all your mod cons. I will give them up in an instant if it means I can stay at home and watch my children grow up instead of entrusting their care to strangers, if I can usher my children out into the sunshine without a sense of dread. But hey, what do I know? I’ve got it easy, apparently.