A Mother's Ramblings

Today, here in the UK it's Mother's Day and this year, in a cruel twist of fate it's also the morning of the Clocks having been adjusted for Daylight Savings, so up and down the country are plenty of Mama's who are having one less hour of sleep despite having been promised that they didn't have to get up this morning! Luckily, I don't mind getting up early in the morning and watching the sunrise. This morning, I obviously want to pay tribute to mine and Flyfour's Mother's whom we wouldn't be here without and Flyfour's Dad's Wife too. We are so grateful for the love and support they all give us, for the things they have taught us, the things that they continue to teach us and the love they give to our family too. I hope one day I could have as much good in me as they have in their little fingers, I'd be a pretty special person if I had just that.

This weekend obviously has a really cool Family Time opportunity... Sunday is Mother's Day! We're swapping things around a bit this week, with our Movie Night being Sunday and our game night being Saturday, who knows maybe we'll like it that way better!

A few weeks ago, a friend discreetly took me to one side. "Pippa", they started hesitantly. At this point, I didn't know where this conversation was going and had no clue to if I was going to be asked a question that they thought I could answer, or be told something in confidence. So I looked encouragingly at them, which involved me giving them a warm grin and a slight nod to carry on. "Erm. I saw Flyfour on the train the other day and well... I thought you should know that he got off at a different station to the one closest to where you live."

Before I start, this is not a sponsored post, I haven't been asked to show you this, but I saw it and HAD to share it. I love Dora The Explorer, even if I do suspect that she was sneaking into my Son's bedroom at night and teaching him how to spell and how to speak Spanish. So when I saw a trailer for the new Dora movie in my Facebook timeline I, of course, clicked it and gave it a watch. Unlike me, lots of people HAVEN'T clicked and watched the trailer, which horrifies me, because it looks absolutely HILARIOUS. Seriously, I really hope that it is supposed to be funny because I was cracking up the entire trailer. The movie is out this Summer, and I can seriously NOT WAIT! Please tell me I'm not the only adult who is super excited about this movie and that I'm not the only person who cracked up at the trailer!

Over the last few weeks, I've had a bit of an earworm issue. I have often found myself humming the chorus to a song, or sitting down at the Piano at Church and playing a few chords (badly) whilst trying to sing along. And it is all Top Ender's fault. Top Ender had planned to sing at the Spring Concert, it was just that she didn't have anything that she wanted to sing. Yes, she could sing the pieces she'll be performing for her Grade Exam in a couple of weeks, she could sing various songs from most of the musicals that we are almost constantly singing at home (there are a few that wouldn't make it past the School censorship!) but none of these made Top Ender feel that they were the one .

So, I won't know until late Saturday evening if Flyfour is sworn off Dairy products or not. After our month of Salad, Flyfour found that Dairy products were leaving him uncomfortable and having been warned many moons ago that he may find his body starts warning him not to eat certain foods, we decided to do a test, where Flyfour has consumed no dairy for a week and then will consume some milk to see if he reacts (it is what was advised)... so we may soon become a household of two halves again as I'm sorry but I'm not giving up butter or cheese! So, with that being pushed to the back of my mind, on with the week!

So. If you spotted on Monday that my meal plans had something missing, eg the food for this weekend, you'd be right. Well, sort of. I hadn't forgotten them, I was just planning on doing something and this blog post is that something and hopefully a regular (ish) feature! For our family, the weekends are a chance for us all to relax, to hang out together and reconnect and the activities we partake in and the food we eat during this time normally reflects that. It's family meals, I guess what most of us would think of as comfort food and of course some new favourites, which I think the children will think of as comfort food in the future.

Dan Jon came in from School with some urgency this last Tuesday, he had run home from School and when he arrived at the door, he was a little breathless, but without even stopping to take off his coat, hat or bag he bounded up the stairs two at a time, pausing momentarily to call back to me; "I need to do a search!" What was so urgent? What did he so desperately need to research? What couldn't wait until after he had given me a kiss or even taken off his coat? I knew that I had to follow him if I wanted to find out, so I went upstairs just in time for him that have turned on his computer and to see him type; "My friend is a flat earther, how do I kill him?"

Top Ender, Dan Jon and I were heading to the Cinema (we saw The Kid Who Would Be King) and got caught up a little in the wind, before we got into the Cinema. As we walked from where we had parked the car, I suddenly realised that the children were lagging behind me a little and that they were struggling to walk in the wind. Watching them struggle towards me had me howling with laughter not because they were having such a hard time walking into the wind or because they were struggling towards me, but because they were making such a meal out of it and making some rather funny jokes about how windy it was.

When we had the back garden sorted out by the lovely Golden Gardens crew, Flyfour and I were sure that this was it. This was what we had needed to help us be successful adults in relation to Gardening. now we had three lush little raised beds, we'd be able to grow flowers and maybe some vegetables or herbs and then we'd have flowers, and food and a nice space to hang out in and everything would align and we'd realise that we did inherit our Grandparents green fingers. Only it didn't work out like that. Our first foray into the world of gardening had us all at a Garden Centre, picking seeds we could plant in the beds without having to germinate and plant out little seedlings. We found a few, we all gathered round and planted and were eager to have our lovely little border full of flowers. A week later and a flash flood caused all the seeds to be washed away.

Dan Jon Jr had had a plan for years, for his final World Book Day at Lower School. Dan Jon wanted to be Dennis, the main character in The Boy in the Dress and he wanted to wear a dress to School. Then the announcement came out, it was hats that the children were being encouraged to wear and so Dan Jon and I checked with the Deputy Head that he could still wear a dress... and then I checked with Dan Jon, that he understood what it meant, wearing a dress to School when hardly any of the other students would be wearing a costume. Let me be clear, I wasn't talking him out of this, I wasn't trying to get him to change his mind. I was just checking that he was prepared for wearing a dress to School. And he schooled me.

A couple of weeks back, I made a few meals for some friends who were under the weather. One of the meals I made was a Fish Pie, and I accidentally didn't make enough Mash to cover one of the eight I made... So I decided to turn some of Flyfour's gluten-free rolls into breadcrumbs and added in a little Parmesan and Mozzarella and covered the fish pie with the mixture. It was honestly the best Fish Pie I have ever had, that the children have ever had AND it might be the only way I ever cook it from now on. Just wish I'd taken a picture of it! Anyway, I had wanted to share it with you as it was a big thing for me! Now, on with the week!

Last night as Flyfour and I were going to bed, we were having a conversation about the difference in prices and products between the Co-op near our home and the Co-op not too far from his work. It isn't a problem, we know that they have different offers based on who shops there and new products and probably even down to the Managers discretion at times, it was just interesting. Flyfour mentioned that at the local branch to his office, there was an offer on gluten-free... and he blanked. He couldn't for the life of him work out the word that he had lost was, so he started to describe the item. "Slimy round bread things..."

It's been really weird not eating Salad every day! I didn't think I would miss it as much as I have and even the children have both independently said to me that they think we need to up our veggie intake as they have been missing the Salad! I think the key moment I realised that it was something I'd got "used" to, was when I was out during the week and needed to grab some lunch, I picked a Salad not my favourite wrap like I normally would and I had two different Salads during the week, made up of veggies I had in the fridge. I mean look at that Salad, that is beautiful right? And it tasted lush too.

If you haven't read my post from yesterday, then you won't know that I was being a good Brown Owl, and had signed up for a First Response First Aid course which is how last Sunday I found myself sat in a room with 10 other Guide, Brownie and Rainbow Leaders being taught the aforementioned First Response First Aid. We had covered CPR (see my blog post from yesterday) and my internal monologue around an hour after lunch was going something along the lines of: Okay, dislocated shoulder, strap here and here, get them to the hospital. Do you remember when that was on Grey's Anatomy? Or was it Holby? No Grey's, it was that teenage girl when Alex was going to prison and she just popped it back in. Oooh, I feel a bit funny. Oh, I know this feeling it's how I feel just before I pass out. Yeah right, I'm going to pass out because of talking about dislocated shoulders. I'm feeling a bit hot. I'll just fan myself with this clipboard. That's ...

Seeing as how I'm a Brown Owl, I got to go on a course last weekend to learn a bit of First Response First Aid and I have to say that it was a great day, I was reminded of a lot, I learnt a fair bit and I'm sure that if the Brownies (or leaders) in my care need some first response first aid, I will be able to leap into action. Now, the chap who was running the course was an affable chap from Fusion Training , who let us know we could ask questions as we were going along and let us know that if anyone got the wobbles during the day, that we could leave the room for a moment, or let him know that we were talking about a touchy subject and he would move it on. I was sure I  wasn't  going to pass out when we talked about blood, and we all know about my blood phobia and sure enough, when we were talking about it, I was totally fine. If you want to know about when I did pass out, come back tomorrow when I shall reveal all.

Reading is important. You know that. I know that. The world knows that! But, do you know why reading is important? Do you know what it changes in your children when you read to them or listen to them reading to you? Do you know what the long term benefits are? Do you know how it could affect your child's future? Well, thanks to research, by people way cleverer than me (for a start they don't say cleverer!) and personal experience I do and it is why I still read each day with both of my children, yes I am fully aware that Dan Jon is nearly 11 and Tops is 15 and today on World Book Day , I want us all to #ShareAStory!

At the end of last year, I had asked all the Young Women to list at least twelve different skills they would like to learn, twelve service ideas, twelve fun ideas of things they would like to do together and a further twelve of things they would like to do when we had Mutual with the Young Men. The young women came up with some BRILLIANT things to do, ideas that as leaders we may never have thought about, or may have thought that they wouldn't find interesting, or in some cases things that we didn't know that they didn't know. One of the ideas they had come up with was having a doughnut bar, which was a great idea as the girls LOVE doughnuts and adding tonnes of toppings and different flavour combos? Well, that's the sort of thing that we all love to do right?

I didn't think of myself as a loyal shopper. I mean I have loyalty cards for at least a dozen different shops, I tend to go where the bargains are for the products that I buy that are branded items and I'm just as at home in Asda, as I am in Sainsbury's, Morrisons, M&S, or the shop I spent most of my cash in; Tesco. The reasons for why Tesco was where I did my main shop each week were two-fold and super simple. It was a one-stop shop, I could get everything I needed in the store, including Gluten Free items. Whenever I used MySupermarket to compare my basket price it was Tesco that came up cheaper. Cheap + Everything = A Happy Shopper/Pippa.

I'm super excited at the moment about eating, I think it is because I haven't got to just think Salad and so I can think about Potatoes and Pasta and everything else I have "missed" during our month of Salad. It also means that Flyfour and Top Ender can stop suggesting a month where we eat nothing but sausages. Even if that does sound good. Oh gosh, now I'm thinking about Sausages and Potatoes. On with the week!

Dan Jon had had a rough day at School last week. By the time he had walked home, in the rain, not only was he soaked but he was ready for a hug that only his Mum could give him, as big sobs emanated from somewhere deep down inside his body. It was heartbreaking because other than giving him a hug, there seemed to be nothing I could do to comfort him. Whilst helping to take his sopping coat off him, I listened to the sad tale of how a teacher had accused him and several on his table of talking whilst she was talking. He was sure he hadn't been, although he admitted that the others on his table had been talking and they rightly had been told off. It was when the teacher directed her anger at Dan Jon, bringing up something that really she didn't need to, that he realised that he was being singled out for something he didn't do. To make matters worse, the teacher said she was going to tell other teachers about the incident.

So, the month of Salads is finally over and I'm not glad because I disliked the month, but I'm pleased because it was "hard" coming up with lots of different salads, especially when the family are so vocal in what they do and don't like and sometimes didn't want to try meals because they had preconceived ideas over what it would be like, what it would taste like or how it didn't fit in with what they thought they did or didn't like! So the last week saw us having a BRILLIANT Roast Chicken, Salad and Rice combo. This is what I was brought up eating in the Summer when it was too hot to cook, or my Mum fancied a night off. She'd buy a Deli Roast Chicken from the Supermarket, a bag of salad and send one of us to the local Chinese to buy a portion of Egg Fried Rice.