Choosing secondary schools - the start of the journey

So Monkey is now in Year 5 (and Missy in Year 4) and we started the job of visiting secondary school open evenings in the area. Some people have expressed surprise at this but I am not alone.

The window of opportunity is narrow - applications open in September as the open evenings start, then close at the end of October. We've only just been to the last open evening although there are some next week. Had we been starting in Year 6, that would give us two weeks to make a final decision. If you want to arrange revisits, half term is last week of October so you only have a week to go back. A friend of mine is in this position - they only looked at a couple last year and is feeling the pressure a bit this year, no firm decision made and hurriedly trying to look at all the options and come to a conclusion.

Perhaps if you live in a town with only one choice of school, there might be no need to rush and you can do it all in Year 6. What I can't get over is the fact that although a school can look great from the outside, visiting it can be a completely different proposition and what if you don't like it when you do finally look? I know from when we looked at primary schools, the school I thought I'd love, I didn't. And one I thought I wouldn't, I loved. And that's what we chose. Our instincts proved right.

Where we live, there's an embarrassment of choice. In the district, we have 6 secondaries, all rated good or outstanding by Ofsted (I'll come back to Ofsted later). One is too far away, and two are faith schools, with one offering no chance of a place unless we had been regularly attending church since LAST year - yes, at the start of Year 4 - and could prove it. In the neighbouring town, there are 4 more, one outstanding, the rest good or heading that way. Three other neighbouring smaller areas have a school each and there are four others I could consider if I felt I needed to but are probably too far away. Oh my - that's seventeen! That's even before, as some are considering, private schools (which are not for us), or schools further afield - like a private school that became a free school last September.

Obviously, we have to consider if we have a chance of getting places, which is why the field is much narrower than all seventeen. There are so many faith schools here - I can rule out five immediately on that basis because we wouldn't meet the criteria and three more where we would have a chance but may not want to. Take away the ones we think are too far and we got down to five - two in the local town, two in the next and one other, all less a 5 mile journey from home.

The difficulty compared to primary is that dammit, the child has an opinion this time! The worry is that they will just try to choose the one that their friends go to. I understand that, I really do, but I know from talking to parents of older children, that although they don't realise this, they will probably have a totally different set of friends at 16 as they will at 11.

So, off we trekked to five open evenings. I've tried to keep Monkey on track and asked him to think about what he wants a school to be what the school would be like on a normal day, not when they are offering food in nearly every room. We went to one school where he ate sweets (lots), paella, shortbread, three different types of cheese, bockwurst, pain au chocolat (apparently seven bits, just to be sure), pretzel, stollen (two bits), croissant, orange squash, shortbread and lasagne. After tea!

I've tried to go with an open mind and have got better at planning our trips after our first when we unexpectedly arrived late due to traffic forcing a detour, listened to the speeches then only had about an hour to see round a large school (impossible, don't try it - allow at least 2-3 hours to see everything, especially if you want to hear the speeches). I'm very much into the "feel" of a place. This article, by a teacher, confirms I'm right to consider that. It's also why I don't just look at the schools at the top of the league tables or rated outstanding. Why? Although results tables are a guide, basing our choice next year solely on the results that will be published soon from summer 2014 doesn't seem right when Monkey will not be taking GCSEs until the summer of 2021, some seven years later. Schools can change a lot, for good or bad, in that time. And Ofsted? Well, I have my own views but it's hard to compare apples with apples when some were inspected recently and others not inspected for five years - again, a lot can happen in that time. It is just a snapshot of what the inspectors found on those two days. They are a guide but I won't let it put me off until I've seen it with my own eyes.

Getting a general feel for a place can be hard to do when there's a lot of people there at open evenings (and trust me, there can be LOADS; one was so popular, it created traffic jams) but we've been talking to the teachers, pupils and observing how the two appear to get on. We've also caught up with a few former pupils from the children's primary school when we've seen them to see how they're enjoying it.

The first school we went to see is our favourite. And you know what? We went to see an "outstanding" school last that I thought I'd like and I didn't like it that much, just like last time. Nor did the husband and neither did Missy, who has come to all but one. However, Monkey decided, having agreed with us, that the last might be his favourite after all! I think it was because there were an awful lot of people visiting who he knew. A lot of his friends are likely to choose there because of where they live. It's our nearest school but we are outside the priority area (for which read catchment) so our chances aren't as good.

We are planning a trip back to the first school (which we saw a month ago) to remind him what it was like, see it in the daytime and see the parts we missed on open evening. I'm certainly glad we are not doing this next year. Our second favourite looks like being a currently unfashionable school but was lovely, friendly and welcoming to visit. Monkey has also been there in the daytime on a school trip. We only went to the open evening because of this and were pleasantly surprised.

I think I'm coming to two conclusions - the first is to go to see schools, even if on paper they don't seem like the best choice and the second is to start at least a year early. If you're not happy after open evening season, you have time to cast the net wider before crunch time. Most schools are happy to show you around on a normal day. I'd ask why not if they don't.

And I've just thought of a third conclusion - you can definitely get open evening fatigue! I'm very glad they're all over but I least I have an idea of what's coming next year. I was going to say "know" but a lot can happen in that time.

PS If you are looking at grammar schools, you might want to start even earlier; some schools have open days in the summer term because of the need to take tests etc. At least check the school's website (and the local authority) for details so you don't miss out.

A battle worth fighting: me against the children and their teeth

I knew something was up. I think Monkey knew because, for a change, he was not keen to go. My worst fears were confirmed. "He needs a filling," said the dentist. He started to cry when the dentist gave him a talk about looking after his teeth. Before we knew it, we were downstairs booking an appointment when the receptionist asked if we could do it now. Eek. I decided we would, for lots of reasons. He calmed down and actually did brilliantly - although our fab dentist seems to do fillings without any horror shows, as it was the easiest filling I've ever seen.

We did have another chat with Monkey, about brushing his teeth. Bear in mind that Missy Woo gets the same things as he does and her teeth are fantastic and the dentist always praises her. Quite simply, she brushes her teeth properly. I've lost count of the number of times I've sent Monkey back to the bathroom to brush his teeth again after he's disappeared for all of 15 seconds then said he's done his teeth. That must mean there are plenty more times when I didn't.

If nothing else, the filling was a wake up call to him. Whilst it wasn't as traumatic as he thought it would be (mainly driven by his friend telling him how much a filling had hurt - I told you we had a fab dentist!), he realised that not brushing your teeth properly has consequences (especially after breakfast when he often has raisins on his cereal; they are so difficult to unstick from little teeth.) Mind you, there are signs of a bit of slippage and once again, I'm sending him back upstairs after his sister snitched on him a few times.

The problem is, two minutes is a bit long when you are 8. Or 7 but Missy Woo is way more patient.

Thankfully, Colgate sent me a bag of goodies including a fab toothy two minute timer to help them know exactly how long two minutes is. I mean, when Monkey first had a filling, I sat upstairs watching the clock to time them. They sent it for their Oral Health Month in September so let's gloss over the fact that it's now October. Bad Kate. Still, there's never a bad time to discuss dental health for kids.

Colgate shared with me an infographic that I personally found quite interesting, and shocking. I'd share it with you but Blogger won't let me upload the file so I'll give you the edited highlights. Only 50% of children go to see their dentist twice a year. That is down in part to some parents not realising that milk teeth are as important as adult teeth. Another factor is parents' fear of dentists and also because the children are afraid. Generally, I don't fear the dentist which I'm glad about, and my kids have been going to the dentist so long they shouldn't really fear them because they haven't learnt that from me. I'm hoping the filling doesn't scare Monkey in any way.

We are so lucky that we do have a dentist that we can visit regularly - I know that not everyone is so fortunate. And I know that it's really super hard not to give into demands for sweets and chocolate all the time, particularly when you have smart persuasive children. I spend my life saying no to my kids, and I don't always win. But I do think it's a battle worth fighting and winning as much as I can. Having healthy teeth is more important than most of us think - it can affect your overall health, as well as your confidence. So the fight will go on and I'll try to keep them on the right track.

(Thanks to Colgate for sending a bag of goodies for us to try.)

My son, the future husband

The children are at an age now where I begin to wonder what sort of adults they'll turn into. Not just what they will do for a living, what they will be like as people. As much as they are learning at school, they are learning values from my husband and myself, our wider family, their friends and their families and so on. I hope I am raising children that will turn into adults whose company will be enjoyed, who will be good friends, and make great life partners.

Something tells me that Monkey is going to be quite a catch and not just because he's a gorgeous boy. (And still blonde at 8, that can't last!).

The other evening, we were travelling home from the gym, and we had the local commercial radio station on in the car. On came an advertisement for FHM's 100 Sexiest Women to which I growled and tutted. Monkey was sat next to me in the front of the car and he asked me what was wrong. I told him the advert annoyed me and so he asked me why.

So, I said to him, "OK then, what is more important - how someone looks, or what sort of person they are?"

Without a second's hesitation, he replied, "What sort of person they are."

I think we're doing a decent job at this parenting lark.

I'll take bids if anyone wants to sign him up as a future husband for their daughters... he's not bothered about girls at the moment, it will definitely have to be for later.

Fajitas, enchiladas and fish fingers

So. Husband's birthday earlier this week. A midweek birthday is always a tough one to work out what to do - when the children were younger, we'd have arranged a babysitter and just gone out for the evening, but they are much more aware these days. God love 'em - they even managed to keep a secret so well, they didn't even tell him we went to pick up a present from one of his favourite shops.

The children are not for being left out any more. A family meal out it had to be, so it was more than lucky that Chiquito Mexican Restaurant offered us a voucher to give them a try. When I lived down south, I'd been to quite a few of their restaurants but when I first moved here, there were none. In the last couple of years, we have made one or two trips to the newer local branches in the area. In the meantime, we've been to newer chains like Las Iguanas which offered greater variety of food options.

Monkey staring aimlessly at the Reebok

We went to the restaurant near Bolton Wanderers' stadium, which impressed Monkey as our table had a panoramic view of the ground . Wednesday early evening was never going to be a busy time and sure enough, it was half empty when we arrived so the service was very attentive. The guy that showed us to our table had some good banter going with the children.

Checking out the menu, I liked that they had two children's menus - Monkey has a voracious appetite whereas Missy Woo is not as hungry. The "young adults" menu was also more adventurous than the kids menu, again reflecting their respective food personalities. Whilst we demolished a couple of bowls of what I think was sour cream and chive flavoured popcorn, Monkey chose fajitas with chicken in tomato sauce, which is one of his favourite things to eat, and Missy Woo? She went for fish fingers! As it was that or their standard choice of pasta, I wasn't going to fight a battle. They both chose a milkshake as their drink, which cost a little extra than those that are part of their meal deal. The adult menu was huge - far wider than I remember it and I struggled to choose because it was like reading a book!

We skipped starters on this occasion and went straight to mains. It meant, along with the fact that it was quiet, that our food arrived pretty quickly after we'd ordered. Like Monkey, I'd gone for fajitas and we both received substantial portions, so I was glad I'd skipped starters. Husband chose enchiladas which he demolished fairly quickly and actually had some of my fajitas. Mine was pulled pork which was  gorgeous - the barbeque sauce was a great mix of sweet and sour. My only minor criticisms of the fajitas were that I had no plate so no place to lay out a tortilla, fill it and roll it and that my tortillas were rolled so tightly that they had all torn in the middle. That did not detract from the enjoyment of the food. Monkey enjoyed his fajitas although he didn't touch the salsa. Missy Woo enjoyed her fish fingers but they were fish fingers and chips, nothing fancy.

My fajita filling - pulled pork and veg

Knowing that there was chocolate orange cake at home, we were going to skip dessert too. However, the children's meals both included a dessert so husband cracked and ordered one too. Missy chose strawberry sundae and Monkey went adventurous again, choosing churros that he has never had before.  Both of them got substantial portions so although I hadn't ordered anything, I got to snaffle a fair bit and very nice they were too.

All throughout our visit, the service was friendly and attentive. If I were to have a criticism, it would be that because it was quiet, it was a little too attentive at times, and they did that thing where they asked us if our meals were OK almost seconds after we got them as we were served by a number of people. Apart from that, it was good and we were certainly made to feel welcome and there was no pressure to finish our food quickly so it was nice and relaxed. Being a fairly new unit, the layout is good so you're not on top of all the tables and the children love the light fitting made from beer bottles.

We left, carrying birthday balloons with full tummies and smiles on our faces. We had a great time and with the increased variety on the Chiquito menu, we will definitely be back soon.

(Chiquito kindly sent us a £50 voucher to use in one of their restaurants and were aware in advance of the approximate time and location of our visit. We were also asked to tell the staff on arrival that we had a voucher. All pictures and opinions are our own.) 

Proud mummy moment

Indulge me if you will for a few moments. I don't write enough about the children on this blog these days, even though they are still the most brilliant thing and keep me on my toes daily, if not hourly.

Since the start of the school year, Monkey has been learning to play the ukulele. His school decided a few years ago that Year 3 would learn an instrument and chose a ukulele because they are small and easier to handle. We had to buy a ukulele for him but luckily, the school managed to buy a job lot of them from another school and it cost us £5.

Photo credit: wjunior

For the first term, Monkey would randomly practice upstairs and we could hear nothing but random strumming. Just before Christmas, we went to an assembly to hear them play and they weren't bad but obviously still learning. The teacher they get in to teach them is great with them; she sings and plays along with them and they obviously all have a ball doing it.

Then, a few weeks ago, Monkey started mentioning something about playing in a concert at a festival but the details were unclear. Just before half term, school sent home some details and asked for permission for the children to take part. Unfortunately, it was on a Thursday evening when the children have everything on. The only way I could manage it was for my husband to go into work late, taking Monkey to swimming and onto the venue, leaving him there with another parent until I arrived with Missy Woo after picking her up from dancing.

On the day, it became apparent that Monkey was getting a little nervous, but I told him to try his best and smile! The children were all raring to go but had to wait sometime as there were other classes first. When their class came around, they were the last of 3 groups to come onto the stage. Having sat through two other groups which were brass bands, they were certainly different.. It was obvious they were enjoying themselves and I thought how much they had progressed since I had last heard them play. They did three songs, and the class were ably abetted by a few children from older classes doing percussion and one sang a solo. When they finished, they got rapturous applause and I remember thinking they had a chance of winning. They were quite clearly the youngest group in terms of average age out of the 3 groups competing.

The adjudicator stood up after their performance to give her comments to all 3 groups. She was brilliant with the children and had some really constructive feedback for them all. Then it was results time. Third was one of the brass bands so we were at least second. They had a chance and I remember thinking that at least they hadn't come last.

Then she announced the second place went to.... the other brass band. I could see the children from where I sat as the realisation dawned on them. They'd won! I will admit, I was nearly crying as I turned to Missy Woo and said "They've won, they've won!" as she hadn't realised. When the adjudicator finally announced the school's name as the winners, a big cheer went up. Looking at Monkey, I'm not sure he wasn't crying too but I could see he was bursting with pride. The adjudicator handed over the trophy and a certificate. Then we all had to settle down again for the final class, the secondary ensemble, which was won by a guitar group run by the same teacher who teaches the ukulele to Monkey's class!

At the end, the children were all very excited and happy, but they'd been so well-behaved considering it was getting late, past 9pm. After sharing fish and chips at home before ringing Daddy and grandparents, two tired children finally got them to bed. Monkey had a bit of a reaction the next day as he developed a tummy ache and I had to pick him up from school early.

Then came news that the local paper was coming in. Not only to photograph them, but video them playing a song. They all had to wear uniform in the morning to school (it was non-uniform day) although they were allowed to change afterwards. Monkey reported afterwards that it went OK and I knew from school assembly that it was due to be in the paper on the Saturday.

On Sunday, (late in the way only local papers can) the video finally appeared. I was sat in the café at the gym when I saw it and watched the video, once again nearly in tears. Monkey is right there at the front, although this does seem to show up how much he is looking around and not actually playing. I'm sure he wasn't like that for the concert. Now, I'd love to share the video, but since I don't publicly name the children's school on this blog or on Twitter, I can't because the school name is all over it. However, if you ask me nicely, I'll share it with you.

And then today, there they were in the paper - on page 3, and a big write up too and a big colour photo.

The school the children go to is relatively small nor is it particularly well known. That's not to say it's a bad school - far from it, the children love school, are doing well and get lots of opportunities to do things outside of school. It's the first time since the headteacher joined the school that they have actually won something. Winning something like this gives the chance for the children to see themselves in a different way as well as others to see the school in a different light. On top of that, it is a fabulous achievement on only a term and a half of lessons - so not only did the children do a fantastic job, their teacher did too!

I will stop banging on about my children's achievements now. Normal service is about to resume...

Cake of the Week - Tennis ball cake

So it was Monkey's birthday at the weekend. Eight. Bloody hell!

Apart from the chocolate oat flips that we have to eat the night before his birthday (we bought some in Booths when we were told to go for a walk when I was progressing and in Preston and in my mind, they are forever associated with his birth!), of course we have to have a cake. This year, Monkey had a tennis party for his birthday so, rather than do yet ANOTHER Barcelona cake, I talked him into a tennis ball cake to fit the theme.

Fitting in making a cake shouldn't have been hard but Monkey insisted he helped me make the cake and the evenings were mad last week. In the end, I pre-weighed everything so we could mix and bung into the oven before bed on Wednesday. And then it was Friday night before I managed to finish it off after the children went to bed. Talking about leaving it late, but we got there.

And here it is.

I decided on this because it's a simple design. Underneath is a standard chocolate cake recipe from my lovely friend Ruth - in her book, the chocolate cake recipe is scaleable according to the size of pan which I find so helpful. The recipe is easy and it always works. Then I split it and filled with a standard buttercream, covered it and chilled. It's then filled with lime green sugarpaste. Some wag on Facebook said aren't tennis balls yellow but yellow sugarpaste was too sunny so I went for the lime green as it's a yellowy green.

Then, I used some white sugarpaste to finish the decorations. I tried to find a way to extrude and if I'd found a way, I would have done so. Instead, I had to make do with rolling it out sausage style and sticking it on with water. A final 8 pressed out with a cutter finished the cake.

The tortoise and the hare

Parenting can be a funny thing sometimes. So much can be attributed to upbringing and genes but it's easy to forget that children are out there developing their own personalities.

Take this week, and that termly ordeal of Parents Evening at school. I'm not going to bore you with a report of their achievements but suffice to say, they're doing well, work hard and the teachers love them. What was revealing was where each teacher identifies areas for improvement. And therein lay the difference.

Monkey can be a bit slapdash. He throws himself with abandon into tasks - sometimes a little too much abandon. He's apt to rush a bit and have a little bit TOO much confidence. His teacher noted he needs to take a bit more time to think, and plan. Unsurprisingly, his weakness is his writing but he's strong on maths - writing takes time and effort, whereas maths can be done in shorter bursts.

And Missy Woo, she has the opposite problem. We know her writing and reading is good, but she's apt to be slow at times. So slow in fact, that the teacher says she produces much less than her peers. Some of this is a lack of confidence. However, she's a bit of a day dreamer, something that we notice regularly at home - just how long can one child take to change into ballet costume?! I think also she doesn't like to be put under pressure - she looks at a blank page and her brain freezes yet can be full of ideas. So her aim is going to be to work faster and smarter and feel more confident.

Husband summarised it thus - "Basically, if we could combine the two of them, we'd have the perfect pupil". And he's right. Two siblings, just over a year apart in age. Similar abilities. Two totally different approaches at opposite ends of the scale. It's that old cliché - the tortoise and the hare. But that's OK because having two hares would be exhausting, and two tortoises frustrating. They balance each other out - he livens her up, she tempers his explosive nature.

And one thing is for sure - watching them grow and develop their own personalities is utterly fascinating (and delightful), even if parenting totally opposite personalities can be very challenging.

Things you find on your iPad when you have kids

I have an iPad, which the children often snaffle and use when they are allowed and they have been behaving. Over Christmas, when they were busy playing with their new toys, I was clearing out the photos when I found a set of photographs that made me smile. I've put them into a slideshow for you so that you can see them in the way I first did. I just love watching Missy Woo as she realises what is going on and that it's taking photos of her. In reality, this is over a few seconds but I've slowed it down so that you can enjoy all the expressions on her face.

Enjoy.

     

Edible presents for teachers

We do presents for teachers at Christmas. I don't like doing the same as everyone else so we normally make things. This year, I decided to put together a number of edible presents as I'm normally making some for family.

I started in September by doing some damson vodka. I had some damsons in my freezer which I'd been given by a friend about a year ago so decided I needed to do something. I googled around and hit on a recipe that meant I could fill large Le Parfait jars. The third one was a bit light on damsons so I added a vanilla pod. It was basically a bottle of vodka, sugar (anywhere between 170g and 350g was mentioned so I went for about 250g) and 1lb damsons in sterilised jars then hid them in my airing cupboard - where it is dark and warm. I turned the jars over daily until the sugar dissolved and tasted it after a month to check if it was sweet enough. Then I bottled it earlier in the week using kitchen roll to filter out any bits. Bottling was actually the hardest thing, because I bought swing top bottles and fitting the tops turned out to be an art form!

Then in late October, I made some baked bean tin Christmas cakes - lining the tins took us ages! They've been maturing in tins ever since and earlier this week, I marzipanned and covered 4 fully in sugar paste, marzipanned and sugar pasted the tops of another 5, and 3 were baked with an almond decoration. The children did their own design on the tops - Monkey did a Christmas tree with green sugarpaste for his teacher, Missy Woo did stars which I sprayed gold before sticking on. We wrapped a couple of extra cakes for teaching assistants too.

Next, in November, I made some sweet chilli jam. It's quite hot, so I hope it doesn't blow the teachers' heads off!

Then, yesterday, I made some mini mince pies from this recipe so I didn't have to roll out any pastry - everything just got pushed into place with finger and a tart shaper, then I pressed out the rest of the dough and cut out stars for the tops.

I know this all sounds like a lot of faff but everything has been fitted in around everything else. The longest job was lining the cake tins - next year, I have my eye on a mini sandwich tin to cook them all together although I guess I will still need to line them!


Do you make edible presents? What do you like to make?

Yes, I do still have children!

One day soon, I will explain this picture. 

It's occurred to me that I haven't really written a post about the children in a while. No particular reason, I just don't have a lot that's new to say about them. They still amuse and frustrate me in equal measure. They drive me bonkers, but are just as likely to stop what they are doing and come and give me a hug.

Both are still doing well at school. Monkey got re-elected to School Council and he didn't even get to use this manifesto promise. Apparently, in the end, they just asked each class to vote for whoever they wanted so I'm proud he got chosen again. Missy Woo wasn't impressed though as she didn't - although she came 3rd last year and got put on school council because one of the children left school. Missy Woo gets some extra attention with her maths because she is doing so well with it. She's now learning the recorder with one of the teaching assistants in a lunchtime session. As you can imagine, this marries well with Monkey's ukulele. Music practice has been relegated to their rooms or I will go slowly mad.

Monkey also joined the school book club which also takes place at lunchtime. This is for the KS2 children so he's one of the youngest in the group. However, I'm not sure how much of this decision is swayed by the fact that he gets a biscuit. Yes, my son is that swayed by food. The book is a David Walliams and he does seem to like it.

Out of school, Monkey seems to have fallen seriously out of love with playing football. He's been going to the FA skills course for two years but it's a faff to get there on time and he tells me he's bored so he's stopping at Christmas - if I can get him to go to the last two as he keeps coming out of school and saying he doesn't want to go. We've decided he can do swimming lessons instead, and he went for a trial lesson on Sunday morning. As we were waiting for the previous class to finish, he confessed to me that he was "a little bit nervous" (later he told me that he was "petrified") but he needn't have worried. He seemed to spend the whole of the half hour lesson with a huge grin on his face as the group was smaller than usual and he seemed to be the best at what the teacher asked them to do.

Missy Woo still loves her dancing, although came out one day with a "sad face" because she couldn't do something in ballet. It turns out that her teacher is trying to prepare them for an exam early next year and she struggles with doing one thing. I had to give her a little pep talk about how she needs to practice things to get better at them and that the teacher still thinks she's a great dancer. She just  needs a little confidence boost every now and then. I can really see now that she has lessons in the way she holds her limbs if she does a little dance move.

They still fight, but equally, they drive me mad by getting the giggles together.They are thick as thieves sometimes but they are just as likely to be outraged if one of them gets something the other one doesn't. Monkey is the main culprit at this - he'll go to tea at a friend's house and have treats galore but complain if in the meantime, I have taken Missy Woo somewhere or let her have a sweet.

And there was me saying I didn't have much to say about them! They are growing every day but still not reached the age where they sleep in of a morning. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that phase!

Getting a-head with Lego Hallowe'en storage

Ahead, a-head. Geddit? Oh never mind!

We are a Lego obsessed household. Well, not me. Monkey, mostly, egged on by the other male in the house. New sets make it onto his present list every time Christmas or a birthday come round. But it's overtaking the house, especially his room. Over the summer holidays, the two of them had a sort out and spread all the Lego across my conservatory for weeks until I found a reason to eat in there (we have a dining table in there).

But now, and quite appropriately given that Hallowe'en is next week, Room sent us these to go some way towards controlling this plastic invasion. OK, so the brick isn't Hallowe'en themed (and rubbish photography on my part - you can't see that the brick is actually green. They really are like giant lego as they all fit together!

I'd show you the brick full to the brim with Lego bricks but Monkey, with infinite logic that only a 7 year old possesses, has decided that it is perfect for storing all his Match Attax cards (and that collection is almost as extensive as his Lego brick collection.) It looks and feels study and like it will withstand the worst a 7 year old boy can throw it - and that's quite a lot.

The Hallowe'en heads have also been used as props at the school Trick or Treat Bingo event and were quite a talking point as you can see at the top of this post. I think Monkey's friends were jealous.

I think I may use the orange one as a cheat's way of having a Jack O'Lantern without the pumpking carving bit. Lazy? You betcha!

(Room kindly sent us these products all the way from Denmark. All opinions are my own etc.)

What's in your boot?

In mine, I have five shopping bags. Empty ones, of the reusable sort. And that's it. Yes, really. When the kids were smaller, we used to keep the buggy in the boot too. Apparently, I'm quite unusual. There are a whole load of you driving around with the kitchen sink (or garden shed) in it.

Don't just take my word for it. Take a look at this.

The reason I'm mentioning this is Shell invited us to an event at Aston University in Birmingham to talk about their Target One Million campaign. Their aim is to reach one million people with advice on how to save fuel and drive more economically.

As I was on my own with the children, we actually travelled down to Birmingham by train. There's fuel saving in action for you. Seriously, they love trains and it was good for me to keep them amused.

The event was opened by the above Quentin Wilson, who I have met before at a previous Shell FuelSave event in Manchester last year who is master of a bit of hyperbole to launch the campaign, and then handed over to Punk Science to demonstrate what factors can affect fuel economy and they asked for a volunteer. Whose hand shot up? This handsome young man.

Those flippers caused no end of trouble, he kept falling over. They also had grown men wearing ponchos and riding Space Hoppers. No kidding. 

One of the ways Shell is aiming to get the message out there is through a series of games on their website called the FuelSave Challenge. Monkey had a go at playing some of the games using the iPads. 

Don't think it kept them occupied all the time though - over lunchtime, Monkey brought over one of the iPads and asked me to help him find Gangnam Style to show the others!

We also got to see the Aston Shell Eco Car, which was designed by some of the Mechanical Engineering students to take part in the Eco Marathon which is a competition to go as far as possible on 1 litre of fuel. The car, designed to be as sustainable as possible, won the design award at this year's competition. 

During lunch, those of us that wanted to got to take a spin out with Quentin around Birmingham in the Shell FuelSave car to see how economical we could drive. I was doing really well until I had to do a hill start - I wasn't confident enough to stop the engine and get started again. Apparently, my overall MPG was the third best out of the drivers that had a go. I was quite proud of myself, although too preoccupied with wondering where our taxi back to the station was by this point. He did eventually find us but he was so late that a run for our train was necessary at New Street -  we just made it before the doors closed. 

Keep an eye out on the Shell FuelSave page as more games will be launched over the coming weeks. In addition, if you register and complete the games, you will be entered into a draw to win one of 10 iPad3s, which is not a bad return for learning a few fuel saving tips. 

Oh, and don't forget to check what's in your boot - clearing it out could save you fuel, and a lot of cash. What IS in yours? 

(Shell kindly paid our travel expenses to attend this event, gave us lunch and a goody bag to take home containing snacks for the trip home. They have provided me with some images and videos from the day, but all opinions, as ever, are my own.)

How not to write a manifesto

Who couldn't fail to be swayed by this?

Both children were on School Council last year and apparently, they are holding elections again this week. The children have decided they would quite like to do it again so they started work tonight on their election posters. This involves them coming up with ideas about what sort of thing they would like to change about school and why they would be a good person to represent their classmates. Kind of like a manifesto.

To say that this was at first difficult is an understatement. Policy meetings at the National Apolitical Party (note - does not exist) would have been more exciting. I like to ensure I don't suggest things so I tried to prompt their thinking by asking them questions about what they liked about school, what they didn't like and how it might be better.

Suddenly, Monkey's face lit up. "I know!", he said excitedly and started scribbling something down. "I think the breaks should be shorter, so we can get more learning in."

Somehow, I don't think that's going to be a vote winner or make him popular with his classmates, do you?

My little stars, back at school

It feels like forever since I last wrote a post just about the children and it's probably time I rectified that.

Both children were excited about going back to school. They don't tend to see their friends outside of school  as we are relatively far from it. Giddiness of the highest order ensued on the first day back, with Missy Woo running round squealing and flinging her arms around her friends that she hadn't seen for all of six weeks. Monkey, of course, was as cool as a cucumber about seeing his friend but he was happy to return.

Monkey's main reason for looking forward to the new term was having a brand new teacher to the school as his class teacher this year. Of course, for him, it's a big step as he has moved into Year 3 and therefore into the juniors. After his first couple of days, he started mentioning Mission Impossible and we ended up "singing" the tune on his way home. I wondered what it was and last week, I finally found out. His new teacher invited all the parents to sit in on a lesson at the start of the day. As the children were settling in for the day, the teacher suddenly set a recording off and the children went hither and thither putting things away. It's his way of getting them to tidy up! The aim is to do it quicker every time, and they are all disappointed if they don't do it quicker than last time. I am seriously considering downloading Mission Impossible for use at home! Looking around the class, I realised how much they have grown up in the 3 years they have been at school and their new teacher has them eating out of his hand. He's going to have a fantastic year.

On the curriculum for him this year is learning the ukulele. A teacher comes in once a week to teach a whole class. Monkey brought his new* (*second-hand) ukulele home for the first time last week. He'd had the sum total of one lesson. He thought he was an expert and proceeded to share his new-found talent with all of us. I sent him upstairs to play instead but that didn't do much - we just heard "strum, strum, strum, strum" all the time. He's quite keen - I keep coming downstairs and finding the ukulele out of its case on the floor of the living room - but I'm dreading all the practice. Don't laugh - apparently, ukulele lessons are becoming increasingly popular in schools, so it could be coming your way soon. Oh well, at least it is not a recorder.

Missy Woo is, however, the one who has amazed me. During the school holidays, she suddenly decided she wanted to write a poem so she set about doing so. She asked for little bits of help with spellings and words to use, but on the whole, I left her to it. As she prepared to return to school, she insisted on making sure she took her poem in to show her new teacher (who was, of course, Monkey's teacher last year).

After her first day back, she told me that her teacher had said she could read out her poem at the next celebration assembly they have on Friday afternoons, and asked if I was going. Thankfully, I was as the first one was after their first full week and as a parent with children in both infant and juniors, I can basically go whenever I want. She told me she would have to write it out neatly as the teacher had said.

Come the assembly, both children took their certificates in from the summer reading challenge they had been doing at the library over the holidays and after they showed them, the headteacher held her back and started explaining about the poem that Missy Woo wrote.

What I didn't know was that Missy Woo had learnt her poem off by heart to recite to the whole school. It was her own idea and I have no idea when she did it, but she did. Not only that, my little 6 year old girl (OK, not so little - she looks at least a year older, if not two) stood there and recited in a clear and confident voice, the whole of her poem and  received a huge round of applause from all the children, staff and present.

I don't think I've ever been quite so blown away by her. I had no idea she'd learnt it off by heart - of course, she wrote it so should know what's in it but all the same, she was fantastic. And for that, she was unsurprisingly awarded the first Star of the Week trophy of the new school year. I was so proud of her.

And just so Monkey didn't feel left out, his class was class of the week too, so we had double the reason to celebrate. As we were going away straight after school, we ended up lugging the trophy to Coventry with us - and Missy Woo took it upon herself to show the trophy to just about anyone who was passing, let alone ask what it was for.

Summer holidays already feel like a month ago. Routines have been re-established, friendships rekindled, reading books grudgingly read and avoided where possible. We are definitely back at school, with lots of exciting things to look forward to.

We have reached that point

These last six weeks have flown by and there is but a day left of the summer holidays - a day we are spending together as a family, meeting my sister and her husband who are on holiday in North Yorkshire.  I think the Olympics and Paralympics have distracted us this year and that's helped the weeks to pass quickly.

I've enjoyed them being home but over the last few days, the children have become more restless, argumentative and generally giddy. I think that's a sign they are rested and are itching to get back to school. Both of them are as excited as anything about school. They miss their friends as only one or two other children from school live close to us. The friends they play with here are getting a bit boring and quite a few have been on holiday towards the end of the holidays. Missy Woo always struggles because there are many more boys than girls to play with - and then, two of the girls she played with regularly have moved house and beyond her reach, which has reduced the field considerably.

They started getting a bit more tetchy and argumentative over the weekend and then yesterday, I took them shopping, going for a treat breakfast first. I thought that would settle them first - it usually does, and they are usually quite good around a supermarket these days - but faced with a quiet supermarket with extra wide aisles, all they did was run everywhere and screech repeatedly. I lost count of the number of times I had to say their names and tell them to stop. My stress levels were through the roof by the checkout and I heard myself saying to the checkout operator, when she asked when they went back to school, "I can't wait for them to go back." I realised it was the first time I'd said it all holiday.

See that right there? That was my tether and I was at the end of it. Thankfully, after the riot act was read to them in the car on the way home, they helped to put away the shopping without a single word of complaint, then asked to go out to play and helpfully stayed out of my way for the next hour.

Yes, the novelty has truly worn off for them and school seems an exciting prospect. Both are looking forward to having new teachers - and Monkey moves into Juniors and his first male teacher, who is new to the school as well as him. Both have new school bags, which are apparently "amazing" as they have internal pockets. My children are easily pleased.

And me? Much as I love them and the summer we have had, I would like the house to stay tidy for longer than five minutes. And it's time for them to go - I think in an ideal world, going back yesterday would have been the ideal scenario.

That first cup of tea on Wednesday morning is going to taste as sweet as anything. Although the house is going to be eerily quiet for a few hours.

What we did last weekend

So we went to a wedding and got all dressed up. 

Don't we look smart? 

(Don't tell anyone but Monkey got ketchup down his shirt later!)

It rained during the ceremony but afterwards, we managed to get

a few photos outside before it rained again and we ran back inside. 

(The bride is our cousin by the way)

And after a long time (too long for Monkey!) we finally got to eat!

Later, Missy Woo got to hold her newest cousin. 

Then, after a long day....

Monkey fell asleep on the bed watching Match of the Day.

20 things I learned this week

1. If you want to avoid a long wait when shopping for school shoes, the best thing to do is to be the first ones through the door at opening time.

2. It may, however, still take half an hour to get two children measured and fitted.

3. It is possible for feet to measure a totally different width fitting than the one they eventually fit. Which explains 2.

4. Missy Woo has inherited my high instep. See 3.

5. Monkey doesn't care what his school shoes look like, so long as they have an association with a character or dinosaur.

6. Missy Woo cares very much what her shoes look like. Too much.

7. Missy Woo has no colour co-ordination. She is dazzled by it - the more colour, the better.

8. In the future, Missy Woo is going to cost me a lot of money in clothes.

9. Monkey claims not to be bothered, but secretly he likes to dress up smart.

10. Monkey looks swamped in jackets, even if they fit him.

11. On the other hand, waistcoats suit him.

12. Monkey has a longer body but shorter legs.

13. Monkey therefore doesn't fit suit sets. He fits trousers in one size, and shirts, jackets or waistcoats in another.

14. Shopping for a wedding outfit for a 7 year old boy is nigh on impossible because they don't get that they need to try things on to see if they fit.

15. Shopping for a wedding outfit for a 7 year old boy straight after school shoe shopping is a bad, bad idea.

16. The children love The Great British Bake Off so much that they get excited when they see the books in shops. So much so that they were moved to shout, "Mary Berry! The queen of baking!"

17. I have forgotten how much I love reading. Henning Mankell books especially.

18. When I read Wallander books now, the people I picture in my head are the ones who played the characters in the Swedish series.

19. Monkey really is ruled by his stomach and comes home from playing with friends when he is hungry by and large.

20. What excites and intrigues the children most when going away on a trip is not where we are going but the sticker books they get to play with on the way.

Our Olympic Scrapbook gets started!

This is a sponsored post, but you know that by now, don't you? 


So, it's day 2 of the action at the Olympics and we've completed our first two of our Olympic scrapbook from The Times & The Sunday Times. After my post on Friday, we all watched the opening ceremony - I know I said they were going to bed but they just seemed to stay up; once it started and was so magical, it seemed wrong to deny them . We all loved it - it was bonkers in a good way, it entertained, enthralled and gave us goosebumps. And, in an act of family unity, we all simultaneously laughed out loud when Mr Bean appeared in the orchestra.

So yesterday, Monkey and I sat down to choose some pictures for the scrapbook. Excuse the cheesy grin.

We struggled a little, as the ceremony finished so late, it seemed that a lot of pictures from the second half of the ceremony didn't make it into the paper. We chose to include a picture of Bradley Wiggins ringing the bell at the start as we are big cycling fans in this house, and anyway, he lives a few miles away from here. I wanted to include a picture of the cauldron so I printed a picture of it from the online edition. Our favourite picture was of the five rings that was forged together during the show as that was spectacular. We had to include Mr Bean of course, and Monkey was overjoyed to find a picture of Voldemort (he was very excited when JK Rowling appeared during the ceremony) so that has made it in too.

The children had a go at the challenges to win medals on Friday - eat 3 carrots to win a bronze, do a sit up for each year of their lives to win silver, and run 100m to win gold. I'm happy to report they completed all 3 challenges to win all the medals. They actually ran more than 100m as they went and ran round the small block, a ploy on my part to get a second's peace.

So that was the opening ceremony page done, now it was time to get going with the pages for the first day's action. We filled in quite a bit as we went along like the names of winners of some events - some definitely, not all.

Then, this afternoon, Missy Woo helped me choose the pictures from the paper to go in the scrapbook. She is very good at cutting out - much more accurate and careful than her brother.

We cut out some of the suggested pictures from the scrapbook page but didn't go with the one of Vinokourov winning the road race - not because we were bitter that Cav didn't win but because we don't like his stance on drugs. Instead, we found a picture of the GB women's team winning at football last night and Fabien Cancellara after he came off his bike towards the end of the road race. The GB women's picture,  I have had to do a bit of a fold job on to fit it in. We also have small pictures of Louis Smith, the gymnast, and Ryan Lochte, the swimmer.

We're busy filling in today's page but obviously, we won't be putting in the pictures until we get tomorrow's paper.

If you are joining in, I'd love to know how you are getting on with your scrapbook. There will be more posts as we continue to fill our scrapbook so keep an eye out on this blog.

Now all we need to really get going is a gold medal for Great Britain!

I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever about what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I get to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity.

Preserving London 2012 memories with the Olympic Scrapbook

This is a sponsored post (but you might like it anyway!)

Two weeks to go, after seven years of waiting. I remember sitting, holding Monkey (a nearly 4 month old baby) in my arms watching the announcement of the host city of the 2012 Olympic Games and tearing up with joy and excitement when Jacques Rogge uttered the words "the games of the thirtieth Olympiad are awarded to the city of London." (I just looked those words up on YouTube to make sure I got them right and it set me off again!) I was excited, not just for me, but for the baby that I was holding in my arms, that such a fantastic thing was going to be happening in our country and that it would be something we would be able to share as a family. 

Seven years of waiting, but once it starts, the Games will be here and gone again in the blink of an eye and we will be left with will be some - hopefully fantastic - memories. I've been pondering how best to do this with the children for a while. Monkey, in particular, loves his wall charts - he dutifully filled out his Euro 2012. But I wanted more than that - a keepsake that can go into their memory boxes to remind them of the this once in a lifetime event. Then, I was asked if I'd like to be involved with the project I'm about to tell you about. Being a sports mad family, I jumped at the chance as we will be devouring the Games in all forms when it starts. 

Foreword by Lord Coe

The Times and The Sunday Times today announced the launch of their ultimate Olympic Scrapbook that will offer readers the opportunity to catalogue their memories from this once in a lifetime event. Readers of the newspapers will be able to collect and record every day of London 2012 with their free scrapbook inside every copy of The Sunday Times this weekend.

The scrapbook, supported by London 2012 sponsor P&G, will feature editorial content from The Times and The Sunday Times’ award-winning journalists, including an Olympic timeline along with stats and facts about this summer’s Games and past medal winners. Readers will be able to collect pictures, athlete profiles, medal tables, as well as adding in their own images and memories – plus an exclusive sticker set that will be available inside The Sunday Times on 22nd July.

Stickers? Monkey will be overjoyed! He has that geeky, slightly obsessive quality that little boys often have, collecting stickers and cards wherever he can. I suspect Missy Woo wants to join in as she likes stickers although they will have to be pretty ones.

A sample page from the scrapbook

We have had a sneak preview of the scrapbook as we were sent a copy to get going. The scrapbook is a really nice size (just under A3) with Jess Ennis on the cover, and a foreword by Lord Coe. Every page is in colour, with information for you to cut out and keep from the newspaper or their website (although that is behind a paywall) as well as interesting information about the Olympics, like profiles of high profile athletes and a series about Olympic villains over the years. There's space to write in who won what on each day. 

Monkey is very excited about the prospect of filling out this scrapbook over the coming weeks. Missy Woo is less so, but I know she will enjoy it too. This is going to be a great summer holiday activity, which we are going to need if the weather carries on the way it has been! I think it's nice to be able to do something like this together - choosing the pictures, cutting them out, sticking them in - to make memories the way we see them, not anyone else. 

Over the next month, I'll be blogging about our experiences of putting the Olympic Scrapbook together, and showing you what we're doing with our scrapbook. If you'd like to join in, please do. I'd love to see what other people do with the scrapbook. In my next post, which should be early next week, I'm hoping to share a How to video with some useful tips for completing the scrapbook with your children. 

Get your copy of The Times & The Sunday Times OlympicScrapbook free this weekend with The Sunday Times and you can visit: http://bit.ly/STOlympics for more information. If you have arrived late to this post and missed your chance, all is not lost. You'll have a final chance to get your hands on the Olympic Scrapbook by visiting your local Waitrose or WHSmith on Saturday 21st July and purchasing a copy of The Times. 

If you want some more ideas for Olympic related activities to do with your children, you can visit the Olympic Fever section of Netmums throughout the summer.

I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever about what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I get to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity. On this occasion, I have been asked to share some key information about this promotion, which I have done because it is relevant to the project and informative. 

Parenting - not for the faint-hearted

The other day, I noticed a tweet from another blogger who said that her daughter thought she was evil, because she had said no to ice-cream. I replied to her that my kids think I'm evil daily but such is life. She replied that it's hard not being liked but that it must be part of being a parent. 

And it's true. You can't be your children's friend all the time. You love each other, but there are a lot of times when you just don't like each other very much. The old phrase "tough love" rears its ugly head. 

Little did I know that this would come back to haunt me so quickly. That afternoon, I went to collect the children from school and Monkey was being challenging to say the least. The current focus is my old laptop - it hasn't been working for months, but I've recently had it repaired and have cleaned it of my work data, so now it's designated for them to play on and both children are beyond excited. Both had spent a considerable amount of time on it since, but I had said the night before that we were going to get reading out of the way first before any screen time, and Monkey had said OK to that. 

On the way back to the car, Monkey was already asking if he could play on the laptop. I reminded him of the deal and he threw a tantrum, claiming he didn't remember the deal we had made. His tantrums are very vocal and he starts blaming everyone (except himself) and everything for the injustice in the world. This one was so bad, I stopped the car after pulling away because he was making me angry. He went on so much, I decided I had to act. "OK then, there will be no laptop at all for you this evening. I am not standing for behaviour like this."

This was not received well. We had tears, recriminations, screaming, kicking of legs for the duration of the 5 minute journey, clearly because he thought he could change my mind and I would relent. I stood my ground. 

We got home and one of the neighbour's children appeared as we got out of the car. I explained to him that Monkey couldn't play with him. Monkey went mad. Shouting, screaming, kicking, crying, you name it, he did it. I tried to calm him but he was pushing all my buttons and winding me up (plus, it's not fair on Missy Woo, she loses attention and it's not her fault; she is much less antagonistic although liable to whines and sulks.)

Eventually, I cracked. I told him he was not staying up to watch any football, sent him to go and get his pyjamas on, he would then do his reading and have some tea, then go straight to bed. This was met with even more recriminations but I stood strong. He came downstairs to read and obviously thought he was on safe ground as tea was not made. Wrong. I made him toast. He ate it sobbing. He kept saying sorry, but it was obviously done in such a way that he hoped I would go back on my word. He read his book, had a drink and I sent him upstairs. 

By the time he did get to bed, I felt like the worst mother in the world. Obviously, it was still quite early and there was no way he was going to sleep so he sat in his bed, shouting screaming and crying. He demanded to see Daddy when he got home, but then proceeded to blame his behaviour on him for getting the children up early which meant he was tired. Husband left him to it. More shouting and crying. 

Several times over, he found reasons to come out of his room but he got sent back. He demanded to see husband once again but he didn't really have anything to say. Eventually, I had to go upstairs to the spare room and Missy Woo was getting ready for bed too. He opened his door for something and so I asked him to do a couple of jobs, then I put him back into bed. Much calmer now, he said sorry and started to cry again. Hugging him, I asked him what was the matter.

His reply said it all. He told me, "I'm crying because I'm cross with myself for getting sent to bed and now I've missed the football." 

I may not be the perfect parent and yes, my children think I am evil daily. I say no to them. But that means they know what the boundaries are and they know the consequences if they cross them and that they can't have everything whenever they want it. It's hard not being liked, being blamed for the faults of others, having the product of nine months' incubation that you love dearly telling you that they hate you, but the end result is worth it. 

There will be parents out there who read this post that will think I could have done it the nice way, but the only result Monkey would have been happy with would have been to play on that laptop - and that would have meant giving in and rewarding what was pretty awful behaviour.  Much as it was hard, I couldn't do that because that was the best way to guarantee a rapid re-occurrence. My reaction might have been extreme, but I felt it was proportionate to the behaviour. Since this incident, he has been really well-behaved and much less argumentative about things that are regularly flashpoints with him. I think the penny has finally dropped. 

Parenting isn't about being their friend all the time. It's being the critical friend, who has their best interests at heart. It's hard. It's relentless and it's not for the faint-hearted. But if you think you are right, it's worth standing your ground.