Why??

Photo credit - immrchris

In order to ease myself back into blogging (if you don't use it, you lose it and I seem to have lost a few blogging muscles recently!), I have got myself tagged in a meme to make me get my finger out and write. It doesn't really help that I have quite a bit of work on at present and my head is full of other people's words as one of my assignments is typing up a manuscript over 25,000 words long.

Anyway, I was tagged by Very Bored in Catalunya to take part in this one, originating from the good ladies at Mummy Central. The idea is to turn the tables on your children, who constantly ask why (and God knows, my two do) and have your own vent.

Here goes.

Why do you wake up so early the morning after we've let you stay up late?

Why do I send you to find something, only for you to come back and say you can't find it, yet I find it straight away when I go to look?

Why do you squirrel things away in your school bag in the hope I won't notice when I can tell just from picking it up what it's got in it?

Why do you want a toy every time you enter any retail establishment, whine or stamp your feet if I say no, but if I say yes, you play with it for an hour then never touch it again?

Why can I not go to bed and sleep earlier in the night so I can get a decent night's sleep and get up at a reasonable time?

Why do you not want to hug me until I want to sit down and get on my laptop, then you insist on sitting right up close to me and lean over my shoulder?

Why, when you go out to play, do you come in and go back out again several times an hour until it's time for tea, or bath, or bed?

Why do you only want food when you don't have anyone to play with?

Why are you complete angels at school and the teachers not recognise the children I describe when I tell them what you are like at home? Why can't you be angels for me?

Why can't you learn to shut doors, turn lights off, wash hands, flush toilets and tidy rooms without me having to remind you every two minutes?

Why do I have to start every day you're at school by clearing up the mess you have made in the living room?

Why are you last out of school on the days we have to be somewhere by 4, but first out if we have nowhere to go?

Why do you spend all day complaining that Daddy is not here but once he's home, only want me?

That's better. I feel cleansed.

Do you want a go? I'm tagging a few people but *hangs head in shame* I've not quite reached the requisite 5 so I might get told off! Here are the guidelines:

1. Post your whys – as few or as many as you like.
2. Link up your post below, and it would be great if you could leave a comment too.
3. Tag 5 bloggers to keep this going.
4. If you’re not a blogger, leave your whys as a comment below. We’d love to read them.
5. Show your support by reading a few others and commenting on them.

So, my taggees are:

Sally from Who's the Mummy?

Sonia from This Mummy Loves

Rachel from Mummyglitzer

Dave from The Big Div

And if you want to be a fifth, just tag yourself. What are you waiting for?

Would you buy a five year old girl a Rihanna t-shirt?

You know that difficult age where kids feel they are too old to like "babyish" characters but you feel they are too young for more "grown up" ones? Missy Woo is precisely at that point.

Is it me or is that more likely with the characters aimed at girls? She feels that Peppa Pig is not for her any more and although she still likes her Dora duvet and her Charlie and Lola one, neither form part of her viewing habits these days; it's more CBBC than Cbeebies, more Nickelodeon than Nick Jr. She's a bit of a Disney Princess fan and thankfully, her favourite appears to be Rapunzel who is pretty kick ass . I'm not keen on Barbie and all the model type dolls around because of the whole body image thing that it can stir up. And then, there is Hannah Montana. Missy Woo's never even seen it but she does like some of the merchandise - her school bag is Hannah Montana but she chose it for the sequins more than anything.

I figured it would be a few years before she perhaps started being considered a tween by the marketeers. It seems I was wrong.

It all happened when Argos asked me if we'd like to try out their kids clothing range. When I looked at the range, I was perturbed at some of the items on offer for girls her age. There were a lot of Justin Bieber clothing which is more disturbing from a music point of view than anything, as well as The Wanted, One Direction, The Saturdays. And Rihanna. Yes, there is a Rihanna t-shirt for 5-6 year old girls. I was shocked. I honestly have nothing against her, I think she is a great singer and I like some of her songs. I'm sure kids like her songs; mine sing them in the car. I don't however think she has the right sort of image to be sold to kids in that way; she's just a bit too "adult", isn't she? I actually do struggle to understand why anyone would want their child to wear such a t-shirt. I mean, look at her face. She is a little angel (mostly) - if you ignore the odd look on her face there. Why would I want her to wear a t-shirt with a picture of a woman known for being racy and who got told off by a farmer for being "scantily dressed" in his field in Northern Ireland?

Thankfully, I did manage to find something for Missy Woo to try. A Tangled nightdress with hairbrush, of course. To back up my point, I found it less difficult to find things for Monkey, so much so that I couldn't choose between a Lego Harry Potter hoodie and a Lego Star Wars one but we were delighted to be sent both. They were meant to turn up in early December but an out of stock item meant they didn't arrive until Christmas Eve. They turned up beautifully wrapped with ribbon so we decided on the fly to give them to the children as a little something to open on Christmas Eve before they went to bed. Missy Woo adored her nightdress and it is really beautiful. She could happily wear it as a dress - it feels very soft and it's obviously well made. With her long blonde hair, she really does look like Rapunzel wearing it, it's a very pretty and special nightdress.

Monkey was also overjoyed with his hoodies, especially the Lego Harry Potter one. He lived in it for days over Christmas, I virtually had to peel it off him to get it washed. Again, it feels nice and is well made, plus it washes up nicely too, which is a bonus as Monkey is a pretty messy child. That's boys for you.

I'd happily buy more things from Argos, especially as at the moment, some of the items are half price and full price, I do find it quite expensive for children's clothes although I accept you get what you pay for. I do, however, have huge reservations about some of the items available in the girls range, which is meant to be aimed at under 10s. Very possibly, some of the things could be suitable for girls at the upper end of that age range. But for 5 year old girls? I don't think so. Certainly not Rihanna.

(I was sent the above mentioned items by Argos to review. I have not been told what to write and I have not been received any further compensation.) 

Do as I say, not as I do

This might turn into a ranty post. It's not meant to be but something I saw today shocked me somewhat and when I mentioned it on Twitter, no-one said anything. Not a dicky bird. So, maybe I'm alone on this. Tell me if I am once I've told this tale.