Too sick to blog

Well it got to the point I could only look at a computer at work when I Had to. I can only deduce that it was a man that named it “morning sickness”. I’m functioning again but not sure I can meme. Is it like a chain letter where I’ll get evil fingers pointed at me if I break the chain?

Tagged

Hmm, I’ve just noticed (un)relaxed dad has tagged me in February. Will have to have a think. I had no notifcation apart from some tiny link off a stats page, you sure need alot of time to blog or am I missing something?

I’m a big boy now

Woo, this is why we started Relaxed Parenting – don’t do anything about it (issues raising a child) and the problem will go away! All the worries about what to do about dudelets dummy and one day he takes it upon himself to flip open the bin and say “I’m a big boy now” and chucked it in the bin. He did need reminding at bedtime of his actions and his suggestion to take it out and clean it were quickly bypassed and not a squeak about wanting it back ever again and it’s been a whole week.

Tip of the day: I don’t know if it’s just dudelet or just in his genes but hint at something for a while (eg you don’t need your dummy you’re big boy now) but not forcefully and eventually he will take it on as his own idea…. Now all I’ve got to do is to try that out on (un)relaxed dad – it taken me 15 years and a toddler to figure that out …

iChew

So the new phenomena that the mp3 player has bought about on public transport is the iChew. I have come across it a few times recently on my commute and recently actually intervened before a fight broke out over it. So what is this marvelous thing that people are fighting over I hear you ask? Well you have someone 6 inches away from your ear that is listening to their mp3 player and chewing gum at 100 decibels or whatever mind boggling sound level that even drowns out the bump bumb tinkle dud dud of their music. It is ferociously disgusting and before the Irate Woman mumbling obscenitites decked the lady chewing, I pointed to my mouth to the aforementioned chewer, miming ‘it’s your gum’. She had the decency to look embarrased and stopped her iChew and we all continued our journey squashed against eachother embarrased, semi-irate and relieved.

Spica cast and chopsticks

Well back to the hospital for a quick check up and thumbs up for dudelet. His bone has gone from being 2cm short to 1cm which means it’s growing well. (un)relaxed dad is thinking of compiling some stuff as there seems to be little info on spica casts when we Had to look into it (even on the web!). In the meantime – a little piece of advice – we found dudelet didn’t ‘bend’ much to start off with so was pratically horizontal on his beanbag but to make him feel less fustrated and more himself I would give him food in a glass bowl – so he could see it and also a pair of ‘easy’ chopsticks – ones that look like a giant clothes peg! We found this much easier than either a spoon or fork which everything seemed to drop off at this angle! He loved it and it helped make him feel less dependant on me.

I don’t want to grow up to be a man

So the day after (un)relaxed dad dealt dudelet the life cards i.e. everyone dies when they get old, dudelet decided to grill me on growing up. It started off with wanting to be a girl when he grows up, though after saying that he thought for a bit with titled head and changed his mind; he wanted to be a boy. So I told him he would grow up to be a man, he thought that was hilarious and daft but thought about it and decided he never wanted to grow up. Aww I tried to tell him none of us liked growing up but he wasn’t having any of it.

Car clubbing – no not a disco in a car park …

… but the car scheme where you pay to ‘borrow’ a car, in theory at any time. they have been touted as the new way to get around a city. Here is my experience:

1. I had to use it at a time when (un)relaxed dad was looking after dudelet.

Why – they don’t have car seats and as much as I thought and thought, I couldn’t face lugging pram, car seat on a trolley, toddler and on the way back the delights of my shopping to and from the house. I s’pose I could have got a taxi to the car club, but with fixing and unfixing the car seat from 2 cars (the local cabs either turn up with no car seat or um I dunno how to fit the car seat – you’re a mum you do it) a nice relaxing shop it t’will not be.

Action: on emailing my particular car club their response was not – ‘o it’s to do with the insurance’ – but ‘there’s no where to store a car seat’ – the car is parked in the carpark of a space storage company …

2. As a non car regular car user I’ve forgotton how long it takes to get anywhere and how bad the traffic is. I underestimate how long it will take me and arrive back 7 mins late; 3 mins after their 5 min curfew – I have to pay an extra £35 for being late, £25 goes to the inconveniance car user wating for my late arrival and a tenner to the club. Hmm fair enough I knew what I was signing up for but with my TTE (terrible traffic estimation) it sure puts me off.

3. The good news is made back most of my fine after I spent a whole 20 minutes filling out my car clubs online survey – I must’ve been the only one – and won a giant coffee table book “Earth from above” – big enough top actually use as a coffee table.

So my conclusion is that car clubs are not for families – are you listening Ken? Since joining I have read car clubs are used by families as their “2nd” car equivalent. I can see why.

Mine was pink and clean …

… and had no umbilical cord. Yesterday I had the exhilirating experience of helping to deliver a baby. I only went round to babysit the 2 year old! Having had an emergency caesarean I hadn’t actually experienced the full on natural delivery. Now I have. Champagne all round and I’m glad we weren’t on a London Bus when it happened …

Drinking the Shopping

So my dudelet has been in a spica cast for a month now. Travelling on Public Transport with a, if temporarily, disabled child … forget it. Anyway so that led me to The Internet for a supermarket shop. Last time I tried, I recieved our shopping with half a planet’s worth of plastic bags – one or two items per plastic bag. I complained, they (the big UK one with the orange logo, mention no names) passed the buck onto their delivery service . Hmm. So off to try the one with a funny-o name and the green logo.

Face it, you can’t do a big shop with a toddler and no car unless you’re ok if the buggy falls over backwards. Ok there’s the cab option if you can find a cab that will turn up with a car seat AND know how to fit it …

But to be honest I don’t do huge shops anyway (gives me and dudelet something to do on the days I don’t work!).

So is Internet shopping greener than hopping into a car for a Big shop. Even with the amount of plastic produced, yes it probably is. Though it sure ain’t so green on my wallet. I admit it, I fall for it -I nudge up the scale to get free delivery and have a cupboard full of beer, port and champagne. O well better go and drink some to make room for the next shop. Chin chin.

My Third Nipple

Living in London, it is in theory easier and of course greener to go WITHOUT a car. Although I’m sure many people don’t have a car, my socio-demographic equals all seem to look like you’re an alien if you say “we don’t have a car”, it’s as thou you’ve just told them you have a third nipple.

So I’m going to document my travels with my 3 year old dudelet and maybe it’ll help me decide to whether I want to rejoin the masses or be fancy-car-free and footloose.