Bike Lights in the Fruit Bowl

Mummy, can I feed the worms?

Finally, a  few frost free weeks!  I am really, really enjoying the sunshine.  It's much, much more relaxing spending time outdoors with the girls when it's not freezing cold or tipping it down with rain.   And so we've finally started thinking about growing things again.  Our estate is modest - a large raised bed around the edge of our patio garden and a small (about the size of a single bed) plot in the grounds of a local climbing centre - but I intend to make the most of our tiny taste of rural life in the city!

Through the long winter our resident worms remind us that, one day the sun will shine and we'll be able to get growing, whiling away the hours with dirt between our fingers.  We invested in a wormery a couple of years ago.  It seemed ridiculous to be sending our vegetable scraps off to be composted by the local council, only to then find it a big hassle to find, and transport, the bags of peat-free compost we wanted for growing a few veggies.  Making our own compost makes a lot of sense practically and is a great environmental education tool.  I had no idea it would be such a hit with little M.  She loves it.  

Little M often asks "Mummy, can I feed the worms" please.  We bought a 'Worm Cafe' kit complete with some 'worm treat' to keep the worms healthy.  It really captured her imagination and she has developed a near obsession for dishing out the worm treat.  She'll happily sit tearing up egg boxes for them and always reminds me to save some scraps for the worms when we're cooking together.  The first time a nursery pal came around for a play-date she was proudly taken outside to help feed the worms.  Let's not dwell so much on the time that little M threatened to feed Dee Dee Dragon, little L's favourite toy, to the worms in a moment of  sibbling jealously!

Despite little M's enthusiam, our worms have been a tiny bit neglected, hidden behind kitchen remnants and builders rubble during our refurbishment work last autumn and then just on the receiving end the horribly long winter we've just had.  But quite a lot of them are still working away so we had a lovely crop of compost ready to harvest to give the veggies we've been planting this week a good start.  Little M was delighted to dig out a carrier bag full to take up to the mini-plot, pretty pleased with the results of all her months of feeding the worms.

The girls and I spent a lovely day this week pottering around the garden and (after a slightly fraught trip to the garden centre) finally getting a few things planted in our mini-plot.  It felt idyllic.  We shared a picnic in the sunshine and had fun spotting tadpoles in the wildlife pond that's tucked away in a hidden corner.  Two over-excited small children and a pond left no hands free for snapping a picture - little L really wanted to dive in and was wrigglier than the tadpoles - but I have a picture etched in my mind of four tiny hands reaching to touch the tadpoles with the sun glinting on the water.

The only things left living in the plot were a couple of strawberry plants and a few forgotten onions.  One onion provide a welcome decoy for an enthusiastic little L who spent long enough dipping it in and out of the watering can for little M and I to get a few plants and seeds into their new homes. We've got plenty of seeds left to get going at home - great entertainment for a spare half hour on a weekday.  Little L wants to be outside all the time.  I don't blame her - you can see in her face how excited she is by her first ever experiences of independent exploring in the sunshine.  I think we'll be spending lots of time in our very modest 'garden' this summer.  Kids instinctively know what the good things in life are!

Real nappies at nursery

It's Real Nappy Week - time for a nappy update!  I've used real nappies for quite a while - a nappy laundry service to start with for little M and more recently washing little L's myself at home.  We'll be using them for the next year or so (unless little L's slightly unnerving attempts to potty train herself this week continue).  Little L, who has just turned 1, now goes to a day nursery 3 days a week as I'm back at work.  Seems like a good time to share my experiences of using real nappies when your little one is at nursery.

We actually have a pretty simple system. We take enough nappies for the day into the nursery each morning in a small wet-bag.  We tend to leave them a few extra inserts (the absorbent bits that go inside a coloured, waterproof cover) and a roll of liners to make up extra nappies if they need to and one or two disposables as back-up.  The carers happily use the nappies and then give us the wet bag back at the end of the day full of dirty nappies.   It seems to work fine.  You could easily take a bigger batch in at the start of the week - nurseries are usually acustomed to storing big packs of disposables.  We find it more manageable to take small amounts each day as we're travelling by bike (post coming soon on this!)

I've found some differences to using nappies at home.  At home I would rinse a nappy cover that had only had a tiny bit of wee on it and use it once or twice more throughout the day.  The nursery staff don't do this as they have nowhere handy to dry them.  I tend to make up the nappies for the day and they just use them as they would a pile of disposables.  This does mean it's handy to have a few extra covers as by the end of the day, even if they have only been used once, the covers are not really in a fit state to rinse and re-use.

I guess the first step we took was to ask the nursery if they're happy to use the nappies.  Ours was completely fine with it, as were others we visited when we were first choosing which one to send little M to.  Our nursery actually had the large nappy bin from the laundry service on site for a while when one family found it more convenient to have the nappy collection from the nursery rather than their home.  Whilst it feels polite to ask the nursery staff...really there's very little for them to get stressed about.  The system we use means that little L has a nice neat basket of nappies, wipes, cream etc. just the same as all the other children.  Modern washable nappies are pretty easy to use.  AND nurseries pay to get rid of your kid's dirty nappies - if more parents use real nappies, they might be able to trim down their waste collection bills.  I think, you should assume it's fine - it's a completely reasonable thing to expect that you can continue using real nappies at nursery. 

Fancy trying out some nappies for yourself?  Have a potter around cyber-space as there are few competitions on the go at the moment - try this Real Nappy Week Facebook page or the 'Go Real' site.  Or if you're lucky enough to live in one of the eight London Borough's taking part, you can grab yourself a Real Nappies for London completely free voucher that you can use to buy yourself some nappies or sample a laundry / home delivery service.

I wrote about getting back on the real nappy wagon for my first green challenge when I started this blog - you can find the posts here.  And about night-time real nappy success here.

Probably about time I stopped rambling on about nappies now!

 

Little L is one!

This time last year we were just settling into life as a family of 4 with our new arrival, little L.  Like so many significant life events it seems so recent that I can hardly believe it was her first birthday earlier this week, and at the same time the day she was born feels like an age ago.   I certainly feel like I've known her forever.   I love the tradition of marking birthdays with a letter.  This is my first proper attempt so I'm going to make it short and sweet.  

Dear Lovely Little L,

I love you no matter what you do, and always will, but there are so many things you do that make it so very easy.  

I love your let-me-at-it attitude.  So keen to join in your sister's games, so keen to explore, to try new things.  You dive straight into everything.  Not like a bumbling fool, but like you know, even at your tender age, that life should be lived to the full.  You're often a step ahead of me - you got yourself some old shoes out the cupboard just before you started walking a few weeks ago.  I particularly love it when you rock-out with a little wriggle-jig if you like some music, or anything else that's happening.  Keep on climbing!

I love that you tell it like it is.  You're often quite a handful , very vocal when something's not right which - with troublesome teeth, a very healthy appetite and a big sister who can be over enthusiastically cuddling you one minute then stealing your toys in a fit of jealously the next - can be quite often.  Then when everything's hunky dory you're so delightfully straightforward - you play with toys in the way they supposed to be played with, then experiment a bit with new combinations pleasing yourself with your new discoveries. Keep on being demanding of life.

It is hard not to find your love of food endearing.   You've eaten pretty much anything you can get your hands on since the moment we let you near food (except mushy peas - you have some taste!).  The serious but contented expression on your face as you tuck into your food always makes me smile.  It broke my heart to see you subdued and still when you had a serious stomach bug and fever a few weeks ago.  You so wanted to eat, but your tummy AND your teeth hurt so much. Miserable for most people but I fear it was like torture for you.  Once on the mend you looked so happy after each meal and ate almost every hour to regain lost ground!  Keep on enjoying one of life's greatest pleasures.

I love your determination.  You started walking a few weeks ago and I'm sure it won't be long before you're racing across the park with little M.  Your determination to walk further each day and the grin on you face when you manage a few extra steps is amazing.  Your own excitement is usually the only thing that makes you wobble!  Always keep on trying.

I love your sense of humour.  You started teasing us when you seemed implausibly young, offering us a little of your precious food only to whisk it out of reach with amazing comedy timing.  You find humour in things that should require understanding beyond your years. Keep on pulling our legs!

I love your timing.  After giving us a tougher year that we could have ever imagined in the sleep department, you pulled it out the bag last week, the week I returned to work, and have finally shown us you can sleep through the night.  I really hope it's something you'll grow to love - you'll be rewarded by more frequent appearances of your dad and my sense of humour.  Watch out, before long we'll be teasing you back! 

And I'm so amused that the first clear words you say regularly are "poo poo"!   And you say it so cutely.  There's a story behind this but I'm trying to keep this short...

I constantly fight the urge to compare you to your sister.  It should be no surprise that you're uniquely you.  And whilst you are so very different to little M, you're also so similar.  You'd be the best playmates if we didn't have to constantly supervise to make sure no one gets hurts by your shared exuberance.  I can't wait to see what mischief you both get up as you grow stronger, wiser, and no doubt funnier together.

Gosh - it was hard to keep that short.  You bring so much sunshine into our family, and to other people you meet.  I'm really looking forward to chatting, laughing, eating and exploring with you lots more this year. 

Love

Your mum (Fiona) 

Taming our TV tyranny

Little M absolutely loves TV.  I think most of the programmes on Cbeebies are great and quite like a spot of Holly, Ben et al myself.  But...despite the good programmes, I wasn't feeling great about our TV viewing habits a while ago.  Various illnesses and some very disturbed nights meant that some days both me and little M were both a bit too keen on her screen time.  

However much TV viewing you think is appropriate, I'm sure you'll be with me when I say I get soooo sick of having to fend off little M's enthusiastic pestering to watch TV.  The effect of the pestering on our conversations seems worse than her watching too much TV!  There are hundreds of other things I'd rather talk to her about. 

We successfully tamed the TV tyranny using a very simple trick - I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.  We set specific times throughout the day when little M is allowed to watch 1 programme.  The programme could be from the catch-up menu we get through our cable TV package, from BBCiplayer on our computer or an episode from the handful of DVDs we have.  We stuck a sign in front of the TV with pictures for little M and words to remind Martin and myself of what they mean.

I'm sure some people set time limits.  I've never tried this because turning a programme off before it (and its full theme tune) has ended sends little M in complete meltdown.  The pick-a-programme approach means I don't have to hover around waiting for precisely the right moment to press the off switch.  I find manageable short bursts of TV at strategically useful times throughout the day a really useful.  Little L, thankfully, has learnt to settle herself to sleep now but trying to get her to sleep with little M rattling around the flat, occasionally popping in to say hello and ask all manner of random questions or requests, was virutally impossible at times.  TV is the only thing that would buy me a 10-15 minute window.  We occasionally swap a time.  For example there's usually a programme while I make dinner but sometimes, if little M has helped or been playing in the kitchen with me, she'll watch a programme after dinner instead.

The last month has been blighted with ill health - little M' had her worst wheezy episode since her first almost exactly a year ago.  Poor little L had a miserable week with the Norovirus. And I had hardly any sleep.  Needless to say the TV viewing (and surprise, surprise, the pestering too) has crept up.  But this week we're all feeling about 90 per cent better so we've been back on the pick-a-programme bandwagon and feeling better for it.  It has taken a few days for the pestering to die down but it always seems to eventually.  A bit of negotiation is fun - constant pestering is not.

The debate about how much TV our kids should or shouldn't be watching is quite heated (interesting new research here).  I don't want to wade too far into that debate but it doesn't take a top child psychologist to work out that life's full of loads of interesting and useful things that small people need to experience, learn and practice. Keeping TV viewing in check is the only way to find time for all this other great stuff too. But I'm pretty sure a good dose of the Octonauts won't do too much harm!

 

Thrifty organic baby oil

I'm quite cautious about what I put on my own and the girls' skin.  We have eczema in the family (me for a start!) and I've spent too much time reading about what effects the cocktail of chemicals in many everyday toiletries can potentially have on our health.  I now view anything other than the simplest products with suspicion!  We got great advice from the hospital doctors when both our girls were born.  Both doctors stressed that most 'baby' lotions and potions in the shops were unnecessary and not great for little ones' skin.  They suggested the simplest products of all were best: water for bathing (after the first week or two), and a little oil occasionally, in bath water or directly massaged into skin, to prevent dryness.  Little M's doctor recommended olive oil.  By the time little L arrived sunflower oil was in favour.  The particular balance of fatty acids in olive oil can occasionally inflame sensitive skin apparently, sunflower oil much less so.

You can buy lovely organic oils for babies, including sunflower oil blends.  Basic organic sunflower is a great, thrifty alternative.  I've just bought a 500ml bottle for less than £3 in my local slightly-over-priced-fancy-organic-stuff shop.  I'm sure it can be found even more cheaply elsewhere.  

I came over a bit bathroom proud and decided to decant mine into something a bit nicer looking - a bottle I was given, filled with tasty elderflower cordial, as a wedding favour last summer.  Any old glass bottle, cleaned and with the label removed would also work.  Little M was saying how lovely this smelt tonight at bathtime so no need to buy the fancy smelling ones on her account!

Fancy treating your own little ones to something a bit special, or want a lovely gift for a new baby?  I can recommend this.  I'd never have thought of describing a baby oil as snuggly but this certainly justifies the name. I was given some of this as a gift once and loved it.  And it's reasonably priced too...as fancy organic baby oils go!

P.S. We do have bubbles in the bath sometimes - life wouldn't be much fun without bubbles would it!

Slow travel with small children

We had our first holiday of the year a couple of weekends ago (before the crapness of wheezy hospital trips, the Noro virus and a mini ice-age descended upon us) - a lovely long weekend in a cosy cottage just outside Axminster.  Whilst happily digesting the fruits of Martin’s cooking course at the local foodie haven (a strategic Christmas present and the reason for the holiday) I reflected on what it takes to make a success of car-free travel with kids.  It’s pretty simple to get to places without a car, particularly if you’re prepared to be pragmatic and take a taxi for the last few miles to that off-the-beaten-track beauty spot you’ve discovered.  But finding somewhere you can both get to and get around during your stay can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.  Particularly when you’re from a big city and so crave fresh air and countryside views.  Add in a couple of children that are too young to get very far (or anywhere at all!) under their own steam and it’s easy to see why many people think car-free holidays are a ridiculous idea.  I don't agree.  With a little planning and a spot of lateral thinking you can satisfy your countryside cravings without a car.  

On our recent trip to Axminster we managed - just - to cram in something to keep everyone happy.  A bike ride through quiet country lanes and off-road cycle tracks, the best cafe breakfast we’ve ever had, a pit stop at a country pub, animal park action for the kids, a traffic free stroll with huge muddy puddles and loads of snowdrops, and a home cooked Sunday roast whilst the cold wind blew in the first snow flakes.  And all without the expense and hassle of the long drive out of London (when you don’t own a car the car-hire can easily double to cost of a weekend away and the drive takes waaay too long).  

But it wasn't all a smooth ride.  Here are some tips for car-free travel with kids from our experiences. From both our good experiences and from our "with hind-sight..." moments!

Tip 1: Talk to local people.  

They know stuff that the internet doesn't!  We all, especially little M, had a hankering to go cycling.  No amount of internet trawling could locate a cycle hire near enough to be of use (let alone with kiddy-carrying extras).  Bum.  So, not liking to give up, I mentioned our hankering to the owners of our holiday cottage.  They put some feelers out and hey presto!  Lovely Richard, a local bike mechanic, just starting out as a bicycle hire outfit comes up with the goods.  I think he actually acquired the trailer just for us!  It wasn't a top of the range trailer you might get from a well established hire firm but it worked and we were able to make the most of a beautiful sunny Saturday before the cold weather set in. 

After dragging his bike trailer up one too many hills I’m wishing we’d asked Richard about cycling routes too.  When he dropped the kit off (free delivery!) in the midst of a bedtime showdown with the girls it wasn’t really at the forefront of our minds!  Local people also know really helpful stuff like, is it vaguely safe to walk from where you're staying to the nearest pub, town, attraction etc. You can't tell from a map if there's a buggy friendly footpath, what the traffic is like.

Tip 2: Take pleasure in the journey.

We were reminded this weekend that it’s often better to not put pressure on yourself to get to ‘somewhere’ if you’re walking or cycling with children.  Distances completely warp when small people are involved!  You may think your legs are up to pulling that bike trailer for 10km but the kids may have other ideas - rumbling tummies, toilet and nappy-change stops, shrieking for playgrounds, sheep viewings and all manner of (mostly great) things to spend your time doing, that aren’t going from A to B.  Packing a good picnic is essential. We had a sunny picnic lunch with extra crisps and shandy outside a pub whilst out on our bikes as the weather surpassed even our optimistic expectations.  

On the Sunday our plans to walk the 2-3km to a nearby animal park almost unravelled because the weather turned much colder. Faced with a 1.5km walk home, a 3 yr old shouting "I want to watch telly!", and a baby threatening to wake up from a well-timed nap and demand to escape from the warmth of her pushchair full of blankets we almost bolted into a nearby supermarket to buy a joint of meat to roast and call a taxi home. We didn't (although we did stop to shop to break the journey home!).  I walked VERY briskley onwards to the animal park, big-upping the prospects of hot chocolate and meerkats all the way there and frantically pointing out anything interesting  to distract little M.  Later, little M said the hot chocolate and animal park was a highlight of her holiday, so I reckon we made the right call to push ahead.  We'd plan a shorter route, or one with more bolt holes on a cold day in future, and perhaps be able to enjoy the journey more!

Tip 3:  Do your research. 

A bit of planning can help you make the most of any holiday...when you have no car, and small children, it's essential!  Pick accommodation that has all the kit you want - cot, high-chair, stair gates, toys...so you can travel light.  Check what your transport options are - in rural locations it could be a reliable hourly service to connect you to all manner of interesting activities...or a weekly bus on market days, leaving you immobile for the rest of the week.  This might be fine if your cupboards and creativity are well stocked!  Find out things like...can you access nice walking paths and countryside straight from your accomodation?  Is there some ‘entertainment’ or a beach within walking distance? Can you actually hire a bike for a day if you want to?  How will you get provisions?  We bought provisions at a supermarket near the train station before being taken by taxi with our shopping and luggage to our cottage.  Other times we've had groceries delivered.  Given unpredictability of the British weather, planning everything in advance will be a frustrating business.  I prefer to do some research before hand to know that we have enough options to make for a good holiday.  I then rely on wifi, smart-phones or good old maps (and talking to people) for final decisions once we're there. 

Planning resources that are worth a look...

Sustrans interactive map of UK cycle routes - all the existing and planned route in the National Cycle Network.  Worth checking with locals for the latest info - a new off-road section of a proposed route had opened across the road from our cottage only a few weeks before we arrived.

Car-free walking routes Loads of walking routes - anything from a post sunday lunch stroll to a week long expedition - all accessible by public transport.  Includes descriptions, maps, accomodation and food along the route and a search option for pushchair / family friendly routes (although this doesn't always bring up appropriate routes).  A good place to get some inspiration.

Cycle Hire in the UK  A easy way to search for cycle-hire in your chosen holiday spot.  The search options for trailers and child-seats aren't 100% accurate on here either but it's great place to start.

And the tourist info websites for most regions have helpful info on getting around - I found the interactive bus map that I discovered via the Visit Devon website was really helpful.

Tip 4: Take time to smell the roses...and pig shit. 

Rethinking what ‘activities’ make a great holiday pay's off.  But it can be a tricky skill to learn.  I find it's so easy to get lost in the mass of information about childrens' 'attractions'.  Pick any three of...animals, miniature railways, face-painting, story-telling, playgrounds, rocks, olden days anything, TV characters, and sandpits...and you've got yourself a sell-out holiday attraction!  The kids will love them...for a while.  And you'll enjoy seeing them enjoying them...for while.  At just 3 I'm pretty sure little M's interest in randomly themed attractions with a few animals thrown in is waning a bit. Mine too!  The bike ride was actually her favourite part of this holiday despite getting soaked when a downpour leaked through the bike trailer roof just before we arrived home (Richard's on the case waterproofing it for next time!).  That and spotting snowdrops.  I think little L's favourite things were the cafe breakfast and crawling around the cottage with no stair gates to interupt her (we have a LOT of stairs throughout our flat on London).  

I'm still learning how to 'plan' to make the most of our precious holiday time and resisting the urge to go to a different attraction each day.   The thing is, picnic sites aren't usually for profit and woodland walks don't make much wonga.  And so you don't find so many leaflets about them (although I did once find a great picnic site leaflet sponsored by a biscuit company!) or about having time to talk, time to notice things that are different to home - "what's that smell" - and to take in the views.  But the more I look the more inspiration I find.  There's a great list of organisations and websites here to help people get outdoors and some top tips for fun activities here that I'm looking forward to exploring more as the weather warms up.

One thing I'm sure of - taking time to choose your holiday location with care, and once you're there, pausing to smell the roses and create fun on your doorstep, means that you don't miss having a car at your disposal.  It's often the adventures we get up to when we take a break from the 'attractions' that we remember most fondly.

Slow down, enjoy the ride and you'll probably find your kids do too!