By Heather, on April 23rd, 2012
My me time this week started promisingly with a 8am run and PB this morning. Not bad, even if I do say so myself. In fact, the running has been going very well, and I’ve been managing to get out twice a week. It’s great to get outside, have some time to myself, and do something physical. It’s definitely making me feel more in control, and giving me motivation to improve.
This week, I’m finally accepting that the twins need to reduce their lunchtime nap in the hope that it will make bedtimes run a little smoother. My golden two hour lunch break is my salvation, but I need to reclaim my evenings, and get the kids to sleep in good time. So it will be tough, but I will adjust.
I’m lucky enough to have a few hours at a local spa booked with friends on Saturday evening. All I have to do is survive until then. And a visit to the spa needs a bit of pampering at home in the run up too. As Emily recently wrote in her Ye Olde bad day remedies, there’s nothing much better than painting your toenails a bright shade of red to pep up your mood. So I’ll be saving that treat for one evening or lunchtime this week.
My challenge to you is to make time for a little pampering too. Have a long bath (preferably with candles and lots of bubbles), paint your toenails (I don’t insist they have to be red, but I would recommend it), or do something different with your hair. Doesn’t have to be something major, doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but reward yourself.
Enjoy.
By Heather, on April 10th, 2012
The Potette Plus travel potty system is something I want to shout about simply because I think it’s fantastic – not because I’ve been asked to write a review. I would recommend it without reservation to anyone about to start potty training, or who has recently finished potty training.
We bought one way before we started potty training the twins, but totally forgot about it at the beginning of potty training so I was lugging about a normal potty and a trainer toilet seat whenever we left the house. That, together with spare clothes for both kids meant that I was always laden down like a packhorse.
I remembered the Potette Plus and packed it for a long day trip to the zoo with a friend, who luckily had her own and was able to show me how to use it when Fonz suddenly declared next to the leopards that he needed a wee.
 Potette Plus when folded up The Potette Plus has a clever multifunctional design that means it can be used as a potty or a toilet trainer seat when you’re out and about.
 Potette Plus with liner To use it as a potty you simply click the legs into place and attach one of the bags which have an absorbent pad on the bottom so that it soaks up all the wee just like a nappy. Once used, you just take the bag off, tie the handles together and pop it in the nearest bin. We’ve had no leaks at all with these bags, even when I *may* have forgotten about them and left them in my rucksack for a day or two.
 Potette Plus as a toilet trainer seat To use as a trainer seat, the legs flip out to sit on the edge of an adult toilet seat. Ez and Fonz flatly refuse to sit on a standard toilet without a trainer seat so this has been invaluable when we’re out and about.
 Potette Plus in its bag The Potette Plus is light and compact, comes in its own plastic bag and easily fits into a rucksack.
The only negative I can possibly think of is that you do have to buy new bags – these cost around £11.99 for 30 and I usually buy them on Amazon.
Our Potette Plus cost around £14.99 from Amazon.
Get one. They’re blooming great.
By Heather, on April 3rd, 2012
What I’m loving this week is how, when I ask Ez and Fonz to choose their pants each morning, they have to go through the whole drawer, separating them into a pile of Ez’s pants and a pile of Fonz’s pants. Sometimes they’re both rifling through the drawer and there are pants flying through the air in every direction. On many occasions I have ended up with a pair of pants on my head while two toddlers are bent over double laughing at the sight of me.
Overhead this week was this bedtime conversation between the two of them, born I think through our long weekend to the Lakes the weekend before last, when we did a lot of talking about holidays, and a lengthy make-believe holiday we’d been on earlier that same evening which had actually seen the twins strip off completely so that they could go swimming….
Fonz: What you taking on holiday?
Ez: My holiday bag!
[huge round of giggles]
Fonz: I need a bag too.
Ez: Got no bag?
Fonz: No! I need a bag. I need Ez’s bag!
Ez: No Fonz, I can’t go on holiday yet – I need my seatbelt on. Click a seatbelt. Need your seatbelt on Fonz.
Fonz: Click!
Ez: We’e here! I need my seatbelt off. Click!
Fonz: Ok! Click!
Ez: I wanna go a playground. Drive a playground? I need a seatbelt. Click!
Fonz: Click!
Ez: We’re here. Need seatbelt off. Click!
Fonz: Click! I wanna go a nursery?
Ez: Drive a nursery then. Click!
Fonz: Click! I wanna go a playground.
Ez: No we at nursery now. Bye bye daddy and mummy.
And the highlight of the week? Hearing Fonz, in the middle of playing ‘putting each other to bed’ getting annoyed with Ez for stealing the blanket, and then rapidly switching to finding it funny before he loudly declared, “Oi! Stinky bum!” when Ez stole the blanket one final time.
By Heather, on April 2nd, 2012
So, I’ve been advised to make more time for myself. And apparently, having read some of your comments on my post, I’m not the only one to find this a challenge. So I thought I’d share my plans for how I’m going to use the time to myself, so that if you want to, you could try to do it too. I’m not going to make this a linky (too much pressure), but if you do take part, and want to share your own post please feel free to leave a link in the comments below.
Last night, Ben and I sat down to help me put together a to do list of the tasks that I need to focus on this week. These include work things, cleaning and sorting in time for Easter, and blogging. Then we put together a timetable of my week and tried to slot in the tasks so that I knew what to do when. Actually, I’m not supposed to be blogging right now, that’s down for tomorrow afternoon, but I wanted to get this post written sooner rather than later. I find planning out my week takes some of the stress and anxiety out of my time, and rather than feeling overwhelmed by a huge to do list, I can focus on the one thing that I’m scheduled to do at that time. Of course, this is all fine in theory, but it’s looking more and more likely that a stomach bug has hit the Young house, so whether it will actually work in practice this week is another matter.
For some time out for me this week, I have organised to go running with a friend on Wednesday evening. I managed to get out for my first ever run on Saturday, and I’m keen to keep up the momentum as I need to start training for the half marathon I’ve signed up for in October.
So that’s my challenge to you for this week. Not necessarily running, or indeed any form of exercise, but to get outside in the fresh air. Plan a walk to the shops instead of taking the car. Do some gardening. If the sun’s shining, make a cup of tea and sit outside to drink it. Pick a time, and try to stick to it. Take your time, take deep breaths and drink it all in. Even if it’s raining, enjoy being outside. Sometimes I love to wander in the rain listening to the rain on my umbrella.
Now lunch doesn’t appear to have been added to my timetable for today, but I’m hungry, so I’m off. Good luck!
By Heather, on March 29th, 2012
Just in case you’re stuck for a nomination for Best MAD Homes Blog in this year’s MAD Blog Awards, may I please direct you to my other blog, Growing Spaces, which just so happens to be a Homes Blog. In fact, there may be some begging going on over there right this moment….
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