Mummy do that!

Supporting your bilingual child with the Language Hub

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:59:00 +0000

As a parent who is raising her children bilingually, I'm acutely aware that the main risk for my children's minority language is the fact that it's mainly me who speaks it with them, and that "me" is someone who could also speak English. My kids aren't daft, and from their point of view, there's no...

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Rag Rugs all around

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:11:00 +0000

The better half of my evenings last week were made making t-shirt yarn. And what better to make out of all that loveliness than a rag rug! But wait, this is not the only way to make a rag rug. In fact, there are a few approaches to brightening your home up with handmade rugs. Thankfully, all...

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Let there be T-Shirt Yarn

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:21:00 +0000

For a few months, there's been a fabulous initiative happening in the south of Glasgow. It's trading by the name of StitchUP and oh, it is so to my liking. Once a month from 6-9pm, one can drop into a very cosy basement of a very nice cafe, and get crafting with fabric and yarn. There's a state of...

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Goal posts

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:22:00 +0000

When Mr Cartside came home exceptionally late tonight, I ran off the things I'd achieved today. And somehow it occured to me that I'm not quite sure when exactly the goal posts of what constitutes a successful and satisfying day had changed. Today, while entertaining 4 and 1 year old without...

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That was the plan... And here's the jury:

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:32:00 +0000

I don't do New Years resolutions. Normally. And just to spite myself, I kind of formulated a plan for 2011, which I knew I wouldn't exactly follow through, it was more about reminding myself what I would like to do at one point in time. Needless to say, I haven't looked at the list until today. So,...

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worries by the language obsessed

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:16:00 +0000

In what seems like a previous life, I studied linguistics. I've always been fascinated by languages and if there's one thing that I watch like a hawk, it's how my kids learn to speak. Just that this 15 1/2 months old of mine isn't speaking. Consequently, we've got one worried mama, who once a...

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Is this the most beautiful card ever?

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:07:00 +0000

She asked. My answer was something like "beauty is relative and different people find different things beautiful. Your card is probably the most unusual card ever and you have put a lot of effort into making it and I think it's fab." And I wasn't diplomatic, I mean it. (and if you can't make it...

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Time to breathe

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:18:00 +0000

The last few months were testing. Within a month after returning to work from maternity leave, redundancy was looming, and it looked as good as certain that I had no choice in the matter and would lose my job. And while in a sense everything is an opportunity, if the opportunity is not a choice,...

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The week before Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:22:00 +0000

These days we've been crafting a lot. With my children or with some slightly older children. I organised a Christmas Fair. We've been to birthday parties and advent celebrations. I've had Barefoot Books stalls at lots of Christmas Fairs locally. I've applied for 2 jobs. We baked Plätzchen. We...

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Nikolaus

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:24:00 +0000

So it's Nikolaus today. We almost, just almost did a BIG mistake and forgot to put out the boots. At 11pm I remembered, woke 4 year old up and got her to put out her boot (letting her off the cleaning bit which is part of the tradition, but I thought it would be a bit cruel to make her clean the...

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Chase

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:52:00 +0000

These days, I feel like I'm chasing my own tail. Somehow, December has come upon us and I didn't notice. The advent calendar is filled up to day 4 only, and we only have one (poor neglected 1 year old, having figured she won't notice; ha, how wrong was I!) which sums up rather a lot. It's not that...

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Catch

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:44:00 +0000

She is 14 months old, and she can just about walk. Crawling is so yesterday that every movement is prefaced by the laborious squat and lifting of her body. Her toddle is determined, yet wobbly and slow. Every step an effort of balance and work against gravity. Her eyes ever attentive, she watches...

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GET IN - young Ambassadors campaign

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:08:00 +0000

It's been all engines go at work (yes I still have a job, even if temporary) and before I collapse after yet another eventful day which was all good but also rather exhausting, it's high time to show you a really highlight of Save the Children's work in the UK, and Scotland in particular. Because,...

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'tis the season...

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:03:00 +0000

...for making photo presents. Every year around about this time, I'm found more in front of the laptop editing photos in the evenings than anything else. My eyes are box shaped as I wade through the thousands of images of two beautiful girls and the occasional rare shot of their parents,...

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Babies count

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:05:00 +0000

If there is one thing that has really opened my eyes in relation to rather a lot of things I care about it's the realisation how important the first year is in the development of a human being. Not just the first year of course, but during the first year of life rather a lot happens, and much more...

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Birthday Treat

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:48:00 +0000

This was my birthday treat, a bit delayed but all the more longed for. It must be at least a year that I had wanted to do this: The resulting basked is the perfect size for keeping my active knitting projects in. Thanks to Joan Campbell for showing us the basics, cooking yummy soup and...

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... and rubbish food

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 23:38:00 +0000

Some of my work involves working with children at primary and secondary schools. Every time I witness break time, I can see a class of 30 take out their bag of crisps each, followed by a chocolate bar. 30 crisps packets per class, in every class, every school day. My older daughter will be...

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Food, glorious food

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:05:00 +0000

Recently we've been making rather a few changes to the way we get our food. There are reasons for this. First of it's about trying to source food as local as possible. Growing your own is fine and well, just that the space we've got is not going to feed a mouse through the year (and living in...

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Moral superiority gone wrong?

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:50:00 +0000

The other day, on a breastfeeding themed facebook page / blog that I follow and admire (Analytical Armadillo), the ethics of the Optigrow Infant Feeding study and the process of recruitment of babies for it was questioned. I was interested because we took part in this study and I had my own...

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Of 10 headed men, lanterns, pumpkins, guising and vampires (amongst others)

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:35:00 +0000

So hello there. Long time no see. Who'd have thunk that I could ever neglect my blog to such an extent? It's easy though, you just need to get into a really busy schedule, like the type that's busier than normal, and voila. No time to blog. Did I miss it? A little, not as much as I expected....

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It's all nothing and that's all

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:20:00 +0000

My head is exploding because my mind is going around in endless circles. I am a mother of two preschoolers. My husband works out of town and the commute is long. I love to spend time with my children. I love work too, because it gives me space and time to create, to plan, to deliver, to think...

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The Last Straw

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:40:00 +0000

Dear Blog. I've neglected you recently, I know. I wish I could promise improvement but alas, life is full of surprises and there's not enough time to take note of them all. there are puddles of water in the kitchen and it appears they may have been there for a while considering the expansion of...

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Wrapped up Bitterness

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:00:00 +0000

There's so much confusion in my head that blogging isn't working anymore. I wrote a long long post and wasn't sure if I should publish it. It was bitter. It was my perspective on what is happening at the moment and my unhappiness about it. I showed it to Mr Cartside and his feedback got me...

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Theatre people are weird...

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:29:00 +0000

Remember I'm trying to get rid of all that baby gear? Well, bit by bit I can see some floorspace again, though the massive bag I had meant to pass on to a friend is still sitting there as inconveniently, the baby arrived on time. And I thought first babies are always late... Some items are...

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Giveaway: Kids Cook the World

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:42:00 +0000

The other day, ok, it may have been the other month, I was delighted to be asked to review "Kids Cook the World" - a cook book for kids, with recipes from across the world. I was delighted because I'm always on the lookout for a few additions to my limited list of recipes (I'm not very creative...

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