Mummy do that!

A fair deal for both Stay at Home Parents and Working Parents

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:42:00 +0000

The other day I signed a petition asking for a fair deal for stay at home parents. Without question, the recent changes and proposed changes are all in some way encouraging particularly mothers to work. Well, in theory they do, because there are so many ifs and buts, nevermind the lack of jobs that...

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Knitting and Reading

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:36:00 +0000

For a while I'd meant to join in with Sustainable Mum to share my knitting and reading over at Yarn Along, just that, truth be told, there was not a lot of reading going on. Reading is definitely the big loser in my life with kids. I used to read, what can I say, an awful lot as befitted a former...

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Dark Skies and Wee Lambs

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:02:00 +0000

Last year we found out that the UK's first Dark Sky Park is in Dumfries and Galloway, in Galloway Forest Park to be precise. So we've been trying to get there and see some stars for a little while. Our efforts around mid term weren't too successful as it appeared that every single B&B was...

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A trip to Legoland (Discovery Centre, Manchester)

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:47:00 +0000

Somehow our holiday plans are always a little bit last minute. So in an attempt to get away for a few days with minimal hassle, we went on a little trip to Dumfries and Galloway and then Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester, keeping the latter as a surprise for Cubling. Everything was booked...

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A day at the beech

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:41:00 +0000

I'd almost forgotten how amazing it is that we live so close to the sea. There is always so much to see and do very close to us, so we hardly make it to the beach and even trips to the coast don't usually end up there. As someone who grew up a 4 hour drive from the coast (and without a car to make...

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The Day she's been waiting for for a year

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 09:21:00 +0000

The excitement knows no bounds. She's been waiting for this day for weeks, no months. There's been a count down and a whole range of ways of saying that she's not just 5, but something approaching 6, including 5 and four quarters (no, that's the same as 6 - no it isn't - yes it is, believe me, I...

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No synchronicity

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 10:57:00 +0000

Snowflake has always had slightly weird sleeping patterns. Not one to settle easily in the evening, we went with the flow and she would doze in the living room until I went to bed and then sleep quite well. It was always hard getting her to sleep before 11pm, but eventually, we got there, with a...

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My name is Cartside and I let my daughter sleep in a blue cot

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:53:00 +0000

As Snowflake gets older we're slowly but surely passing on all things baby stuff. I'm not one to just throw things out, most items are in perfect condition and I could never just bin it, so I try my best to find someone who could make use of it. This has led to the odd chuckle. I must be a...

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Wishlist

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:58:00 +0000

With her sixth birthday fast approaching, I asked Cubling what she'd like for a present. "I'd like a cat. And if I can't have a cat, I want a rabbit. And if I can't have that, I want a guinea pig. I want a real magic wand. One with which you can do real magic. I want a dress with a magic...

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Review: Polarn O. Pyret children's clothes

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:05:00 +0000

In an ideal world, what would your favourite kids clothes look like? What would be the most important feature? For me, it's practicality (I'm that kind of person and it's top in my adults' clothes list too). Easy to wash, easy to wear, good quality hard wearing so it lasts and withstands high...

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You Naughty!

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:43:00 +0000

When it comes to my approach to parenting, there's a lot of adjustments and going with the flow, but there's one flow that's just flowing a bit to far. Awful pun I know. I never, ever call my children, or any other child for that matter, naughty. To me that's calling for trouble because it's like a...

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One Parenting Programme does not fit all

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:35:00 +0000

This morning, I stumbled across the news that the parenting programme that Glasgow City Council had signed up for and invested in, Triple P, has apparently not worked too well, if one is to believe a research study conducted at Glasgow University. The main issues are with retention rate, with...

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A new Gaelic School for Glasgow

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:10:00 +0000

You may have been living in a place for a looong time and yet there's still surprises out there. And you'd never think that a Gaelic school set to be opened in Glasgow would bring them out. So when I welcomed the fact that Glasgow's second Gaelic medium school will be opened in 2015 because...

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I got same!

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:29:00 +0000

Snowflake is a big time character fan. Peppa Pig, Hello Kitty, die Maus (a German educational cartoon character that hails from my home town of Cologne), Micky Mouse, Pocoyo- it doesn't really matter what it is, if she recognises a character she gets right into it. So her latest toy is a Hello...

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Of boys and girls

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:40:00 +0000

In some faraway imaginary fairyland, I assumed that my children would play with all kinds of toys and enjoy the fun of it. How wrong was I. Gender stereotyping is alive and kicking. I can't but admit that some of it seems nature, hurried along by nurture. Whenever Cubling chooses her clothes,...

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Hogmanay

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:53:00 +0000

This Hogmanay, we decided to host a kind of party. "Kind of" because it was more like an open house, we wanted it to be friendly, informal, family friendly and non-committal. So that people could drop in for 10 minutes or 10 hours. As ever, we are very spontaneous with family life plans, and it was...

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A Naming Ceremony

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:17:00 +0000

The other day, a friend asked me if I could take photos of her second son's naming ceremony. I was flattered to be asked to do it, and more than up for the challenge of taking photos of people most of whom I hadn't met before. It occurred to me that in my teens, when I was as passionate as one...

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A Different Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:18:00 +0000

This was meant to be the weekend of the Christmas Craft Fairs. Except that at the very end of her first ceilidh, a family ceilidh on St Andrew's Day, fundraising for a school in an earthquake hit town in India, Snowflake graced the carpet of the church hall, right in front of the yummiest cakes,...

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Wacky

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:24:00 +0000

wack·y (wk) also whack·y (hwk, wk) adj. wack·i·er also whack·i·er, wack·i·est also whack·i·est Slang 1. Eccentric or irrational: a wacky person. 2. Crazy; silly: a wacky outfit. There is this wonderful get...

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Where you may find me these days...

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:25:00 +0000

As you can see, it's a bit quiet on this space at the moment. Fear not though, there's some blogging going on at my other place, Nature Kids Glasgow. When I first had the idea for Nature Kids, I was sure I could keep up regular blogging on both blogs. Since then, I've had to increase my working...

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Review: Snapfish

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 22:59:00 +0000

It was June when we went on a loooong train journey to the other end of the world the UK and spend a week in beautiful Devon. Or rather, I'm sure it was beautiful, just that for all the rain we didn't see much beyond the hedgerows. We went with the extended family, and the kids had an absolute...

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St Martin's Day in Glasgow

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:51:00 +0000

So it's November again. That time of the year where things seem to be falling over one another. We had Halloween, St Martin's and Bonfire night in the space of a week and to be honest, I'm glad it's over. We did have fun though. Having just returned from our holiday for Halloween, the costume was...

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Why bother having kids if you don't have time to look after them

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:43:00 +0000

There has been some media attention on the fact that in the UK job market, about 1 million women are missing. They are missing because work doesn't pay for them as second earners and they've made the decision of not returning to work after they've had children or leaving their jobs. This isn't...

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Here and there and everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 22:18:00 +0000

Maybe, just maybe, this was the first time I felt like a stranger in my own country. Not in a bad way, just that it felt like travelling into a world I no longer managed to manoeuvre with ease. I loved: - outdoor play areas, - the Indian summer we had (it was proper warm, 18 degrees in the...

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A perfect day for Kite Flying

noreply@blogger.com (cartside) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 20:32:00 +0000

A windy autumn day. A trip to the Ruhrpott to meet my wonderful friends and let our children get to know each other. A kite. A field between two rivers. A kite that may lift you up in the strong wind and whish above your head. A kite that crashes into a tree and has to be freed by a brave 10 year...

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