The Non Sitting Room.

It occurred to me recently that my sitting room is actually a room where I rarely get to sit.

It has thus been re-christened the 'Non-Sitting Room.'

Even though there are piles of books and magazines and my intentions are good and I've managed to rid it of the toys that were in it - tubs of train track, Scaletrix, building blocks, a child's desk, copious drawing materials and Play Doh - so that the atmosphere would feel less like a play room and more like one for actually relaxing and, erm, sitting in, it gets to the end of almost every day and I find myself going in only to turn off the lamps and tell myself off for not having got around to actually having parked myself in there.

It's where the TV resides, so you'd think that would be an attraction, but that's something that really only comes on at week-ends for the kids.  I try to sit with them and watch Britain's Got Talent or a movie but will be on the go cooking or ironing or faffing still.  Switching off completely and sitting on the sofa to read and / or listen to music is generally just in my dreams.  It could be said that I don't really lounge in my lounge!

And an ex-boyfriend's mother used to tell me that airports had lounges, not houses.  She instilled in me the need to say 'Sitting room.'

This is a habit that many years later I still don't dare to break, but the much more recently acquired one is that I get tethered to the lap top in the coldest room in the house - our kitchen with the, you know, 'I'll just take a look at my messages' ten minutes that turns into two hours, instead of picking it up and sticking it where it belongs - on top of my lap in my newly inviting sitting room.

This comes with a bonus of raising my legs onto what used to be known as a pouffe, but is now more fashionably only ever called a footstool or storage stool.  It even houses the blankets for extra comfort - but I suffer from that peculiarly British female thing of feeling guilt induced wretchedness if  we're not running around or doing something constructive - even if it's just writing or reading work related stuff.

Also, my lap top has actrually seen better days and I've been resisting the need for a new one - mainly because it will come with a whole new operating system to get my head around. I've had a gander at a Guide to Windows 8 though - which is what it would be - and it actually looks really exciting!

Although you can still use it in the traditional manner of a mouse and keyboard - it incorporates the touch screen technology we're now used to on our smartphones and tablets.  There is talk of Tiles and chat about a Charms Bar and, most importantly, there are improved parental controls - which, in our house, are looking increasingly urgent as the eldest becomes amazingly proficient.  You can pinch, expand and swipe and I'm going to have to face it and keep learning and, for this, comfort is going to be key - or,at my age, even crucial!

My new babies!

Plus, there are these little babies on the left to devour and I am particularly looking forward to Joanne Mallon's Social Media for Writers,

She's such an authoritave but humorous author, and the bits I've dipped into already speak as though she's reading my mind!  Having contributed to her first book and knowing her as I do, because she lives in Brighton, I'm a loyal fan and can hear her thoughtful and intelligent but self- deprecating tone telling it like it is. Those of us who buy / have bought the book are in for a treat.

There is every good guilt-free reason, therefore, to break my bad habit of not sitting in my non-sitting room.  There are some sofas in there with my name on - although, not literally, obviously - that would be weird.  

So I'm going in!   

What kind of  bad habits have you inadvertently developed?

Disclosure - This is a partly collaborative post for Tesco.  The other part is me having a stern word with myself and the other bit about Joanne's book is just genuine goodwill.

Thank you to all of you who nominated me in the #Bibs 2015 Best Writer Category.  I'm thrilled to have made it to the shortlist and it would be awesome to make it into the final five.  If you can find it in your heart to vote me through, then please click HERE.  (Thank you very, very much!). 

Fruits and Nuts!

The lovely Tania from Larger Family Life blog, who I mentioned meeting on my recent VLOG about people who are fabulous, is expecting her 12th child.  This is not an easy statement to make without incurring quite a reaction from most people nowadays and it is with the utmost pleasure I introduce her here to speak for herself about how she sees things:

Tania with eight month old twins Anna and Libby

Mums.  All fruit and maybe a little bit nuts.

One of the last scenes of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”  has Toula’s father Gus, making a speech at her wedding to non-Greek Ian Miller.  Gus explains how both surnames are a fruit.  It doesn’t matter that they’re different fruit.  As he put it, “We’re all fruit!”
Anya and I met at a recent cooking event.  Anya was lovely but I have to admit I was more bowled over by her boys who were both extremely smart, polite and oh so entertaining!  We kept in touch and I invited Anya to guest post which I’m thrilled to say she agreed to.  I was honoured to be asked to guest post on Older Single Mum even though I am not single although most definitely older and a mum.  Admittedly, the event is not actually that recent any more and this post should have been handed over a long time ago.  My excuse is that busyness, a new family business, keeping up with my existing workload and just plain laziness means I have only just got around to it.  Sorry, Anya!
On talking with Anya and others it quickly became clear that it doesn’t matter who you are, what your lifestyle or circumstances, or what you do – there will always be some degree of stereotypical thinking that folk tend to jump to when you introduce yourself.
Much like Anya’s quest to dispel the image of the single mum, I began my blog over three years ago to share our life in a little more detail and to address the questions and hopefully shed the preconceptions that they tend to have about large families.  After all, large families often seem to get bad press too!
But this post isn’t one in which I’ll be standing on my large family soap box. 
You see, when you read that I had eleven children you probably thought several things. 
“I could never do that!”
“I’d go mad!”
“Wow, she must be Superwoman!”
“She must be crazy!”
And a fair few more. 
You probably thought of me differently to the way you think of yourselves – purely because I have a few more children than you usually hear of someone having.
These are the usual reactions and nothing new to hear.  But I’m not really any different to any of you.
My oldest child is 19.  The youngest are eight month old twins.  In those almost twenty years of motherhood I have touched upon every different kind of lifestyle I possibly could have, I think.
I went from a teen mum in an abusive relationship to a single mum of two.
I went from a single mum of two, reunited with my childhood sweetheart (now my husband). I went from vowing not to have any more children after my second to desperately trying for a third and experiencing three miscarriages instead.
I grieved with each of the five further miscarriages I experienced. 
I suffered terrible depression ten years ago.  Not related to being a mum, but believing I wasn’t the mum I should be due to two years of circumstances.  I reached the very bowels of depression that had me believing my life was worth nothing. 
I worked, worked, worked, sometimes feeling I was struggling uphill to try to make a better life.  Still do.  We all do it every day in some way don’t we?
I cursed the laundry, I ran around doing the same bits of housework over and over again with no difference to show for my efforts, I cooked meals. I loved being a mum some days and found it downright knackering on others.  I still do all that too.
Whilst I no longer feel depressed and am not mad (or haven’t yet been certified!), I am surely not Supermum in any way, shape or form.  If I’m honest I could be a far better mum, I reckon.
You see, no matter which stage I was at, or what my circumstances were at any of these points I was always a mum and each stage had its own burdens and its own blessings too.  And at each of those different stages there were good bits and bad bits.  Yes, even the experience of depression taught me a valuable lesson.
How many of you can identify with any of the stops I made along the way to where I am now?  The thing is, it doesn’t matter how many children we have, whether we are married or single, old or young - we’re mums.  
And we’re all fruit. 

And perhaps a little bit nuts too!

Tesco 'Naturally Powered' Review

I hate to say this, but there is much discussion in our house about washing powder vs. laundry detergent, enzymes  / digesters, and optical brighteners.  My partner has his own Dry Cleaning and Laundry business. He has influenced me to such an extent I find myself heeding his expertise far enough to invest in separate stuff for whites and colours.

So when Mumsnet Bloggers Network asked me to review the Tesco Naturally Powered powder - I sought his opinion and a little debate took place!

They have brought out an entire range of environmentally-conscious cleaning products,, mainly plant derived but with a few small amounts of synthetic substances thrown in added, in a carefully considered combination, to enhance performance.   

Check out their 'Synergy' Lab!

The powder passed muster with the Master, but we did need to use what I thought was not an inconsiderable amount of it if we followed the hard water guidelines.

All the products we tried passed the smell test - fresh and fruity - and were certainly up to the job.  I found the anti-bacterial kitchen spray easily removed curry stains, but it was a bit more oily than the usual brands - as was the washing up liquid, but not in a negative way and they did as well as the leading ones in household blind testing.  

All the packaging is 100% recycled and the majority is recyclable, plus the whole array has been either hypoallergenic or dermatologically tested. So if you're looking for an alternative way to clean your home that looks after the environment as well as you, this collection, available at Tesco, is worth a try.                         


Discolosure - “I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network, a group of parent bloggers picked by Mumsnet to review products, services, events and brands. I have not paid for the product.  I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity”.

Tesco Real Food - Cooking with Kids

We went to our first Bloggers' event very recently because it meant I could drag the kids.  In fact, what am I talking about (?) - it was for the kids!


Tesco Real Food has launched a Cooking with Kids Customer Recipe Challenge and were hosting a Childrens' Cook-Along afternoon.  Only we managed to make a bit of a faux-pas before we managed to make anything with our ingredients!


Whilst we were discussing healthy eating and cooking being great fun for the little ones, thus, hopefully, engaging them in both for the long-term and what incredible prizes can be won for sharing their recipes on the web-site, my two boys were, indeed, thoroughly enjoying getting stuck in.


Robson really fancies himself as a Chef and the lady guiding us all along asked him who his favourite is. She suggested perhaps Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver. He thought about it for a while and proffered Antony Worrall-Thompson.  Then someone reminded us all he's probably not the most popular person to mention in Tesco's lately, having famously been caught stealing in one of their branches.


They were awfully gracious.


Anyway...

..we made 'Super Spinach (and Feta) Filo Tarts' 



and Beetroot and Chocolate Muffins.

As you can see, my little Angels surpassed themselves, as did our hosts.  It was a delight to meet several other Mum Bloggers, to make some new acquaintances and watch the children 'learning by doing' and happily eating their own creations afterwards.  Well, sort of... beetroot in the cake didn't really go down as well as carrot does, but it was well worth a try.   




And what's really worth a shot is uploading your own healthy-ish Cooking with Kids recipe.  You'll be entered into a weekly draw to win great prizes - including an internet enabled radio this week and have a chance of winning the Grand Prize of a family cookery week-end at Augill Castle, plus star in your own Real Food cooking video with a top chef.  Even though getting caught on camera by Tesco isn't everyone's best career move, you never know your little ones' luck!


The event took place in a wonderful little corner of the world that has been created.  It is called Maggie and Rose, is in Kensington, London and is a right hubbub of activity for families.  Together with this Tesco incentive they proved it can be great fun getting kids cooking from a young age.  Mine were no exception.


They all made their own Chefs hats and the boys have been inspired to continue what they learned - easily adapting recipes to their own taste and to include fruit and veg for a healthy twist. The sooner they're running the kitchen the better! 

We'll be uploading our recipes!

  Disclosure - Tesco are re-imbursing expenses and gave the children some cooking goodies. This event is featured on the Tesco Real Food site.