Why the rest of the world thinks Americans are nuts

Oh America. What are we going to do with you?

I know you are not all idiots, in fact some of my best friends are American (not really), but it has to be said - at least 50% of you are officially KER-AZY.

How do I know this? Well, call me psychic but I always had an inkling. However stumbling on a tiny piece in last weeks Times cemented it for me. The innocuous picture and panel shows Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's right hand man, Paul Ryan, with his 10 year old daughter out campaigning for votes.

So far so normal.

Underneath the wording reads 'Mitt Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, took time from his campaign tour of Ohio this week to buy $100 of camouflage hunting clothes for his daughter, Liza, 10, to go with the rifle he bought her last Christmas. Mr. Ryan a keen outdoorsman, is keen to make a play for votes of millions of Americans who see hunting and shooting as an almost sacred right'.

O.M.G. Where to begin?

Maybe with the fact that HE BOUGHT HIS 10 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER A RIFLE FOR CHRISTMAS. This is the man that around half of Americans are supporting as the second in command to run their country.

Whilst us Europeans debate whether our children should be allowed to play with toy guns the Americans are buying their kids real ones.

I can just imagine my husband handing our daughter a long box covered in reindeer wrapping on Christmas morning - 'you'll never guess what I got her...'

This. is. insane.

And the fact that it isn't considered to be in Amercia proves my point.

They are clearly nuts.

Micro Scooters - Micro Sprite Review

As you may know already we are huge Micro Scooter fans in this house.

So far we have tested and loved the Mini Micro and the Maxi Micro so we were absolutely thrilled to make it a full set by trying out one of their aluminium two wheeler Micro Sprites.

To be honest I hadn't actually realised the full extent of the scooters that Micro Scooters produce - there really is something for everyone. Their product range starts with the adorable Mini Micro complete with seat and O-bar for toddlers ages 1 - 3, and go on to the Mini Micro and Maxi Micro three-wheeled scooters and then on through to the two-wheeled aluminium scooters and the stunt scooter range. And within each of these categories is a huge choice of styles and colours.

Middle boy who is six is very sporty and wanted something a little more daring than his sister and little brothers three-wheelers, so settled on the Sprite. He had had a similar scooter years before but it had been cast aside as too noisy and too cumbersome, never to be used again poor thing.

This one on the other hand seemed to tick all the right boxes even before it was even out of the, erm, box...

And here he is finding his feet...

I must say I really like the new scooter too. It is lightweight enough for him to zoom around on whilst making him work a little harder than a three wheeled one would. It folds up neatly for bringing in the car and has an extendable handlebar so that it can grow with him.

Brand new accessories:

The Micro Scooters site is packed with carefully selected quality accessories and I've heard a rumour that they are adding some brand new items this Autumn.

One of my favourite accessories on offer are these Scooterearz which have some brand new designs on offer:

Scooterearz £14.95 

You can use your Scooterearz on almost any children"s push along scooter. There is an elasticated cuff that you simply slide over the handlebars. Your Scooterearz will then stay in place although it can very simply be removed and transferred to another scooter (if you can bear to part with it!) . The black outer material is water resistant coated (although we would recommend removing Scooterearz from your scooter in a heavy rain storm). Your children simply place their hands in the fun fur opening (designed with an extra large gap in case they need a rapid escape!!) and grab hold of the handlebars as normal. Hey presto - snug hands and your child will hopefully have many happy hours on their scooter.  Scooterearz are the creation of  a Mum who knew that mitts go missing and so to fix them onto the scooter T-bar is the answer!

For more scooter related info check out my other posts:
Stunt and folding scooters - a guide for confused parents
Maxi Micro scooter - a 3 wheeled scooter for an 8 year old girl
Mini Micro review - a 3 wheeled scooter for a 3 year old boy
Create your own Micro Scooter

Disclosure: I was provided with the Micro Sprite free of charge for the purposes of the review. All opinions are my own.

Time to help

A few months ago I wrote a post called 'Will you look away?' about the atrocities in Syria. Along with two other bloggers we called on fellow bloggers to get involved and spread awareness of what was happening there. About 90 bloggers took up the cause and in one day we reached hundreds of thousands of people causing over 3 million impressions.

Some of those people reading shrugged their shoulders and asked what good would it do. I couldn't answer that question but knew with every fibre of my being that it was better to do something than nothing at all. Better to write a blog post that no one read than to not write it at all.


Sadly three months on the people of Syria still need our help. But we CAN help.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking is a line I read from Wael, 16 who says “This six year old boy was tortured more than anyone else in that room. He only survived for three days and then he simply died.”
A six year old boy. I have a six year old boy. Six years old. He has blonde hair and a cheeky smile. He plays football and nintendo, he rides his bike down the road and cries if he has a bad fall running home to be comforted. A six year old boy just like that other six year old boy. No difference. I wonder if his mother was there, in that room, watching, unable to comfort or save her beautiful boy.
Save the Children are acting on two fronts - 

Image: Save the Children

Save the Children, who fight for the rights of children in over 120 countries, has just launched a campaign to come to the aid of Syrian children and have produced a collection of first-hand accounts of the conflict from children and parents receiving help from Save the Children after fleeing Syria. 




I know you want to help, and reading this and feeling like there is nothing you can do is hard, so here are three very real ways that you can:

1. Sign the petition. Save the Children are determined that the perpetrators of these horrific crimes against children are held to account and are calling on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to ensure the UN and its member states are doing all they can to make sure every crime against children is counted.

2. Save the Children is on the ground on Syria’s borders, providing emotional support to thousands of children who have fled to neighbouring countries, helping them recover from their experiences and rebuild their lives. The agency has launched an appeal to help fund its work in the region.  You can donate here to make a real and immediate difference to these children.

3. If you are a blogger please, please consider writing a post to spread the word to increase pressure and funding. It might just be the post important post you will ever write. If you are not a blogger then please share this post on Facebook or Twitter (#savesyriaschildren). 


It's time to help these children, because their own mothers and fathers aren't able to, and just imagine for a moment how that must feel.  

Competition! Win a Kiddy Guardian Pro 2 car seat worth £225

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to review the Kiddy Guardianfix Pro car seat. It was a huge hit with our family and the latest model of it  - the Guardian Pro 2 (similar seat but without the Isofix option) has even won a Which? Best Buy Award. It doesn't get more rubber stamped than that!

The great news is I have one of these bad boys to give away - and you get to choose the colour!

This seat is stylish, functional, high-tech, durable, easy to use and most of all the latest word in safety. It is suitable for children from 9 months until 12 years old so really is the only seat you'll ever need (unless you're planning on extending your family of course!).

Everything you could possibly want to know about this seat can be found on Kiddy's brilliant website.

So what do you need to do to enter?

Entering is easy. All you need to do is leave a comment telling me how you used to get around with your parents when you were little. Did your parents have a car? Were you ever allowed to 'drive' it? Did you have seatbelts or did your Mum stick her arm across you when she stopped more suddenly than expected...? I bumped around the back of a Morris Traveller that wasn't even fitted with seatbelts - definitely not recommended these days!

See how much he loves it?!

Don't forget to leave an email address so that I can contact you - and let me know if you would like to receive updates on Kiddy products in the future.

For good karma you can also pop over to my Facebook page and Like it -you can tag yourself on the picture of the Kiddy car seat if you like so that I know you've been there.

For even better karma you can check out Kiddy's Facebook page too.

Still not satisfied? Want to add to your chances of winning even more? Why not pop over the Mellow Mummy who has a similar one on offer!

Terms and conditions:

Competition is open to UK and Ireland residents only.

Prize is non transferable, there is no cash alternative.

Kiddy will arrange shipment of the prize direct to the winner. Colour choice subject to availability.

Prize winner will be announced on 1st November 2012,  judges decision is final.

Listography: Top 5 Truths - according to women

By the ripe old age of *cough*... late thirties... I like to think I have learned a few lessons about life, a few 'Truths' as it were, about the world and how it works.

And so it goes that this week's Listography* will pay homage to our knowledge, allowing us to share our collective wisdom with one another so that we can grow and heal and go forth in happiness and new found wonder.

Let us begin.

1. Anti-aging creams will never, ever work. Ever. Even the really expensive ones. We will of course continue to buy them in the hope that we are wrong.

2. That bad hair day when you run out of milk and decide to leg it into Tescos with no make up and a track suit on is the day that you will bump into Robbie O'Leary who dumped you in third year. Accept it. Do not make eye contact.

3. No matter how refined you think you are drinking Pinot Grigio in the sunshine you are still ultimately just getting pissed.

4. Vajazzles are just plain wrong. Not so wrong they're right, just really, really wrong. If you have ever had one or even mused whimsically what it would be like to have one, I would kindly ask you to leave now. And close that door behind you on the way out so you wont hear the sniggering.

5. French women may have that je ne sais quoi and look amazing at 40, but they are all dull as hell and stink of fags. (At least I hope so, 'cause otherwise that just aint fair).


This Listography isn't just for the ladies of course - I'd love to see a few men's versions too - just be nice ok?

Linky up below and share the love by commenting on some other posts too. Get writing people!

*I know I usually post this on a weekend but nobody really cares do they?

Really easy chocolate cake

Today was a pyjamas and cups of tea and Sunday papers kind of day. A homemade chocolate cake kind of day. A really easy homemade chocolate cake kind of day.

I realised as I was making it that I have been making the same cake for the past 30 years. It came from a Ladybird 'We can cook' book that still takes pride of place in my recipe book collection.

The 70's edition

So for anyone who has ever struggled with cake making, or has a little persons birthday coming up and isn't sure whether to make or buy - this post is for you.

Really easy chocolate cake recipe:

Our family calls this the 6-6-6-3 method and it can be used for cupcakes and adapted to bigger \ smaller sized cakes as you see fit.

6oz Self raising flour (sieved)
6oz Butter (soft)
6oz Caster sugar
3 eggs

Put it all in a big bowl and mix it up until smooth for a basic cake mixture. For chocolate cake add a large heaped tablespoon of cocoa dissolved in a touch of milk\water so that it looks like a thick paste.

Divide the mixture into 2 round cake tins lined with parchment \ greaseproof paper.

Put in a preheated oven for about 20 mins or until springy to the touch.

Turn out of cake tins and leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the chocolate icing:

Mix 3oz soft butter with 6oz icing sugar and add cocoa as for cake. Fill the middle and top of cake.

Decorate with smarties \ buttons \ maltesers \ hundreds and thousands \ grated chocolate \ whatever takes your fancy.

Tip: You can adapt this recipe to make coffee & walnut cake by substituting the cocoa for coffee, or a plain sponge by leaving it out. Easy peasy.

Enjoy!

A taste of Irish luxury

His n' Hers office stools...

A post about Coast

I need a wedding people.

A wedding or a job.

You see I have the outfit all picked out and now I just need an excuse to wear it. A wedding would be perfect, or a Christmas party - but all my friends are already married, and working for myself doesn't make for much of an xmas do.

I blame those people at Coast. They challenged me to look through their collection and see what I could find. Put a 'dream outfit' together from their Coast products. We have words for people like that. Lucky for them that I'm too polite to use them here.

Anyway, within about 30 seconds I had this gorgeous shift dress on my wish list:

Coast Kisette Dress

(Husband if you are reading take note).

And then it was a simple case of adding some accessories. A classic clutch....

Coast Felicia Clutch

and some jewellery to top it all off.

Coast Fern Bracelet

Coast Fern Earrings

See? Now you can  understand my problem.

So can anyone help? Drop a few hints to that boyfriend of yours? Employ me as Official Christmas Party Elf? Or will I be dancing around my living room to Max Bygraves Singalongamaxmas on my own?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. But I still want that dress. 

On God and Awe

The sun is shining. We plonk ourselves down on the beach. The 3 year old looks out past the shimmering sea to the horizon:


'How do you make sea'? he queries.

'Erm...'

'And how do you make sand?' he carries on shoving a handful of it at my face.

I pull my lazy parenting jumper on. 'God makes it' I reply lying back with my eyes closed.

He pauses to consider the awesomeness of this new information. I picture his mind exploding.

'And chocolate? Does God make chocolate?'

Then again, maybe not.

Pardon me while I pop to the Powder Room

My life is complete.

Not only are the kids back at school, but I got asked to write about it by the one and only Powder Room.

Can you believe it? (Rhetorical question. Don't be smart)

I only had to admit to failing the 'good school mother' exam and pretend to the Americans that Ireland was part of the UK and I was in.

So self humiliation and selling out my country - a small price to pay I'm sure you'll agree.

You can check out my post In the Powder Room today. And although I'm not one for begging - show me some love on there pleeeease?

Silent Sunday

Listography - Top 5 songs I grew up to.

It's been awhile hasn't it? Poor old Listography - cast aside for the Summer months, time to give it some love.

This Listography is all about those first songs you listened to as a child - the ones you found yourself singing on the way to school and getting excited about when they came on the 'wireless'. (Ok I'm not that old really but you get my drift).

Here are mine:

1. Ian Dury and the Blockheads - 'Hit me with your rhythm stick'.
Probably the first 'pop' song I remember falling in love with. At the grand old age of six I had no idea what it was about but it didn't stop me belting it out. My poor mother.

2. Cindy Lauper - 'Girls just want to have fun'.
I remember watching the video to this on Top of the Pops with my older brothers and sisters. Top of the Pops was strictly banned in our house but since Dad was out our Mum turned a blind eye and we were all quite for at least half an hour.

3. Dexy's Midnight Runners - 'Come on Eileen'.
I could have listened to that song on a loop forever. Had I had a tape deck, or indeed the tape.

4.  Nena - '99 red balloons'
Still think it's gorgeous. Even if it was about the cold war. And her dancing was crap. And she had hairy pits.

5. Pat Benatar - 'Love is a battlefield'
So yes. I can see now that the video is a complete embarrassing cornfest. And even at ten I knew that shaky warrior dance thing was a bad idea, but I still thought she was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Ten isn't the best age for taste is it?



So what are your songs you grew up to? Pop them down in a post and then come back here to put your posts url in the linky below. Then show some Listography love by visiting some of the other entries.

Never heard of Listography? You can read more here.

Looking forward to singing along with you.