Top tips for concert going parents.

This is a sponsored post. 

So Halloween is here, and tonight I will be taking hold of my broomstick and flying solo as my husband disappears into the distance to see the great Jack White in Dublin.

Whilst this time it was planned that he would go alone, most of the time we find ourselves hours before a gig wondering how it could have happened yet again that one of us couldn't go. The amount of tickets we have thrown away due to a child falling unexpectedly ill or a babysitter falling through is just not funny.

So I've decided to share my top tips for concert going parents in the hope that it will help some of those hard earned tickets being saved from the trash pile..

1. Stop!
You find Rolling Stone tickets for sale and are desperate to buy them. They're expensive but you've always wanted to see them. Well before you throw caution to the wind - Stop! - make a quick call to check the babysitters availability. All good to go? Ok you can go ahead now.

2. Have a back up.
The minute the tickets are purchased find a back up babysitter. Now find a replacement gig goer in case you or your partner can't make it. You will soon find your friendship circle widening.

3. Put the date in the diary.
Buy a family calender and check it each day - using one source for all your family activities will make life easier all round. Make sure you and everyone connected to the concert knows the date, time and place. Check in one week before to make sure you are all still on plan.

4. Warn the children.
Let the children know well in advance that you will be going out. There's nothing worse than a screaming fit or a case of 'school tummy' just before you are planning to walk out the door.

5. Buy from a reputable source.
No matter how tempting it is - do not buy tickets from dodgy sources. What seems to good to be true usually is. Stick with sites you know that have a good reputation. Stubhub is just one of the many sites you can reply on.

I'm quite sure Mick and Jerry Jagger never had these issues when popping out to a gig, but for the rest of us mere mortals a little planning goes a long way!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All words are my own. I'm still gutted to be missing Jack White.

Leapfrog Leapster GS Explorer - A Review.

First things first - I must admit to being a Leapfrog virgin. Many of their offerings have passed us by up until now, so when I was offered the chance to review one of their new Leapster GS products I thought it would be rude not to take part.

The older two children have a Nintendo DS so I thought the Leapster would be perfect for the 4 year old. It's recommended for 4 - 9 year olds but from first impressions I thought it would definitely be the lower end of the age range that would be most taken with it.

But I'm an adult. What would I know?

The minute the 8 year old spotted it she was in raptures. So instead of my obviously clueless opinion I'll hand you over to her. This is what she has to say about it...



Features:
The Leapster GS Explorer comes with:

-  2GB of memory, a camera and inbuilt video capabilities
- Motion-based play (as seen above with Splurgle)
- In-built microphone
- Stylus is attached to system (meaning no lost pens)
- Three extra apps from the online library of 300 is also included. (Apps range from approx. £4 - £25).

Other features:
- A large range of cartridge games are also available although we haven't had the chance to test any of those yet.

 - There is also a strong focus on learning and education and parents can keep track of their budding genius' progress by connecting to the Leapfrog Learning Path to see where they are doing well and where they need more support.

- There are plenty of fun yet educational apps to choose from and there is also the ability to adjust the difficulty rating so that just as they think they have nailed everything there is to know about the flags and customs of Europe you can crank up the level and have them crying into their petit dejeuner. (Cue evil laughter).

We've only just started exploring all the capabilities of our Leapster GS but I am sure there is enough stuff to keep all three of them engaged for some time to come. Worth the price tag in my opinion.

Disclosure: LeapFrog sent me the Leapster GS for the purposes of this review. The console normally retails at £64.99 but is available from Amazon now at £49.97.

Bad language

'Ha ha! I've got a big, big dick' I heard my four year old call from downstairs.

I waited a moment to see what was coming next.

'I've got a big dick and I'm going to hit you with it!'

'Muuum! He's trying to attack me.' his brother shouted 'and he has a weapon!'

I plod down the stairs and hold out my hand. 'Hand over the stick boy'.

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'What's for dinner?' one of them asks peering round my legs.

'Spicy chicken legs and broccoli' I reply waiting for the moans.

'Oh broomsticks!' he says looking at the chicken 'I love them!'


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Baking. The buns are almost finished.

'I want the bowl!' shouts one.

'I want the spoon' shouts another.

'The whiskers are mine then' says the last.

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Later I'm sitting on the floor with the little terror who is trying to escape my kisses.

'Come on - give your Mum a big smacker'

Seconds later his fist hits my face.

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I know it's bad mothering, but I do love their own little language.

The Spooky Scribes Halloween Challenge

My kids seem to be taking over my blog this week. First there was the 'interesting' drawing by the 4 year old of how he sees me and now the 8 year old has landed her very first writing commission in return for some Halloween costumes from George at ASDA.

The deal was she write a Halloween story - they send her the gear.

'Wow' I said to her after she'd finally written it all out - 'Your very first writing gig!'

'FIRST???' she exclaimed in horror.

Somehow I don't think she'll be following in my footsteps...

So here it is - as written by my budding scribe:

Lucy and the Scary Spider.

By Kaya, Age 8

Once upon a time in Callafornya there was a high school called Waferly High. Now this wasn't an ordinary school, but a monster school. And in the school there was a little girl named Lucy. She was a Dark Fairy. And she loved Waferly High. But there was one problem....she was terrified of spiders.

Her best friend was called Sam. He was a Ware-Woolf. And infact in that very school there are millions of spiders. And there's a very cheeky spider called Charlie. And evry time Lucy and Sam are hanging around Charlie comes up and frightens the life out of Lucy, evry time she sees him she screams.

Now she's getting fed up with all the screaming and fearness so she's going to stand up for herself. 

Lucy had a plan. She and Sam would sneek up behind Charlie and give him a fright and see how he likes it. A week later they did their plan and it just didnt work. Charlie is just fearless. Then one day when Lucy was at her house Charlie came by to scare her but...but...gess what? She wasn't scared. It was a mirical. She finally faced her fear of spiders. 

She was so happy and in fact she actcholy made friends with them. They all came around to her house and had tea and cake and they all lived happily ever after. 

The End.

And if you needed proof that this was all her own work (which somehow I don't think you will...) here it is!

Disclosure: The Dark Fairy, Werewolf and Spider Costumes were sent to us free of charge for the purposes of the Spooky Scribes Challenge. Find more costumes from George here. 

How my children see me.

Last week the wonderful Sticky Fingers re-launched her 'How my children see me' meme and was erm, kind enough to tag me. Just because she came out looking like Mr. Potato Head I guess she had to share the joy.

So I grabbed the closest child and handed him a marker. The results were...interesting:

Actually I confess I was quite relieved. The last time he drew me I looked like this:

I'm the one on the right. Obviously.

At least I have arms now. Although I lost my lipstick. And my lips.


So now I get to ask the question: How do your children see you?

And I'm tagging:

Midlife Single Mum
IamWitWitWoo
A Mummy's View
Actually Mummy
The Clothes Line
The Daily Muttering

Have fun and no cheating!

Review: Cottage Croquet by Garden Games

When I was little our friends up the road used to have the most beautiful croquet set which, much to my annoyance, they would take out only when the sun was shining and they felt like sharing a little joy around the neighbourhood.

Needless to say we didn't see it very often.

How I envied them that luxurious, perfectly-made, beautiful wooden set of childhood joy.

So when Garden Games asked me if I'd like to review one of their items my eyes lit up - at last the Croquet Crown would be mine!

The set arrived last week amid heavy downpours and unfortunately we haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but I can still report on what we got and what I think.

The set is stored in a heavy waterproof canvas bag - easy for transporting and storing.

There are four hardwood 'mallets'

The traditional yellow, red, blue and black wooden balls (bagsie black!)

Six hoops and a winning post

The set is not cheap at £84.99, but everything in it is really well made and set to last a life time. So if you like garden games, can afford it and can count on a little bit of sunshine then I would definitely recommend it.

As for me? I picture Pimms and perfectly behaved children in Grandmas garden next summer..

Disclosure: The Cottage Croquet set was sent to me free of charge to review. All words, images and opinions are my own.

Warning! Breasts on tour.

Somehow those ladies In the Powder Room have persuaded me to write about breasts in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Not just anyone's breasts of course, oh no, I had to choose my breasts.

Someone remind me why I do this shit please?

Listography: Top 5 things I'd like to be reincarnated as

It's been getting all very political around these parts lately so lets lighten things up with a little Listography.

I was contemplating life amid the bubbles of my bath the other night and got to wondering who had it easiest... I started with the rubber duck bobbing around me merrily and ended up with these:

My Top 5 things I'd like to be reincarnated as:

1. A turtle.
Surely the best animal life of them all. Haven't you seen Finding Nemo?

2. Karma.
Wouldn't you just love to be able to throw yourself around the place like Karma does? Actually I don't think Karma does a great job of it a lot of the time, I'm sure I could improve on his work. Lady who purposely drove into that dirty puddle and soaked us on the school run? Enjoy that parking ticket later. Guy who carried that old ladies shopping home? Don't forget to pick up that winning lottery ticket on the way back. All bankers and bondholders? Oh dear - did someone really siphon all your money into an account to pay off third world debt? Pity.

3. Me, aged 10.
I'm lucky enough to be able to say I had a pretty idyllic childhood, most of it spent diving of rocks into the bitterly cold Irish sea, and building dens and swings in huge local fields. I'd just ask the Gods of Reincarnation for a little more sunshine this time around.

4.  A little fluffy cloud.
Yes it might be a short-lived life but I reckon it would still be pretty wonderful. I just need to choose my spot - right above this guy might do...

5. Ryan Goslings toothpick in Drive.

I'm late to the party with the whole Ryan Gosling thing. I admit that I didn't get it until I actually saw him in a movie. It's fair to say that the ubiquitous pictures in magazines don't do him justice. Drive may even have been the catalyst for a midlife crisis around these parts...Damn that lucky bastard of a toothpick.


So now it's time to run yourself your own bath and get those creative juices flowing (not a euphemism) - what would you like to come back as in Reincarnation World?

Won't get fooled again

'Irish parenting bloggers have joined forces in a “BlogMarch” to raise awareness of the crippling impact that cuts to child benefit will have on Irish families if introduced in December’s budget. The bloggers are publishing a blog post each over ten days to highlight the negative impact that child benefit cuts will have. For more, see here.'

Last week I was interviewed by TV3's Midweek programme in order to give my views to the proposed child benefit cuts that are currently being discussed by the Irish Government. Across the board cuts of approximately 30% are being outlined, with top-ups being made available to families on low income.


I was asked whether I thought these cuts were fair and, as we sat drinking coffee in the nice kitchen of my nice house, would it really affect me that much.

As a middle class mother living in a middle class town it's hard to sit on national TV and justify why these funds shouldn't be taken away from you - because on the surface it looks like a cushy little life and sure your kids aren't going to starve now are they?

Well no, probably not, but what looks like a 'comfortable' life on paper doesn't actually tell the whole story - and we all have a story. This is mine:

My husband and I have three children aged 4,6 and 8. My husband works full time for a decent wage and I work part-time from home. 

The Celtic Tiger years passed us by and we were too busy keeping our heads above water to partake in the antics that the politicians seem to believe were our downfall. We couldn't afford to buy a home around friends and family and so, desperate to get on the ever increasing property ladder (and continually encouraged by the banks and Government to do so), we begged, borrowed and almost stole to secure a modest three bed semi-detached house in a more affordable village about an hours drive from where we lived.

Six years later we need to move back to family but our house is now in severe negative equity, we can't sell it or we would end up with debts of approx €125,000, so we must rent it out. For the past two years that is what we have done - subsidising the minuscule rent of €550 (which we have to pay approx 40% tax on - but don't get me started on that) in order to pay our mortgage of €1400. Alongside that we pay rent on where we are living now  - another €1100 (again for a modest three bed semi). This is where the majority of our money goes - into a pit for the next 20 years or until property prices level off. It's hard to stomach but that's life, and we know that there are a lot of people in a lot worse situations than us. 

However over the past two years cut after cut and tax hike after tax hike have left us reeling. With three asthmatic children we live in fear of them getting sick as the medical costs are so exorbitant.  We are constantly juggling funds that are non-existent, robbing Peter to pay Paul, and at almost forty years old with two decent wages coming into the household, I find myself still taking handouts from family just to stay afloat.

And now in the space of a week I hear three things that make my blood boil. 

Firstly - our government has just paid 1 Billion euro to unsecured senior bondholders of AIB bank - that's five times the amount the proposed child benefit cuts are estimated to save us. Another 2 billion euro is due to bondholders before the end of the year in Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, EBS building society, and Irish Life and Permanent. A further €17 billion will be handed over next year. It's almost too frightening to even consider where these funds will come from. 

And then our Government announces that it targeting us once again - on two fronts this time. Firstly the cut to child benefit which the equates to a quarter of our monthly grocery shopping (despite pre-election promises to the contrary), and secondly with a tax hike to landlords (because obviously they all have loads of cash from all their boom-time properties.)

Whilst I know Ireland is in trouble and I know we have to take the hit somewhere - I'm just not sure how much more the squeezed middle classes can take. When will the Government realise that we are not the cash-cow that will see them out of this mess? When will they start looking at the billions being funnelled to the rich kids? It's like making one family recycle all their plastic bottles whilst a massive factory next door pumps out all their chemical waste into the adjoining field. IT ISN'T WORKING!

The Government needs to realise that these changes to child benefit are going to do more harm than good. They are hitting the most vulnerable in society and making cuts that are ill thought out and unjust. They need to stand up to the banks, shake up the system and really get to the core of the problem. Stephen Donnelly, TD for Wicklow and East Carlow writes brilliantly this week in the Irish Independent about this very issue and even gives solutions to how they can do it successfully. 

It IS possible for Ireland to recover - but it will take guts and intelligence to carry it through and, well, maybe that's asking just a little too much of our Irish Politicians.
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If you feel strongly about this issue and want to add to the pressure being put on the people who will ultimately decide our fate then please take 30 seconds to sign this petition - almost 30,000 people already have. 

You can contact Joan Burton at joan.burton@oireachtas.ie. She is receiving increasing numbers of emails from ordinary parents like you and I who are now at breaking point. She needs to see the severity of this issue before these decisions are made.

There is also a march organised against cuts to Child Benefit planned for November 3rd in Dublin. Starting at Parnell Square, D1 at 12 noon.

If you could share this or any of the other BlogMarch post on Twitter with the hash-tag #blogmarch we would be very grateful. 

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'We'll be fighting in the streets, with our children at our feet
Won't get fooled again...'

International Day of the Girl - taking a stand against child marraige

Today is the UN’s first International Day of the Girl. It is a day to bring to light the fact that millions of girls continue to bear the weight of poverty and discrimination - being married and traded by their families as they struggle to survive.

World Vision want to mark the first International Day of the Girl by calling loud and clear that the world must unite and take action to end child marriage. By coming together on facebook, twitter and blogs for International Day of the Girl they want to create a moment of solidarity – woman to woman, girl to girl, mother to child - to say that this is unacceptable and this must end.

This is Amira. One day she came home from school to learn that her mother and grandmother had accepted a wedding request to a boy that she didn’t know and had never met. “My mother told me that she was to marry me off. I couldn’t believe my ears. I burst into loud cry and my eyes were filled with tears. I begged her kneeling down to cancel the marriage, but she said no and insisted me to go straight to the elders, bow down and kiss the elders’ knees,” she recalls. 

(To bow and kiss the elders’ knee culturally is a girl’s to consent to a proposal.)

“I refused. My mother hit me angrily with a stick. When the hitting got harsher and harsher, I went and kissed. The elders cheerfully blessed me and went home fixing the day of marriage.” 


After the elders left the house, 10-year-old Amira’s grandmother told her that she should quit school from that day onwards. “My heart saddened so much. I wept all night.” 

“I hopelessly wrote a letter to my teacher who is working on early marriage. In my letter I asked her to go and inform the police to take me out of this danger,” she said. 

Amira’s teacher, Dejiytinu, is the head of the early marriage club of the school and head for the village women affairs. Through receiving this training from World Vision, she brought 14 early arranged marriages to the court out of which she successfully cancelled eleven of them. “As soon as I read the letter, I went to the police station and applied for help. The policemen went to the home of the child and told the grandmother to cancel the marriage otherwise they would face legal imprisonment,” Dejiytinu said.  


Amira is now happy and attending school, wanting to become a doctor. However she still has a an escape plan should her family want to marry her again. 
“I would disappear from his sight to a remote place and continue my education at evening school, working as a daily labourer in day time,” Amira says. 

Unfortunately not all stories end so happily.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

• Write about child marriage on your blog in honour of #dayofthegirl, asking your readers to add their voice or sponsor a girl to help put an end to child marriage.

• Tweet us at @WorldVisionPR or @KaylaERobertson to let us know.

• Follow @WorldVisionUK and @WorldVisionPR and World Vision’s facebook page for news and stories on #childmarriage. Share, RT and add your voice

• Sponsoring a girl provides girls and their communities with education and support to empower them to take a stand against child marriage.

I'm in a Huff

Today I'm talking guns and kids in none other than THE Huffington Post.

So pop over, have a read and tell me 'Would you buy your 10-year-old daughter a gun for Christmas?'

And no - I don't mean a toy one...

I'm going to Hell

One sunny morning about a month ago my older sister suggested that we, along with our younger sister, do a 10k run together.

On a high from finishing my first triathlon.....

See what I do for you T.C.?

....I readily agreed and before I knew it we were signed up to do a cross country 10k run. The good news was that it was only about a ten minute drive from my house so no traveling involved, the bad news was that it was called 'To Hell and Back'.

Granted my suspicions should have been raised then, but I had just done a triathlon for goodness sake - I could take on a pissy 10k across some fields.

My younger sister however was more than a little concerned. Not the fittest filly in the fold she was panicking about the 'obstacles'.

'What obstacles?' I asked oblivious to the problem.

'What obstacles?!?' she replied incredulously, her eyes full of fear 'the hay bales that you have to climb over, the  tunnels you have to climb through, the mountain you have to run over...' I think she mentioned something about car tyres and a wall but I couldn't quite make it out through the brown paper bag she was hyperventilating into.

'Ah it'll be fine' I reassured her 'they just show you pictures of those things to scare you'.

Later my older sister and I had a laugh at her expense - no matter how bad it would be at least we'd be ahead of her. 'And I'll be ahead of both of you' I cackled in my head whilst older sister pictured herself running over me as I lay face down in the mud. Nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry to get the training in gear.

Then little sis put aside her paper bag to mention that there would be barbed wire and electric shocks this year.

Oh how I laughed! As if there would be barbed wire and electric shocks silly!

And then someone sent me this:

Fuck.

So this Sunday we are going to Hell. I'm just not sure we will be coming back.

*Linking up to Sticky Fingers special Coca Cola 'Fitness' inspired Gallery. If you can't comment on my blog pop over to one of the other entries instead :)