Daisies and Pie
Enjoying the good life
Things that have made me happy this week
A few things have made me happy this week….
* now back to that decision, I’ve decided to be a childminder - I like being at home with children, I like all the inquisitiveness, I like the raising of little people into busy minded knowledgeable bigger people and if I’m very honest I’m rather partial to colouring in and finger painting. So I’ve decided to register, allow Ofsted to inspect me and spend some time looking after children, it’s what I do best, apart from eating cake that is.
- a little social media *holiday*
- a decision*
- this random spotty cushion I’ve bought
- the biggest boy helping the smallest boy to climb his favourite tree at Rufford Old Hall.
* now back to that decision, I’ve decided to be a childminder - I like being at home with children, I like all the inquisitiveness, I like the raising of little people into busy minded knowledgeable bigger people and if I’m very honest I’m rather partial to colouring in and finger painting. So I’ve decided to register, allow Ofsted to inspect me and spend some time looking after children, it’s what I do best, apart from eating cake that is.
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Secrets
23/05/13 12:14 Filed in: Day to day chat
I often think people are odd but then I suppose the saying “nowt as queer as folk” has to come from somewhere.
As I waited for a bus a lady sat down by me, she can’t have been seated for more than thirty seconds before it began, the outpouring of her life story, how she’d been given up for adoption when she was a baby, how she’d only found out when her adopted mum died, how she’d met up with her birth family and was now building relationships with them all. I smile, I nod, I listen and I pass no judgement, that’s it.
People blurt out all sorts of things at me, a lady in a supermarket cried on me about her infertility, a priest told me he’d always been in two minds as to whether he should have gone after a girl he liked and asked her out instead of joining the church. People admit there affairs, they tell me their marriage troubles, they’ve shared their mistakes.
All perfect strangers taking the chance opportunity to divulge their secrets.
Does this happen to everyone?
As I waited for a bus a lady sat down by me, she can’t have been seated for more than thirty seconds before it began, the outpouring of her life story, how she’d been given up for adoption when she was a baby, how she’d only found out when her adopted mum died, how she’d met up with her birth family and was now building relationships with them all. I smile, I nod, I listen and I pass no judgement, that’s it.
People blurt out all sorts of things at me, a lady in a supermarket cried on me about her infertility, a priest told me he’d always been in two minds as to whether he should have gone after a girl he liked and asked her out instead of joining the church. People admit there affairs, they tell me their marriage troubles, they’ve shared their mistakes.
All perfect strangers taking the chance opportunity to divulge their secrets.
Does this happen to everyone?
Organisation, Steve Jobs and putting up my feet
Organisation is something typically I really rather rubbish at, I don’t really put any effort or action into anything until I’m so under pressure with a deadline I have to do it, consequently my house, life and family are usually operating on the edge of chaos all the time.
It’s not that I don’t like organisation, I love it, I spend many a happy hour browsing Martha Stewart looking at ways to be organised and little products I need to buy, you know the type, nice jars with beautiful handwritten labels, pretty boxes, coordinated cleaning utensils, draw dividers and the list goes on. I just know I would be organised IF I had all of those things.
Actually that’s not true (I mean obviously I need those things…) but what I needed more was to use what I already had and create systems and manage my time instead of wasting it and achieving nothing. So with a little help from Steve Jobs the creator of all things Apple and marvellous I’ve been using the Reminder App and set myself up lots of lists of reminders, scheduling in things that need doing, how often, what days and telling it to repeat certain reminders on specific days.
I’ve set up lists for housework, gardening, writing, things I need to do with the children, things I need buy etc and so now all I do everyday is open the app, click on today and up pops my checklist of things to do. It’s made me so efficient and so fabulous I now have spare time which I can actually enjoy as I know I’ve done what I need to do.
My love for Steve Jobs is never-ending, my house is clean & tidy and I totally know what I’m doing. WOOHOO.
It’s not that I don’t like organisation, I love it, I spend many a happy hour browsing Martha Stewart looking at ways to be organised and little products I need to buy, you know the type, nice jars with beautiful handwritten labels, pretty boxes, coordinated cleaning utensils, draw dividers and the list goes on. I just know I would be organised IF I had all of those things.
Actually that’s not true (I mean obviously I need those things…) but what I needed more was to use what I already had and create systems and manage my time instead of wasting it and achieving nothing. So with a little help from Steve Jobs the creator of all things Apple and marvellous I’ve been using the Reminder App and set myself up lots of lists of reminders, scheduling in things that need doing, how often, what days and telling it to repeat certain reminders on specific days.
I’ve set up lists for housework, gardening, writing, things I need to do with the children, things I need buy etc and so now all I do everyday is open the app, click on today and up pops my checklist of things to do. It’s made me so efficient and so fabulous I now have spare time which I can actually enjoy as I know I’ve done what I need to do.
My love for Steve Jobs is never-ending, my house is clean & tidy and I totally know what I’m doing. WOOHOO.
Mundane combustion
Mundane combustion is a little bit like spontaneous combustion except there is no fire or death or accidental charring of the cushion covers.
The apparition of mundane combustion is usually in the form of severe bad temper, acid tongue, slamming of doors, general speaking of every day conversation in a louder than necessary voice. It usually appears after one to many days have been spent in the following ways…
Once mundane combustion has erupted there is only one remedy. Inject more excitement into your day. But what is excitement? Yesterday it would have been exciting if I’d have put the biscuits away on the wrong shelf in the cupboard, oh what a hoo-hah that would have been, how we’d have chuckled over such a hilarious error, said nobody ever.
Sometimes it’s easy for things to get mundane, I suppose even if I had the most exciting job in the whole world, chocolate taster, Queen of all the land, chat show host I’d still eventually be bored of chocolate, crowns and chatting, they’d still become mundane.
I’m going forward from this with the phrase ‘variety is the spice of life’ that ought to mix things up a little.
Until the next time, all my love xx
The apparition of mundane combustion is usually in the form of severe bad temper, acid tongue, slamming of doors, general speaking of every day conversation in a louder than necessary voice. It usually appears after one to many days have been spent in the following ways…
- get up
- get dressed, probably in something grey because YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO WEAR
- make breakfast for fussy people
- scrape fussy peoples breakfasts in the bin
- school run
- housework
- changing of nappies
- change a few more
- a bit more housework
- ironing, of things you’re pretty sure you ironed only the day before
- a bit more housework
- school run involving the conversation with other people about their mundane day
- etc etc until bedtime, when you know on closing eyes tomorrow will be the same.
Once mundane combustion has erupted there is only one remedy. Inject more excitement into your day. But what is excitement? Yesterday it would have been exciting if I’d have put the biscuits away on the wrong shelf in the cupboard, oh what a hoo-hah that would have been, how we’d have chuckled over such a hilarious error, said nobody ever.
Sometimes it’s easy for things to get mundane, I suppose even if I had the most exciting job in the whole world, chocolate taster, Queen of all the land, chat show host I’d still eventually be bored of chocolate, crowns and chatting, they’d still become mundane.
I’m going forward from this with the phrase ‘variety is the spice of life’ that ought to mix things up a little.
Until the next time, all my love xx
Feeding children
It’s hard work feeding children, their endless finickety pickiness reigns supreme, their ability to devour a meal one day and declare it the most vile aspect of life the next never ceases to infuriate me. Now for me the mix involves three children and so the picky debacle is a whole lot worse.
I spend endless hours listening to a whole host of reasons and bargaining as to why they can only eat minuscule aspects of a meal and the zillion things wrong with what they’ve been given, I scrape half eaten meal after half eaten meal into the bin. I waste so much money!
Well, I did, things have changed. I no longer do a week’s worth of shopping, pretending that I can assume to know what I or they may want to eat in 7 days time and buy it ready is not working here at all. I now shop daily and also I ask the children what they actually want for dinner and make it.
I worried a little bit that they’d want entirely unhealthy meals but I’ve been pleasantly surprised and more astonishing is the fact that they have now eaten the entire plateful and seconds of five out of five meals! They’ve asked for much more simple food than I would ordinarily cook for them which has also saved me money.
So the five out of five child chosen meals have been….
So although I have the faff of shopping everyday, up to now it’s been worth it.
I spend endless hours listening to a whole host of reasons and bargaining as to why they can only eat minuscule aspects of a meal and the zillion things wrong with what they’ve been given, I scrape half eaten meal after half eaten meal into the bin. I waste so much money!
Well, I did, things have changed. I no longer do a week’s worth of shopping, pretending that I can assume to know what I or they may want to eat in 7 days time and buy it ready is not working here at all. I now shop daily and also I ask the children what they actually want for dinner and make it.
I worried a little bit that they’d want entirely unhealthy meals but I’ve been pleasantly surprised and more astonishing is the fact that they have now eaten the entire plateful and seconds of five out of five meals! They’ve asked for much more simple food than I would ordinarily cook for them which has also saved me money.
So the five out of five child chosen meals have been….
- Chicken & chips with broccoli, peas and beans
- Chicken curry (recipe on blog soon)
- Spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread and green salad
- Tuna pasta with coleslaw and green beans
- Ploughman’s lunch - crusty bread, cheese, tomatoes, pickles, ham, apples and coleslaw.
So although I have the faff of shopping everyday, up to now it’s been worth it.