The Ways Toddlers Are Like Poltergeists

My mate Emma saw a rather peculiar sign in a shop window the other day. It said:-

'Yes,' she thought, 'Of course I do.'

Cos you know, children are definitely real. The Sixth Sense would have been a shite film if the punch line had been 'I see children.'

Having said that, living with a toddler does bear a certain amount of resemblance to sharing a house with restless spirits:-

• Your belongings are moved by unseen hands. Only this morning I tracked down my phone to the wastepaper basket.
• They steal your bedclothes in the night.
• They speak in tongues.
• They scrawl messages onto the walls. (toddlers are slightly less likely to use blood)
• They leave behind a trail of ectoplasm.
• They make unholy wailing noises in the dark.
• You get a strange feeling that you are never alone. Even on the toilet.

SO bearing that in mind, do you believe in children?

Love Miss Cisco XXX

Weeping Moths

I read a lot, and I listen to a lot of music, and I was pondering today how it is the sad things that move me the most. I read plenty of jolly stories of happy days, but it is the tales of heartache, life's struggles and it's cruelties that result in the most evocative and elegant laments.

I am happy.

Therefore I cannot write a tragic masterwork. I am not even sure I can write an imagined one. I have days where I feel a little blue. But that is hardly going to unleash a tortured but talented wail from my inner soul.

Why is it that we are drawn to the dark side? Or is it just me? I wish I could create a song of wonder encompassing the delights of my life. But my joys are quiet ones. I am blessed to live with the love of my life, a man who makes me incredibly happy, in quiet and personal ways. I am not good at romantic outbursts so am unlikely to write a treatise to the flawed wonder that is him. The same can be said of my adored offspring, I do not have the words to convey the things they bring to my life- the highs and lows of my parenting journey, the way I feel when I look at them.

And even if I could find the words to adequately describe my happiness, it would be hard to understand for others anyway, for my happiness is not made up of perfection, rather the imperfections are what adds the charm.

Is it more difficult to describe happiness in words? Or is it that when we are content we feel less need to vent that, whereas a negative emotion screams to be let loose from our heads and onto the page, as if by writing it we can rid ourselves of it. Is that the fear? If I were to encapsulate my happiness in words would it at that point be jinxed out of existence?

Perhaps despite my happiness I am maudlin by nature, which is why I am so admiring of the wretched writings of those who are suffering. Perhaps it is human nature to be drawn to the light of pain like weeping moths?  Or is it that in our darkest hours we are at our most honest, our most open, our most human and it is that brute honesty itself that is appealing?  Or perhaps it is our empathy that drags us in, our desire to listen, to understand, to help, to heal? For while I may admire the skill of the harrowed wordsmith, I do not wish for their pain, and I am sure many would gladly swap their exquisite verbosity for my own bland platitudes.

Or perhaps I am wrong, perhaps the tortured artist is a myth, perhaps the joyous ones abound in equal balance and I am just a miserable old goth who should start reading something a little more upbeat. Are you the same? Do sad songs touch you a little bit more than the happy ones?

Love Miss Cisco XXX

Musical Youth

Both me and my other half are musical, and have had a lot of fun in life from playing in bands, and generally making a right old racket. We would love Syd to grow up to love music as much as we do, and so we like to encourage him to make a noise himself whenever possible!

Cost Cutters Education Supplies contacted me a couple of weeks ago to see if we would like to review something from their musical toy range. I gladly agreed, and was delighted when the EverEarth flip-over triangle musical set arrived.

As you can see from the blurry fingers in shot, Syd couldn't wait to get into the box!

The toy is two sided, hence the flip over part of its name! Side one features a xylophone with three ringing notes, and cheerful colours, and two turning dials- one which clicks and one which make a rustling percussive sound.

Flipping over to the other side sees a drum skin, a washboard and a castanet.

Syd has had a lot of fun bashing and clanking away with this toy. It definitely encourages noisy play, and experimenting with sound, and that is the first step towards rock and roll! At £16.95 it is a reasonable price for a solid toy, and should see him through a few years of creative play. One last piece of good news is that it has great green credentials!

This gets a noisy thumbs up from the Cisco household,

Love Miss Cisco XXX

Disclosure: We were sent a free toy for the purposes of this review, but all opinions are our own.

Coffee and Biscuits and Five Minutes Peace

When asked by Collective Bias to write a sponsored post about relaxing with Kenco coffee and Belvita biscuits, I had to think really hard, before agreeing IMMEDIATELY. Me time is such an important commodity when you have a young family, often even going to the toilet is a team activity, so when the chance to relax for half an hour comes along, it is important to do it right, and as regular readers will know, right for me ALWAYS involves biscuits!

I popped to my local Waitrose for supplies, you can view my shopping experience in a google plus photo album here. Coffee, biscuits, and a magazine to read. The perfect way to pass half an hour to myself!

Once home it was time to prepare to relax. Of course timing is all important when you are a stay at home mum to a toddler. Nap O'Clock is the only peace and quiet you will get all day, sometimes you have to get on with other jobs, but today Syd's sleep has been designated a relaxation time for me.

Once he is sleeping, it is time to ready the sitting area, cushions and soft furnishings are important to create a cosy zone, especially if like today it is grey and drizzly outside.

Then it is time to prepare the all important snack and drink. I love millicano, it is the closest taste I have found to proper coffee in an instant. Syd only naps for about 45 minutes, I don't have time to wait for the real thing- but this stuff is goood! My top tip for instant coffee is to add milk before the hot water, as boiling water will burn the coffee making it taste bitter.

This is my favourite mug. It is round, and tactile. It is my hug mug. See my coffee swirl!!

Apparently if you make an event of eating you don't overeat, so you should never just grab the whole packet of biscuits, instead display them on a pretty plate. I can't say this tip has made me slimmer, but it does look nice and civilised!

 The good thing about Belvita is that they come in individual portion packs, which reduces the temptation to eat a whole big packet. On this occasion I am trying two varieties, so I still have quite a plate full. And yes, they are a breakfast biscuit, and yes, I am having them for elevenses, because I am a rebel. And there is never a wrong time of day for biscuits! I hadn't tried the yoghurt sandwich variety before, and am pleased to report they are delicious.

Now everything is ready...

The most important bit, feet up....

Owl socks, and a sleeping bear in the background!

And relax...

Love Miss Cisco XXX

A Last Minute Call For Help

This is a last minute plea for assistance. My lovely friend Rachel blogged movingly about the Stolen Futures campaign, her son is deaf, and along with many other parents of hearing impaired children and the National Deaf Children's Society (NCDS), she is worried about the effect cuts are having on deaf children. A survey found a third of councils are cutting vital school support for deaf children, which in turn puts pressure on parents who worry their children will fail to thrive educationally without that support.

The NCDS want 50,000 signatures on a petition calling for the government to intervene, stop these cuts and protect the future of deaf children. The petition closes in less than 48 hours and they need just a few hundred more signatures to reach their target. Could you spare a minute to sign for this important cause?

click to visit the petition

Thanks for reading,

Love Miss Cisco XXX

And this coin has three sides...

I blogged last week about being harassed by charity canvassers, and then followed it up with a post about the flipside of that, some great fund raising. But an email popped into my inbox this week that reminded me there is a third side to this too.

Not only is raising money an important part of charity, so is giving time. Time is asset that is precious to us all, and I salute those who give up some of that time to volunteer.

Volunteering takes many forms. From those who give up months of their lives to an overseas project, to the Mum who gives up an afternoon to listen to children read at school, scout leaders, hospital visitors, charity shop volunteers, and a multitude of other options.

I have only ever volunteered within my children's schools, and it has been a very rewarding experience, whether it be accompanying them on trips, or listening to tiny people stuttering their first stories aloud. Volunteering plays such an important role within our communities. Things like Meals On Wheels provide an important service and a point of contact for those who need their assistance. And volunteers with organisations such as Home Start can make a huge difference to families. I could list hundreds of ways that volunteers improve the lives of others.

CSV are a UK volunteering and learning charity, their mission is to enable people to take an active role within their communities. They help empower the disabled, support families, encourage young people to find the direction that is right for them, and enable the older generation to share the wealth of their knowledge.

The charity turns 50 this year, and are celebrating the contribution of volunteers by sharing stories of volunteering, and celebrating Volunteer champions. You can see their timeline of success stories here.

I often talk about the importance of being kind, and volunteering is one way you can put that kindness into action, it is certainly something I should look into finding some time to do.

In December of 1984 CSV ran a spot the poster contest. The poster in question carried the important message that 'Young people can do great things, if you give us a chance'. I love the picture on that poster of a punk blowing up a balloon for a small child.

As a parent of a teen I am all too aware of the negative press that young people receive, yet this representation bears little similarity to the young people I meet in daily life, who are lovely, and generous, albeit often with silly fringes. My daughter is currently arranging some volunteer hours in one of our local rest homes for the summer holiday, and many of her friends are looking to do similar projects. These things help them grow into rounded people, give them valuable life experience, and of course- on a selfish front look good on university applications, but they also allow young people to both give something back to their community, and show that teenagers are fabulous too- even if they are wearing a hoodie!

CSV draw our attention to the parallels between 1984 and 2013 for many young people, with youth unemployment being in the millions, and want us to notice that by volunteering in huge numbers up and down the country, today's youth are still doing great things. To celebrate the potential of young people, they are inviting them to enter a competition to design a new poster for this year. It can be as creative as they like, but must include the same tagline as the poster from 1984, and the top designs will be featured in an art exhibition.

Volunteering benefits everyone. Do you volunteer? Let me know your experiences, or share your volunteer story with CSV,

Love Miss Cisco XXX 

I have linked up to Pinkoddy's motivational Monday in the hope someone might be inspired to start volunteering! Pop over to visit for more ideas to motivate you!

Silent Sunday ~ 19th May

Saturday is Barber Shop Caption Day.

We visited a model village t'other day, and a fun and quirky time we had too. I was particularly enamoured with the contents of the 1950's high street windows, and for today's Sat Cap I am challenging you to imagine what the rather fine fellows in this Gents hairdressers might be nattering about!

When you are done here, visit the modelesque Mammasaurus and caption some more!

Have a lovely weekend!

XXX

Walk On By...

We are blessed to live a short walk from the river, and in my never ending quest to exhaust the toddler we often take an hour to stroll along its banks, feeding the ducks, listening to birdsong, and colour spotting as we go.

 After this weeks rain, green predominates, beautiful and vibrant with new life and growth.

Syd loves to point out all the colours he can find, today he saw red, blue and a glorious array of greens. 

We often pause for a rest. In fact Syd would like to sit on every bench. There are a lot of benches on this walk, so I try to persuade him we only need to test some of them out!

And no trip to the river is complete without saying hello to the ducks..

A perfect morning.

Love Miss Cisco XXX

She's Stretching Her Wings

My little girl has got big, and today she is in London with her mate watching a band. They are sixteen years old, on an adventure, involving rock'n'roll of sorts, crushes on boys and last coaches home. I am part envious, and part terrified. It is however time to start letting go.

My house is slowly filling with university prospectuses. Not long ago she was two foot nothing, with a smile full of baby teeth, and an inability to say the letter 'S'. Now she is bringing home UCAS information, and planning to fly the nest next year.

So bearing in mind in less than 18 months she may have left home altogether, a coach journey to London and back is small fry. I said yes, because I trust her to be sensible (within reason!) and because I know she needs to practise looking after herself, before it becomes a full time reality.

Part of me would like to pretend she will be here forever, but much as it makes my heart heavy, it is in my job description to make sure she is ready to go. I love this Khalil Gibran quote:-

So in my role as a responsible 'bow', these are things we need to work on in the next 18 months:-

• Cooking. For someone who passed a GCSE in food less than a year ago, she seems to find it surprisingly difficult to make a sandwich, let alone a cooked meal.
• How to work a washing machine. Or even how to put your dirty clothes in a separate place from your clean ones. She will not always have access to my pants drawer in an emergency!
• How not to lose a key. Bored of buying them, she hasn't even had one for a while, but she will have to get used to not being careless. Maybe I could get one attached to the lip piercing she keeps threatening to get.
• Basic housework. Finally found a way to make her tidy her room, all it took was a threat to put a password on the broadband, but she could (and so could I to be fair) use a crash course in quality washing up and hoovering!
• Budgeting. Hmmm. She will have a pretty tight budget to live on if she goes to Uni, so I need to make sure she understands how to make a realistic budget plan, and stick to it. Putting it into practise will have to wait until she gets there tho, be hard to watch her starve while we eat dinner if she spends all her cash on beer. 
• Remembering to ring her Mum when she has said she will!

Plus, it's not just the practical lessons, what are the life tips I should be passing on? So far I have these:-

• Be kind and respectful of others, and demand the same for yourself. Don't take no undeserved shite from anyone!
• You cannot live on pot noodles alone without risking scurvy.
• Fat coke is good for a hangover.
• Always make sure you have enough money to get home at the end of the night.
• If he loves you, he will act like he loves you.
• I am always at the end of the phone/motorway, unless you are after cold hard cash in which case ring your Dad first. Ha. 
• Play hard, but work hard too. Do yourself proud, you have already done me proud!

What have I missed? What else should I be making sure she knows?

Love Miss Cisco XXX