Book Review: A Year In the Life of A Playground Mother by Christie Barlow

Whether it's your first term in the reception playground or whether you are secretly watching your 9 year old go into class because you are apparently an embarrassment in the playground everyone knows there is more than 1 type of parent, and if you don't you soon will.

When I caught a re-tweet about Christie Barlow's "A Year in the Life of a Playground Mother" I thought this is one I have to read, and I was lucky enough for her to send me a copy for my e-reader.  That night I promptly ran myself a bath and Amazon Fire in hand started the book.

Less then 10% in I was nodding along and thinking YES this is our school playground. Just like Rachel Young, the main character in this novel, I thought the kids starting "Planet School" would be my chance to meet new people but no, due to work I only visit the school playground on a Friday afternoon, this makes me a bit of an outsider.  In a way this is great as it gives me time to playground watch,not so much fun at the numerous parties you are obliged to make conversation at.  

I could totally relate to this book pinpointing where the playground mafia stand and whose mothers they are.  Just like Rachel I couldn't give a monkeys what I wear on the school run, hey if I could get away with my Eyeore onesie you betcha I'd wear it.  How some of these mothers turn up with not a hair out of place and fully made up is beyond me. ... I mean they should be grateful I managed to remember what time pick-up was.

Bad Mums Club: How judgemental are you?

There's not many times I read a post and want to hug the person writing it, to say a huge THANKYOU for making me realise we are all crappy parents sometimes.

For making me realise it's not just me who gets the dirty look because that observer has seen me boil fury at my boys for asking a question ....... who doesn't realise that it's the 30th time in 10 minutes they have asked it and every time have got the same reply.

Thank you John Kinnear for making my night.........

Why???  Read his post "Dear Crappy Parent" here.......... and welcome him as an honorary #badmumsclub member.


John also has his own blog

I'm off to read some more of his fab posts......"4 Things I Buy for My Kids That Are Really For Me" ...... anyone else relate completely??

You are entitled to your opinion...... but it's wrong

I hope you will appreciate why I have disabled the comments on this post. I'm so angry at something that happened yesterday that I wanted to have a little vent, however due to the nature of the opinions I didn't want the post to become a ground for argument.

Some of you may have watched the 3 Day Nanny on channel 4 last night, personally I didn't.  From what I can gather the nanny suggested the parents used a cry it out technique on their child.   A friend on facebook posted how this was a form of child abuse.
I pointed out that I had used the cry it out method and it worked for me, my children still knew they were loved.  My boys are confident strong willed children now, they are cuddly and loveable (most of the time).  They don't resent me, they don't say "do you remember when you made me cry lots at bedtime when I was x years old"....... no... they more than likely can't even remember (these are kids who can't tell me what they did the day before!)  And yes - I do have a naughty step too.

You simply cannot watch children all the time

We've recently been a victim of a crime, the only problem is it was our 3 year old (possibly aided and abetted by his 6 year old brother).

Let me start by saying Noah is a smart arse.  I'm not blowing my own trumpet here but this is a 3 year old who can not only read, recognise and 1:1 match his number 1 - 1000 (yes he can count this high) but has also started to read simple words.  He is far too bright for a 3yr old and it's come back to whack a hole in our pocket.

Before any of the haters start my boys do not spend all their time unsupervised in front of technology but sometime sitting them in front of the TV for an hour while you do the housework or have a shower is a very important part of parenting.

"Sad Letters" from the teacher .... I am SOO in the #badmumsclub

Last term Ben came home from school with a 'sad letter' from his teacher.  He wasn't alone, a few of his friends also came out of school brandishing the white paper of dread.  Turns out a group of them had been fighting in the playground, teasing another child and then running away.  I was cross.  This was NOT how I'd brought my son up.    Not only was he, rightly, told off for his behaviour by the teacher he has been sent to the Headteachers office with his friends to explain their actions.
   Let me put this in context if you are new to my blog.  Ben is 5 YEARS old. He is a 'normal' kid, that is I cannot hide behind autism or ADHD or another 'problem' for the way he behaves.  yes he lashes out, he's 5, trying to control his temper is really difficult but that's not an excuse.  At the time of this first letter he had been in his reception class for around 4 months.
  Of course we didn't let it go, he was made to apologise to his teacher the following morning when he went into school and had his PS3/ DS time taken away for a week.

'boys' toys vs 'girls' toys

Twice this week I've had a conversation with someone over gender stereotyping in kids and where we draw for the line.

Personally I don't see the problem with my boys playing with the traditional "girls toys".  When they went to the childminders the first thing Noah would head for were the baby dolls and the pushchair.He spent hours playing with it, taking it for walks etc.   They both enjoy getting the tea-set out at home to play shops or picnics.

They enjoy watching Frozen and play endless games where they are Elsa or Anna (fighting over who will be who)...... they wear my old uni fairy wings and wands, my 5 year old has even been known to prance around the house wearing my bra when he was younger.

And who could forget how much fun they had when Bodyshop brought make up and other goodies to the #MidsBlogMeet, they were in their element. 

or how they love to have a bath using Lush's bathbombs

My son is turning into me **hangs head in shame**

I need to sell my Luna ... I cannot put it off any longer, I LOVE that buggy and parting with it will be like admitting my baby is growing up.
     So I cleaned it all up and tried to find the limited edition London liner to put in it for photos ..... but it wasn't there.  I KNOW my husband washed it a month or so ago but where had he put it afterwards???

I did text him at work and got the helpful "I don't know" reply.

I emptied EVERY cupboard and looked in the linen baskets (they're the obvious places right?!) but it wasn't there.  So I went down to the cellar (this is ME we are talking about).  I found a few things I'd lost or forgotten about over the last few months and brought them all upstairs into the dining room to "put away".  I found Ben's book bag we lost at Christmas (yes we did check the cellar.... every box ... twice ... so where had it been hiding??) but I didn't find the liner.

playing on your phone at the cinema ...... join the bad mums club

For once this weeks Bad Mums post is NOT about me.  I was the model mumy this week.  I took the boys to the cinema on Saturday (Cineworld) to watch their Movies for Juniors showing.



These are a fab price at £1.35 each (bought online an hour before leaving the house, with Mycineworld 10% discount) and means even with the extortionate cost of snacks (£6 for a drink and popcorn)  I can treat the boys once in a while.  The film of choice today was Frozen which is something mummy has secretly been wanting to see for a while, just to find out what the hype was all about.

How to be a #badmummy ....... do your child's homework/ project for them......

My #badmummy post for this week.......

Here's the shocker ....... sit down and reach for social services phone number but  ........... I let my child do his own homework.    I know how appalling, what an awful mummy I must be.

I don't understand it ..... perhaps I am living in a parallel universe?  I have spoken to soooo many parents (especially recently with the school Easter challenges) who have told their child how their model will look or what design their car should be.  I've spoken to almost as many who have sat up the night before it needs to be handed in fretting over whether the colours are correct or if they have written enough (well typed, the teacher would know they wrote it).

How to be a bad mummy - part 2c - feed them the wrong lunches

Following on from my posts on the worst Breakfasts to feed your children and the worst dinners they can eat.... the woman has done a 3rd one to turn me into a failure.... the 10 worst lunches......

lets take a look and see just what a bad mummy I am this week.   You will notice many of them have been covered in my earlier posts (pfft she couldn't even think up 10 NEW ones for us to fail at.  Therefore, for the purpose of this post, a 'lunch' is a quick meal (served at around mid-day for us) rather than a sit down family / after school evening meal.

So here's the original post.... lets sum it up.....

1) Cheese on Toast
    The boys don't tend to eat Cheese on toast at all as they aren't keen on melted cheese.   Lets look back at WHY she didn't like it . "white bread with processed cheese slices" is the worst .  Ok so I did slightly admit to using processed cheese slices a very very long time ago.  As far as lunch goes tho it's not something I would generally serve up (processed or normal cheese).
     The kids do however love cheese sandwiches for lunch (with cheese off a block) so I guess that is just as bad as melting it.
Bad Mummy rating 3/10

How to be a bad mummy - part 2b - feed them the wrong breakfasts.

After last weeks Bad Mummy moment when I found out I feed my kids the wrong dinners (see here), lets see how I fare when it comes to breakfast.  You can't go wrong there can you?  I mean there aren't THAT many options to fail at ..... right?

How to be a bad mummy.... part 2 .... feed them completely the wrong foods!!

I love those random links you find popping up on feeds on Twitter or Facebook, you know the type - the ones that take you to pages of things you always knew or random funny photos.

Well the one I found the other day was for "10 Worst Dinners to Feed Your Children!", yes this woman actually posted on a site called http://www.activebeat.com/ the 10 worst dinners for a child to be fed.   I am guessing she has children and lives on a tight budget as well as working full time and therefore her advise should be well headed ........ how do you fare?!

Lets take a look at her helpful suggestions shall we.......

You Know You’re A Member Of "Bad Mums Club" When…

On probably the worst day, as a mummy, in my life I discovered the "Bad Mums Club" and knew it was a calling that I had to sign up for.

What made me such a bad mum I hear you ask?
Welll - you know those letters you get home from school just before half term, the sort you read and digest and put to one side, the sort you know will be etched in your brain so there is no point in looking at it again.