January 2012 | Mum In The Madhouse

January 2012

Do you have appliance anxiety?

So you even know what it means? Well, have you ever left the house and had to return as you were worried that you had left the iron on or some other appliance? New Research by British Gas found that 30 million Britons suffer from ‘appliance anxiety’ and can worry for up to 80 minutes each week about leaving appliances – such as boilers, irons and hair strengtheners – switched on when they’ve left the house.

No I am going to admit that I have been known to do this occasionally with the iron, in fact I have ruined a pretty new iron by leaving it on all day.

Do you have appliance anxiety? Read More »

When your child just doesn’t want to go to sleep

What do you do when you have a child that just refuses to go off to sleep? I wish I knew. Maxi has always gone to bed like a dream and when his head hits that pillow he is off in the land of Nod till six am ish. Mini, however, is another story. He needs his sleep and is a monster without it, as most children are, but he has this ability to fight going off to sleep.

It started when he was around 3 years old and I put a lot of it down to the fact that I had been in and out of hospital and made allowances for him and for me. But the fact is he is five and a half and still doesn’t want to go to bed on a night and will make every excuse under the sun to stay up or find a reason to get up. My tummy is hurting, I have earache, I am hold, I am hot, I need a drink, I am hungry, I am scared and so on and so on. The fact is that both me and MadDad had let it go on to long and we were tired. Tired of the relentless taking him back up to bed, tired of not having our evenings together, tired of one or the other giving in and cuddling Mini either upstairs or downstairs and just plain exhausted by it all.

When your child just doesn’t want to go to sleep Read More »

Saying good bye

Earlier in the week I attended the funeral of a woman who inspired and nurtured me as a teen. She died on Christmas Eve, just like my mum last year and it was a pretty surreal experience. She had been ill for a short while, even so her death came as a complete shock to me, some people you think are just invincible.
I do not think that there are enough words in this world to describe the inspirational woman, who has left us all. There was not even standing room at the funeral and when the whole of the congregation stood to sing Don Williams, You’re my best friend I could almost feel her stood smiling on insisting that we were not flat and to sign from our tummy. I managed to hold it together right until the end when Her husband Johnnie stood as they played Marty Robbins, My Woman, my Woman my Wife, everyone then clapped as they closed the curtains at the crematorium.

Saying good bye Read More »

When you give up your dream you die

Ah that quote has stuck with me since Flash dance, which was all those years ago in 1983 and yes that is the original one! One of mine and MadDads biggest dreams has always been to own a second property, preferably in France. As we get older and realise that we are happy to try and live on one income that original dream of a second home in France is fast becoming a long distant dream. One we longed for when we were booking idyllic holidays abroad, when we had sufficient income to be looking for an investment property we were too busy and had no idea that we wouldn’t always be living this way.

When you give up your dream you die Read More »

Weekending

Sometimes it is nice not to have too much planned over a weekend, too be able to take time out and be a family. This weekend has been a lot like that. We have laughed, cried and walked together. Made dens, played games and cooked together. We have planned, partied (well the boys have) and just been together.

Weekending Read More »