Mini

Mini’s favorite way to spend a sunny day outside is ……. 10

 in day out  tagged comeptition / Day trip / days out / flamingoland / Mini by

We have been talking a lot this week about our favorite way to spend the day together as a family.  This is Mini’s (aged 7) and is also an entry  to the MAD Blog Awards Kid Blog of the Year, in collaboration with Vita Coco Kids naturally fruit-flavoured coconut water. My favorite way to spend a sunny day outside is with my friends.  I am lucky to be best friends with three brothers who live on the same road as us and we play together a lot. We all like to go to Theme Park’s together.  They are much more fun of you have a group of friends with you to laugh and stop […]

How to make a sourdough starter 4

 in childrens craft  tagged cooking with children / cooking with kids / Mini / sourdough / sourdough starter by

Inspired by the Hairy Bikers, Mini has decided that he wants to make sourdough bread, which means that we need to make a starter. So We have started the process and at the moment we are on day two and MAria (as Mini named her) is currently sat in the airing cupboard.

Mini never does things by half so we received sourdough starters on line and he decided to use one from the BBC (as they often use this site for recipes at school).

He also decided he need to keep on top of what day it was so used our new A4 flexible magnetic chalkboard from First 4 Magnets, which was only £3.49 (they send it to us free) and stuck it on the fridge so he could see it and tick off after he had done what needed to be done each day.
We would love for you to join us in learning how to make sourdough bread, like Helen at The Crazy Kitchen has. If you do, please let us know by leaving a comment and you can follow our progress over on The Mad House facebook page or Instagram.

Admitting we need some help 32

 in minimad  tagged Mini / not sleeping / Temper by

I have mentioned before that Mini’s emotions bubble very close to the surface. The bad ones and the good. This means that he is quick to express his happiness and cuddles are never far away, however, conversely it means that he could blow at anytime. It is horrible. I have been feeling as though I am walking on egg shell for the last month or so. Him not sleeping makes things a hundred times worse.

Yesterday things came to a real head and I just lost it. I can not keep on parenting like this. Wondering what is going to set him off. There is no rhyme or reason often to what sets him off, often it can be something as silly as he forgot what we were having for dinner or that he is losing a game.

The thing if when Mini is angry, it is a horrible thing to see. He lashes out, physically and verbally. It is never his fault, always someone else’s and trying to get him to calm down is beyond us at this time. He keeps himself together most of the time at school, but can be disruptive when he is bored. it is at home we seem to get the brunt of it and as I am the primary care giver, I see the most of it. From the minute he wakes up, we are often at loggerheads. He doesn’t want to go to school. He doesn’t want to have breakfast, the list goes on and on.

The scariest thing is I am becoming scared of my six year old. When he hits it hurts, he scratches, he bites and he destroys things. He has lifted and thrown the kitchen table before. We have talked about rules. That it is OK to be angry, but not OK to hurt people or things and that it is good to talk, but once he is on fire we really struggle.

Gosh this post is so hard to write. I do not want to label him and we take great care not to call him a naughty boys and just say that what he is doing is wrong.

We are at the end of our tether and do not know where to look for help or advice. I am so conflicted, I adore him and he is a joy to be with most of the time, but there is always that nagging worry at the back of my mind. MadDad is not excluded and Mini has shown his dark side at football practice too. Maxi gets it if he is winning in a game or he is playing with something that Mini wants.

I can not go on living as we have for the last month. Last year was much better, which is why I think it is linked to his need for sleep.

The thing is we do not know where to go for help.

Dracula’s Strange Addiction 5

 in halloween / minimad  tagged asda / halloween / Mini / story by

ini is also joining in with the Spooky Scribe team and below is his story, which the team at Asda are going to to add to a book for him to keep. So without further ado, I present you Mini’s story, which he typed up himself and added the clip art too (he is six and I am in awe of his computer skills)! I guess you can make out from this story, that Mini has a sweet tooth.

My Midsummer Baby turned six 8

 in minimad  tagged Birthday / Mini / sixth birthday by

Mini was born six years ago on 24 June. He is and always will be my midsummer baby. This year I have not had the urge to blog about his birthday, for some reason I have wanted to keep it close to me for a little longer. I felt irrationally that by not blogging about it I was keeping him five for a little longer.

We gave him some options of what he wanted to do for his birthday. Did he want a party, a day out or a quiet birthday tea? Not one for a party, he said that we would rather have a family day out and then we were invited down to London by Dairylea and it was just perfect as London is his favorite place in the whole world. He didn’t even have a birthday list, when asked what he wanted for a present, he wasn’t sure!

Mini’s bedroom, how to change without redecorating 6

 in minimad  tagged bedroom / London / London 2012 / Mini by

Mini was in the smallest room upstairs, but with him getting older, we wanted to give him a larger room, especially as he had asked for a desk, but we didn’t want to decorate or go to much expense. Now Mini is obsessed with London, all things to do with our nations capital. So he wanted a London themes and with the Olympics coming this year, we thought it was the perfect time to update is things.

Nobody likes me 26

 in minimad  tagged friends / Mini / MiniMad / parenting by

Now you might know that we have had ongoing issues with Mini about going to school since Preschool. He doesn’t like school. He doesnt want to go and we have been trying to get to the bottom of this for a long, long time and finding something like this in your five year old’s notebook, I can tell you is crushing.

I know that we can not always be happy all the time, but at five you should be happy most of the time and you should not be made to feel as though no body likes you. Initially when I tried to approach him about it, he just ripped the note up and started to cry. He explained that none of th

Teabagging…… I had no idea 34

 in mini mads  tagged maxi / Mini / minimads / parenting / teabagging by

Maxi came running home from the green the other week

“Mummy, Mini has been teabagged”

Now forgive me, but I had no idea what teabagged was, but it didnt sound good. So I dedided to look it up on Wikipedia and safe to say I was gobsmaked and decided that I needed to investigate further.

So I got the boys together and asked them to demonstrate to me what teabagging was (with some trepidation as to what I was going to see). Maxi made Mini kneal on the floor and then ground his pubic area in his face, which thankfully isnt exactly teabagging, I tried very hard to keep a straight face and look suitably offended by what I had just seen.

Five 16

 in minimad  tagged Birthday / five / Mini / MiniMad / minimads by

ow to describe Mini, well he is noise with muck on.
His emotions run close to the surface and some times get the better of him, but this means you always know where you stand.
He is a lover and a fighter.
He shows a talent for music and a passion for reading and literature.
He is my earth, wind, stars and moon.

Tracks of my years 2

 in Tracks of my years / Uncategorized  tagged chasing cars / Mini / music / snow patrol / songs / tracks of my years by

This week I thought I would tell you about my song for Mini, as I already told you about Maxi’s. I had a difficult pregnancy with my number two child as I suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum through out it (just like with Maxi) and MadDad had to give me thrice daily injections to try and reduce the sickness, however this was compounded with a relocation 350 miles back to our native North East whilst 6 months pregnant and looking after Maxi (who was only 15 months when Mini was born). So I spent a lot of time sleeping when Maxi was sleeping or being sick when I wasn’t asleep!

This is Mini, he is my future ….. 5

 in save the children / Uncategorized  tagged Born to die / Mini / Pass it opn / Save the Children / This is Mini by

How many parents, can say that in the third world? Well if I tell you that 8 million children under five every year die from preventable illness, such as pneumonia and diarrhoea. No Child is born to Die.

Save The Children is focusing on the provision of vaccinations and health care workers. In June there is a meeting in London hosted by David Cameron and attended by other world leaders. Save The Children aims to make as much noise as possible to ensure the funding shortfall for vaccinations (4.7 billion) is met by all the donor countries.

To my Darling Boys 9

 in 2010 / maximad / minimad  tagged maxi / Mini / New Year letter / the boys. review of the year by

Each year I write a letter to you both, talking about what we have done during the past year and all the things that I want to tell you.  It has been really tough writing this one, as your dearest Grandma was found dead by Uncle C on Christmas Day.  I know that you were scared of Mummy’s screaming and tears, but you both were really good boys and went to Nana and Grandads and have been a tower of strength to be in the last week or so. You have both been so lucky to have spent time with your Grandma, who loved you so much and really enjoyed her […]

And the beat goes on 11

 in 2010 / Christmas / death  tagged 2010 / christmas / death / maxi / Mini / mum / New year by

I would love to think that my mothers life was so precious that time stood still or even blurred in to the slow motion that you get in films, where every second lasted more than a minute.  I would like to say that we are mourning her in the old fashioned way, but with two boys aged four and five and Christmas things have had to carry on with some semblance or normality.  Not that I haven’t grieved, I have and still am and will be for a long time yet.  I am sad in front of the boys and they both know it is OK to be sad too and […]

Since when is this acceptable? 18

 in 2010 / school / weather  tagged ice / maxi / Mini / school / weather by

The weather this week has been terrible, we still have snow despite the thaw and one of the issues the milder weather has brought has been the hazard of compacted snow with an extremely slippery surface.  In fact it is like walking on wet glass, well what I think walking on wet glass would feel. MadDad and other neighbours have been clearing driveways and the road during the snow regardless of the fact that many people seem to think that there is an issue over being sued if someone falls.  This does appear to be something of an urban legend and I have not been able to find a single instance […]

Why the boys nativities mean so much to me 7

 in 2010 / Christmas / Christmas traditions  tagged christmas / maxi / Mini / Nativity by

Even though last week was snowed off for the school, the children and the teachers have worked really hard to ensure that the nativities took place this week. Maxi’s was first on Thursday and it was a Snowman at Sunset and yes, I cried.  Maxi doesn’t do dressing up, so as a narrator he only had to war his hat, scarf and gloves.  It was a wonderful show and I have to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when one of his little classmates did a solo at the end.   Friday saw Mini’s show, which was whoops a daisy angel, hats off to the teachers on this […]

My Boys 9

 in maximad / mini mads / minimad  tagged maxi / Mini / photobox / the boys by

It is not often that a picture perfectly captures a moment, but also the peoples personalities too, but we are lucky enough to have one. When we were at The Mad Awards 2010, the wonderful Nikki Hall took some photo’s of my wonderful whirlwinds, which perfectly captures them. So when Photobox offered me the chance of a canvas prints, I knew which image I had to choose. I have used Photobox in the past, but only for prints and I have to say I was really impressed with the speed and the service and quality of the canvass. We chose to have the image wrapped around the frame and it looks […]