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aka The Most Random but Surprisingly Complex Competition Ever.

Many of the lovely brands we stock are so darn lovely that in addition to sending us their clothes to sell, they also send us other stuff. An eclectic mixture of stuff, and gorgeous as it is, I’m not sure what to do with it.  (Except the sweeties. I ate them.) The stock room is currently overflowing with new Autumn/Winter 2011 deliveries, and with more on the way, it’s time to make some room before a tragic colourful baby clothes avalanche disaster occurs.

So here’s the plan. Throughout September, anyone who submits a review of something they’ve bought on Love It Love It Love It will be entered in to a competition to win a delightful but undeniably fairly useless selection of stuff.

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Tomorrow, Liv goes back to pre-school and this year she’ll go every morning. A major re-think of our childcare arrangements means that she’ll spend each afternoon with a childminder or my mum until I pick both girls up at the end of school.  So today is our last full day together, just the two of us.

Rather than even try and attempt to get anything done, I decided to go with the flow today and am so glad I did. We’ve been doing kid stuff; looking at the world through the eyes of someone who hasn’t been in it all that long.

We have walked a long and circuitous ‘secret’ way to the park, played on the swings before anyone else arrived and talked to the ducks. Then we got the bus in to town, sitting upstairs *and* pressing the button when we wanted to get off (we usually travel by metro, so the bus is a novelty). We mooched around in the market, examining all the creatures laid out on the fishmonger’s slab and the huge, bare beef bones discarded in front of the butcher’s stall. We boogied to the music in the CD shop and then we sat in the centre of town, drinking milkshakes and watching the people go by.

We stood and listened to a busker playing the Northumbrian pipes in the sunshine, and Liv loved watching this guy dancing in the street with his cousin to raise money so he can take his place in the Olympic bob sleigh team. We stopped for a quick chat with all the old ladies who wanted to ruffle Liv’s hair and now we’re home again.  We even managed to get some of the stuff we needed to buy.

Next we’ll make some brownies, and tomorrow everything will go back to normal……..

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Or your child is, anyway. But now September is here, there’s stuff you need to know too. Like this.

Bitch mum cliques

This one must have been invented by the Daily Mail. It just doesn’t happen.  Unlike at baby groups, after 4+ years of being a parent, the penny has dropped for virtually everyone that we’re all just muddling through, doing the best we can and none of us has the right to look down on anyone else who’s trying their best.  As there are no secrets between 4 year olds, you’ll soon have some excellent dirt on anyone who’d be daft enough to try and look down on you.  School mums are in fact pretty great.  You’ll end up stepping in for each other for pick ups and drop offs in times of need, or on a taking turns basis. You’ll suddenly know a lot more people in your local community and you’ll probably make some really cool new friends.

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Do you hear that noise? It’s the mysterious wheel of fate, spinning in its mysterious way. Where will it stop? Why, it will stop at brightly coloured bank holiday bargains!  Yes.

Starting at 5pm (BST) today, there’ll be 20% off four of your favourite brands, one at a time over the Bank Holiday weekend. There’ll be one this evening, another tomorrow, a third on Sunday and the last on Monday.  But which brands, and when? Only that capricious wheel of fate knows. But here are some clues…..

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Recently, @seeyouatthebar and @apregnantpause were musing on Twitter about the possibility of setting up their own businesses in order to get a more flexible work/life balance.  Both of them felt that choosing what to do was the primary stumbling block.  Back in the day, when working in Management Development, I came across this great technique for working out what you could/should do as a career, and I promised to share it with them. (It’s here because 140 characters won’t cover it).  You don’t have to want to start your own business, be a mum or even be a grown up. You just need some post it notes and a couple of friends.

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Oh dear. Do you know what I forgot to do? Blog about the Summer collections from Green Baby, Duns Swedenand Smafolk, that’s what.  Please allow me to make amends by parading their loveliness for you now.

Right. First up, Green Baby. Their summer collection is a riot of mix & match colour, with a very cute animal theme.  This orange elephant playsuit £15, is perfect outfit for the beach, park or sunny day in the garden.

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As any fule kno, life changes when you have kids, particularly with regards to your career. At one extreme there’s the stay at home mum, who gives up or pauses her career to devote herself completely to raising her children. At the other, there’s the committed career girl who needs or wants to continue to work full time.   Between the two lie numerous variations, each with their pros and cons, their benefits and drawbacks for both you and your family.  I chose an option that’s becoming increasingly popular; starting my own business.

The attractions are obvious – it seems like the best of both worlds; you’re around for your kids and have the flexibility of being an at home mum, coupled with the mental stimulation and income of a working mum.  That’s the ideal, the media-approved view of being a ‘mumpreneur’, and it’s absolutely true.

Me*, last week (*not) 

There is *slightly* more to it than that though.

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Today, the 29th of May, is my Grandad’s birthday. If he was still alive, he’d have been 89 today. He died nearly 4 years ago, and I still miss him and often think of him. He was absolutely wonderful.

All of us alive today owe a massive debt of gratitude to that generation. Not only did they sacrifice so much to fight the war, they built a better, fairer society to try and consign the deprivation that was common during their childhood to history.  Their children and their children’s children stood on the shoulders of giants when they built on that change to make the social and economic changes of the past 50 years.

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Which has nothing to do with colourful children’s clothes, but I’d really appreciate your thoughts.

When we moved into our house just over four years ago, the lady who had lived here previously (let’s call her M) left no forwarding address.  We tried to get hold of one, because she hadn’t left the alarm code either, but none came.  Presumably she wanted a fresh start.  She must have sorted out a permanent mail redirect because we’ve virtually never had any mail arrive here for her. Until now.

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So. I was going to do a post all about Easter themed clothes. You know the ones, cute chicks & bunnies and spring-like colours. Then I realised that even if you buy the suggested items today, with all the Bank Holidays coming up, they probably won’t arrive in time, so it’s a bit pointless. Never mind, it was all an elaborate set up to the feeble joke that actually, this is the best outfit for Easter Sunday.

Have a lovely Easter everyone!

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