September 2013 - Confessions Of A Crummy Mummy

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Cloudy with a chance of trouble

Family life

Cloudy with a chance of trouble

BB has had her first trip to the cinema. And not just any old cinema: London’s Vue cinema in Leicester Square for a preview of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, the latest animation from Sony Pictures three weeks before it is released thanks to tickets Misery Guts managed to bag through work. There was a chroma key screen where we had our photo taken with the characters (pictured), a balloon artist moulding fruit featured in the film, goodie bags with balls of watermelon shaped into meatballs, face painting, balloons and all manner of willy wonka-style treats to eat. With a two year old the trip was always going to go one of two ways – really well or really badly. […]

By crummymummy1|September 30th, 2013|Family life|0 Comments

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Thomson holidays in Majorca: no more worries for a day or two

Family days out, Family life, Food, Reviews, Travel, Uncategorized

Thomson holidays in Majorca: no more worries for a day or two

The kids are back at school, the nights are drawing in and flights are finally back to their term-time price tags. Meaning there’s no better time for some late summer sun. As a result BB and I have been on our first girlie holiday together: an all-inclusive package deal to Majorca where the temperature at this time of year averages a respectable 27 degrees. Envious? You should be. It was a week of firsts for us: the first time BB has had her own seat on a plane, the first time I have travelled solo with a toddler, suitcase and pushchair in tow, the first time BB has been without her daddy for more than two nights in a row, the first time we have visited the Balearics and the first time we have experienced an all-inclusive package holiday. When Thomson – which is targeting young families with its pioneering Family Resorts concept – first asked me to review its Majorcan offering, the Protur Aparthotel Bonaire in Cala Bona, I must admit I was sceptical about whether a holiday with obligatory wrist bands, buffet meals and evening entertainment was really for us. […]

By crummymummy1|September 25th, 2013|Family days out, Family life, Food, Reviews, Travel, Uncategorized|9 Comments

Mummy bloggers: we’re pretty great too

Last Monday’s post about a great woman being behind every man on a man diet got me thinking: mummy bloggers [...]

By crummymummy1|September 23rd, 2013|Family life, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Behind every (slimmed down) man is a great woman

So Colin Firth has shed a stone or two, prompting much media back slapping and extolling of the benefits of the ‘man diet’. It’s not clear how he did it – colonic irrigation? Weight Watchers? Hypnotherapy? – but I’m willing to bet his wife played no small part in proceedings, and I’ve not seen her similarly congratulated. I suspect there’s a woman’s hand in this because so far this year Misery Guts has also managed to shed a stone or two embracing the paleo diet, aka the caveman diet, which means no carbs and lots of meat, fish and eggs. It sounds simple enough, but try coming up with decent evening meals with no pasta, potatoes, rice, noodles, grain or bread week in week out. We’re going through 24 eggs a week (the checking of them alone adds 5 minutes to the weekly shop) and of course I’ve inadvertently been on the diet too because I can’t be bothered don’t have the time to prepare two separate meals. […]

By crummymummy1|September 16th, 2013|Family life, Health, News|0 Comments

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Pink LEGO brick lunchbox? Yes please!

Reviews

Pink LEGO brick lunchbox? Yes please!

It’s been a week of reviews this week and I’ve saved the best until last. Feast your eyes on this: LEGO is branching into lunchbox territory and I’ve managed to get my hands on this pink little number complete with a lego man shaped drinking bottle. Isn’t he/she gorgeous? They come in a rainbow of colours from hot pink to sky blue from aplaceforeverything.co.uk and it’s such a clever – and simple – idea one wonders why the boffs at the lego factory didn’t think of it before. In fact a brand such as Lego, which would you believe it has existed in its present form since 1947, could easily have been left behind in the last century but with innovation such as this there’s no danger of that. Think lego brick but 100 times bigger. […]

By crummymummy1|September 13th, 2013|Reviews|0 Comments

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I can’t get enough of…John Lewis

Reviews

I can’t get enough of…John Lewis

There’s nothing like climbing into a bed with fresh clean sheets or wrapping yourself in a nice clean towel, and if those sheets and towels are brand new, even better. Which begs the question: how often is it ‘right’ to update householdy things such as pillows and duvets and towels? Once a year? Every three years? Every five years? I’ve got no idea, but what I do know is that when it is time to (re) feather the nest, it’s not cheap. So when John Lewis asked me to review their new active anti-allergy pillows and a super duper lime green bath towel (pictured) I jumped at the chance. So crisp and plump and new, the pillows make our old – and by no means passed it – pillows look very sorry for themselves indeed. Now I hate feather pillows – spikey stemmy bits sticking out everywhere, the need for constant replumping and the thought of other people’s heads sweating into the feathers are just a few of my bugbears: the only good thing about them is that luxurious sinking feeling when one first lies down. […]

By crummymummy1|September 11th, 2013|Reviews|0 Comments

My family and other animals

I can’t wait until BB starts talking properly. We had Nephew Number 1, nine, to stay last weekend, and among the conversations was this little gem in the car on the way back from Pizza Express: Nephew Number 1: Do penguins have teeth? Misery Guts: No, I don’t believe they do. Nephew Number 1: Do any birds have teeth? Misery Guts: I can categorically say that there are no birds with teeth. (Is this correct? I have no idea) Nephew Number 1: Well, I know of a bird that has teeth. […]

By crummymummy1|September 6th, 2013|Family life|10 Comments

Thank goodness for Doc Martin

The nights are drawing in and I am beside myself with excitement, in only the way a mum consigned to the house owing to a sleeping toddler can be. Weeknight TV is about to get good. Really good. And I’ve got it all mapped out. Guilty pleasure #1: the new series of Doc Martin starts tonight on ITV. Yipeee. One can fein interest for the glorious views of Cornwall, but we all know that’s a big fat lie. Then on Tuesdays and Wednesdays there’s a double bill of telly treats. First there’s the Great British Bake Off on BBC2, followed by Don’t Tell The Bride on BBC3. On Wednesdays Restoration Home on BBC2 is followed by the new series of Grand Designs on Channel 4. I’m in TV heaven. […]

By crummymummy1|September 2nd, 2013|Family life|0 Comments