Age Gap Kids at Christmas

December 15, 2016 Jayne2 Comments

Age Gap Kids At Christmas It’s been a pretty eventful week for us, here in the Mum’s the Word house…I’m sad to say that this is the week that Sausage has become an un-believer. Sadly, a child who used to be in her class but has now moved up a year decided to spoil the magic for almost the whole class and tell them that Father Christmas wasn’t real and on Monday afternoon Husband and I had to deal with a very confused and upset Sausage who wanted to know the truth from us but was too scared to ask.

Husband, in his inimitable style, managed to explain it to her in a way that made her feel happy again, using a combination of history and humanism; the broad strokes that Saint Nicholas was a real man and the origins of that story, and that although there’s no “man in a red suit with a big beard” popping into our lounge each year, Father Christmas lives in all of us who want to buy presents and make our loved ones happy. I was actually quite impressed with how he managed to turn it around and make her feel happy, but I’m also gutted that it’s another stage we’ve waved goodbye to. She seems more grown up, somehow and I won’t deny that I shed a little tear.

I had a message from one of my oldest friends, Sarah, which actually made me feel a lot better. She has two much older brothers and said “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think I believed in Father Christmas post about 6 or 7 – (having brothers who are a generation above you makes it tricky!) BUT Christmas is still my favourite time of year I still think it’s magic and listen to Christmas music way before it’s acceptable. I know Sausage will still have lots of magical Christmas – just a little different. Proper gutting I know but lots of scope to create weird and wonderful new elements hopefully!”

Having one kid who’s well and truly ‘through the looking glass’ is all well and good, but we’re all still intent on keeping the magic alive for Burrito Baby, who isn’t even three yet, and is excited about Christmas like never before! Her first Christmas was a total washout – she was 10 months old and we were both horribly ill, spending most of the day asleep. Last year, she was coming up to her second birthday and still a little too young to properly “get” the whole idea of it. This year it’s totally different – she’s talking at length about Father Christmas and going to Nanny’s for dinner. She’s totally in love with the lights that we see on people’s houses and she’s enjoying grooving along with Sausage and I during our Christmas-themed car discos each morning. The Christmas bug has well and truly bitten our BB!

We’re lucky in the respect that Sausage is a really good girl and has absolutely no intention of ruining it for her baby sister, nor her friends who still believe, and she actually seems to enjoy being part of the “backstage” element of Christmas, where she’s being allowed to see gift we’ve bought for other people and keeping conspiratorial secrets with Husband and I. I think Sarah was right – it’s still possible to make the whole thing magical, even if Santa is suddenly fictional and I’m really looking forward to having our best Christmas ever.

In case I don’t get a chance to say it to you all in the next ten days, I’d like to wish all of Mum’s the Word’s readers a really Merry Christmas…even if you’re an unbeliever! 😉

Waitrose Party Food – A Family Review

December 12, 2016 Jayne1 Comment

At this time of year, one of the things that I love to do is try new food and recipes and I can usually be found watching some Christmas-themed cookery show or another, such is my obsession. However, this year I’ve decided to dial back the stress and try to have a more chilled-out festive period, which is why I was particularly interested to try out the Waitrose Party Food range. One of the main appeals is that everything that needs to be cooked goes in at the same temperature, so although you have to get your timings right, you don’t have to wait for an oven to heat or cool between cooking sessions, which made life SO much easier when prepping it all. Here’s some of what we were sent:

Waitrose Party Food

Waitrose Christmas 12 Bourbon BBQ Pork Waffles 230g (£6.00)
Waitrose Christmas Cheese Toasties Selection 110g (£5.00)
Mixed Mini Pie Selection – Chicken & Gravy 400g (£6.00)
Mixed Mini Pie Selection – Beef & Stout 400g (£6.00)
Waitrose 1 chipotle 4 chilli sausage rolls (£2.49)
Waitrose Party pork crackling straws 130g (£4.00)

We were also sent Christmas olives with snowballs 320g (£5.00), Waitrose Chai Spiced Chocolate Nuts 220g (£4.99) and Waitrose Maple Caramelised Cashews 175g (£4.99) but they got devoured by my lot before I could take a picture! We have a bit of a family ritual of going to my MILs on a Saturday evening and either cooking or having a takeaway together, so I took the party food with me to get some varied opinions and basically everything went down really well!

The waffles were definitely a hit and the smoky, almost sweet barbeque sauce added a lovely flavour to the softness of the waffles. The cheese toasties were lovely little savoury morsels that I probably could have eaten about ten of, all by myself! My Sausage found the chipotle sausage rolls to be a tiny bit too piquant for her taste, but the rest of us loved them so just beware if you have chilli-wuss kids! The pork crackling straws were like an amazingly delicious alternative to a breadstick and went beautifully with the apple sauce, but BEWARE if you have any dental issues – they’re really hard and crunchy and only get harder and crunchier as they cool, so definitely not or anyone prone to breaking of teeth!

The only thing which was a little hit-and-miss were the mini pies – the beef and stout ones were really tasty, with a rich gravy and crisp pastry, but the chicken ones were less of a hit – not bad or unpleasant, just not really a flavour that any of us found massively appealing.

Largely, we were really impressed with the quality of Waitrose Party Food and the ease of cooking, and for a small family gathering it would be ideal as party nibbles, however I’m not sure that the individual prices would be ideal if you had more than around 10 people to feed. Having said that, people usually shop at Waitrose for the quality of their items, not in order to get a bargain, so maybe this is a moot point?

Everything was sent to us about three weeks ago, right when the family was in the middle of a nasty bout of gastroenteritis, and I was able to freeze everything which is also a huge bonus, meaning that it would be really easy to buy ahead of time and bring out for cooking closer to Christmas, and I’m actually planning to go and get us all a few bits for New Years Eve as they’re ideal for a casual evening at home with Jool’s Hootenanny and a few bottles of fizz!

Have you tried the Waitrose Party Food? What did you think? Leave me a comment below.

Lifestyle

How Often Do Your Change Your Profile Picture?

December 8, 2016 Jayne2 Comments

I often say that the world is a really different place now than it was when I was younger. Things like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram didn’t exist until I was well into my twenties and I was already a married woman, and growing up in a digital age must be quite tricky at times. It only takes a quick Google of a name to see stuff about people and there are photos of basically everyone and everything out there for all to see.

According to Facebook, I joined on Monday 25th June 2007 and this was my very first profile picture (you can tell it was taken pre-kids because of how young, well-rested and relaxed I look!!):

First Facebook profile picture

Just recently, bidvine conducted a survey to see how long people’s profile pictures had been used for and the results were quite surprising. According to the research: “The results found that those using dating apps such as Grindr and Tinder were more likely to change their profile pictures more frequently (every 2-3 weeks), while Facebook and Instagram users on average would change their pictures every 5 to 6 months. Dating websites seemed to be the least up-to-date when it came to profile pictures, with Plenty of Fish users keeping the same profile picture for 3.2 years and Match.com users on average waiting 4 years to change their picture.”

People were also asked WHY they only changed their pictures with seeming rarity and the answer was quite simple – people don’t like the way they look in photos! According to the results, the majority of respondents (62%), stated that they struggled to find pictures they were happy with, while nearly half (49%) admitted that they wanted to appear younger to others looking at their profiles.

Sohrab Jahanbani, CEO of Bidvine.com said,

“Looking at the regularity with which people change their profile photos, it appears that older, more conventional dating websites and the networks people use on a regular professional basis, such as LinkedIn and Twitter lag behind, while younger single people are more likely to want to use newer photos.

“It appears that people don’t change their photos because they struggle to find photos of themselves they like. So with this in mind, Bidvine is setting up pop up photo booths offering free professional photography for those who want to update their social media profile pictures. As we all know, whether it’s for a wedding, a company headshot or your online profiles, professional photos make a difference. We’ll be announcing cities and dates for the photo booths on our website shortly.”

I change my profile fairly regularly so I’m quite surprised by how rarely other people change theirs – perhaps this makes me really vain?! How long ago did you change you profile picture? Do you wait until you’ve taken a picture that you love? Are you as surprised by the survey as me? Leave me a comment below!

Fashion and Style

Alternatives to a Winter Coat

December 8, 2016 Jayne2 Comments

Okay, so let it be said that I’m no fashionista – if it’s clean and it fits me, it’ll usually do and co-ordination be damned! However, at this time of year, one thing that I find tricky is outdoor wear, particularly big coats. I spend quite a lot of time driving and I hate feeling bunched up in thick layers, unable to move my arms properly, but I also hate being cold more than almost anything. I’ve been thinking lately about alternatives to a winter coat and thought I’d share some of them with you here:

Ponchos

Ponchos are actually super on-trend at the moment and come in a million different styles, from full-on South American print to sporty or feminine. One of my favourite ways to wear a poncho is with a roll-neck jumper, jeans and long boots, which works as a look for just about any casual occasion and can be easily glammed up with the right jewellery.

Merino Layers

Wearing lots of thick layers might keep you warm but it can feel very restrictive, so thinking about the types of materials that you layer can really help. Opting for a material like merino wool, which is light, very warm and breatheable will allow you to add more layers without feeling like the Michelin man, and merino is also very trendy right now.

Cardigans

On days when it’s not wet, chucking a chunky knit on top of your clothes can sometimes be enough to keep you warm and will usually allow you to still move around unencumbered. Cardigans come in all shapes, sizes and colours and go with just about anything but remember that the looser the knit, the less likely it will be to keep out the wind!

Rain Mac

Global warming means that our winters are seeming less chilly, which means that sometimes you can get away without wearing a coat, although with this being Britain the threat of rain is always real! There are some really funky rain macs around which can fold up to pretty much the size of a purse and can be kept in a bag or pocket in case the heavens open.

Gilet/Bodywarmer

This is the one that I opt for the most, as I have a decent quilted bodywarmer with a fur-lined hood which allows me to move my arms whilst driving but still keep my body warm. I tend to layer it over a fleece, and wear a t-shirt beneath which keeps me super warm on even the coldest days.

Do you have an alternative to a thick winter coat that you swear by? I’d love to hear your suggestions so please do leave me a comment below.

Baby · Kids · Money

Sure-Fire Ways Parents Can Ensure Their Child Has A Prosperous Future

December 7, 2016August 1, 2018 Jayne1 Comment

Once you have a child, it makes you more aware of your spending. After all, one day your money will go to your kids. And you want them to have a secure future so that they can buy a house and build a career without any worries. However, a lot of parents are unsure what they can do for their kids. Therefore, here are some sure-fire ways parents can ensure their child has a prosperous future.

Create a savings account when they are born

When you are expecting, a lot of people will want to give you a present for the baby. And as much as that tenth baby grow is thoughtful, there is something a lot better for your newborn. You should set up a savings account in their name which you can put money in. Of course, they won’t be able to touch it until they are at least 16 or 18. But it’s building them up some money for their future. So before your relatives and friends buy stuff for the new baby, you should mention about the savings account. Even if they just pay a tenner, some money in there is a good start for your child. And then you should aim to put something in there every month for your little one. That way, they have a fund to use once they are old enough towards their first car or home.

Public Domain Pictures

Make good investments now

Investments are essential for your kids future. After all, they are an excellent way to build up the bucks for your little one. A lot of people don’t know where to start with investment. For one thing, you could consider investing in stocks. Just make sure you read up about the return. Or a lot of people are opting to get a second property which they can then rent out. As this article says, you just need to let house price inflation occur and then you will have a valuable asset for your kid’s future. And you can read more about investing online on sites like The Fortunate Investor.

Image by https://electrosawhq.com

Set up a will sooner rather than later

So many people leave setting up a will until it’s too late. But you need to make sure your kids are protected for their future. You don’t want them to end up with nothing as you didn’t state clearly what they were entitled to. Therefore, arrange to set up a will as soon as you have your child. You can find information online about how to set up one to protect your family.

Create a university fund

As well as making real investments, you need to be investing in your kid’s education. Ensuring they go to the best school possible and are achieving excellent grades is the best thing you can do as parents. After all, they will then go on to have a great career in the future. To ensure they can go to the best university possible, you need to create a fund for them. Try and put money in the college fund and then you can put it towards the fees when the time comes.

Image Source

And make sure you teach your child about money management. Even if it’s just making them clean their bedroom for a quid, it’s helping them to understand about money.