Testing out classes

I have said this before and I will say it again, my son is bored of me.  That's not to say he doesn't love his cuddles and kisses etc but he needs more stimulation than just me.  I'm a big fan of my son interacting with other kids and learning how to play, make friends and share.  Whilst like Bunmi I'm not going out of my way to make my son's day magical, he's too young for me to expect him to entertain himself for long periods of time.  

I work two days a week so I have been aiming to make sure the three days we get together are full enough that he's getting active time and more importantly, out of the house especially with the weather we have been having. 

Mondays I have found the most difficult to fill but it does work out well keeping it free for playdates.  I don't know what it is about people who run classes but it's almost like they all hate working Mondays and have collectively decided there will be no classes.  

I'm trying to keep the kind of activities we do as relevant to my son and his personality as possible.  Whilst he loves story time, he only loves it with his nearest and dearest so taking him to a story reading is out of the question.  The same applies for music classes - loves instruments at home but not for extended periods of time nor will he sit down and sing.  That being said, he loves to be sung to and will clap graciously for you when you have finished (even if you sound awful).  

I'm sure I have probably mentioned when my son was first born we signed him up to swimming classes, unfortunately the classes we chose had a waiting list but they were apparently great so we patiently waited till it was his turn.  He finally got a place after 4 months.  What I will say is that I wish we never waited and just took him ourselves, also some classes cost the earth and are just not worth the gimmicks.  This was one of them.  Needless to say my son refused to let go of his daddy every time he saw the water.  He would partake in the class but would be silent throughout, no smile, no frown, literally no expression at all.  That was not like him at all and when it came to the underwater photoshoot at the end of the course, we got a call a couple of days before from the teacher to say they didn't think he was ready and that it wouldn't be worth our time for the shoot so we never went back again.  Let's just say when you watch youtube videos of babies underwater they usually float right? Not my son - straight to the bottom.  A word of warning which I wish I would have known sooner - when babies are relatively new (after month one but before month three) they absolutely love the water as it reminds them of their previous home.  After that you get my son's reaction till they're a bit older unless you really really persevere but to me that seems cruel.  

The one class my son consistently loved was his sensory classes but unfortunately from about 11 months old he decided it was no longer for him as he was less interested in participating and only wanted to pull himself up and walk around the room.  The woman who took the class was absolutely fantastic, she was enthusiastic and great at what she was doing.  Well worth every penny we paid.  Proof was in the long waiting list for her class (there are never waiting lists for paid classes over £5 a session).  When we finished our last session my husband said she's ruined classes for you now and lo and behold, we've not found another class like it since.

We have been for two "gymnastics" sessions at the local leisure centre - basically a more expensive softplay with gymnastics equipment and lacking in any structure or guidance.  One taster session of the toddler version of sensory class - involved too much sitting down and the teacher used her phone more than necessary.  Five sessions of a national franchise gymnastics class (one class taken at 11 months but I couldn't afford the class - they only hand you the paperwork after the taster and annual membership is compulsory and the other four in the last few weeks).  He loved it when we went for the first taster but I needed to save up.  We then went to another taster a month ago and it was a short term so I signed him up.  It was like the swimming classes all over again.  I took him week after week expecting him to want to climb or bounce on something but it never came.  Extremely out of character for my son.  I have emailed a woman about a dance class - a week later, still no response.  I have called, still no response.  I hate people that don't have the decency to say I got your message and will respond back by the end of the week or something.  You're not that busy.  I emailed a football class I wanted to sign him up to to be told they had changed the minimum age to 2 so I would have to try again when he's older.  

Where I have been successful is finding a local playgroup on netmums.  It's a mere £1 per session in a local church, they have loads of toys and they give the parents tea and biscuits as well as a non compulsory sing song and story session.  Better still is that it runs for more than an hour which is perfect for my son as an hour is never long enough (all of the extortionate classes are 50mins long) and he absolutely loves it there.  He runs around from room to room trying loads of toys out, stands in the middle of the singing circle clapping and dancing and doesn't cling to me.  Just the way I'm used to him being at home.

I can't believe I can't find any suitable classes that might encourage a skill for my son but I'm sure that just like with the playgroup, I just need to have some patience and do a little more research.  

Pet peevs looking for a class:

• people that don't come back to you for weeks/ever when you enquire about a class
• teachers of franchises that are clearly only doing the class for the money
• so much structure that it's practically a bootcamp for children
• no structure or format for a class at all
• the price of franchise classes

Things I've loved about the classes we've done:

• having a teacher so inspiring and enthusiastic, you question whether you're paying her to entertain you too
• seeing my son's face when he's introduced to something new he likes
• when the teacher remembers my son's name
• being shown new ways of doing things with my son
• having my son be comfortable enough to dance to the songs without holding onto me 

~AB~

Summer mealspiration

I am loving this weather at the moment - hot weather to me = barbeque food.  Until our garden is presentable enough to have a summer barbeque soiree, I have been preparing barbeque food inside having to imagine the unmistakeable grill taste.   

If you love summer food as much as I do, please read on and try not to drool as much as I have over the pictures.  Here are a couple of the recipes I have tried out over the last couple of weeks (if not the exact recipe, I have tried to find the closest recipe to what I usually make):

Beef and mushroom burgers with chips and peas

Chicken and apple balls with mash and corn on the cob

Cod fish fingers with sweet potato chips and carrot batons

Honey and soy spare ribs with pak choi

Prawn, mango & avocado salad (this picture does not do it justice, also the dressing is missing)

Since being dairy free, I have tried to live as healthy a diet as possible for the sake of my baby boy as I don't want him to have the kind of influence I feel I had as a child (to be clear, my parents were not unhealthy but they didn't shy away from fat and takeaways either - I don't feel that's something I need my son to try at his tender age).  I do however, need to enjoy my food and although some of these are not the best dinners we could have, I can control the salt and sugar content without being looked at like I'm a control freak.  These aren't all though - here is the crowning glory and something I plan to make this week...

Pulled carrot buns with courgette fries

<drool>.

~AB~

Improving my sellability

I have long been stuck in a rut at work awaiting a challenging enough role that will both develop my skills and expand my knowledge but most importantly, keep me busy.  To date, aside from my very first job where unfortunately they had to close all offices in the south of England, none of the roles I have occupied since have been enough.  I have often wondered if I am purposely being held back to keep companies from having to recruit further or whether it's purely that the management are all short-sighted.  The only other role that provided me with significant change was the one I left after my maternity leave ended.  Why would I leave a job like that? Allow me to explain what it was like a mere 6 months before I fell pregnant.  

Effectively I started in an administrative role and asked to progress; to be clear I have no degree or diplomas in anything just my A levels and GCSEs and a whole lot of enthusiasm - my manager excitedly agreed and paid for both courses I asked to join onto.  Firstly, I should note that he was very keen on promoting from within, his number 2 was a steely woman who I admittedly idolised and wished I could be like (aside from some of the outbursts she would have when frustrated) and secondly our company were pushed to the limits so no one had the capacity to oversee/mentor me, especially not my manager.  The foundation course I passed with flying colours and eagerly enrolled onto the advanced course then, a number of things happened: our company took on a "small" project of soft refurbishing more than 50 rooms in a hotel, I realised I might have bitten off more than I could chew with the course, my manager's personal life took a turn which started a spiral of unreliability and the project I was currently working on, assisting a team suddenly got a whole lot busier.  Now, you're possibly thinking what has the project got to do with me? I was told to manage it, that's what.  Long story short, I dropped a lot of balls and the project was renegotiated so everything I did was heavily overseen, failed my exam (but only by 5 marks) and my mental health seriously suffered in a way I had to seek help for a mere year later. 

I blamed myself for a very long time for being incompetent, especially as it was implied by my manager (who was nowhere to be found when I asked for things to be proofread before everything started going wrong) that it was an easy project and maybe I'm not cut out for the job.  Another colleague then asked why I had even put myself forward for the advanced course when it is meant for those who are experienced in Project Management.  It took me a long time to realise that it wasn't me but the situation I was put in.  Needless to say this was not the kind of situation I wanted to be put back into on my return to work especially now I have a child so I managed to find something else and left.   The role I'm now in is unfortunately mind-numbing and despite only working two days a week there honestly isn't enough work for the two of us nor is there anything else I could get involved in without a qualification.  The entire company are creative except, it appears, for me.  I used to think I was but compared to these people I might as well have no imagination. 

I'm not adverse to learning or studying to further myself but my circumstances dictate my ability to learn and also, the things I enjoy learning about have no connection (history - specifically the Tudors, Victorian England and Napoleon, buildings and their constructional methods and interior design) so it wouldn't even be to further myself in an existing role. I've never been passionate about one particular field or envisioned myself being something specific when I got older so I am still trying to figure a lot out.  I do pick up a lot quickly and I also enjoy being more hands on wherever I work, if I'm allowed to that is. 

I received an email a couple of weeks ago which had a link for a free course at Shaw Academy where you can choose from a large variety of subjects and walk away with a diploma at the end of it.  It's distance learning by live webinar but they also record the lessons so you can watch them back if you miss anything or can't attend the live streaming.  I obviously jumped at this opportunity as it's free and a chance to better myself, also it means I can study on my terms, when my son is asleep or when my husband gets home without missing out on any of the course material.  I have signed up for Foundation Graphic Design and I cannot wait to see what I will be able to do at the end of the course.  I have already learnt so much but my final exam isn't till 6th June so I have many more classes to watch.   The most recent classes have been an introduction to Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop where we were talked through the basics of using them and then asked to practice.  I found it remarkable how much I could recall as I practiced on the software and although optional, I felt I needed to do the assignments to see how far I could push myself.  The week's assignments were to create a poster, a composite image and a new logo.  Our tutor Kevin, made a composite out of three images, a lighthouse, a choppy dark sea complete with dramatic skyline and some birds.  The end product looked fantastic and so powerful.  In contrast, I chose a moon at sunset and an image of my son pressed up against our back door trying to interact with our neighbour's cat. 

The logo is also done and I still need to do the poster but for first attempts I don't think they're that bad! I have emailed them through to my course mentor for constructive feedback so I can further improve the images and my knowledge.  I'm not sure where this course will take me once I'm done but one thing is for sure, I won't be sitting back and waiting for work all day if I can design things to occupy me instead. 

~AB~

Summer Loving

The sunshine was amazing the past week but unfortunately, true to English nature the rain is back.  That didn't stop us from making the most of it though and there has also been lots of alfresco dining.  Most important to note though is against my unfun mum nature my son has been outside playing in sand.  I know, like glitter it gets everywhere but I did it and I'm proud of myself and not just the once but twice - although I did remove his shoes and socks the second time. 

There are so many amazing things to do and see in London and now that I have just found the courage to drive a little further out than our area, places that would usually have taken hours by public transport but are less than 10 miles away are now within reach and I'm so excited to explore with my baby boy.  

Yesterday we had a lunch date with a friend from work who had a daughter not long ago (9 months ago).   She lives in South East London, I live in East so naturally we wanted to find somewhere between the two of us.  Greenwich is practically on the border of East London with a tunnel separating our areas so that was our preferred place to meet.  I was born in Blackheath and my mum used to take my sister and I back to the area every once in a while.  My sister was born in East London so she has no ties to South East London but I have always had an interest especially as it is now quite sought after to live there.  Had it have not been so far out of our price range when we were looking for a house it would have been a serious contender for a family home.  Obviously since I was a child, much has changed and Greenwich is no different.  I am informed by my mum that Greenwich was not that exciting a place when she lived there but it was close to her work place so it served a purpose.  

Being that the weather was so glorious, we met my friend in Greenwich Park.  The park is owned by Royal Parks (I'm not sure if it was when I was younger) and is bounded by the river and the Royal Observatory.  I cannot tell you how many things there are to see there although having a look at their website now it appears we missed a lot!  We met at the Pavillion Cafe and had lunch outside.  My son being as active as he is was able to have a run around as we finished up lunch as the seating area is enclosed with iron railings around the perimeter.  Perfect for a worry-free lunch.  We then took a leisurely stroll down to the play area complete with small wooden huts, a wooden interactive tractor, some carved wooden animal sculptures and to my son's delight a massive sand pit.  Obviously there were the standard climbing frames and swings but this area was completely new for my son so why bother playing with something we could do round the corner from our house? Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the space and there is nothing on their website but it was great and my son absolutely loved it and didn't want to leave.  We will definitely be visiting again as it's so convenient to get to by car, we will definitely have to see some more of the sights they have to offer.  I know my son will love the observatory when he's older as he's now obsessed with stars.  

The only downside to this area is that they are well aware of the amount there is to see and do therefore you are penalised for it in parking charges... 30p per 15 minutes which, although not extortionate for London, I have never seen a more ridiculous parking charge and this was exacerbated by the fact the pay and display machine I was using couldn't recognise my card (a VISA).  I had minimal change and still had my son in the car on a boiling hot day so couldn't leave him to run for change.  For a place as prestigious, they should have a reasonable daily charge and/or at least be able to pay by phone in the case of fault card readers.  It is however, well served by public transport should you not be the kind of person to carry change and it is definitely highly recommended by us.  I cannot wait to go again as a family this time so my husband can love it there too.  

~AB~

Herbaceous border, Queen's House

More cross-stitching

The aida finally turned up and everything was pushed to the side to allow for me to finish this thing.  I think had I have had full days to do it, it would have been finished in two.  I really enjoyed doing this one as it was so simple and I did get a bit obsessive about it, "just one more letter, just let me finish this letter" etc.  This is another piece to go in my son's bedroom and now there is just one more I need to acquire and do and his artwork will be done and I can focus on another room.  So without further ado, here is my son's new piece of artwork: 

Obviously it needs to be framed but I absolutely love it.  I love the colours and the different fonts and it will suit the playfulness of the nursery decor perfectly.  My son has a while yet before he will understand or know what it's from but I'm hoping it's a piece that will grow with him or any siblings he will have in the future.  If not, then I will donate it but at least it will have had some life in our house.  

This is where I got it from originally and what theirs looked like: 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/174678910/mary-poppins-cross-stitch

My husband loves Mary Poppins (I think it's creepy and Dick Van Dyke's accent is awful) so in a bid to have a little bit of both of us in the house, I thought this was perfect. 

One more to go which I will keep a secret but I can't wait to buy the pattern and get started. 

~AB~