Category: Lifestyle

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Featured Guest Post: 7 Steps to Keep Your Child Safe Online

Baby Computer

The internet is a wonderful way for our children to learn and play.  But as every parent knows, it can be a dangerous place too.  Even if you lock your security settings as tightly as possible, you can still download viruses and be targeted by spammers and scams.

There’s an even riskier human element to the web as well.  People target families to steal identities and money, and predators often pretend to be children and teenagers to target kids in chat rooms, games and social networks.

The best way to protect children from this is to supervise them whenever they’re online.  But with so many devices now able to access the internet, it’s impossible to monitor children all the time.  Even children as young as 3-5 years-old are now going online independently by using the family laptop or tablet.

So what can you do to teach your child how to be safe online?  What should they do to protect themselves? Here are seven steps which should help…

1. Thinking about the internet as a place

A great tip to help teach your child about the dangers of the internet is to imagine the web as a physical place.  You don’t have to go into specifics, but try to make them realise that there are bad neighbourhoods online the same as there are in ‘real’ life. What are bad neighbourhoods? You’ll often recognise them by the ads for gambling sites, drugs and even pornography. Make sure they’re aware that it’s bad to end up on these sites, and they shouldn’t wander off there on their own online if they do end up unsupervised.

2. Giving out personal details

Teach your children that they shouldn’t hand out personal information when they’re playing games or chatting to other kids online. It might feel natural for them to post instant messages explaining where they live or what their phone number is, but explain that this is dangerous. Even if the person they’re communicating with is genuine, these personal details may not stay in the right hands.

3. Accepting online communications

If your child starts using a social gaming site and begins striking up friendships, they may start sending instant messages, emails, texts and photos to each other. Children need to be very careful about this. An innocent-looking message could contain bullying messages, or messages from adults pretending to be a child. And both kids and their parents need to careful about downloading and opening attachments containing viruses that will harm your computer – downloading the latest virus protection software will help protect against this.

4. Meeting up with strangers

It might feel normal for children to arrange a meeting when they’re been playing games together or chatting online. But make it clear that your kids should meet up with people they’ve only talked to on the internet. It’s vital that your children understand that online friends are still ‘strangers’ if they haven’t met them in real life.

5. Deciding if something is reliable

Young children are incredibly trusting and honest. While this is an admirable trait that many adults wish they’d held onto better, it means that kids aren’t equipped to judge whether people or information they encounter online is reliable or not. Teach your kids how to check out whether things are real or lies by reading other websites, in books or by asking someone who knows.

6. Telling adults about online concerns

It’s important for kids to tell adults if someone is being bullied or feeling worried in the physical world, and the same principles apply on the internet.  It’s even easier for bullies to target victims online, as they can harass other children anonymously and from a distance.  And sometimes other children or profiles will talk to kids in a way that seems suspicious or makes them feel uncomfortable.  Again, it’s vital in this situation that children know to tell parents, teachers or other responsible grown-ups that they’re worried.

7. Talking about the online experience

The internet doesn’t go away just because you power down the laptop, and children’s experience of being online can stay with them long after a session has ended.  Sometimes kids might be upset about something that has happened online and not let on, so it’s a good idea to talk with your children regarding how they felt about their time online.  You don’t need a blow-by-blow account, but this is a good way to get a handle on whether anything is concerning them online – or whether they’ve been doing anything risky.

These steps are in many ways just the tip of the iceberg.  There are many in-depth guides to help you keep your children safe online, but this advice should help give you a foundation to start building safe internet behaviour.  To read more about internet safety for kids go to Childnet.com.
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This is a featured guest post.  Although this content of this post is one that I have received compensation for my time in editing and posting, the content is a very real issue that our children face on a daily basis.  We’d do well to consider the content and remind ourselves of the obligations we have to our children and keeping them as safe as we possibly can.

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What’s The Alternative to Vet Prescription Charges?

Looking at the receipt from the vet nearly made my eyes water.  They prescribed 5ml of drops for my old girl for possible glaucoma today, at a price of £51.02 for the meds.  I pretty much choked, said that the dog would have to get put down at this rate as I wasn’t willing to get into debt for her monthly drugs.

I know, pouting doesn’t suit anyone over the age of 8 – I sounded ridiculous.

I paid the extortionate fee and fumed while I waited to pick up a child.  I checked the Internet to see if there was a human version and thankfully the same drug is used for humans.  That meant a phone call to my local pharmacy.  They charge £11.45 on a private prescription for it.

So – £8.50 for the prescription and £11.45 for the drops (the chemist make a profit at this rate remember.)

A total of £19.95 from the chemist over the road from the vet.

The vet wanted £51.02, so that’s a whopping £31.07 more than the local chemist.

So, breaking it down, the vet wanted £31.07 pure profit + the £8.50 script and say £3 for the profit the chemist would have made.  I know it’s probably more, but it’s a conservative estimate.

In total, off a teensy bottle of drops, the vet wanted to pocket £42.57 at least.  Probably slightly more.  That doesn’t even count the £26 for a consultation to get the drops in the first place.

It’s daylight robbery.

Vet Prescription 1

I looked at Lloyds online and they were even cheaper for it at £7.85 so I would probably go that route if this ends up a  long-term prescription.    And at £7.85, Lloyds make a PROFIT.

If these figures aren’t making you sit up and take a look at your pets meds, they should.  Most medicines won’t be so over inflated as these drops, but you could save a pretty penny over a year if your animals are on long term scripts.

I’ve heard people saying vets have to pay more to get them in, but I don’t believe that.  A large vet won’t be charged more than a dispensing pharmacy for animals than they would be for humans, or they should be telling people to go and get their scripts filled elsewhere to allow the animals to get the treatment they deserve.

No wonder so many animals are going without treatment.  If people don’t realise they can ask for the human version where possible, they are being fleeced right royally.   It’s not fair and it’s not right.  It’s also not usually the fault of the vet we see in practice as they normally are just charging what they’re told to charge, but if we don’t talk with our wallets, they’ll just keep on overcharging us.

If the vet prescribes you something for your animals, check it out before paying.  My vet had the good grace to refund me the £51.02 and give me a script that I could walk across the road and get filled.  Talking to the pharmacist, she is surprised that  they don’t get more prescriptions from people going to the vets, given that there are 2 vets within a short distance,.  I would imagine most people are like I was and don’t realise that many pet prescriptions can be filled at a chemist or online human or animal pharmacy for much cheaper than we pay at the vets.

For the next script, if she needs more, I will ask for a few months on one script so that it works out even cheaper.

We all need to get smart with our pets meds.

pocolo

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How to make a quick uncooked strawberry sorbet with stevia.

A sorbet recipe gives a lovely and light ice cream substitute and doesn’t show that it only a blend of strawberries and sugar or sweetner.   I believe they used to be used to cleanse the palate between courses in earlier centuries, but sorbet now tends to be used in place of ice-cream, or as a gorgeously light and tasty alternative on a hot day to cool us down.

To make them, it just involves freezing fruit, water, sugar and on occasion lemon juice to help it keep for longer.   Recipes tend to recommend frozen strawberries, but I prefer mine fresh as the sweetner takes care of any lack of sweetness in them.

Strawberries

I decided to give my new stevia sweetner a try out in this version as I wanted the calories to come only from the strawberries themselves.  Stevia is quite expensive so it’s something we have to think about carefully before adding to our food as a cooking ingredient.  I used an ice-cream maker and the consistency was perfect for us.

When you freeze this, it will take a while but because the sugar isn’t cooked, the consistency if it is frozen too long or overnight will be like an ice pole with the water content forming larger crystals.   If you are using it after a long time in the freezer, take it out so that it can defrost enough to be pliable.  If you want a smoother, creamier version of sorbet, you will need to cook the sweetner into a syrup, but this did the trick for me.  It all depends how you like your sorbet.

Lesley S Smith

Strawberry Sorbet Recipe with Stevia Instead of Sugar (Simple, Uncooked Version)

If you add an egg white, the sorbet will be slightly creamier. I prefer the slushy strawberry ice without the egg.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 6 - 8
Course: Appetizer
Calories: 31000
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 3 heaped tablespoons Stevia I used Tesco Sweet
  • 750 g Strawberries Hulled
  • 2 tablespoons Lime Juice
  • 150 ml Water
  • 2 tablespoons Vodka/Wine or Gin Optional

Method
 

  1. I used the very fine stevia which didn't need heating up, but if you use the granulated kind you would need to melt the sugar in the water and bubble it for a few minutes and then leave it to cool down.



  2. With the fine stevia, I added it with the water and lime juice to the strawberries which were pureed. Mix it up in a blender for several minutes until you have a smooth mix. Some might prefer it to be put through a sieve at this point, but I just use mine as it comes out of the blender.

  3. You can taste the mix here to see if it is sweet enough for you. If it isn't sweet enough, simply add a little more stevia, whizz it around for a while, then taste once again.



  4. Chill the pureed mix in the fridge for an hour and put it in the ice-cream maker for 20 - 30 minutes, or until it turns to a thickening slushy consistency.

  5. Simply add it to a container and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours before serving.



  6. If you make it without an ice cream maker, put your mix into a container and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours, then take it out and put it back into the blender to whizz it up again. Then simply put it back into it's container and to the freezer once again for another couple of hours.

 

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Sneaky Pamper Days: Canine Hydrotherapy

What’s that’s I hear you ask.   Canine hydrotherapy???  Well, it isn’t for me, nor for the kids, but my old and blind lab still has a huge passion for life and still wants and needs exercise, lots of cuddles and some fun to go with it.  She deserves a little pampering in her old age.

Hydrotherapy 2

Her favourite activity used to be splashing around in water and swimming whenever she got a chance.  She is very wary of water now as she can’t see the shore and tends just to paddle close with the lead on to guide her back in.  She no longer runs as she can’t see where she’s going, so I looked around for a way to get her a swim sometimes.

I was a bit wary of taking her to a hydrotherapy centre as I’d not heard any reviews, good or bad about them, and there seemed to be plenty videos on YouTube that looked as if it was a good thing for elderly or infirm animals.  They swim in the warm water and so are not given such a shock at being in the pool.  I really just wanted it to get her in the water, but they are doing a programme to strengthen her legs and she now looks better than she’s looked in a few years.

It was with a little trepidation that I took her to try it out.  She was very nervous of the scales so we agreed to leave those until the end.  When it’s time to go now, she tries to knock me down to get into the car to go there, and then her legs do the Elvis shake until she gets into the pool for that swim.

They are really good with her and for her first session, there were 4 of them around the pool calling encouragement, help and praise all the way around.  Now she is used to it and knows where to find the ramp, she often chooses to just ignore it and keep going around and around.  They sometimes put the jets on and she tries to find them.  I think the noise reminds her of rivers with running water and she seems to like that.

Hydrotherapy 3

The best bit for her is the spa at the end where her old bones get a well deserved massage, then an quick shampoo and blow dry.

Hydrotherapy

I do find it a bit pricey so I think it’ll be limited to once a fortnight or less going forward, but her legs are moving in her sleep again as her dreams are obviously happier now and she’s happier in herself for getting a swim.  Who said blind dogs shouldn’t go and do things.

Here is her in action on her first visit when there were plenty staff round the pool giving her encouragement.

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The Tweeny Teen Effect with Social Media

Teens are infuriating, and tweens and teens who don’t follow house rules are even more infuriating.

angry kitten

There are times when I wonder if I was hit with a forgetting stick the day that I decided having kids would be a good idea.  In among all the good and the not so good comes the infinitely worse growing up stage where they assert their growing limbs with the determination of a dog with a bone.

Arriving home late every night doesn’t stop them deciding that parents came from outer space with ten heads, geeky glasses and the uncool stick strapped to their heads as babies.  They never remember that we were once kids ourselves, and know EXACTLY what it’s like to have peer pressure, little crushes and huge anxieties.

Watching eldests Facebook is how I keep tabs on what he is doing.  Yes, I allowed Facebook because the alternative was to say no, and have him set one up at a friend’s house that I had no knowledge of at all.

I’ve mentioned this before, and have been pilloried for allowing my child to be on Facebook at all, yet, I look at his friends list and see very few kids who don’t have an account.  Even children whose parents have told me their kids aren’t allowed Facebook are there in all their self taken seductively photographed glory.

What worries me most is watching how some scenarios play out.  I delete inappropriate things and I can talk him through some of the things that happen, and I think we’re doing quite well with it.  Kids seem to be going online earlier and earlier and I’ve seen some very young children online.

I’ve spoken to parents recently who think their kids don’t have any social media accounts, but the reality is that if we don’t allow them, the parents of other kids will make those decisions for us and allow them to use it there.

I’ve heard too many parents say they don’t understand it all, or totally blast social media without the slightest idea of what it’s all about.  By law of averages, anyone reading my blog is likely to be reasonably technically aware and responsible, but how sad that so many don’t take an interest in their kids online activities.

Do you allow your children to use social media?  If you don’t, how do you know they don’t have accounts that you don’t know about?  Do you approve of social media for kids?  These are questions that all parents who are able to need to tackle.

I think our schools should be teaching our kids about the Internet from a much earlier age than they do.  We can’t stop our kids accessing inappropriate content, but we can help them to deal with it when they come across it.  The Internet and it’s good and bad points is not going to go away.  We all have a responsibility to all our kids to help them cope with it.  We tell them not to talk to strangers on one hand, but many of us let them talk to anyone they want to online.

From an early age our kids can negotiate parental controls, history deletion and sneaking on with smartphones on friends wi-fi systems.

Isn’t it time that parents who don’t use social media, or don’t approve of the Internet got with the programme and actually learned what it’s all about so they can help their kids with it instead of burying their heads in the sand and thinking it will all go away.

pocolo

 

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A Trip Down Memory Lane. It’s Messy.

My boys are fine for pictures of the early days of their adoption going online.  I don’t mind as they are completely unrecognisable now and they love to look through some of them.  I will always regret not having a decent camera when they were little and always being so busy that I rarely found time to take any pictures.

The kids arrived and we just got on with it.  They were foster children as a last minute favour placement while we looked for our own family children and we thought they would be moving on.  They settled in really quickly and just took over.   When social services and the courts decided they were to go up for adoption, it just didn’t seem right to ask them to move on.

It took the dog a while to adjust and I love the picture of her sizing up the noisy thing in front of her.  They used to cuddle up with the little one fast asleep in her stomach and I so wish I had managed to get some pictures of that.

Kids 1

There’s not much difference here is there?  How much effort does it take to use the spare room for a cat before the kids arrived, and then sleep anywhere you drop once the kids arrive.

Kids 2

Those were the days that the animals were young, fit and healthy.

Animals

And the last time that mum was a fit healthy gym bunny with plenty time on her hands that evaporated with the arrival of the boys.  I have no photos of me at the moment and I hate meeting people who knew me a few years ago.  I look nothing like this now, but you won’t see a pic of me online 🙂

Lesley

The early days when we had a party with sweet treats, before the days we knew they were laden with bad stuff that send you bananas.  Yes, I know that colour is well out of date, those walls are almost white now and the wrecked table and chairs saw the skip long ago.

Kids Chocolate

What that sugar rush led to.

Kids Mess

 

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Children And The Music Machines

Who really stops and thinks when they’re passwording their Internet and thinking they’re being clever by saying their kids can’t get access to anything untoward in our homes?  I remember duly locking down my kids Facebook, our browsers and the Apple gadgets, only to be faced with an afternoon of gyrating by way of our TV music channels.

The idea amongst our Film and Music video producers seems to be focussed on selling sex to our minors as a way of enticing them to spend money and time on their music.   Watching the videos and children gyrating in time to the beat in discos and kids parties is sometimes enough to make me gag and feel like throwing up my dinner.

The artists demean themselves by promoting junk while they pretend their music is not for anyone under a certain age.  Why then, can I turn on the music channel any time of day and be confronted by scantily clad women and men pouting and birling to the tune of suggestive content?  Most of these artists made their name from the kids who they now profess not to be singing for, and wouldn’t be far short of being thrown off the top shelf in a newsagents.

In 2011, the Guardian reported that music videos faced a “crackdown over sexualised content with a Government report into sexualisation of childhood set to propose tougher regulations on retail, advertising and video industry.”   Rhianna was reported to allegedly be “unrepentant for filming a music video in which she shoots someone who raped her.”

How on earth do you explain the likes of her S&M Video to kids who have no idea that grown ups even have a sex life?  I remember a friend running from my kitchen to the family room like a demented banshee when she heard the opening bars to Sexy and I Know It coming on to the TV early on a Sunday afternoon.  It’s not one of the worst videos I’ve seen, but no parent should have to feel like that when it was the kids who bought that music in their droves.

While there may be some inroads into the regulations and ratings for music videos, I’m not fully aware of how far these have gone, and I still feel uncomfortable watching the world of usually female artists plying their wares and looking for sales on the back of the sexualised content of their videos.

As a child, I don’t remember any of this type of thing, and music channels and videos were usually restricted to Top of the Pops and not much else.

Turn on music channels now and we’re likely to be faced with as much content that would have gone on behind closed doors and been tagged as adult content a few years ago.  How do we explain the coverage of 50 Shades of Grey and what S&M is to our kids when they’re not that long out of nappies?

It’s not like kids even have a choice.  They might like a tune, and they might want to listen to an artist without having sex rammed down their throats.  Do artists and their publicists not realise that kids shouldn’t be exposed to pornographic content over their marshmallows and cake pops?

It’s all for money, but our artists really are selling themselves short.   In a fad for Rhianna and Eminem, the explicit versions were downloaded by more than a handful of kids at my boys schools, yet these are the same kids that keep their wallets fat and their platinum albums spinning on their precarious tops.

It’s done deliberately.  Why else would Madonna still be gyrating to music and wearing clothes fit for teens, while she’s old enough to be the grandmother of most of the people buying her music?

I don’t let my kids buy anything with explicit content, but their friends will let them see it anyway.

Aren’t we meant to be the adults?

Aren’t the adults meant to be the ones protecting our young and keeping them safe, comfortable and protected?

If we stop buying the music from artists who seem to be promoting gratuitous porn, maybe our kids will be more protected with videos that are more suitable for both granny and child to watch in comfort.  I want to choose what my kids watch, and not have it rammed down their throats by the music industry, whichever dentist surgery has MTV on while my kids sit in their chair, or the shop in town bumping out the tunes to show how great the clarity of the new HD TV’s are.

Our music industry certainly seems chained to values that are designed to maximise profit, but is it too much to ask for our kids to just be kids, and for parents to know that our kids aren’t watching things they shouldn’t at young ages?

 

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Where are the missing kids? #blogging4madeline

I am taking part in the #blogging4madeline campaign this year.   Yes, I can just hear some of you sigh, begin to switch off and think about clicking away, but just wait a minute and spare a few minutes for the kids who have all gone missing, including Ben Needham, April Jones and many other nameless and faceless children.  What if they were your children?

”Blogging4Madeleine”

If your children had been taken, no matter what the circumstances, would you click away then?

This isn’t about the parents, or the press, or the stories of who did or didn’t do anything right or wrong.

It’s about the children and nobody else.

I have watched people crucifying April Jones parents for having her out playing late at night, or the McCann parents for leaving the children alone, but neither of those things changes the facts that the kids are still missing.  I think that we would all clutch at hope of any kind if our children went missing.   I’ve accepted that I don’t have to agree with what parents might or might not have done to offer my support with helping to find those missing kids.

I’m posting for the kids.

Madeleine went missing from Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007.

I agreed to join the blogging4madeleine campaign to raise awareness that Madeleine McCann is still missing and to spread the word about her and the other missing children around the world.  There are thousands of children missing from the UK, but far too few people know about any of them.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (run by the police) operates a website called Missing Kids UK that shows many of the children who are missing.    I’ve added their widget to my blog footer.  If you want to add the same as mine which is smaller than theirs, the code is.

<iframe width=”150″ height=”195″ src=”http://www.missingkids.co.uk/widgets/missingkidscrawidget.aspx” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>

Why are we posting now?

  • Children deserve not to be forgotten.
  • There are thousands of British children missing.
  • Madeline McCanns birthday is the 12th May 2013.  She would have been 10 years old.
  • The 25th May is International Missing Childrens Day.   Get involved over on Facebook.

Contact information to report any sightings or information of Madeleine and other missing children.

  • Your local police force immediately, AND
  • +44 845 838 4699 or investigation@findmadeleine.com
  • OR Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555111
  • OR www.crimestoppers-uk.org

This is what Madeline could have looked like at age 9.

madeleine have you seen me image

 

If you’re interested in joining the #Blogging4Madeleine campaign please contact CJ from A Mummy’s View blog via Twitter, Facebook or by emailing amummysview@gmail.com.

I’ll leave you with part of the message from Kate McCann on her website which stated that most children who are missing in the way Madeline was are for sexual exploitation.  I found the statement she made further on very disturbing.

“What are the benefits for our children of being in a European Union where several member countries offer child pornography as a LEGAL past time?  The most vulnerable members of our society are our children and they deserve better than this. Lack of sex offender registers, lack of reliable tracking systems for known offenders and no CRB check requirements , not even for those working with children are other major areas of concern within many parts of Europe. My eyes have certainly been opened to a whole new world out there – a very worrying one.” 

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5 Things to Remember when Baking with Kids

This is a guest post from Chris who writes for one of the child sponsorship charities, World Vision UK..   I’m already linked to World Vision as one of the bloggers who does a sponsor share for a child through their sponsorship scheme.  You can find out more about what we bloggers did for that here.   Interestingly, Chris has chosen to blog about baking with our kids.

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cherry cake slice

Baking with kids should be many things, fun, entertaining, enjoyable and should hopefully result in some tasty treats.  I will offer five small things to remember when baking with kids to ensure you make the most of the experience.

Be Generous

I think being generous goes hand in hand with baking, don’t try and limit the ingredients, I find a nice mix of ingredients makes the baking experience that much more enjoyable.  If it’s cookies you are making why not buy a variety of ingredients to make different flavours, a nice selection always works better in my experience. You could use white chocolate, milk chocolate or caramel chunks; basically any sweet treats that you think will add to the taste should be included.

Be Creative

Following a recipe is initially advisable to make sure you have got the basics right but add your own creative touch, in fact encourage the kids to add their own style, this will help get them involved and should add to the enjoyment of the exercise. If its small cakes you are making, Smarties, chocolate chips or multi coloured icing should help them use their creative touch.

Be Prepared

It may seem obvious but making sure everything is prepared can go a long way in ensuring a successful days baking, having the ingredients to hand can help avoid any disasters amidst the potential chaos that may ensue. If you are thinking about baking two or three different treats prepare your time especially for this, it should go a long way to making sure everything comes out as planned.

The Kids are Always Right

My favourite thing to remember when it comes to baking and something I’m sure the kids will agree with is that the kids are always right. Aside from the key basics there are generally no fixed rules which means all sorts of variations will work. Deciding how things are decorated and what is mixed is all part of the experience, fingers crossed the cakes and cookies come out well.

Have Fun

The most important thing to remember in my opinion, baking should be about having as much fun as possible.  If you are doing it as a family then great, make it as enjoyable as you can; don’t be too worried if the presentation is not perfect.   The main thing is getting the kids involved; let them make a bit of a mess, after all that usually means there will be plenty of fun being had.

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Help the Scottish SPCA in Scotland

SSPCA
Image Credit: SSPCA

 

“Mummy, mummy, mummy, can we put some money to the starving doggies.”  a small child cried many years ago.

Looking up the RSPCA, I clicked on how to sign up for a monthly payment.  The adverts in the sidebar showed a little picture of an emaciated dog which looked incredibly in pain.  I don’t usually click on adverts for things and my instincts took over.

Such was my introduction to the very under advertised SSPCA – the wholly separate charity for the safety, care and rescue of animals in Scotland.  Any money subscribed to the RSPCA goes South of the border only.  Happy that I had the right place, I signed up to pay my £4 month.

The RSPCA has no place in Scotland as it does nothing here to help our animals.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is what we need for the animals in Scotland.   I think there is still a lot of misunderstanding, and like me, many people subscribing to the RSPCA when they live in Scotland and would want that money to go to local animals.  Our SSPCA is a smaller charity than the RSPCA and needs all the donations it can get.

I mistakenly believed that the RSPCA was a UK wide charity that helped animals in Scotland.    Our SSPCA may be smaller, but it has more powers than the English version as our animal welfare charity can investigate animal abuse and submit to the prosecutors at the Crown Office in powers given to it by the Scottish Executive.

It’s not enough to just have the power to help animals, our local charity for the welfare of animals needs much more help.  It needs to get the word out that in Scotland, the money has to go to the SSPCA.  If you can help and would like to carry a post with the information, please feel free to get in touch with me via my contact page or on Twitter as @scottish_mum and I will link you up to this blog post and give you a lovely link for helping to spread the word.

If you can spare another few pounds to help out the animals in need, go to the SSPCA Website.  You can join for as little as £4 a month, or simply make a one off donation.   If you join, it’s £1 a week to help relieve the suffering of an animal, many of whom have been abused, neglected or lived lives of misery.  The SSPCA can give those animals care, hope and a new life.

We pay our £1 a week, and my kids love that we can afford to do something little to help.

There are lots of other ways to help.

  • Volunteering
  • Fundraising (packs available)
  • Wedding Favours
  • Collection Boxes
  • Recycle
  • Petplan
  • Donate Food
  • Join or Donate
  • Sponsor a Space

If you can help, please do, even if it’s just to do your own post for it.

 

 

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Kids, Money, Boredom and Avarice

While we were on holiday this year to Grannies Heilan Hame, it was obvious that lots of kids run to and from the holiday park shop, brandishing the third or fourth £5 or £10 item of the night.  Wheedling loudly, some slurring parents giggle at the kids who are coshing the have-nots over the head with their new-found lighty up things.

The giggling turns to annoyance as they hand over fivers and tenners a time for their kids to pop off and visit the arcades downstairs.   I usually sit as far away from them as I can, scattered among the other disbelieving parents and wonder at how they can give each child £10 – £20 and often much more to spend each and every day they are on holiday.  They fritter it away in arcade machines or spend on rubbish from the holiday park shops.   This year, balloon machines seemed to be the most popular toy of choice.

Given how much my kids struggle, I’m quite pleased with how they take not being so flush with money as many of the other kids.   Mine usually grumble, but they live with it and accept reasonably well that their friends often have a never-ending supply of tenners in their young pockets.

I give mine £2.50 a day each to spend on what they want most days, and they are often happy enough with that.  I top up for a holiday park junk purchase on the last night and they seem to accept that well and I think what I give them is a lot to give kids on holiday.   One of mine gets more annoyed than the others about how much (or little as he sees it) they get, but being on holiday helps and they get on with enjoying it as best they can.

I just don’t know how some families do it.  Do they just not eat at home so that their kids have what I think is a fortune a week to spend on junk? I know it’s easier with one child than with multiples, but even so, it’s still a lot of money per child.

I know that taking kids out for a day is expensive, and that even a cinema trip would set us back a small fortune even if I do take drinks and sweets with us, but I’d never do that every day.  Some of my kids friends are out EVERY day of the school holidays and not to cheap or free things either.

What I can never work out is when these kids ever learn to be bored.   If they don’t learn to be bored, how are they going to amuse themselves from boredom when it’s really needed?  Perhaps having special needs makes it more important that kids learn to cope with being bored, but all I see is a large part of a whole new generation that may end up as whole life credit junkies.

I made sure my kids were bored for part of our holiday, and they relieved it by digging holes in the sand and watching them fill up again when the tide came in.

Lets bring on more boredom and free activities, and get our kids doing more of the 50 things for free, it’s good for them.

Some of the 50 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU’RE 11 ¾ from the National Trust we did again. 

5. Skim a stone.
6. Hunt for treasure on the beach.
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool

Our things.

  1. Digging a huge hole in the sand and letting the sea fill it in.
  2. Play football on the beach.
  3. Talk to a sheep.

 

 

 

 

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My Easter Week Holiday Camp Experience

Grannies Heilan Hame from Parkdean, near Dornoch, Scotland

Grannies Decking View 2

With images of gorgeous beaches, sunshine and fun holidays, Parkdeans Grannies Heilan Hame boasts an entertainment schedule that will keep the kids amused and happy for days on end.  We’ve been here before and I have mixed feelings about it, but for the sake of the kids, I psych myself up once a year or so for my personal hell which is the holiday camp.

In previous visits, we’ve either been in cheapie accommodation or taken our own van.  At this time of year, it’s usually been freeze in April in a cheap van, or keep warm in our own van but sacrifice on space.

This year, we splashed out.  Our own caravan hasn’t been dewinterised yet and I refused to go in the cheap freezing accommodation that we’ve experienced before.  It was miserable being cold for a whole week.  The cheaper caravans say gas fire in lounge and heaters in bedrooms, but in reality, if it’s snowing and cold, they don’t even take the edge off in the bedrooms.   Three years ago we went to Dornoch and were lucky enough to get the last heater in a hardware shop to top up the heat (it was really bad snow in April that year).  We didn’t go up for the next year.

I was a little worried as we popped off to stay in the most expensive caravan Parkdean were renting out.

The lounge was comfortable and the kitchen was about the size of the one in our last house, so that was all good.

Grannies Caravan 1

Grannies Caravan 2

On first impressions, I sighed a relief at the central heating in the van, the huge fridge freezer, the lovely clean smelling beds, sheets and pillows, a decking with patio and chairs and an unforgettable sea view.  Actually, it was more than a sea view as we were literally just a few feet away from the breaking waves when the tide was in.

Grannies Heilan Hame 3

Grannies Beach

When the tide was coming in, the sea was very close indeed.  Literally about 20 feet from the decking.

Grannies Beach Tide Coming In

Was the accommodation worth it?

To me, it was. I spent quite a while just watching the waves, the sea and I’d forgotten how much I used to take a sea view for granted when I was growing up.  Our first night was windy and snowy and I loved watching it over the waves while nice and toasty in the van. I’d have to say the view was my favourite thing of the whole week.  I grew up next to the sea and spent a fair while offshore, so the noise of the sea was calming and aided sleep for me, but it kept everyone else awake as they’d never experienced the roar.

Grannies Heilan Hame 1

The kids liked the arcades and I managed to avoid going to the entertainment for a few nights and just curled up in front of the view with a hot drink and my kindle app for company. That’s my idea of bliss.

Middler loved the Sid and Lizzie kids entertainment, but he seemed to be much more aware of the size difference between himself and the little ones bopping away on the dance floor. He wanted to join in with the little ones as that’s where he is emotionally but his growing awareness of his difference is becoming more obvious.   The evenings are what evenings are in entertainment centres.  A bit of singing, some wobbly sozzled folks, a bit of kids shows and some disco stuff in between visits to the arcade.  It’s not my cup of tea, but the kids love it.

The kids did enjoy running about and the arcades easily swallow more change in an evening than most people earn in a month, so they had to be rationed as an activity.

Being right on the beach, middler could potter among the rocks in front of us when the tide was out and be in complete safety.

We could watch him from the van and shout if he got too close to the water.  It was perfect.  He was a little overwhelmed with going down the steps on his own, and was back at the van every 5 – 10 minutes to make sure we were still watching him.

Littlest and elder spent much time playing footie at the goals behind the sales caravans and made friends with kids from Embo who walked through to use the park.

Eldest met a girl from his year at school and arranged a date for the first week home.  How they grow up so quickly I have no idea, but it didn’t stop him helping his brother and digging for hours in the sand.

We didn’t eat in the entertainment centre as we made food in the caravan most of the time unless we were out and about.   We did use the fast food place once, but it wasn’t terribly good.   I think we suffered on the eating out score this week, but the restaurant we visited in Ullapool more than made up for it as that was excellent.

I didn’t like the swimming pool last year as it was filthy (old photos on Instagram if anyone wants to see those) so we didn’t venture in this time round.  There were a fair few improvements to the bar and the entertainment centre looked in much better condition than it was last year.  There were some more things in the kids play area and the space for kids to play in around the vans and at the park and beaches knocks the socks off the space they have to run around in on the Nairn site.

The arrival sheet said that beds would be made up on arrival as a new service, but it wasn’t done.  I didn’t read that until after I had made the bedding up, so it was no bother really as I wasn’t aware they should have  been done.

The view and the placement of the van this year really made it worthwhile for me.  I’d have been happy to be there without the entertainment centre, but it did come at a hefty price of £499 for the week to get a caravan with double grazing, central heating and a great view.

Would I go back – maybe not next year as I’d like to do more of the West of Scotland next April, but yes, I would.  I’ve been spoiled view wise this time round.