Silent Sunday 05/07/11
Category: Family
Operation Overtime
It’s over. The operation is done. I am home, and not able to eat and drink much is doing wonders for the size of my backside (not fast enough though). The nose op is past, and I am looking forward to being able to breathe through both nostrils properly again. A bone spur removed, the septoplasty done, debris from past damage cleared out, and sinus flush.
I could really have been done without the surgeon coming to see me 15 minutes before the op to tell me that just under 1 in 100 of these ops go wrong, and the consequences are devastating, ie brain damage. Now that sent me into total overdrive, my face went puce, and I could feel the flush raise to my ears. I nearly bottled the op there and then, but I suspected the odds were not quite what they should have been. If I had really thought the odds were 1 in 100, I would have definitely, got up, changed out of my gown and headed for the nearest door as fast as I could run.
I pretended not to hear, went down to theatre, the surgeon apologised for causing me last-minute stress, and offered me laughing gas to get the needle in the back of my hand, which I pathetically and gratefully accepted.
Home after the op on the day, I felt fine. I watched a film, chilled out and rested. They must have given me some gooooood pain relief. Day 2 and I was floored. The failure of operation germ avoidance kicked in and added a cold with sore ears to the mix of sore nose, oozing gunge, and throat and voice gone.
The headache is awful, and the hospital don’t send you home with enough saline sniff packs, syringes to do it with, or nose bandage things, as believe me, there is a LOT of gunge comes out.
The nurse in the ward was lovely, and my kids have been strangely behaving reasonably well. I have a purple nose, only one slightly black eye, and I think I am doing not too badly.
Image: Michelle Meiklejohn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I would have to say though, that I once had a big open laparotomy (where they split open your belly) and that was much more pleasant in the aftermath than this is. Off to drown headache with water and prescribed drugs.
Yours Wimpishly Pathetically
Scottish Mum
Operation Germ Avoidance
I had arranged a twitter meet up with my first ever real life tweeter for last week. When that was cancelled, I decided that avoiding all crowds between then and this coming week would be sensible. I decided not to go to kids club, football, or any public places where breathing in germs was more likely.
Just to make matters worse, on Friday, middle son decided to wake up with a cold. In typical “manflu” fashion, he is walking around the house, and delving into everything and anything in his annoyance at feeling slightly out of sorts. Trying to keep my distance from him is an operation of gargantuan proportions. I keep asking him to sit across the room from me, but not having school (long story), he is used to being beside me all the time, and coming over to talk to me. He has a habit of talking right up at my face. I’m putting my hand across my face, and he thinks it’s hugely funny.
At each sneeze, I send him through to wash his hands and then chase him around the house and wipe the door handles with dettol wipes. My paranoia has reached epic proportions and I am tempted to go out and buy one of those non-helpful face masks that cover your nose and mouth.
At the supper table last night, lovely “manflu” child decided to drink out of my glass when my back was turned getting seconds for my youngest. I felt hugely relieved, and very smug that I spotted his deadly germ spreading efforts, and didn’t then go and finish my drink while ingesting the remnants of his germ filled saliva.
Why am i in operation germ avoidance?
Well, this is my second attempt to have the surgery that has been scheduled. I got a bad cold at the last attempt, and had to cancel the day before the op. The op is actually no big deal. I seemingly had a broken nose, or a big thump on it when I was young, and the damage inside my nose has meant that the nostril is closing up over time. I also have really bad sinus problems, so while they are in repairing the damage, I will be getting a sinus flush out.
I took it in my stride when I was told I was going to be operated on at first, and didn’t think much about it – UNTIL – the nurse told me it was a 2.5 – 3 hour operation. For some reason, I was expecting just a quick half hour and then back out and on with my day. I just about fell off my seat in the shock. Having an op on your face that is going to last 2.5 – 3 hours has turned me into a quaking germ avoiding wimp.
I’m dreading beginning the signs of cold, infection, flu, or anything else that might cancel the op this time round, as that means, they will either think that I am deliberately cancelling at short notice, and give up on me, or I have to do the lead up time all over again.
Which is why I have to post this, as I have just finished gargling and scrubbing like mad after my lovely son decided to come right up to my face to tell me something and delivered the biggest, most snot and germ throwing sneeze you can ever imagine right into my face.
Operation germ avoidance is a #fail.
School Trips and Gadgets – Opinions Please??
I am all for school trips and I think they are good for children, but there are times when I wonder if schools really have lost the plot. They seem to think that pupils’ parents have a never ending pot of money to spend out.
I don’t mind the triple whammy of:
- cinema outings & shows
- museum and event trips
- sun cream
- uniform
- school shoes
- gym shoes
- gym kit
- book fairs (well I do, but that’s another story, more aimed at the people who organise and man the stalls)
- toy fairs (I might talk about that this week as well since it is relevant tomorrow)
- xmas present shelves
- xmas cards (sending a pack home your child has drawn and pretty much holding a gun to your head to buy them)
- dinner lady white tickets you have to pay for, even if you gave your child a packed lunch that day.
I can forgive almost all of those as ideas that might be appropriate, if they were dealt with slight modifications to how some of them are done at the moment.
My oldest was away with the school for 1 night in April. It cost £85 and they had to be given £15 spending money.
A couple of months later, they want another £300 for him to go for a 5 night residential sports outing. On top of that, there will be spending money and lots of other clothes etc.
I can take my whole family away in the caravan for a fortnight for that price. I have said no, that he is not going on the trip. This now makes my son the odd one out, as it seems that out of a year of 70 odd primary children, he is the only one not going. To top that off, he has also been given £5.00 to take home to start a car wash / baking initiative to help grow that fiver to take a little of the cost down for those who are going. He has been included in it, even though he is not going. He is asking the teacher if he is going to be allowed to keep anything above the £5 he earns since he is not going.
I am immensely proud of my boy for how he has taken not going away with his class. My reasons are not purely monetary, as on the last trip away for the night, they put with two boys who are much more streetwise. They proceeded to describe 18 horror films in-depth and I guess you can get the picture, along with the not doing anything your parents say as it’s “your life”. He came home after one night away and it took us all about a month to recover and reset the boundaries. I am not ready to go through that again.
Then comes the news that the kids are all going to be issued IPad 2’s next year, which all parents will have to pay for on a monthly subscription. Now understand, that all the kids have been told they are going to get these things, and nobody has asked the parents if they are willing to pay for it. I have two children at that school, so that will be about £25 – 30 month they want me to pay (and have told my kids they will get). My boys are coming home more and more excited at when it is all going to happen, and all I know is that I am going to be expected to find about £360 a year for something we hadn’t planned for.
I have decided that the ipad2 are more important long-term, given the way the school plans using them than one week of activities. I am budgeting for affording that, and our trips away which we need as a family with high needs children.
Logically I do know it is the right decision for us as a family, but why, oh why, do I feel so guilty for not letting him go on that trip?
What age is appropriate for pierced ears ?
Many of you won’t have come across this issue yet. It is one that has many parents from all walks of life debating on the rights and wrongs, or the reasons for and against.
I am against and I also have pierced ears.
So why, oh why did I agree to boyo here getting an ear pierced when he was 10 years old ?
Lets look at it this way. Boyo spends a lot of his life missing out on things that he should be able to take part in as he has a brother with a disability. He spends his life defending his brother on one hand, while also feeling resentful and upset at what he misses out on.
He really, really wanted his ear pierced, and because I say no to so many things that he asks to do, I had to think hard. I skirted around the subject for a couple of weeks, saying neither yes, or no. I exaggerated how painful it was to get done and regaled him of tales of festering, pain and misery. One day I looked at his face, animated as it was while he was asking for this one thing from me. I realised that it is not an issue at all. This was one thing that I could say yes to, and make him happy.
Some people may not like it, and I certainly don’t. It did however give him a massive boost to his confidence and his face has beamed with pride wearing his ear-ring since the day it was done. For his confidence, it was worth every second of disapproving looks that come our way. If he needs to, he can take it out for jobs and interviews as he grows older, and he may decide on his own to remove it.
He knows it will be the one ear-ring and I am not going to agree to multiple piercings. Having the ear done has certainly done away with any talk of future piercings in other bodily places.
Was it the right thing to do? Yes it was. It’s a non-issue.
A twitter pal said to me that she couldn’t argue with her daughters request for pierced ears with just the reason that mum didn”t like it. I agree with that. There are soo many other battles that need to be won in the parenting department, that are actually important.
Then it comes down to the appropriate age.
- I am glad the issue didn’t come up pre 10.
- I am glad my other two don’t want an ear pierced.
- I am glad I don’t face the girl child debate for both ears done pre-school.
I will never forget my mums words as I grew up pleading for my ears to be pierced.
“If you were meant to have holes in your body, then you’d have been born with them.”
Well lets see. If we were meant to wear make up. If we were meant to dye our hair. If we were meant to wear high heels. If we were meant to be free of underarm hair. If we were meant to have a tan. Where does it start and where does it stop?
What do you think? Where do you sit on the piercing debate?
I certainly don’t know what the “right” age to have a piercing is. I don’t think there is one.
Silent Sunday 08/05/11
Another Big Idea – Fruit and Veg – Grow Yer Ain
I really have no idea what came over me, but I have decided to have a go at growing a few bits and bobs. It all started out in Sainsburys with their little tubs for childen to grow strawberries and tomatoes. They’re cute, they’re sweet, and after a little humming and heying, I went for it. The kids were actually quite excited about it all and with serious faces, they all took their turn, and we now have some little seeds in pots waiting to grow before I put them outside.
My boys really did enjoy doing these. Putting in the little pellets, and seeing them grow to fill the pots as they added the water was surprising. I really didn’t think that they would enjoy it at their age. The sticks were duly written on with the date and the type of seed on it. I am just hoping that they are as keen to keep looking after the plants once they begin to come through.
The only problem for me is, that once I start getting into things, I tend to take them to completely over the top levels, so I have been out shopping for more. First in line was a few seeds to add to a new propagator. Sweetcorn, melon, and peas have made their way to teensy little pots that we are watering and checking by the hour for signs of growth.
Whats next for my boys and I? More plantlings, that’s for sure. We had lots of fun sorting, picking and watering the seeds. They are interested in them because they feel responsible for starting them off.
Wish us luck…….
That some of the seeds grow ……………
Potty Training – What do I wish I had known?
Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
How many parents have read Gina Ford, or other parenting bibles, and instantly felt their hearts sinking in despair at what an awful mother / father they are?
Looking back on it, what do I wish I had known about potty training?? NADA, NOWT, NOTHING I wish I had never bought a parenting book. I wish I had never listened to all the “I potty trained my daughter at 9 months, look how clever we are na na na na na brigade, as they look down their expensively designed sunglasses, and flutter their pretend real lashes.”
What do the “experts” know about baby development anyway?
The majority of the ones who tried to give me advice on my children were childless, or had children without special needs, and their experience was theoretical, or based on their babysitting skills with relatives and friends children. I really didn’t know ANY other mums back then.
I look back and wonder why I listened to “the experts”. I wonder why I felt so inadequate when I couldn’t get my children to fit into these moulds that society was telling me that they should have slotted into. I couldn’t understand why my round pegs didn’t fit into the neat square boxes that made up the whole of the “right” way to parent a child, and ensure they were raised to be happy and healthy.
My biggest bugbear was the toilet training lark. No1 was a blur. He was potty training while I was learning to juggle two others in nappies and he had to come off them for my sanity. I have no idea how long it took to do, and that was pre parental bible bowing and scraping, but I don’t remember it being that long.
Being a challenge to change nappies so often, I bought several parental tomes. I decided to take their advice and I began potty training N02 when he turned 18 months. Much ado with praise, bribery, silly high pitched voices, mucho clapping and clever boying.
I would sit No2 on the potty, and try to change the nappy of No3. Before I knew it, No2 would be running along the corridor, weeing on the way. No3 would then giggle and whip off his happy to join in. I’d catch No2 and sit him back down, he would then get back up, put him back, up he got. Yo-yo city. It was the single most stressful thing I remember as a parent. To all of you who potty trained in a few weeks, and think you have been dealt a hard blow, get over yourselves – it is your child who was ready.
No3 I was fit for. I couldn’t face the potty training so “drum roll please,” I just didn’t bother, AT ALL I put it off, and off, and off, and off. It was getting dangerously close to the time when he should have been starting nursery, and I was beginning to get to the slightly panicky stage that he might not get to go, but I needn’t have worried.
At the age of nearly 3, he duly saw a friends child go to the toilet, and he decided he would never wear a nappy again. He didn’t use a potty, and went straight to a toilet. It was so easy, I could write a book on potty training.
What do I say to the rule books?
GO AWAY
You’re a waste of time and money, and people could be playing with their children rather than reading up on whether they might or might not be doing things the “right” way.
Silent Sunday 24/4/11
Silent Sunday 17/4/11
Fridge Contents
Thanks to @melaina25 for tagging me. I am loving rooting through other peoples fridges.
Looking at the contents of my fridge is just that little bit scary at the moment. Oh yes, we have 6 people who live here (does that excuse it?).
OK, listing the contents really scares me. Here goes:
In the fridge Door
2 x 4 pints semi skimmed milk, carton pure orange juice, bottle of pear sparkling juice, carton tesco long life double cream, 2 x cartons lactose free milk, bottle calpol, bottle chesty cough medicine, bottle of Benadryl, Tesco lighter than light mayonnaise and eggs.
In the main body of the fridge
Elmlee cream, Hellmans mayonnaise, Very lazy caremalised red onions, garlic puree, carton tomato passata, sachet black bean sauce, carton lactose free milk, jar beetroot, Aero Bubble Deserts (sorry @kateab), 3 x packs lactose free cheese, cheese slices, mild cheddar cheese, cheese strings, pack puff pastry, kids smarties chocolate egg (honestly), cherry tomatoes, strawberries, wafer thin chicken, wafer thin ham, coleslaw, yoghurts, 4 packs tesco brussels light pate, 3 x dairy lee cheese spread tubs, lurpack butter, beef dripping, sausage rolls, pork pies, sticky barbeque ribs, mini savoury eggs, orange capri suns, remains of yesterdays sausage casserole, bottle of water, tub of cauliflower and irish cheddar soup, stork and tesco soft spread for baking, 30 eggs, 2 x soda stream bottles chilling, beef tomatoes, 2 x melons and a few apples.
I am tagging @stephc007 @plasticrosaries @mrs_moog @mummylion
I’ve Been Tagged – Find Out More About Me…
I thought I had missed the mass tagging, although I had quite enjoyed reading some.
The Q&A tag came from @nickie72 and her blog Typecast
It started one day when Mrs Lister, set out to find out about her fellow bloggers, using the same format as is used in the Guardian Q&A when they interview celebs.
You want to know more about me – here goes……
———————————–
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
My mum. She battled cancer, thyroid disease, Type 1 Diabetes, Arthritis and much much more – and still comes up smiling at 76.
When were you happiest?
When I was a student. I remember the dreams, the goals, the excitement, the socialising, the life. Ahhh, memories !!!!!!!
What was your most embarrassing moment?
When I was in the chemist with my three kids, a dad was there with his two kids. At the counter, was a woman asking for eye drops. The chemist proceeds to tell her that it is very infectious. The dad standing with his kids takes a step backwards and opens his eyes wide. I look over at him and laugh at the reaction, but unfortunately catch his eye. He shrinks back even more in horror, and I realise that instead of realising I was laughing at his horror of “very infectious”, he thinks I am flirting with him. I am mortified in the way that only women over 40 can be as he is obviously offended by it.
Aside from property, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?
Probably our home from home on four wheels. I do love the peg.
What is your most treasured possession?
I have my grandmothers engagement ring, and my mothers photographs.. I love those.
Where would you like to live?
Somewhere warmer than Scotland. Anywhere would do.
What’s your favourite smell?
My kids after a bath. Next would be fresh strawberries and ground coffee.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Isla Fischer
What is your favourite book?
I have dozens of favourites. It is soo hard to choose for this one. I loved the Master and Commander film and the whole series of books by Patrick O’Brien about life on the ocean waves. I read them ALL. I bet that surprised you all. Next would be the Hornblower novels.
What is your most unappealing habit?
Eating too much and tweeting.
What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
I have a maids outfit that I put together with some old clothes and the underskirt of my wedding dress. It does a treat, and has been borrowed several times by other people.
What is your earliest memory?
My earliest memory sadly is one of being sent to my room for going to the local shop and saying I wanted an ice lolly and that my mother would pay for it later. All my friends had money for one, and we were skint. I got home with it, caught by mother and was sent to my bed with ice lolly in hand and had to eat it or it would have melted across the floor. I wish it was a nice one, but there you to. I very rarely got into trouble, so that was obviously a biggie for me.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Writing drivel that I hope some people might like.
What do you owe your parents?
To my father, thank you for the sperm donation. To my mother, thank you for everything else. You rock.
To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?
To my grandparents for not spending enough time with them when they were alive.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My kids and my animals.
What does love feel like?
Responsibility, guilt, wishes, protection, care and time.
What was the best kiss of your life?
My first kiss, in my classroom aged 5. I still remember feeling his lips on my cheek lol.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Stop fighting – 3 boys *saynomore*
That’ll be shining bright – whenever any of my brood tells me a porkie.
Okay dokey – though I am working hard on phasing this one out.
What is the worst job you’ve done?
Night shift at photo factory, while working day shift in bookies when I was at college. I was perma exhausted, and it was soo boring that I could hardly keep my eyes open. Many people would have ended up with negatives cut halfway across the picture frame as I was too tired to stop the cutters in time when it misaligned. If that was your treasured photos *sorry*.
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
The age I had kids. But then I wouldn’t have the ones I have, so moot point.
What is the closest you’ve come to death?
I once spun off a road in my car, ended upside down in a field with a post skewering the passenger seat. Luckily I didn’t have a passenger, and I walked away with only the dunt from undoing my seatbelt when I was upside down and not realising.
Another time, helicopter I was travelling in lost power miles from anywhere in middle of north sea in choppy weather – we dropped from the air and it was a frightening few seconds before the pilot restarted the engines again.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Being a mum. It was a hard road.
When did you last cry, and why?
After an operation. It hurt.
How do you relax?
Twitter, walking the dog, writing, reading.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Not being a food addict.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
I was exceptionally lucky to be born in a developed country with a caring mother.
I am tagging
@netcurtains who likes a meme
@123andbreathe because she wants to
@meetjosmith for being a good sport and
@the_moiderer for living within an hours drive
Quick, creamy, and packed with zing this is my kind of lunch Thanks for the easy, nourishing recipe, Scottish Mum.
I just googled this saying and this thread came up I'm neither Scottish or a mum, I'm a Geordie and…
As an 88 year old American, after reading the article(s) and all of the comments, I say "nothing is now…