Category: Family

For the first time in 19 years, the cup came to Aberdeen Football Club.  I remember the last time our local team won it and I took my kids down to see the parade this time round.

It started here: the win against Inverness Caley Thistle at Celtic Park where the sheep won 4:2 on pens.

Forty thousand fans made the trip to Celtic Park, and although we couldn’t manage the match, we all watched it on the telly, and breathed in as it went to extra time and then penalties.  Inverness played a cracking defensive game and it was touch and go all the way through.

Winning on pens didn’t matter, as we brought the cup home.   The kids have supported the Dons all through the last decade of losing streaks and it was lovely to see something positive and share in a winning club while they are still kids.

Well done the Dons.  We went down to the cup parade today.  Sadly the sun was in our eyes and it was difficult to get pictures, but you get the idea.  There was lots of cheering, clapping and singing going on as the bus set off on its way.  We were at the start, but on Union Street it sounded like a footie match in progress.

Fabulous…..It’s a memory the kids will never forget…

“I’m going round to Jacks to play tonight,” my eldest enthuses before school.  I listen and then tell him I’ll still pick him up at the usual time after school and if he is still going over to play, I’ll drop him off.

“We’re not allowed to play anymore,” comes the sad face when I picked him up from school.

“Why, what’s happened?”

“Well, you know mum, he’s grounded and has to do chores.”

“Aww, that’s a shame, what happened?”

While secretly glad I didn’t just assume he would be going off to play at Jacks and went to make sure, I was a little gobsmacked and slightly shocked at the response.

“He got pushed over on the hill at school, and his clothes are muddy so he’s got to do chores for going home dirty.”

Whether that is true or not is neither here nor there, but the child believes he’s being punished for coming home mucky.

I really can’t understand the mentality of any parent who grudges their kids a little muck here and there.  Ok, it might be a bit boring and cumbersome to have to wash clothes and yes, it might be a bit annoying if you were heading out and about, but this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of kids being punished for coming home with some dirt on them.

Before someone says it, I can understand where someone is so skint that the price of hot water is a challenge, but come on, for most of us, it isn’t really an issue.

For the kids I am talking about, they are mostly middle class comfortably off families with often several holidays a year and gourmet fast food outlets on speed dial, so it’s not as if they can’t afford a cycle in the washing machine or they have to slave over a sink with a washing board and a bar of soap.

I don’t understand the “must be clean at all costs” school of parenting and I suspect I never will.

Kids should be allowed to get dirty, mucky, muddy and downright filthy with black gunge under fingernails.  Those are memories they’ll remember and a quick soak in a tub washes it all away.

Why are so many parents against their kids getting mucky if paying for electricity and hot water to wash the clothes isn’t a problem?

Don’t they understand that for most kids, getting mucky means they have usually had fun?

I guess I’ll never understand it.

As a family, we spent an absolute fortune on swimming lessons when my kids were younger.  I found it hard to see any actual difference in their ability to swim after a couple of dozen lessons.

I’m not sure if it was the way they were taught that my children found difficult to follow, or whether they were just not interested, but we gave up and just went swimming ourselves for years.  Swimming aids are great for boosting confidence in the water and we used a few different options from floats to noodles to get their confidence in the water.

When were on holiday and in Aberdeenshire, we decided to book eldest and littlest in for intensive swimming lessons.  Middler is at special school and they have swimming lessons weekly there, so it seemed pointless to expose him to more lessons that he was going to find difficult to follow.  My brief to the staff was that I didn’t care if my kids could swim “properly.”  I just wanted them to be able to keep their heads above water and be able to breathe if they landed out of their depth in a pool, river or anywhere else with some water they could land in.

It took a while, but by the end of the first week, they were managing to hold their heads up and take a breath which was all I really wanted to be able to happen.    It’s all very well being able to swim underwater, but it isn’t any use if they can’t breathe.

My kids go through swimming googles like nobodys business.  They have a bad habit of leaving them lying in changing rooms or forgetting to pick them up when they leave the pool.  It’s probably just as well there is a great range of fun kids swimming goggles from Zoggs so we can just go have some more.  I’ve learned to always keep a spare pair or two in our swimming bags, but for some reason, we always seem to run out of them very quickly.

This is a sponsored post.

Sunburn hurts. A lot.

We’re in France and on day 2 it was raining and very very cloudy.

The boys all took to the pool with gusto and we never thought about topping up the suncream. The result was that we were all slowly being roasted through the clouds.

Two of the kids sunburn abated with a day out of the sun, but for eldest, it was a trip to the local doctor who spoke no English at all. We did manage to communicate with some difficulty and he has second degree sunburn on his shoulders.

We used natural yoghurt on the first night as after sun just wasn’t doing anything for it.

That got me thinking about the different degrees of sunburn and how they should be treated differently. I am also a bit more sensible and I am making sure the kids have a sunscreen top up every hour.

Sunburn happens when the skin is burned from ultra violet light (UV). ANY redness is sunburn and it IS damaging our skin.

Even with creams and lotions, skin can still be burned so take care. Clothes do provide a good barrier and shut out the rays.

OK – first aid for sunburn.

If someone has passed out, is semi- conscious, or is not making sense, seems to have lost control over their body or is having difficulty breathing with any level of sunburn – call the emergency services. That is sun poisoning.

FIRST DEGREE SUNBURN

This is what we see most. Patient is conscious, skin goes red and it’s quite easy to see on eldest and myself as we both have very fair skin. The skin may turn pink to bright red and is sore.

All burns are dehydrating so give plenty water. After sun lotions or moisturisers can be applied to the skin to keep it moist and provide relief from the pain.

Small blisters may appear and it is a good idea to see a doctor if they do.

The burn will heal, possibly in a few days. Skin may flake and peel, but resist the temptation to pick it off as it might take off healthy skin around it.

SECOND DEGREE BURNS

The skin is so burned that it tries to protect itself with noticeable blisters.

Don’t put ice on it as it will make things worse.

With eldest, these yellow orange blisters appeared almost 2 full days AFTER the day he was exposed to the clouds. He stayed inside for the first day afterwards as we thought he just had regular sunburn. Thank goodness he wasn’t outside the say after the burn.

Never open or pop the blisters. They may weep, but leave them alone.

Keep the sunburned person out of the sun and get a doctors opinion of the blisters, even if they don’t have the symptoms of sun poisoning. They will need prescription cream to put on the burns. Don’t wrap up the blistered skin as it will stick to anything it meets.

Wear cotton white t-shirts for the next week and stay out of swimming pools or the sea.

If the burn covers more than a third of their body, even without signs of sun poisoning, get them to hospital or call emergency services.

THIRD DEGREE SUNBURN

This is dangerous. The body cannot cope with the damage to cells.

Skin may look dried and cracked. The person will most likely be unconscious and in danger. If they are conscious, they may not feel the pain due to nerve damage.

Call emergency services immediately.

Don’t move them, but get shade over them. Sprinkle cool water (no ice) over the skin if you can.

Disclaimer: this article is for information only. I am not a trained medical professional. If in doubt, always consult your GP or doctor for advice.