The Great Childcare Debate...

One of my twitter chums, @flyingstartmag posted a link to this article in The Telegraph this morning, regarding the soaring costs of nursery fees.  It's really quite frightening.  Especially when you consider the points Liz at Living with Kids made in her post yesterday regarding one of the alternatives - Modern day nanny's (Mary Poppins would be horrified!)

As you'll know, if you're a regular visitor to my blog, I recently made the decision not to return to work after my maternity leave.  One of the biggest contributers to that decision, was of course, money.  Basically, if I had gone back, even part time (which was my original plan), I would have effectively been working purely to pay someone else to look after The Little Dude.  That's all my salary would have covered.  So what would have been the point?

My job was pretty standard office admin and I was reasonably well paid - better than minimum wage, but a long way off what's apparently the national average (£500+ a week - really?!)

Many people, on hearing my decision, responded with 'Wow, you're so lucky - can you really afford to do that?', and truthfully, no, I can't.  But equally, I couldn't afford to go back either!
And yes, it's tight, really tight. The Mr works his butt off for a pretty uninspiring salary, we get very little in the way of 'benefits', (but that's a whole 'nother post!), but we're managing.  And I'm looking at ways I can bring in some money from home, so we're a way off bread & water rations just yet!

So yes, I do feel lucky that I'm able to stay at home with my little monster, be the one who takes care of him everyday & witnesses all the little developments and milestones, but at the same time, it's not really luck at all - it's a leap of faith & a change in lifestyle.  Which is all part of having a baby, no?

And of couse, I know there are women who probably think I'm crazy for wanting to stay at home and be a 'little woman' & not get back to the workplace ASAP, and they are absolutely entitled to their opinions, and I wish them nothing but happiness, but so far as I'm concerned, I had a baby because I wanted one, and all that comes with it.  Not because I wanted to pay someone else thousands of pounds to look after him & only do it myself at weekends.*

Just as well really, I'd have to find a whole lot of change down the back of the sofa to foot a £20,000 nursery bill!


(*And for the record, I am actually thoroughly enjoying the role of domestic goddess thank you very much! My brain is not rotting, I am in the process of setting up my own business, have a very active social life and do plenty of bits & pieces to keep the ol' grey matter working, so please, no comments about me being a down trodden stereotype, thanks!)

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Hello again Blogger!

So, I'm feeling a little sheepish, but here's the thing - The Little Dude & I have moved back to blogger.  I know, I know, I am a huge pain in the bottom, and I am super duper sorry, I really am!
But Wordpress and I, well, we just never really clicked... we weren't compatible... we wanted different things... we grew apart.
I'm sorry I ever doubted you blogger - and look - you've even gone and made yourself all pretty for me - with your spanky new 'pages' for me to fill up with bits and pieces. Oh the fun we'll have! 

And as for you, dear readers, oh how I love you.  And I'm truly sorry to keep messing you around, and I love that you keep coming with me, but please, pretty please,  could I ask you, just one last time, to resubscribe to the new RSS feed, and/or become a follower again?  There are pretty new buttons over there>>> just begging to be clicked!! (And that twinkly cake over there <<< is just for YOU.)


And although I am still tweaking my pretty new blogger palace, I faithfully PROMISE, I won't move again.
Honest.
Love you guys :) ♥

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Nothing to see!

This is just for the benefit of the good people at Technorati- if that's not you, go read something more interesting!

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Awww. We've all been there.

The Little Monster & I nipped into Co-op earlier on our way back from the post office - to grab some milk, an apple for the Little Dude & certainly not a packet of Rich Tea Cream Fingers for me. Oh no.
(Foxes, need a biscuit connoisseur to do you a super blog review? I'm all over it.)

Anyway, we were stood behind a man, about the same age as my Mr, who I'd guess, on a good day, would be quite attractive. Today wasn't a good day though. His clothes were crumpled, his stubble was way past the point of being designer, he had major bedhead going on, and his blood-shot eyes were like two holes in a bewildered looking head.

Then I saw what he was paying for & it all became clear.

A pack of teeny tiny newborn nappies.

Awww.
I wanted to give him a big cuddle & tell him it gets better, but the Little Dude & his new found grab-things-from-comfort-of-stroller skills were working on toppling a precariously high tower of Digestives, so I decided against it.
Hopefully he'll get a few hours sleep at some point in the next few weeks :)

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Another mummy rite of passage down.

I hate being sick.
I am a terrible patient. I don't like to be nursed, or waited on, or mollycoddled.
I just want to bury myself in my duvet and hibernate till I feel better.

Turns out, you can't really do that when you're a mummy.

A horrible gloomy cloud of sicky bug has been hanging over The Little Dude household this weekend. All the Daddy's fault I hasten to add, he totally started it, then shared it with me, then the poor Little Dude got the dregs of it today. Thankfully, he seems to have got off lighter than we did - though we have gone through 6 changes of clothes thanks to various vomitting/runny nappy incidents. (sorry if that was TMI - you know we're all about keeping it real here at LWALD!) Have been sure to get lots of water down him, and he seems quite happy now - sleeping like an angel & no incidents since 7pm. All good. Touch wood.

I, on the other hand, am utterly exhausted.
Luckily (?!), my portion of the evil out-of-nowhere-virus 'manifested' itself Saturday night/early hours of Sunday morning while the little man was sleeping, but when he woke me up at 7am Sunday morning, holy crap I was an empty shell of a mummy. (Quite literally - that's how sick I was :P). But, the Daddy had to go into work, so it was all on me. And somehow, from somewhere, I found a shred or two of energy, and I got on with it.

Because that's what mummy's do, right?

Sure, we didn't do any dancing, or much chasing around on all fours, but we did read, we built blocks, and we chilled out & we cuddled & we watched maybe a little too much tv. And sure, I did breathe an almighty sigh of relief when the Daddy got home & my tired, achey, dizzy-headed, body got permission to sleeep, but while I had to, I pulled it off.

Which is lucky, because today of course, the little man suffered through his own portion of lurgy & needed his mummy on top form.
He's actually a pretty good patient though - a bit grouchy in places, and quite limpet-like for most of the day, but quite low maintenance really.
(other than the repeated top to toe changes. seriously, felt like I had a newborn all over again :P)

But ANYWAY. Safe to say, we have successfully seen off our first visit from the tummy bug, and we ain't scared of him. (But if he could leave us alone for a while anyway, that would be good.)

Oh and don't worry, The Daddy will be making it up to us for bringing a plague on our house. Oh yes!

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It's official...

...I am now a full time mummy.

Actually, it's been official since last month when I took a deep breath & told my boss I wasn't coming back after my maternity leave, but I haven't had the chance to blog about it until now.

I haven't been this particular combo of super excited & completely terrified since I found out I was pregnant in the first place. On one hand, it's incredibly liberating. It's such a relief to not have to worry about finding great childcare / missing out on important stuff / re-learning my job - and I *love* knowing that I can spend the next couple of years just enjoying watching the little dude grow up.
But on the other side of the coin, I have no job. (Well, not a paying one anyway!)
It's the first time since I was 15 that I haven't had a job.
Eeek.

Don't get me wrong, the plan is not to be a 'lady of leisure' (ha! does that apply to any mummy??), I am actually hoping to be classing myself as a WAHM, or even a Mumpreneur very soon (balls in the air... plans forming!), as we do need for me to be bringing in *some* de niro.
It's a bit of a leap of faith, but it feels right. And very exciting.

So, if anyone hears of great opportunities to work from a home, point me in the right direction if you please!
Every little helps! :D

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Caution: Severe Slush Ahead

No, no, we haven't had another dollop of snow, I'm talking slush as in mushy gushy ♥ lurrrve ♥

You see, I am doing a little multi-tasking & getting all romantic, because a. Claire, over at The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, is holding a Valentines Carnival (because she might act tough, but she's a big sappy girl really ;) ), and b. I haven't made time to play over at Josie's Writing workshop in ages, but this week, option 3 is: Write a post on the theme of ’soul mates’. Do you believe in them? Have you found or lost yours? Or are you still looking?

So, without further ado, may I present a bit fat chunk of sun shining, birds tweeting, song in your heart, lovey dovey goodness. (Don't panic, normal service will resume soon!)

♥..................................................................................................................................♥

Do I believe in Soul Mates? Oh yes. I met mine nearly 13 years ago, and have never looked back.

Was it love at first sight? Actually, yes, I think it was.

We met, completely by chance, at a night club. I had no idea he even existed before that night, and now I can’t imagine life without him.

That first night, we just clicked. We spent four hours sitting outside under a big full moon, just talking, and freaking each other out with the amount of spooky coincidences and similarities there were between us.

In the previous year, we’d been at 3 of the same parties, 2 of the same gigs and both been to see the same play, on the same night, yet never even bumped into each other. It was almost like fate had been trying to throw us together, but had a bit of a rubbish aim… until then.

I had never felt so instantly comfortable with anyone before, ever. Believe it or not, I'm generally pretty shy around new people. Not with him though. It was like catching up with an old friend I hadn't seen in years. It was just a perfect fit from the start.

We moved in together after two weeks. How mental is that?
Our friends & families thought we were loopy, but we didn’t care. It felt right.

And it was. It still is :)

We have been through so much in the last 12 and a bit years.
Good stuff, not so good stuff, and some frankly amazing stuff.
We’ve travelled, we’ve explored, we’ve had adventures.
We’ve strolled along the beach together at sunset, and we’ve toddled along it at sunrise, after many an epic night out. (Tenerife, 2002, in particular, was a bit special!)
We’ve been wild & reckless, rocked out at more gigs & shows and bars & clubs than I can count and got up to allsorts of mischief.
We’ve done scary grown up stuff neither of us had contemplated before – like mortgages & joint bank accounts!
We’ve supported one another through anything and everything.
We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, and shared everything in between.

He makes me laugh a lot, and he knows exactly how to make me smile when I'm down.
He gets me.
He’s the only person who really knows everything there is to know about me.
He is my rock, my voice of reason, my partner in crime, and my best friend.
He’s also pretty easy on the eye, but don’t tell him I said that ;)

And of course now, he’s my baby’s Daddy!
The Little Dude is by far our biggest adventure yet, and I can’t imagine a better person to be enjoying it with. We are loving every second.

Sure, there have been hard bits, and I have no doubt there will be more in the future, but so long as we take it on together, I know it’ll be fine.

Because I do believe in soul mates, and I feel incredibly lucky to have found mine.

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