My Mini Monsters Blog

Not me of course!

A friend of mine has just announced she is having twins and I am thrilled and jealous at the same time.  I would  of loved twins,  I did make this statement when pregnant with my youngest and I think my Mother passed out!  I appreciate it must be really hard work and a routine with two babies must be even more vital.

But the hard work must be more than worth it (as it is with one baby), to watch the bond between your two babies must be fascinating.  Surely there is no way your other half can pretend to sleep through the sound of two crying babies is there?

We do have twin offers on our website to help with the financial burden as well as teaming up with Tamba (twins and multiple birth association) and offering exclusive discounts to their members.

Add yourself as a fan on our Facebook page and be entered in our competition for a chance to win your very own Vincent Bear.

Be quick competition closes on Sunday!

1. you can sing all the words to the Lazy Town theme tune

2. when you can have a twenty minute conversation about poo!

3. going to the supermarket on your own, is like a night out

4. when a good lie in is getting up at 6.30am

5. you go to the toilet with the door open

6. you find yourself saying the same things your Mum used to say to you!

7. your handbag no longer carries around lipsticks, brushes etc, but lego pieces       spare pants and the essential baby wipes.

8. Christmas Eve is more exciting than New Years Eve

9. the person that says no to you, counts their age in months

10.their smile melts your heart and makes all the squabbles of the day disappear.

Just a light hearted list of parenting moments, does anyone else have any?

Has anyone been watching? Fantastic show, I’m hooked, for those of you that haven’t watched it, its a must (as long as you are not too squeamish) Channel 4 Tuesday night 9pm and then repeated on +1 at 10pm.

Based in a maternity unit in Southampton Hospital and deals with all the emotions of labour and delivery. To quote from Channel 4 “One Born Every Minute is a ground-breaking and tender new TV series celebrating what it really feels like to become a parent, by taking a bustling maternity hospital and filling it with forty cameras. Filming from the reception desk to the neo-natal ward, from the operating theatre to the birthing pool, One Born Every Minute observes the dramatic, emotional and often funny moments that go hand in hand with bringing a new life into the world, from the perspective of the soon-to-be parents and family, as well as the hospital staff.”

After watching last weeks show was left thinking  the Mum who had her Son and useless and annoying Husband in the delivery suite with her must be mad or have the patience of a saint?

This weeks show was just as compelling,  what an amazing invention the epidural is.  A 20 year old was in the very early stages of labour and swearing, shouting, threating other half with violence etc and was only two cm’s dilated, bless! However, she was a different person as soon as the epidural went in, calm, relaxed, chatty.

After having three children myself, I can appreciate the pain she was in, but thought she overdid it a bit.  This may sound really hippyish (which I am not, shamelessly far too materialistic) but I think the more you fight the pain, the harder it is on you and your baby. My best tip for labour would be to stay as relaxed as possible and just think that every contraction is just another step closer to holding your baby.

Will definitely be watching next weeks show.

As you may know, My Mini Monsters are doing the BUPA Great Manchester Run on 16th May.  We’re raising money for Derian House who provide care and support for children and families with terminal illnesses. 

Today we (myself and Kate) are starting our training; eeeek!  We’re hitting the gym tonight with too much enthusiasm for a rainy Monday.  Our aim is to complete the 10k course in under 1 hour so we need to get our skates and hit the gym in preparation.

Over the following months we’ll be keeping you up to date on our progress and also letting you know how many times we’ve fallen over (that might just apply to me)!  If you’re training for the Manchester Run too we’d love to hear how your training is going!    

Check back later this week to see how we get on!

Caroline x

Pancake day or shrove tuesday is on the 16th February, we have published a guide to help you make perfect pancakes!

http://www.myminimonsters.co.uk/pancake%20guide.pdf

Simple and delicious I have found most kids love pancakes and let them have fun creating their own toppings.

We do go over the top in our house  and make a meal of pancakes, with both a savoury pancake as well as a sweet pancake!

Some of our favourite recipes for

Savoury Pancakes

• Chopped Ham and Grated Cheese
• Tuna and Sweetcorn
• Creamy Chicken
• Minced Beef

Sweet Pancakes

• Sugar & Lemon Juice
• Jam
• Golden Syrup
• Chocolate Spread with Banana
• Icecream with your favourite sauce topping
• Melted Marshmallows with Chocolate Sauce
• Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Does anybody have any other delicious or unusual pancake toppings ideas, we would leave to hear from you.

We have just launched a new competition,  just join as a fan on the My Mini Monsters Facebook Page before the 28th February and we will enter you in a competition for a chance to win the adorable Vincent Bear.

Please help, this one eared Bear needs a loving home!

New book by Californian Author Gever Tully, urges parents to help youngsters learn to judge risk and gain responsibility through experiments.  Some of the suggestions in the book include

• Stick two fingers together - Gives children a chance to understand what its like to live with a disability.
• Licking a nine volt battery - It causes a slight jolt introducing Children to the concepts of electric shocks.
• Putting CD  briefly in a microwave - Encourages children to think about how it works. A CD creates a spark and shows why metal should not be put in a microwave.

The author said “the book was a response to the trend of fear-based parenting, where parents stop their offspring from trying new things for fear they may get hurt”. He argues it is better to try something and fail, and so aid a child’s ‘creative development’ than to not try at all.

He continues “Let children practice climbing trees, and they will learn to do it safely. If you never let them climb a tree, they will eventually do it anyway, possibly in the most unsafe manner possible.’

Some of the ideas in the book I feel may just go a bit too far, for example how many A&E staff would recommend that Children stick their fingers together?  Yet I do understand his reasoning, our natural instinct is to protect our Children from potential dangers, but by doing this, we are not allowing them to explore.  This book has become an unexpected hit, does this mean we agree with his point of view?

US reality tv star Kourtney Kardashian is apparently annoyed that an American magazine has airbrushed a photo taken of her just a week after giving birth! The photo had apparently digitally reduced her waist to make it look like she had already lost her baby weight.

Having seen the original photo, I have to say she looks amazing anyway and really didn’t need to be digitally enhanced and it is soul destroying for the rest of us still carrying our baby weight, months (or even years) after giving birth. Good for her for announcing that she wasn’t pleased and having the original photo’s published, if every celeb was so honest, we may all feel a bit better about ourselves.

After all shouldn’t your thoughts be about looking after yourself and your baby just a week after giving birth, not the size of your waist?

Although I was never a big Joe McElderry fan (preferred Olly, to be honest) I did feel sorry for him last night at the National Television Awards,  it was a big night for him opening the awards. Yet along came his old friends, Jedward with their new friend Vanilla Ice to steal the limelight, poor Joe!  They apparently brought the house down with their remake of Under Pressure, and Vanilla has been quoted as saying he would consider taking them on tour with him. What was your opinion of their performance, good bad or indifferent?

Danni did look amazing last night, didn’t look like she was suffering from early pregnancy symptoms. What’s with Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole both patting Dani’s not yet existent pregnancy bump, maybe just a photo opportunity? Personally, this was a pet hate of mine whilst I was pregnant, just felt it was very invasive, I know there was a baby inside but its still my tummy.  Must admit can’t wait to see how she manages to elegantly dress her baby bump, I’m sure she will look gorgeous, might have the help of a couple of stylists though.  Think she may have to ditch those high heels in later pregnancy?

Simon apparently turned up with two ex girlfriends in tow, brave or just stupid?  Good luck to him with the charity single for Haiti, sure everyone will support.