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Raisie Bay

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

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Today’s blogtober prompt is Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Every now and then I do posts about the funny things my girls have said or done. I do them because they are great reminders for me and they do feel pretty indulgent. But I love my blog space to be full of memories and the funnier the better.

Here are a couple of new ones (They seem to be getting less now that they are older) and some of my favourites.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I went into the girls bedroom and it was a mess. Star always dresses in the bathroom, but Boo gets dressed in the bedroom and always leaves her dirty clothes there. The room was full of dirty clothes so I came downstairs and told Boo to go up and bring all her clothes down and put them in the washing basket.

Boo, being Boo, took me completely literally and brought down ALL of her clothes for the washing basket. Yes, all the dirty ones from the floor and the clean ones from her cupboard!!

Some of My Favourite Funnies

Quite topical at the moment, this is the time Boo who was just in Reception class, had been learning about November 5th and Remembrance Day. This is what she told me:

“Guy Fawkes tried to deaded the king by blewing him up, but he blew himself up instead, now we have to wear a Poppet to remember him”

We still tease her about this.

There was another time when Boo asked if French Fries were Italian food! After explaining that French people lived in France not Italy I then had to explain that French Fries are American. Life can be confusing sometimes.

Christmas Song

We still tease poor Star about this even though she was four years old at the time. I was playing with her around Christmas time and she said she wanted to sing a Christmas song. So I asked her which song she wanted to sing thinking she might have come up with Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer or Jingle Bells. But she replied with ‘the one with the Turkey and Custard Cream.’ We never worked out what she meant but we have made our own song up about the Turkey and custard cream that we still sing to her every Christmas.

turkey and custard cream

Trickle Treating

Recently on This Morning (UK Television program) a Birmingham based presenter was doing an item on Trick and Treating for Halloween, but she kept on saying Trickle Treating. The rest of the presenters were laughing at her but she really believed that it was Trickle Treating. I thought it was so funny because Boo has always called it Trickle Treating too. We are also from Birmingham. It must be the Birmingham accent.

girls just wanna have fun, two little girls dressed up for trick and treating in witches outfits.
Two young witches

So Sweet

Finally, I’ll leave you with a little story about Boo when she was just 3 years old. I had bought the girls a packet of sweets each at the shops and when we got home Star couldn’t find her packet. I asked Boo if she’d seen Star’s sweets and she replied innocently;

‘yes Mummy, I’ve seen them and now they are in my tummy.

At least she was honest 🙂

Thanks for reading, pop on over to the link up and see what everyone else has been writing about today.

#Blogtober20

My Sunday Snapshot and Ordinary Moments – Lucky

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hospital infusion of IVIG, lucky to have this treatment
IVIG

This weeks photo may be a little strange but I really wanted to express how lucky I feel to be able to have my treatment and how amazing our NHS is.

For the last two months I’ve had two five day treatments of IVIG at my local hospital. I have a rare, incurable condition. No-one really knows how to treat it, but I do feel as though I have a really good consultant who listens to me. And the help I get on the NHS has been invaluable, I really do feel lucky.

The Ordinary Moments – Lucky

My life has been anything but ordinary, but usually the not so ordinary stuff has happened to family members. Then five years ago (and 10 months) I was struck down over night with a really rare condition that left me in constant pain and unable to walk unaided. Even with aids I can’t walk very far. My life was turned upside down and everything changed.

I was first told that I would recover, but later given another diagnosis which was progressive. So I won’t recover but I will get worse. Its a lot to digest, but what can I do? I have done a lot of research, I speak with my consultant. There is still one drug that he won’t agree with me on, but he’s in charge of my medication. There is still a very risky treatment that I could try which may or may not work, but I doubt it would be approved and even if it was I don’t know if I would be willing to take the risk (or agree to not be with my family for months especially with no guarantee that I would be cured afterwards, or even survive.)

So, I consider myself very lucky, not because of my crippling illness but because of the care I receive. I get care from my family who look after me, I get care from my consultant who listens to me and I get the most lovely care from the hospital staff. Honestly, the staff in the day ward I attend are really, really lovely. They listen, they care, they help and they make me feel comfortable at all times.

So, I may spend four hours a day on a hospital ward being hooked up to the machine above. I may suffer massive headaches, severe tiredness and coldness while the treatment continues. And I may have another darn side affect of intense itching this time. But it does help stop the progression of my condition. I won’t be cured, but I’m lucky that I have a way of stopping me getting worse.

Three Link ups today:

The Ordinary Moments
#Blogtober20

Thinking of The Mental Health of Children

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It’s Mental Health Awareness Day and we often think of things we can do to improve our own mental health. I’m currently in a slump from my treatment, but I’m trying to stay upbeat and hoping it has worked. One thing that has worried me a lot more than my own health recently is the mental health of my Children.

Children’s Mental Health

It’s been a tough year for children. I thought mine were doing okay and to be honest they were during lock down. It seems kind of crazy but while everyone was locked in their own little bubbles we seemed to relax more as a family. The kids seemed to have no worries. We didn’t worry about the virus because we were not going out or seeing anyone. They didn’t mind being stuck at home, we missed our holiday, they didn’t really care. (I think it bothered me more, I love the sea side.) They did their own thing, enjoyed the pool in the garden on hot days, played games and chatted with their friends online. They were happy.

Then lock down finished and we attempted to go out. That’s when it became apparent that their little bubble at home was their safe place and they didn’t want to face the outside world. That’s not healthy. Even with the threat of a pandemic, we still have to carry on living in this world, which is a lot bigger than our house and garden.

Tackling Children’s Mental Health

I’ve a few years experience of how Children’s mental health can spiral out of control and I’m happy to say that things have improved. There is a lot more help now for children, where once they were not taken seriously.

Both my girls have taken advantage of Place 2 Be counselling which has been offered in their school.

1 in 8

children and young people have a diagnosable mental health problem, and many continue to have these problems into adulthood.

50%

of those with lifetime mental health problems first experience symptoms by the age of 14.

1 in 10 

boys aged 5-19 with a mental health condition are excluded in some form from school

Place2Be provides child counselling and mental health support in schools, including primary, secondary and all-through schools across England, Scotland and Wales.

Each school has a dedicated Place2Be mental health professional who is an integral part of the school team.

They work closely with pupils, families and staff to improve emotional wellbeing and provide mental health support for the whole school.

Books Helping Children with their Mental Health

My girls are difficult to talk to some times. So I try to help them in other ways. I have lovely friends who have written some great books for young people and without pushing them at my girls I’ve just left them lying around. It worked, both have picked them up and read them. Giving them both a little confidence boost and the tools they need to help them through the most difficult of times.

These books are;

Be Happy Be You book cover, mental health for children

This positive and insightful guide gives you the tools to build your confidence, eliminate negative feelings and boost happiness in all areas of your life.

Being a teenager has its own unique challenges, but it’s also the perfect time to shape your own mental wellbeing and happiness. Scientists reckon 40% of your happiness is within your control, that’s A LOT of happiness and this book will help you to harness it…

There are tons of ideas to try from creating an anxiety toolkit, to planning a digital detox and meditating, plus you’ll learn the science behind why they work. Carry out the activities by yourself or with family and friends and take your happiness into your own hands!

My Review of Be Happy Be You.

create your own happy book cover

Support children’s emotional well being and boost happiness. Empower children to shape their lives and the lives of others around them.

This illustrated activity book helps them take practical steps towards creating their own happiness and positive self-esteem.

• Full of simple, practical ideas to help children to feel confident, strong and happy
• Fun activities that can be done on their own or with friends and family
• Plant a seed bomb outdoors, make a happy playlist or create a recycling monster
• Learn about the surprising science behind emotions along the way
• From award-winning parenting bloggers

Talking Can Be Difficult

When your children get older it can be difficult to talk to them about the things that are bothering them. They seem to internalise everything which doesn’t help much. Sometimes though, they can just start talking, maybe you will notice a time of day when they are more willing to chat. Take advantage of this and talk. It may be over dinner, or while helping with tasks around the house. It’s amazing what your child may reveal while helping folding up the laundry.

Talking is good, but it’s frustrating when your teen won’t co-operate. You just need to let them know that you are there if they need you. And if they do start talking, it doesn’t matter how busy you are, let them know that they are more important. It’s just like having a new born, you have to stop what you are doing to feed them or change them. You can stop what you are doing to talk to your teen when they are ready to open up.

Joining in with Blogtober, todays prompt is relax, and that’s a great way to create the right sort of environment for your child. I hope everyone has the chance to relax this weekend.

#Blogtober20

Word of the Week 41 – Help!

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is ‘help’ and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase. But please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts toMix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK – Help

Help, text with an orange life bouy

This has been a manic week with lots of rushing around. I have been getting my hospital treatment every day which is given to me to help with my condition. This is four hours of being hooked up to an infusion which leaves me feeling tired and gives me headaches. Hopefully, once the side effects ease then the real help will be more obvious.

Boo has been getting help at school because of her anxiety. She had a meeting on Monday and some counselling on Tuesday. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to stop her getting sick on Wednesday. The second bubble that had to isolate through COVID at her school tipped her over the edge and her body reacted with sickness.

Star has also been getting help at school and returned this week to do half days. She is much happier with the set up and feels a lot more confident. Sadly, her stomach problems have not abated and she has also had to lose more time from school. We are hoping more help is on the way though. On Monday morning she is going for further tests at the local surgery. Because of her age she was supposed to have attended the Children’s hospital for the tests, but that’s in town and the surgery is at the end of our street. I was so glad when they agreed to treat her there instead. Now, I’m just hoping they can work out what is wrong.

Now it’s over to you, what word or phrase sums up your week this week?

Word of the Week badge

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
#Blogtober20

If I Could Turn Back Time

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We all wish we could change the bad things in life and make them good, but things happen for a reason and sometimes you just have to let them go. If I could turn back time I would do a lot of things differently, but fate would make them happen anyway.

Forgiveness

So, rather than turning back time maybe it could be time for a little self forgiveness? I like to talk about forgiveness because it helps your mental well being so much. You don’t have to forget, but if you can forgive you can move on.

Last year I wrote another song titled post, Every Body Hurts, Sometimes. I think it’s pretty useful for those who find forgiveness difficult, so take a read if you are having problems.

But, self forgiveness is important too. Be kind to yourself, we all do things we wish we hadn’t. We all have regrets. But, thinking about what could of been is not the way forward.

Everybody hurts sometimes, blogtober, turn back time

Let It Go!

Well, what can I say, I kind of like song references for posts 🙂 Here’s one I wrote called I Let It Go.

Letting go of bad things from your past is no easy task, but trust me, it’s not impossible. Even if you try all of the things I suggest in my post above and still feel bad, that’s ok. Letting go can be just for a moment, just live in that time for a while where nothing that happened mattered. It will come back and bite you again, but the more you let it go, the less it hurts.

Time is a Healer

If someone says to me that time is a healer my heart sinks and I feel ten times worse. Why, because even when I practice forgiveness and letting go of the past, time never really heals anything. Time just gives you the tools to deal with it all better.

Time is something you can’t change, you can’t turn it back, you can’t make it go faster, you can’t make it go slower.

What you can do is live in the moment. Breathe. Find ways of working your way through this world in the best way possible. Bad things will happen to you. You will do bad things and regret them. This is life and time changes nothing.

If I Could Turn Back Time

I’d bring back the dinosaurs 🙂

#Blogtober20