Posts Tagged "nursery"

Flashback Friday- First Nursery Prep

Posted by cafebebemama on Oct 21, 2011 in Blogger Love, Flashback Friday, Little Miss Adventures, Motherhood | 5 comments

3 1/2 years ago my Dad came over from America to help Mark and I make our teeny-weeny box room into a special nursery for our yet-to-arrive baby. Dad took one week out of his busy schedule to come make what would be Ella’s room into a perfect nursery. They make a great team, my Dad and Mark. My Dad has all the patience in the world and is a very hard worker. Mark has very little patience and is a very hard worker. They are the perfect match!

The rather atrocious wallpaper was steamed off the walls leaving chunks of plaster on the floor. There was furious plastering and sanding and patching and buffing. They managed to get the walls suitable for paint and after a trip to B&Q we had our colours. Shades of green, as we didn’t know what variety of baby we’d be having, were the decision. Thankfully, the room being a “box” room meant there wasn’t too much painting but they had loads of fun in the process.

I had a great time with this makeover because I did very little! Being pregnant gave me the perfect excuse to not have to paint or scrape or clean. I provided beverage service, food and encouragement and manged to put together the changing table and screw the newly painted knobs on the dresser drawers. Woo hoo. When the cot finally was assembled I did take great pride in dressing the bed and then lining the drawers of the dresser and putting all of the wee baby clothes in them. That was my job, I thought!

This project was a wonderful effort for what became Ella’s nursery and will convert nicely into Bebe’s nursery. It was also one of the first times that my Dad and Mark has to work together and get to know each other a bit better which was lovely. I left them alone to do this and I think they both had a great time in the process!

The other project that began before Ella came to join us was our wall decoration. I wanted to have something symbolic on the wall that included everyone in the family. I can’t remember where I got the idea, however. I think it might have been a suggestion for a Baby Shower. I asked everyone in the family (both here and across the pond) to paint a picture on a square canvas for the baby. It could be anything but it just needed to be done by their fair hand. Christmas of 2007, before Ella was born, we had a painting session at our house with hubby’s side of the family and my mom who was here for Christmas.

When my Dad came over in February to help us do the nursery, he brought with him the canvases from that side of the family. There’s a rather special one from my Grandpa who died about 3 weeks after my Dad went back to the US. I’ll always have a reminder of him now which is lovely.

I love all of these pictures! Each member of the family is represented in their own bit of artwork. We’re going to do something different for Bebe on that wall but these canvases will go to Ella’s new bedroom as well.

What fun this process was! And how different it is now! We have very little to do to the nursery to get it ready and very MUCH to do to switch our two other bedrooms into a Big Girl room for Ella and a new master bedroom for us. Phew!

What memories would you like to share this week? Do you have a photo that makes you smile? A special event you want to remember? Or maybe just something that gives you a chance to tell a fun story? It’s Flashback Friday! Your flashback, your memories…written by your fair hand and shared with us on the Linky below. Come back each Friday for a walk down Memory Lane!

The Nursery Question

Posted by cafebebemama on Feb 10, 2010 in Little Miss Adventures, Motherhood | 34 comments

Thank you Lyle's Golden Syrup & Fleishman-Hillard

I have been struggling with the thought of Nursery lately and would love to know what you do.  Little Miss is 20 months old and does not go to nursery.  In fact, she’s barely out of my presence throughout the week.  The idea of sending her to nursery a few months ago gave me the chills.  I don’t like the idea of her being in nursery for some reason.  It’s probably my controlling nature and psychosis wonderful mothering.  However, I’ve been wondering if I’m doing the right thing for her lately.  Due to circumstances beyond our control and the cycle of friendship, we don’t have a great deal of social opportunities with other children any longer.  We used to attend classes at our local Sure Start Children’s Centre and had a small group of Mummies and Babies who would get together at least once a week.  That’s dwindled off now and Little Miss and I are left with each other.  We still have our best mates to see every so often and we go swimming once a week now but I worry that Little Miss isn’t getting enough interaction with children her age and enough time away from her Mummy.  She’s a very independent young lady who most certainly is not tied to my apron strings (if I wore an apron).  On the rare occasions when I do leave her with family, she had no separation anxiety of any sort however, I have yet to leave her with someone she doesn’t know well or isn’t family.

Little Miss’ best mate is now attending one of our local nurseries 2 mornings a week while her mummy is in some workshops that are put on by the Children’s Centre.  They pay for her to put her daughter in nursery (creche) while she’s in the workshops which is brilliant.  The only way I could take advantage of this is if I attended the workshops and I don’t know that I want/need the workshops.  What I do need is a few hours to myself.  But I come back to the real question here…Does Little Miss need more?  Am I giving her enough?  Is she missing out on social opportunities because of my issues?  What do you do?  We really can’t afford to have her attend nursery even one morning a week as it would cost us between £20-30 for the morning.  There’s a vague possibility of some PAID work for me in the near future and if that happens, I may seriously consider having her attend once a week to start.  I’d love to know what other stay-at-home-mum’s do?  How do you afford it?  Have you seen benefits from your child attending nursery?  Do you regret sending your child to nursery and why?  I am eager to see the response and advice here.  Cafe Bebe is open for suggestion!