Posts Tagged "Sure Start Children’s Centre"

Ranting about Primark and Others

Posted by cafebebemama on Dec 9, 2009 in Writing Workshop | 26 comments

I can't believe it!

As Christmas is approaching and I’m trying to be good. I just need to get out a few rants and then I’ll be ready to be good!  Josie at Sleep is for the Weak is the Prompt Queen in her Writing Workshop.  I just love that Josie…she always gives me something to write about…thanks Josie…please never stop!  So, are you ready? I can be vicious but I’m going to get it all out and feel much better afterwards…ready, steady…RANT:

• Primark is on my list of RUBBISH STORES!  I had never experienced the horror that is Primark until about a month ago.  Hubby, Little Miss and I went on a mini-break to Stoke-on-Trent (thanks to Amy at And 1 More Means Four) and stopped at the Stoke-on-Trent shopping centre.  Primark was a major fixture and I have heard so many people rave about it.  I’ve also heard many people moan about it because of the supposed sweat shops and slave labour in Third World Countries that are used to make the ridiculously cheap clothing.  We ended up getting the following for Little Miss: A fleece lined raincoat, 4 pairs of trousers and a shirt for all of £23.  A steal!  I now know why!  It’s made of completely rubbish material that will last maybe one or two uses and then lose any shape it might have originally had.  We bought a pair of leggings for Little Miss, sized 18-23 months.  As she wore one pair, throughout the day they got bigger and bigger and bigger…I could have fit 2 of Little Miss into these bloomin’ leggings by the end of the day!  Rubbish!  Yes, the clothes are DIRT cheap and are probably suitable for “throw away” clothes.  But DIRT cheap is only suitable when you can get more than 2 uses out of something.  There’s a certain air of desperation when you walk around Primark.  Everyone seems desperate to fill the bags they provide you with…no matter what it is!  I bought a pair of jeans there 2 weeks ago- £8!  I know I’m not the size I used to be but by the end of the first wearing my jeans were BAGGY on me…they had expanded as well.  And I don’t think that was down to me!  So guess what Primark, you may have cheap clothes but I’m not going to waste my time on you EVER AGAIN!
• Avent is the maker of bottles, sterilisers, etc, etc, etc…for babies everywhere.  A reliable and sound brand that many people love and trust.  We are firm users of the Avent Soother/Dummy.  In our house, we don’t subscribe to the “character” dummy.  We have the clear, minimalistic dummy.  I don’t want Little Miss’ face decorated.  I prefer to see her face!  We have always been able to find the clear dummies…UNTIL NOW!  For some reason, Avent has decided that the 6-18 month size dummy is in need of a bit of JAZZING UP!  I cannot find, in our area, a clear 6-18 month dummy to save our life.  They are all DECORATED…and not very nicely either.  Little Miss is down to her LAST Avent 6-18 month dummy as Daddy managed to lose the other one last weekend.  WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO???  Avent…DO YOU HEAR ME???  We need/want/must have CLEAR, 6-18 month dummies to the Peterborough area PRONTO!!!  Little Miss’ last dummy won’t last for long!
• My local Sure Start Children’s Centre does not offer hardly ANYTHING for my daughter’s age!  There’s a messy play session once a week and a music class on one morning each week (which we participated in from 3-13 months) and that’s it!  Everything else is for Mums and Newborn Babies or for School Age children.  What about our girls?  I can’t afford to send her to Tumble Tots or to other classes that cost money (unfortunately) so that’s what a Sure Start Children’s Centre is supposed to be for…those of us in NEED!  And they are definitely filling the bill for the wee ones and the school age ones but it’s time to think about all the children in the middle who are being left out.  Please oh please, consider getting something for Little Miss to do…we are desperate!
• I’m going to be a grammar and spelling snob now.  I REALLY can’t stand to read posts that have appalling spelling and grammar.  I know I am not perfect by any means and I don’t always use spell check or get things right but if you know you don’t write particularly well and struggle with spelling, couldn’t you just use spell check and proofread your post before you hit publish?  It’s just that I can’t see anything but your spelling errors and ridiculous run-on-sentences!  It doesn’t seem to make a difference to the popularity of your site or traffic statsof these people but really, couldn’t they possibly TRY to spell properly?  (I’m hoping there are no spelling errors here now!)

Phew…I feel a bit better now!  That wasn’t too bad was it?  I’m becoming a bit more mellow in my old age, I think.  I thought I would have a lot more to rant about but that will do for this year.  What “does your head in”?  How do you feel about Primark?  Are you an Avent rep who would like to gift me with several clear, 6-18 month size dummies?  Let me know!  Happy Holidays!

Mummy in Need

Posted by cafebebemama on Nov 24, 2009 in Motherhood | 30 comments

Little Miss trying to find something to do!

I am a Mummy in Need of inspiration for things to do with my gorgeous Little Miss!  I’ve hit a rut in the last few months and it makes me a bit sad.  You see, last year, around September time, Little Miss was just a wee 3 months old.  She was starting to sit up on her own and was very alert and active and I wanted to be a good Mummy.  I found out about our local Sure Start Children’s Centre in Market Deeping from the Health Visitor.  I picked up a brochure and found an exciting list of classes and programmes and opportunities to crawl out of the hole we were living in.  I enrolled in a Baby Massage Class and a music class called JellyBeans.  I went to our first class, JellyBeans, with a bit of nervousness but found it to be the best thing we had done up to that point.  I met some amazing (and some scary) Mums and got out of the house on a regular basis.

We became regulars at the Children’s Centre.  Attending classes, events, walking groups…Little Miss and I were there for them all!  We found 5 or 6 other Mummies who had all had Baby Girls within 2 weeks of Little Miss’ birthday.  We became a lovely group- having coffee mornings, play dates, walking outings, evenings “off”…the lot.  And then summer came.  Our girls had their birthdays and became Toddlers!  Two of the mummies returned to work and for the most part, we’ve drifted apart.  Our lives have gone in slightly different directions mainly because none of us are attending programmes at the Children’s Centre any longer.  And that’s part of what makes me sad.  Our local Sure Start Children’s Centre doesn’t have any programmes for “our age” girls any more.  They have infant and baby/mummy programmes and things for nursery age and school age children but there’s a gap in the programming for 1-3 year olds.  Right smack dab where we are!  I’m also sad because our Mummy group has drifted apart as well.  It’s bound to happen as your children get older but it still makes me a bit wistful for the days gone by!

We still have our best mates to pal about with and I’m ever so grateful for them but I’m getting stuck in a rut!  We stay indoors a lot of the time because the weather has been rubbish lately and I’m a bit of a fair-weather person.  I don’t mind a bit of drizzle as Little Miss is always snug as a bug in a rug but when it comes to the driving rain and gale force winds of late, inside is where I want to be.  There doesn’t seem to be a plethora of child friendly places to take your child when the weather is British and I fear that I have become a bit too comfortable staying in the house.  Little Miss has her toys and Cbeebies while Mummy has the computer and the kitchen.  I don’t know what to do in my area (Cambridgeshire/Lincolnshire borders- Peterborough is the nearest “big” city) and I am out of ideas for what to do with Little Miss when we’re at home.

So, what I’m asking for is ideas…suggestions…kicks in the butt…projects…all geared around a nearly 18month old Little Miss and a stuck-in-a-rut-needing-a-kick-in-the-butt Mummy.  How do you fill the hours of your day?  When you stay at home, how do you do “it all”?  Housework, entertaining Little Miss/Mister, remembering who you are?  I’m open for suggestion people…within reason mind you.  So here are some things to bear in mind:

• 18 month old Little Miss, rather precocious, loves animals, dancing and talking
• Late 30-something Mummy, rather out of ideas, loves music & blogging & Little Miss (and hubby too!)
• Living in Cambridgeshire/Lincolnshire- near P’boro
• Can drive but moderately terrified of tackling London or other major cities by automobile
• Money IS an object…classes that cost money are probably not a possibililty but fares or fees to do one-off adventures would be ok on a once-a-week basis

I am ready for your ideas and will publish them in a follow up post and let you know how we get on!  Put on your thinking caps…Cafe Bebe is open for business.  Ready…steady…go…  (Thank you!)