Childhood Tics

Tics are something I had never really had any experience with and always associated them with Tourette’s syndrome. I certainly didn’t think that the average young child could suddenly develop one.

My daughter has just turned six years old and she’s been experiencing symptoms of an anxiety related tic for around a year now. It started off as an “annoying” cough that she would constantly do. I’m sad to say that before I realised it was a cough I’d ask her to please keep quiet and stop making that sound. However, after a few weeks I quickly realised that this was some kind of involuntary noises she was making. So, I read up on it and discovered, to my surprise, that these random repetitive noises were actually a form of tic.

I also didn’t realise until I really read up on it that it’s actually incredibly common. Most children who develop a tic grow out of them, but when one goes away then new ones could follow. This is what we’ve found so far.

When I discovered that anxiety, change and stress could bring these tics on I felt sad for my baby. She’s been through so much in her six years. 5 house moves, not including the two with her dad, a parents divorce, mama’s new boyfriend and daddy’s new girlfriend, starting school, two new siblings, and lastly a new custody agreement that means she only gets to see me 50% of the time. I know the poor lamb struggles with this as she often gets upset when I drop her off at school. I spend time with her though as much as I can – we read together – she’s really coming along brilliantly with that! We play and we talk a lot about things.

We don’t mention the tic when it’s particular bad. I don’t think she realises she is doing it so the best thing to do is just ignore it! I was worried about children at school picking on her for it so I dropped her teacher a quick email just to go over a few things and get that reassurance.

I guess the most important way to support your child emotionally is just to be there. She knows she can always come to me with her worries and I’ll always listen to her.

We have a lot of humour in this house too though. We’re relaxed and playful and someone is always playing a prank or a joke on someone… usually I’m the butt of those jokes!

It’s really good to not take life so seriously and to allow the children to let go and just be silly children if they want to be. I’m hoping this attitude will soon lead to my daughter’s tic diminishing and ultimately stopping.

Does anyone else’s children have a tic? Have you found it easy or difficult to manage and ignore? Would love to hear from you!

Spotsound mascot review

I have just received our company mascot that I ordered from “Spotsound”. The one we liked was on the French version of their website. I did lots of research in order to ensure it wasn’t a bogus company and the reviews looked good.

Communication via email was all fine so I felt confident and excited about receiving the product.

The mascot arrived and I have to say I was disappointed! It had been shipped from China, which was a red flag straight away as sometimes the quality in goods they produce – particularly garments, are in my opinion, often poorly stitched, ill-fitting and rushed, which results in a sub-standard finished product.

Suffice to say this all rang true with the mascot I received. The cutting of the material – specifically around the eyes, had jagged edges and didn’t have that clean professional finish I expected.

The actual head is a very tight fit. As is the body.

The gloves only have 4 fingers, which is a little tricky to put on to say the least 😄

The shoes are okay. They don’t look very hardwearing but they actual look is fine.

I paid €40 for a fan that is literally the size of the palm of my hand and I can’t imagine it will do much in the way of cooling on a hot summer’s day!

Lastly, the branding of our logo on the belly is laughable. It’s literally printed onto a white felt/cardboard sign and superglued (rather badly) onto the front of the mascot. It looks silly!

I have contacted SpotSound but unsurprisingly they haven’t responded to either of my complaints. Previously, when I had emailed them to ask questions about my order they replied within a couple of hours.

I’m really disappointed that we’ve wasted our hard earned money on this joke of a company but we will still use it until I can save up for a better one. We don’t want to let the children at our holiday camps down so Hopefully they will like it regardless.

A few people have been in touch on instagram to tell me SpotSound steal images of their mascots and pass them off as their own! What a shameful company.

Don’t get caught out like I did. DO NOT USE SPOTSOUND!

*EDIT* I have now received a reply disputing the poor quality and threatening to ruin my business’ reputation. Even more reason for everyone else to avoid this company.

 

Poem: to miles

We made a wish and you came true
A tiny life growing, special and new

To be sure of the date we had an early scan
Already perfectly formed, all going to plan

As the weeks went by we planned and prepared
We felt excited and happy, nothing compared

We found out what you were, a big bouncing boy
But We kept it a secret – our pride and joy

Daddy talked to my belly, every night
You’d kick in response and we’d watch in delight

As the end got near, impatience would grow
We wanted to meet you, to say hello

And so the day came, my contractions were strong
Grandpa stu rang up, asked if he could come along

So there I am sat, writhing in pain
With daddy and stu watching, chilling the champagne

But little did we know it would not be that fast
The pain was unbearable! How long would it last?

We went to the hospital and the hours passed on
The agony was huge but I tried to stay strong

Your head was too big, I thought you’d never come
I squeezed daddy’s hand so hard it went numb

But daddy was great, he put me at ease
When you finally popped out we were both so relieved!

You weighed Almost 8 pounds, your cry very loud
You looked just perfect, we were both so proud

Daddy looked after us and helped all he could
We were all so happy, life really was good

When the girls met you, they loved this boy
A new little brother for them to enjoy

You were so contented, and slept so well
But your nappies weren’t great, daddy dealt with that smell!

You were soon a little smiler, it was lovely to see
And your cooing and babbling when sat on daddy’s knee

You’re the cutest little thing, so gorgeous and sweet
You’ve lit up our lives, made our family complete.

Grandad’s funeral poem

 

Grandad Brian was like no other
He was a young soul at heart
I loved his company, and
The stories he’d impart

He had tales of war, childhood and work
He had lots of interesting skills
Like his “fluent French” he learnt at school
Think “Toto et le filles”

My memories of grandad
Start way back in Letchlade
The bungalow with his computer
Is where we often played

He had an old camcorder
We’d put on little shows
He could never pronounce sausage
And he’d always get my nose

He was happiest in his garden
He was really rather handy
He also loved his little dogs
Before Rusty, there was Shandy

To Disney World he holidayed
In his jeans and baseball cap
With his East End accent and slicked back hair
He was really a unique chap

He’d call us Little Darlin’
And Lovely was what he’d say
He was kind and funny, great with kids
We will miss him every day

“Really great Grandad” was the name
Given to him with love
He’ll be greatly missed by us all
But he’ll be smiling down from above

 

 

The Mum Guilt!

So, today I went to the hairdressers and got my hair cut and coloured AGAIN! OMG i know right… twice in the space of 6 weeks. AND I had my nails done this afternoon too! What a treat! Previously i’d always been so concerned with being mummy and I wouldn’t dare spend any time, let alone money on myself!

Well, I’m a new woman! I’ve figured out that actually it’s not selfish to want to get your hair done nice once in a while. I started treating myself to manicures a few months back because i’ve always wanted long, pretty nails but as a lifetime of nervous picking and biting i’d never managed to grow them. Until I became pregnant with my fourth and final baby and they suddenly just became claws overnight and I desperately wanted to preserve them. So I found a nice Vietnamese guy in a hair salon. I don’t really understand what he says half the time so I tend to smile and nod a lot because I’m very hard of hearing and he wears a face mask AND speaks in a thick accent…

The thing is. No matter how much I know that treating myself is good for my sanity. After all, a happy mummy makes for happy children, right? I still feel the mum-guilt.

I sit there, feeling anxious, hoping they’re not crying. Wondering whether daddy has remembered to feed them and isn’t getting too stressed without my breast there to plug into the baby when she starts getting fractious!

He’s always okay. He always copes brilliantly. But I still have waves of mild panic when i’m away from them for more than an hour. I even hear phantom cries, which is really unnerving lol.

It is nice to have some of that me-time though. And after 5 minutes of being back home I soon realise I need another break!!

Sanctuary Spa Wet Skin Moisturiser

As a very busy mum of 4 young children, I tend not to pay much attention to myself these days. It was, in fact, a new year’s resolution of mine to take better care of myself and to feel less guilt about doing so.

So, once every three weeks, maybe four…actually mostly five haha! I like to go and get my nails done. I even went to a hair salon and had my hair cut and coloured by an ACTUAL stylist the other week too! It’s important to treat yourself and look after YOU for a change.

So, when Talk to Mums asked if i’d like to sample Sanctuary Spa’s new Wet Skin Moisturiser I jumped at the chance!

It’s a fantastic time-saving way to lock in some much-needed moisture into the skin – especially in this hot, dry weather. Just shower or bath as normal then apply the cream to wet skin and let soak in! It’s really that simple!

It has a very grown-up musky type scent, which lasts all day long. I absolutely love it and it will definitely become part of my daily routine now.

I have been given 500 gift bags of samples to hand out and to be honest I probably could have taken a lot more as they’ve been extremely popular! It’s a revolutionary luxury skin care product for us busy, time-poor mummies.

Thank you Sanctuary Spa for creating this product for us! You’ve got a fan over here and i’m definitely recommending to all my friends.