My Experience

My experience of Chicken Pox… (2014)

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Health, My Experience 0 Comment

Was actually quite positive.That’s probably not what you were expecting to read!

Miss NHM (who had just turned three years old in March) very kindly had chicken pox over Easter weekend. This was good for the following reasons:

a) Mr NHM was working all weekend
b) we didn’t have any plans
c) I didn’t have to take any time off work

I noticed on Good Friday morning that Miss NHM was a bit clingy and quite tired. I then noticed that she had a few spots on her ears and thought “uh oh”.

I phoned my Mum immediately who very kindly went out to Boots to get us as much paraphenalia to do with chicken pox that you could find. She got us the PoxClin CoolMousse and ViraSoothe Chickenpox Relief Cooling Gel – 75g which some friends had recommended to us.

My Mum also picked up some of Nelsons Rhus Tox which another friend had recommended. (She bought it in Boots but I can’t find it online at Boots). This is a homeopathic treatment so I thought I would try that first.

By this point, Miss NHM had about 20 spots on her neck, ears and face. Pretty much as soon as I gave her the Rhus Tox the spots stopped crusting over.No more spots appeared on Friday.Saturday, no more spots and the spots she had looked like they were going down.

The real worry for us was, we were traveling to Germany on the Thursday after Easter, so a friend recommended I call NHS Direct to ask for their advice.

NHS Direct advised that we are in the middle of a chicken pox epidemic and it was incredibly likely that Miss NHM did have chicken pox.

They also advised that if all the spots had disappeared by the time we flew, Miss NHM would be fine to fly.

Luckily for us, Miss NHM’s spots had disappeared by the Tuesday!!

Now, I’m no doctor and I have absolutely NO medical experience, but given the other people I know who have also used Rhus Tox, this stuff worked a treat for Miss NHM.

I know that a Dr didn’t actually see her so it wasn’t officially confirmed she had chicken pox, but I saw the spots start to crust over, so I’m convinced that’s what she had.

Miss NHM had a very mild case of chicken pox.I’m also expecting her to get it at some point in the future, because of the mild case she had this time around as you can apparently catch it again if you had a mild case the first time.

I’m all about helping people (that’s what NHM is about!) so if Rhus Tox makes chicken pox less awful for your child, then I’m happy to share our experience.

My heart goes out to all of those children who have really nasty cases of chicken pox.

Do you have any tips for making chicken pox more bearable?

Happy 3rd birthday NHM!

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in My Experience, NorthHantsMum 0 Comment

Yup, NHM is three years old today.

I could write a sappy post like I did for the last two years, here and here. 😀

Instead, I’m just going to say Thank you.

Thank you to you, my wonderful readers.

I am frequently overwhelmed by your lovely comments and generosity. They mean so much.

Yay to the next year on NHM !!! 😉

Milestones

  • Email Subscriptions for NHM on WordPress – 220 subscribers
  • NHM Friend on Facebook – 1,285 People
  • NHM Page on Facebook – 638 “Likers”
  • NHM on Twitter – 369 Followers
  • 776 posts published
  • 97 wordpress pages
    • 22 “Lists” set up on Facebook (under the NHM Friend), ranging from “Toddler Classes in Basingstoke” to “Local Mum Businesses”.
  • 58 Guest Post’s and several more lined up. (Thanks to all of the business people for your continued support!)

iPads and toddlers

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Health, My Experience, Toddlers 0 Comment

iPAD and toddler use is a bit of a controversial topic in our house.

We are very lucky  because both Mr NHM and I both have an iPAD. Yes, I know these are a huge extravagance and I know I am a little bit addicted to mine, but so much of my organisation is now done via my iPAD. (See HERE for the apps that I use).

I was very lucky at Christmas and was given a new iPAD as mine was one of the original versions and was a lot of functionality was failing on it. We decided that we would “give” my old iPAD to Miss NHM.

Now, she absolutely LOVES the iPAD and it’s the one thing that I physically have to wrestle off her when I think she’s been on it too long.

On her iPAD she now has lots of storybooks and lots of “educational” apps. I’ve made a very concerted effort to ensure that no “games” outside of the storybooks, are downloaded to her iPAD (I am an evil Mummy! lol).

We have downloaded a lot of storybooks when they were free or very cheap (App shopper is a god send for this!) and there are several storybooks where she just jumps to the songs.

She will listen to them repeatedly and I have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing. (I do know that if I hear “bibidybobidyboo” from Cinderella one more time, I may throw the iPAD out the window :-D).

I’ve seen her progress on things like Jigsaw’s, because several of the apps have different levels of Jigsaw’s.

I have seen her skills improve radically on matching up trains in the Thomas the Tank Engine Misty Island app and I’m fairly sure that the reason she can sing her ABC’s is because of one of the apps she uses.

However, I do worry about how much time she should be using the iPAD.

I do my very best to ensure that she has at least 4 days a week screen free. Although on the days when Mr NHM is on Night shift and he needs to sleep in the morning, the only way I can keep Miss NHM quiet enough is with the iPAD.

I know that this is a very first world problem and I sound very spoiled worrying about this, but our generation is the first set of parents that have had to deal with this level of technology for our children.

I saw something recently on another blog about a Mum who is letting her three year old self-regulate when it comes to iPAD’s and TV. After only a week, the three year old was already starting to limit her time in front of the TV and iPAD.

Miss NHM isn’t three yet, so I’m not ready to start the self regulation yet. 

I’m just a bit perplexed about how much iPAD time a toddler should have. No time would be preferable, but if she loves it, isn’t it a bit cruel of me to try to take that away from her? 

What are your thoughts on iPAD and toddler use?

8 “things” about me, the person behind NHM

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in My Experience 0 Comment

1. My name is Louise

If you would like to send me an email, please don’t hesitate to refer to me as Louise!

If you refer to me as anything else (other than NHM), don’t be surprised if I don’t reply!  lol.

2. I live in a house that has no TV

How else do I find the time to write NHM! :-D.

You can read my post about having no TV at the following link: Yup, we don’t have a TV.

3. I make no money from NHM (2011-2014)

NHM is my hobby. I don’t make any money from it at all. However, I have been given two freebies since I started. Which was very nice.

I recently paid wordpress to remove all adverts from the wordpress site. I’m still slightly bitter about this, but I didn’t want people thinking I got paid for these adverts.

WordPress got paid for these. Not me. (this is a test to see if Mr NHM really does read my posts as I haven’t actually told him I’ve paid to have these removed. Opps!)

4. Facebook is a pain

It’s supposed to say NorthHantsMum on Facebook but Facebook won’t allow you to have a one word name.

It did make me chuckle recently when someone called me “NorthHants” (my old FB profile used to be “NorthHants Mum”, until FB deactivated it in 2015).

5. A disappointment in person

I am terrified that when people meet me I’m a bit of a disappointment to them. That’s why I keep under the radar.

However, after all of the lovely emails I’ve received from you this year (2014), my confidence is growing. Plus, no one has told me they’ve stopped reading NHM after meeting me! Yet. lol.

6. I hated Basingstoke when I was younger. Now I love it!

I grew up in Basingstoke and have lived here, on and off, for the past 32 years. I recognise a lot of people and know a lot of history of the place.

I’ve lived in Leeds, Southampton and Canada and considered relocating to America and Germany when I worked in both countries during 2001 to 2008. The elastic band syndrome always kicked in and bought me back home.

7. Kate Winslet is a Trollope

Yes, Kate Winslet did snog my first boyfriend whilst I was still with him and yes I will ALWAYS  judge her for that. Trollope. 😀

8. Do you even care about any of this?

No probably not, but I thought it might be nice to “share” a bit. Normal service will be resumed tomorrow. Can you tell it’s nearly Christmas? 😀

A Summer of sport VII: “Born to be wild…”

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Blogging, Guest Posts, Sport, Toddlers 0 Comment

Another fab guest post from Peta at http://minrva.blogspot.co.uk/:

“Born to be wild…”

Last week’s summer of sport subject (ballet) was perhaps a little feminine, although, ballet is not just for Misses. All the same, it is for the sake of fairness that this week is a (stereotypically) masculine sport. But then motor sport is not just for Masters either.

As a young Miss I always wanted to drive, I was forever asking questions about road signs, (what they mean, why they are where they are etc), and every time we went to the farm I recalling whining (a lot) that I wanted to take the ‘Suzie’ out for a ‘spin’ (read: drive the Suzuki utility vehicle). It never mattered to me that my length-challenged legs were far from pedal-reaching proportions, nor that my driving skills were not fully manual-car capable, (Dad would let me sit on his lap and ‘drive’ our automatic car along the untarred lane-way between home and Grandma and Grandpop’s house). I simply just wanted to drive.

My sister, on the other hand, took jazz ballet classes.

The precursor to this driving fascination was probably the dodgem cars I loved to drive at a local theme park of my childhood. But they never went fast enough and it was a stretch to wear the seatbelt and still be able to reach the steering wheel and pedals. The, as I grew older, the track was predictably boring and I was increasingly frustrated with folks always getting in my way. On the farm, however, I only needed to worry about Kangaroos; not for fear of hurting them, it was a fear of them hurting me – which would promptly put an end to taking the Suzie out for a spin (those kangaroos really are brutal).

By the age of 12 or 13 I was adept at reversing the cars off the front garden grass onto the driveway, down the slope, onto the road, along the gutter and around the corner to the garages at the back of our odd-shaped corner block. Next, I would either reverse parallel park on the forecourt or park in the garage. All of this was done, of course, after washing Mum’s, Dad’s and then Nan’s cars. This is also precisely the same way that my father learnt to drive.

Alas, we have no family farm nearby, so it will be dodgem cars and go-karts for my Miss and Master. And I doubt they will sit still long enough to watch the Belgian F1 Grand Prix with Papa this Sunday (25 August). Mind, Master is named after a late legend of the Formula 1 (F1) scene, so perhaps go-karts might be a winner? He would certainly not be the first Briton to get into F1 this way…

Back to my old form, here are some local(-ish) go-kart providers, if you like to “Getcha motor runnin’…”

  • Chineham: The nearest and newest, having opened 27 July 2013, is Absolutely Karting Basingstoke, Wade Road, RG24 8LJ (near Great Binfields Road intersection)
  • Reading: Premier Karting (RG5 4SZ) and Teamworks Reading (RG30 1JT).
  • Andover: Thruxton (SP11 8PW)

A Summer of Sport VI: Ballet

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Blogging, Classes, Guest Posts, Sport, Summer 0 Comment

Another lovely guest post from Peta at http://minrva.blogspot.co.uk/:

I have never studied, practiced or performed ballet, but I do so enjoy watching it!

In fact, I am writing this while on my way home from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where I relished the exquisite elegance of the famous Bolshoi, performing Jewels. Tonight, however, was not my first Russian-ballet experience; that was some years ago in Russia at one of those ‘tourist shows’ – The Nutcracker, in April… As my mum would say, they were “not much chop” (utterly rubbish).

After being completely enthralled in a truly breath-taking performance (Diamonds, in part, was a succession of solo performances showing off the most amazing, and I imagine, incredibly difficult sequences), one can be left feeling awe inspired, and then perhaps a little dismayed (I am more a terre than chassé). But fear not, ever the silver lining sort of Mama, I am thinking about what it takes to be a Bolshoi ballerina, what lessons can I learn from this, and what lessons can ballet teach my Miss and Master? Here are just a couple of things I have learnt…

Discipline. Ballet, to me, is as much about strict discipline as it is about splendorous dancing. But before exercises at the barre and breaking out the tutu, one must learn the (many) ballet terms and positions. Being instilled with the discipline to master the theory before moving on to the practice is an admirable character trait that would do anyone well in life.

Fortitude. Great physical strength will only get you so far – there are many good ballet dancers. It takes more than this to rise to the ranks of principal ballet dancers. Anyone following the news will know that the Bolshoi have been, in recent times, plagued by scandal. But after reading a number of articles, both as scandals broke and more recently, I get a feeling of the underlying, immense confidence and inner strength of these Bolshoi dancers. It is more than the stereotypical patriotism for mother Russia – these dancers exhibit fortitude in their every move.

Determination. I think of this as having the determination to reach the end goal, (or perhaps a stubbornness to accept anything less). Even the highest ranked dancers are required at morning practice with the ballet troupe. Determination to keep attending, keep dancing, keep practicing is a must. Dance, fall down, stand up. Dance, err, correct. Dance, fall down, stand up. Dance, err, correct. Need I say more?

Coordination. Whether or not you appreciate (or even like) ballet, I challenge anyone to view a professional performance and fail to be in awe of the poise with which ballerinas carry themselves about the stage, exhibiting nonchalant awareness of their fellow performers and seemingly conducting the orchestra with every move. Imagine the resulting harmony if every person in every household and business regularly performed with such effortless coordination?

Ballet schools?

Unlike previous summer of sport blogs, I haven’t a clue about what might make a good ballet school and so there are no links today, (although please feel free to pass on any personal recommendations via comments.)

If you have never been to the ballet before, I urge you to go and watch a performance of The Nutcracker this Christmas. With all the bright colours and fun music children will love it (age guide is 5 years or older).

I hope ballet teaches my Miss and Master that some achievements are not ‘quick wins’ that are so amply available these days, but with discipline, fortitude, determination and coordination, anything is possible.

A summer of sport V: Horse Racing

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Blogging, Exercise, Guest Posts, Sport 0 Comment

Another fab guest post from Peta at http://minrva.blogspot.co.uk/:

Horsing about

Glorious Goodwood is done and dusted for another year, and, although I was unaware of much press, I have had horses on my mind this week.

Many of us who are local to north Hampshire probably have, or have had horses in our lives; there are plenty of horses here. As a young Miss, however, my first one-to one encounter was during a school camp, and it was a Shetland pony. I did not actually ride a horse until I was in my 20s. My Miss, on the other hand, loves horses. Every morning I hear of horse dreams and Miss always wants to see our local farm shop horses (who seem to have been replaced by cows in the last few weeks; lucky Miss also likes cows).

Horses and horse racing have always been in the peripheral of my life; the childhood trotting track visits, my first horse riding experience as an adult (that horse was a “dud”, I rode goats in Egypt that were stronger, faster and far more responsive), and I have attended the odd major event race day (the “glam-up” sort). Even so, I had thought that horses and horse racing were mostly for ‘horse people’, but this is simply untrue. The entire family can enjoy this sport, together or separately, it is really just a matter of getting organised in advance and checking out what’s on…

The British Horse Society is the United Kingdom’s largest equestrian charity and has a huge range of horse and horse riding information, such as what to consider when you are learning to ride and a search tool to find your local training centres.

Love the Races is less about your riding and more about your enjoyment of the multitude of spectating opportunities; you will find plenty of great ideas and helpful information here. Try “8 things to do at the races” and “Young Hooves” club for Miss/Master, and “new to racing” if you are, ahem, new to racing. Otherwise, if you fancy a fun day out at the races use the What’s on tool to filter your event search by race course, event type and time of day.

These are just a couple of future meets that stood out to me:

•   17 August @ Newbury (RG14 7NZ):  Ladies Day, followed by Party in the Paddock starring Meatloaf!

•   26 October @ Newbury (RG14 7NZ): Armed Forces Day

•   26 November @ Wincanton (BA9 8BJ): Christmas Fair in aid of Help for Heroes & Children’s Charities

What have I missed?? Please share any local horse related events and activities via comments!

Related Posts

A summer of sport I

A summer of sport II

A summer of sport III

A summer of Sport IV

A summer of sport IV: Cricket

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Blogging, Exercise, Guest Posts, Sport 0 Comment

I’m loving the series “A summer of Sport” by Peta. I had no idea that all of this was available in the area!

For more of Peta’s posts, please have a look at her blog: http://minrva.blogspot.co.uk/

Howzat?

England is hosting Australia this year in the 67th battle for the Ashes.

Britain can boast a number of recent sporting triumphs; a massive medal haul in the 2012 Olympic Games, great success in cycling, tennis, horse racing, and car and motorcycle racing, to name but a few.  But will cricket be another happy hunting ground for British sport?

Right from the start of Ashes cricket, Australia was dominated by the mother country. There were a few short periods of Aussie greatness, but history is clear about which country was consistently playing superior cricket.

In the 1990s things started to go horribly wrong for England; England started losing and Australia started dominating. By the late 1990s England’s oldest cricket foe had secured the greater number of Ashes series wins, and this made millions of Australians, including myself, very, very happy. (We do take our sport seriously.)  This was a glorious period for Australian cricket and we set about building on our lead, and build we did… Until the 2010/11 Ashes series. For the first time in 24 years England won an Ashes series on Australian soil. With only one series win in the last decade Australia is clinging to a 31:30 lead, and I bet England are keen to finally even-up the tally.

On the other hand, Aussie pride is a fierce animal, and sport is a serious matter. When threatened with the possibility of a mediocre result or even, God forbid it, failure, Aussies are capable of producing inspired results. This might just be where Shane Warne’s ‘ball of the century’ originated, that or it was just one of many episodes in our glorious period of cricket. Maybe Aussie pride sparked Ashton Agar’s enormous run haul (for a number eleven batsman) just a few weeks ago, in an effort to save the test for the Australians?

I recall learning of my grandfather’s cricketing prowess some years back. The local Masters picked their team and country (Australia or England); their selections were final and permanent. My grandfather was England captain and like Misses and Masters today, he acted out the achievements of the sporting heroes of the day. But this was during the bodyline series; my grandfather ‘was’ Douglas Jardine. I am proud of his selection to a such senior position and his being (nick)named for such a strong character, but I am not so sure about the whole bodyline business…

England hold a 2-0 lead going into the third test starting tomorrow (1 August) at Old Trafford, but I suspect play will not be as one-sided as the scorecard suggests. Whatever remains for Ashes series 2013, my hope is that this oldest of rivalries continues to inspire Misses and Masters in England and Australia to pick up a cricket bat and play. Play in the garden, play at the beach, play anywhere. Just get out there and play.

Feeling inspired?

If you would like to make your cricket playing a little more formal there are a number of local clubs to investigate. To name just a few that encourage cricket for all ages and abilities (in alphabetical order): Basingstoke & North Hants CC, Oakley CC, Old Basing CC.

NHM Two Year Anniversary

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in NorthHantsMum 0 Comment

So, NHM has been running for two years. I’m not sure what to say about it, as I’m pretty sure that the only person who cares about this is me! Lol.

Two years is a long time, when I think back to what was happening in my life two years ago. I was still on maternity leave and dreading going back to work. Now I love my job and can’t imagine not working. It feels like a lifetime ago, and feels like NHM has been running for much longer than two years.

There are now 469 posts on NHM. That’s quite a lot, even if it is just two years! Lol. If you are new to NHM, I recommend having a flick through the menu bar, as there is a lot there and most of it is still relevant to parents in the area.

My little one has changed so much in the past 12 months. She’s growing into a very independent and determined little miss. Can’t think where she gets it from ;-). It is a joy watching her grow up, and I just hope that my best is good enough.

I hated living in Basingstoke when I was growing up, and did everything I could to get away from it. Ironic that I’m now a walking encyclopaedia of information about the area and that my husband and I have chosen to bring up our daughter here. It’s only when you leave, that you realise how many wonderful opportunities there are in, and around, Basingstoke.

Changes coming

I’ve been so impressed at how Guest Post Wednesday has taken off. I started it in March last year, so it’s been running for over a year and I’ve only once not had a post to fill the slot.

However, during the summer months, the regular guest posts will be postponed and the Wednesday slot will be filled by a Guest Blogger. It’s all very exciting and when we’ve finalised the details, I shall let you know.

The regular Guest Post slot will return in September, so if you run a local business, group or class, please let me know at northhantsmum@gmail.com.

Thank you!!!

I know I want to thank you, my lovely readers, for your support, comments, “Like’s”, feedback and event notifications.

To everyone who has sent me a message thanking me for a post, over the past two years, your messages make it all worth while.

So, thank you. Here’s to the next year! Cheers!!!

Why I continue to write NorthHantsMum – May 2013

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in NorthHantsMum 0 Comment

I write NorthHantsMum because, quite frankly, I LOVE doing it!

I want to give something back

I’ve always done voluntary work in one capacity or another (Volunteer for Oxfam, Volunteer Youth Worker, School Governor) and I knew that once my little one came along I wouldn’t be able to dedicate my time in the way that I used too. NorthHantsMum is also my way of giving something back. I know it’s not much, but its my little bit of sharing information with people and putting people in touch with each other. I get so much out of it as I’ve met some fabulous people via NHM and learnt so much about our local community.

I get a real kick out of people sending me emails saying how much they enjoy my posts. You can’t imagine the joy it gives me, to know that I’ve helped someone else out. I know that’s cheesy, but if I’ve helped only one person in the past two years, because of NHM, then it’s all worth it.

I love sharing information

I was given so much conflicting information when I was pregnant and when I was on maternity leave, that it’s difficult to know how to make a decision sometimes. But, if you don’t know about something in advance, you can’t make the decision! NHM is my way of sharing what I know and passing on the little pieces of knowledge that I’ve learnt along the way.

I’m also a nosy cow, and like to know what’s going on in the area! 😀

I am so proud to see how many connections have been made via NHM. Either for myself, meeting LOADS of fantastic Mum’s and Dad’s who are running amazing businesses, and/or doing fantastic volunteer work, and/or running their families with such love and affection.

I love to see the connections that have been made for other people because of NHM. There are at least four ladies who have met each other at the NHM Meet Up who are still in touch and meeting up regularly, and that kind of thing makes me puff out with pride!

The evenings are long

Before I met my husband and had a family, I was very lucky to be able to travel the world with work. I was out most nights when I was away and when I came home I was out a lot catching up with people. Things are very different now (and I wouldn’t change them!!!) but I am lucky if I go out two evenings a month. That means for the rest of the time I’m home for the evening. When my little one was tiny and before NHM, I was very restless. Now I have a focus. I have something to do, which I feel is worthwhile.

I also miss the life I had when I was on maternity leave and this is my way of connecting back to it. I get one day “off” from a normal working week to spend with my daughter, and it’s great, but it’s no where near enough. NHM is my way of connecting to all the other local parents out there, who are trying to find things to do in the area with their young children.

My Legacy

I started this blog nearly two years ago and it’s become so much more than I ever expected. I’ve learnt so much more because of it, I’ve made so many friends because of it and I’ve been to some great events because of it. I’m very proud of NHM. I’ve put a lot of effort into it over the past two years which shows, as there are now over 400 posts of content and nearly 1400 people see these posts!

I guess you could also say that NHM is a little bit of my legacy. I’ve spent a lot of evenings putting together the posts for NHM and it’s so good to see the time hasn’t been wasted.

So, I write NHM for myself, but I also write it for you. All my lovely, wonderful readers!

Thank you for your support, your feedback and your suggestions. They will always be much appreciated and help me to keep on writing!