An emerging merger for VirtuallyAllSorts and MummyBearsBlog!

An emerging merger for VirtuallyAllSorts and MummyBearsBlog is well and truly under way!  Yes, MummyBearsBlog is merging over to VirtuallyAllSorts, my other website blog.

 

So why do this?  Am I deserting MummyBearsBlog?  Am I giving up the parenting blogging side of life?

 

No, I’m not giving up sharing the goings-on of the three bears.  No, I’m not deserting MummyBearsBlog, not in essence.  I will be writing parenting posts regularly over at VirtuallyAllSorts.  I could never truly give up parenting blogging.  I would never want to.

 

So you’re probably still asking the why…

 

Put simply, it’s a matter of focussing on writing and all that it entails for me.  I have exciting plans for VirtuallyAllSorts and it feels like totally the right thing to do in my gut.

 

At this point may I say a massive ‘thank you’ for following me, for subscribing, for every comment, like, share (across all the social media platforms).  It means more than I can actually put into words.  I’ve watched MummyBear grow and grow, just like our little bear is now growing before our very eyes!…  and now it’s time to merge with VirtuallyAllSorts.  I really do sincerely thank you for following along over here and would be absolutely delighted to see you over at VirtuallyAllSorts for more fun 🙂

 

~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

Follow Carol Cameleon’s board Parenting blogs I love… And think you might too! on Pinterest.

It all adds up!

There I was pottering around making some lunch while our little bear was happily role-playing with her dolls.  Or so I thought.  As I wandered into the living room, our little bear came up to me, holding up a piece of paper with numbers on.  I lavished praise on her, told her well done and told her how clever she is…

 Then I realised that the numbers actually did add up.  Our little bear had actually done her sums all. by. herself!!

 

Now if that’s not a #ProudMummyMoment, I don’t know what is!…. well, this homework was too 😉

My Word of the Week is ‘sums’ 🙂

Click the badge below to go to Jocelyn’s blog linky at The Reading Residence…

and to Vicky Welton’s blog at vevivos

and share a Magic Moment with Jaime at The Oliver’s Madhouse too

~~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

Follow Carol Cameleon’s board Parenting blogs I love… And think you might too! on Pinterest.

A Close Shave ~ poem

A Close Shave

~

These shavings tell a story,

They ‘paint’ a picture too,

They’ve given hours of creation

With paper, scissors, glue…

~

These shavings have fallen

From the sharpener in my hand,

As I turn and turn and turn

And as I watch them land…

~

These shavings are a work of art,

A work of pure genius

From the pencil crayons of our little bear,

Yes, I know I’m slightly biased!…

~

She colours lots and lots… and lots!

It’s something of a passion,

It was her favourite thing to do

‘Til loom bands came into fashion…

~

Yes these shavings tell a story

Of a masterpiece that’s unique,

We’re standing by with baited breath

For her first art gallery critique!…

~

By Mummy Bear

Linking up with Jenny at Let’s Talk Mommy (click the badge below to go to her blog)

…and Vicky at vevivos.com (click her badge to go to her blog)

~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

Follow Carol Cameleon’s board Parenting blogs I love… And think you might too! on Pinterest.

~

Why homework has made me one proud Mummy Bear!

Well, it’s been a while since I blogged and that’s because of the 3 bears succumbing to the nastiest lurgy that we’ve had in ages.  It looks like we’ve turned a corner and are now on the road to recovery…  so on with my week.  Last week to be precise!  I had every intention of posting last week but the sentiment still stands so here goes!

I’ve blogged before about why I get excited about our little bear’s homework and it is SUCH an exciting time for me to be getting involved with our little bear’s homework and thinking outside the box.  I’ve been grabbing it with enthusiasm and gusto!  Reception at our little bear’s school is learning about The Three Little Pigs and the children (and parents!) are being encouraged to do something pig-related for homework.  It’s always with much excitement that I delve into ‘the book bag’ every day after school.  First, I take out the ‘Communication Book’ which is a fantastic little book, particularly as I don’t always pick our bear up from school in the afternoon.  Then I rummage through the various pieces of scrap colourful paper that our bear and friends have so diligently put into each others’ book bags through the course of the day!  As I rummage, I find her Reading Record Book and the actual book to be read.  And if the homework book is in there, I have a flick through that too.

Faced with doing something ‘Three Little Pigs’ related, our little bear’s creative head went into overdrive.  I asked our little bear what she would like to do for her homework and she immediately went to the stash of packaging that I have very cleverly been keeping, dragged it all out like a game of jenga (she takes after her Dad – always takes the one from the middle, never from the top…!)  Next she told me she wanted to make 3 houses – straw, sticks and brick.  That done, we made some ‘bodies’ with lollysticks that we’ve been keeping to one side.  And hey presto, we had 3 little pigs (4 including Mummy Pig!) and the Big Bad Wolf!  We had oh so much fun completing it and took it into school on the Monday morning for her teacher.  As I handed her teacher the bag with the models inside, I felt an overwhelming rush of pride that I had taken the time to do this with our little bear.

That done, I thought very little of it and just got on with my day.  When I picked her up, she told me that her teacher said she had done ‘good work’.  Another rush of pride….  But when I picked her up later that same week, she showed me with pride her sticker which read ‘Principal’s Award’.  Then she told me that her teacher had taken her to see the Headteacher for ‘good work’ with her Three Little Pigs house models!  Given the lurgy that’s been lingering and staying well past its sell-by-date, I wasn’t feeling on top form… until our little bear told me this wonderful news and showed me her sticker.  Suddenly, nothing else mattered, my hacking cough and wheezing didn’t matter, only my heart swelling and very nearly bursting with pride mattered.

Proud?  Just a bit!

Not surprisingly then, my #WordoftheWeek is ‘Pride’…

Linking up with Jocelyn’s Word of the Week

And Jenny at Let’s Talk Mommy ‘Share With Me’

~Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

Follow Carol Cameleon’s board Parenting blogs I love… And think you might too! on Pinterest.

Mummy Bear’s Shout Out 23 ~ best blogs

Welcome to Mummy Bear’s Best Blogs Shout Out 23 where I will share my favourite blog posts of the last few weeks in the form of links to the relevant blogs.  Feel free to comment, perhaps with a link to your favourite blog post of recent weeks too!

~

Genna at Blethering Boys talks about having a financial ‘safety net’ which certainly resonated in our household!

~

Then there’s Jocelyn over at The Reading Residence who shares her top tips on cutting costs.  And best of all, they require minimal effort. Definitely worth a look!

~

Finally, Donna at RedheadBabyled has got me to thinking about trying a new banana and choc chip muffin recipe… mmmm

~

I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I did.

What was your favourite post this week?

Comment or tweet me or both!

~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

Follow Carol Cameleon’s board Parenting blogs I love… And think you might too! on Pinterest.

Taking a look back on the HELLP syndrome journey…

HELLP save a life by raising awareness of HELLP syndrome with a 2015 calendar…

 

This year I thought I’d got away with it.

 

This year I was feeling absolutely fine.

 

This year I felt  normal… but then the memories came flooding back (albeit some of them very hazy).

 

This blog post was going to focus on how I hadn’t shed a tear and hadn’t felt the need to.

 

Memories are powerful though and my memories are too strong.  The trauma is still there.  It is getting easier.  It really is but at this time of the year, as well as celebrating and being forever grateful, I find myself needing a little bit of ‘wallow’ time.

 

My emotions need to come out.

 

5 years ago as we came to the end of the third trimester, I thought we were coming to the end of our complicated pregnancy journey but really, it was about to get a whole lot more complicated due to pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome.  Frankly, I was lucky to come out alive.  Yes, I had sky high blood pressure and mild jaundice.  Yes, my liver was frighteningly close to shutting down.  But I survived…

 

We are forever grateful that our little bear also came out of it with mild jaundice and no other issues.  Forever grateful.

 

We are lucky to be here 5 years later as a family.  A while ago I took part in a blog linky where ‘The Prompt’ was ‘anger’.  I wrote about why I’m tired of pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome and “Why I’m putting my anger to bed.”  My blog post focused on turning away from the trauma but in it, I promised that I would continue to raise awareness of both conditions.

 

Along with personally marking the scariest time of our lives, I wrote this blog post to raise awareness of the HELLP syndrome awareness 2015 charity calendar produced by Kelly Lewis (founder of hellp syndrome angels on facebook).   All sales are being split between Tommy,s and Action on Pre-Eclampsia.  You can read more about the calendar here.  Kelly is also a survivor but tragically her and her husband David’s baby girl Ellissia wasn’t so lucky.  They have a gorgeous rainbow baby who can be seen below with Kelly, holding up ‘March’ which is the month Ellissia went to the angels.

HELLP syndrome awareness calendar 2015 with Kelly Lewis and Jake (her gorgeous rainbow baby)

 

click here for more information on the calendar

HELLP has a far-reaching effect but sadly not many who are not affected know about the condition.  Not even the medical professionals.  You can change that by buying the calendar and ‘hellping’ to raise awareness.

HELLP to save a life today…

~

Written for Share With Me (click the badge below to go to Jenny’s blog)

and Post Comment Love (click the badge below to go to vevivos.com)

~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

Mummy Bear’s Shout Out 22 ~ Best Blogs

Welcome to Mummy Bear’s Best Blogs Shout Out 22.  It’s been another busy week in the Bear Household and I haven’t had a chance to do too much recent parenting blog reading of late.  But here I will share my favourite blog posts of the last few weeks in the form of links to the relevant blogs.  Feel free to comment, perhaps with a link to your favourite blog post of recent weeks too!

~

John of Dadbloguk shares his observations on the debate of who makes the better parent – from a dad’s perspective.  It makes for great reading.

~

A must-read for parents everywhere from Kiran at Mummy Says. Just in case you needed a reality check… and watch out for the snail reference! 😉

~

Who hasn’t got an abundance of conkers surrounding a tree near them?…

Caroline at Becoming a SAHM compiled the fantastic conker activities… I especially the conker run 😉

~

And Catherine at FromLittleThings has put together a great run-down of activities to do with conkers.

~

I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I did.

What was your favourite post this week?

Comment or tweet me or both!

~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

Follow Carol Cameleon’s board Parenting blogs I love… And think you might too! on Pinterest.

In the swing of it…

Four weeks in and I do believe that we’re well and truly in the swing of it … in the swing of school that is.

• Friendships are being formed
• New things are being taught and learnt (at quite a speed!)
• New foods are being eaten
• Various books are being found in book bags for homework, which I’m really excited about!

Yes our little bear’s growing and learning with a hop, skip and jump.  So far so good!

And my word of the week has got to be ‘swing’!

~

Written for #WordoftheWeek (click the badge below to go to The Reading Residence to read other peoples’ words…)

~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

Why I get excited about homework !

Here’s why I get excited about homework!

As a parent, you have your moments that you really treasure above many of the other moments.

Aside from starting school, one of mine was our little bear bringing books home in her book bag to read.  You might call it ‘homework’!

I absolutely love reading to our bear, although it’s getting so close to the day that I read with our bear!  And won’t that be a moment to treasure!

When I delved into her book bag a couple of weeks ago, I was ‘oh my god!!’ excited to see a ‘Reading Record’ book with her name and class on the front.

And then a Biff, Chip and Kipper book.  We’ve had a few now and I can see that they’re very clever in the way they build up sentence structure, they make the child (and parent) think about the book and they’re enjoyable too!

Time is most definitely of the essence in the week and we’re very aware of giving our bear some down time at home before and after school.  But I’m really happy that we’ve still managed to read (and enjoy!) the books.

And I honestly think that our bear is getting something out of the books and taking it in.  To know that we’re helping in our bear’s literacy journey gives me such a warm, fuzzy glow 🙂

~

Written for ShareWithMe

and PostCommentLove

~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt

How to encourage your child to eat healthy food… (pst ~ no bribery involved!)

Like many parents, we encourage our little bear to eat ‘properly’ and have a healthy diet.  That is, not to be a fussy, faddy eater. but to eat her fruit and veg (with the odd treat thrown in – everything in moderation and all that.  And we can’t get away with cake ourselves otherwise!).

She’s a good eater but very predictable and always sticks with the same food on her plate.  When we entice her with something new it invariably ends up pushed to the side or on the table so as not to contaminate the other food on the plate!

One tea-time recently, we were tucking in and chatting away at the table.  Our bear said, “I’m super girl with super powers!” and promptly put her arm up in the air like a super hero!  Immediately, something clicked with me.  I gave hubby the ‘knowing’ look that tells him to play along…

“Oh well, super heroes need power food to keep their super powers!”

(Can you see where this is going?!)

“What food on your plate stats with the letter ‘puh’?” I asked.

And it went from there.  The result being that our bear was not only eating her peas and saying they were yummy but actually shovelling them onto her fork!!  Yes, really!  So now she knows that peas, potatoes and pasta are super power foods.

And I’m pleased to report that since she’s started school, our little bear is definitely getting more adventurous with her food.  She’s tucking into school dinners and reporting back that they’re, “yummy!”

She still doesn’t like the idea of this delicious, nutritious snack though… 😉

~

~

Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. Available now through my website at Virtually All Sorts. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia. …and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg

Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding ‘Working Mum Guilt’. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child’s development and time management – Ditch the guilt today! … and visit my facebook page or follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt