Relax and recharge

Anyone that knows me knows that I am not the best person at relaxing!  I like to be on the go, I like to accomplish things and there's a part of me that feels that relaxing is wasting time.....of course I know that's not true, everyone needs time to wind down and recharge their batteries....and that's exactly what I did yesterday at the beach.

I thought I would share a few pics of a picture perfect day.

"Oh I do like to be beside the seaside"

So I am on vacation this week and am mostly staying home and working on my never ending 'to do' list and treating myself to a little down time here and there (the book review of a 'Spoonful of Sugar' should be here next week) and tonight I am going 'down the shore' as they say in Jersey.  My friend has a beach house for the week so I'm taking a day off (actually forced to by my nearest and dearest) and I'm going to enjoy the pleasures of the seaside.

There's an old English song that my Gran used to sing to me that has the lyric.....

"So just let me be beside the seaside"
"I'll be beside myself with glee"

(I apologize in advance to all those Brits who will now have that song stuck in their head for the rest of the day).

There are a wonderful array of 'beach benefits' for adults and children alike.  Some I have mentioned in my other post http://textiletrolley.blogspot.com/2012/07/holy-sandcastle.html

The fresh air alone is just great.....plus exercise of walking on the sand.....try running on dry sand....no easy feat (as I found out in one of my off road biathlons.....no wonder all the other athletes ran nr. the lake...lesson learned). As we all know swimming is very good exercise too just make sure it's safe with a life guard on duty.....rip tides are nothing to mess with.

Water is relaxing....just sitting on the beach, taking in the ocean is wonderfully therapeutic.  The sound of the waves crashing on the beach can be beneficial in rejuvenating the mind and body.

A day out at the beach is great for family bonding.  Parents are usually relaxed and will have time to spend playing with their children (put those phones and laptops away).  It's also a relatively inexpensive way to spend a family day together.  There are beaches here that charge per person and beaches that charge for a car.....either way I think it's money well spent for a family day together creating a memory that can last a lifetime.

If you're heading out to the seaside this summer have a blast and most importantly don't forget your sunscreen......you don't want that day out to be remembered by 'the time I got the worse sunburn of my life'.

How to make a patchwork baby blanket (no quilting necessary)

Sunday morning, my other half is watching the Dolphins game from the previous night (YAWN) and I'm wondering what I can do while the (American) football is on.

How about sewing a patchwork blanket?  I have some scraps left over from the bibs I have made which are the perfect size for a patchwork project.

This blanket will be made with a sewing machine, not the time consuming hand stitching that
I did in college.
Click on this link for the result of months of hand stitching....2nd pic down!
http://www.textiletrolley.blogspot.com/2012/06/life-at-norland-college-part-2.html


How to make a machine stitched patchwork blanket

First of all gather your scraps of fabric that you think will work well together.

I have a couple of tools that I found very helpful, a rotary cutter and a square template for patchwork!

Cut out 30 squares (mine measured 6 inches) using either these tools or a ruler, marker and scissors

Lay your squares out and plan your design, this may take a while.  I recommend taking a picture of the design so that there are no mistakes in the layout once sewing commences

Right sides together put a couple of pins along the edge to join 2 squares

Pin a row of 5 squares together

Sew squares together on one side, top to bottom reinforcing by using a back stitch at the top and bottom

Sew a row of 5 squares, then sew another row of 5 squares until you have 6 separate rows

Turn the rows over and press seams open

Place one row on top of another row, right sides together, matching seams, now is a good idea to look at the picture you took of your design

Pin rows together

Sew rows together making sure seams match.  I usually back stitch a couple of stitches to reinforce the seam

When all rows are sewn together turn over and press the seams open

It should look like this on the back

It should look like this on the front

After pressing the patchwork place it right sides together on your backing material.  I used white flannel cut a little bigger than my quilt

Make sure there are no wrinkles in your fabrics, smooth together (don't pull or stretch) and pin around the edges leaving a 6 inch opening to turn the quilt right side out after sewing

Sew your fabrics together with the same seam allowance used for sewing the squares together.  Don't forget to leave that 6 inch opening

Trim edges a little, I used pinking shears to prevent further fraying

Cut corners of excess bulk

Don't cut too close to the stitches

Give the blanket a good shake to get rid of loose threads and make sure long threads are trimmed.  Turn right sides out through the 6 inch gap

Gently ease corners out from inside the blanket with a chopstick or a knitting needle

Give the blanket a really good press.  Make sure you press the seam allowance under at the gap

I sewed 2 rows of top stitch to close the 6 inch hole and to give extra strength

Drum roll please.......the end product

The finished blanket
Check out the shop for other blankets....this one sold!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TextileTrolley

The blanket turned out great!  I am more than pleased with it.  It's a lovely light weight blanket not too big or bulky for travel and is great for strollers, car seats, and afternoon naps.  The finished dimensions are 27" x 32.5".

To wash or not to wash ........ that is the question!

Whenever my 6 year old gets new clothes her mother and I always have a friendly discussion as to whether or not to wash the clothes before she wears them.  I am definitely standing by the "YES LET'S WASH THEM" argument and here's why......

To start off there is usually extra dye left over on the clothes and it's always good to wash that off before it comes into contact with your skin or white sofas!!!!!!!  Some dyes used can cause skin irritations so always best to get as much off as possible.

Manufacturers usually add a finishing chemicals to clothes to enhance colour and texture.
Formaldehyde is the chemical added to clothes to prevent mildew, it has a strong odor and may take several washings to remove it completely....this also can cause skin irritations.

To reduce the amount of chemicals on your clothing you can always buy organic clothes, even then I would still wash them before wearing.....you just don't know where they have been.

And that's the bottom line here people.....we just don't know where our clothes were or who touched them before they got to us.  You may think they are brand new to you coming out of fresh packaging but you could easily not be the first owner!  Anyone could have fingered through them with germs on their hands (yes it is possible to transmit germs and diseases through clothes). 

Coming from a store they could have easily been dropped on the floor by accident and kicked around with the dust bunnies......only to be brushed off to look like new.

Stored in warehouses clothes can be exposed to many different bugs and rodents....and it's possible for them to get inside the boxes where clothes are stored.

OK if you are not totally grossed out yet you can read this report by 'Good Morning America'
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/gma-found-clothes-clean/story?id=9482373#.UDd8UqDAETA

So whether it's children's or adult's clothes.....I recommend you wash before wearing!

Happy shopping.......I'm off to do some laundry!

"I'm leaving on a jet plane"

How do you successfully travel in the skies with children?

At one point or another you and your dear little ones will most likely be taking a ride on an airplane (or as we like to say in England aeroplane).  So I consulted my fellow nanny friends to ask them for their top tips to keep children of all ages occupied.  I hope some of these will help you on future travels.


How to keep young children occupied in the airport

- Play eye spy.
- Talk a long walk around the airport.  It's a great idea to get some exercise, even try and tire
   them out a little before you have to sit on a plane for a while.
- Look at the book store.
- Find a place to watch the airplanes take off and land.
- Try and distinguish between all the different planes.  Explain how there are planes for people
   and planes for mail.
- There are some really great books to keep little ones occupied.....a small price to pay for
   some peace and quiet if you ask me.

All these books can be bought at http://www.amazon.com

By Usborne

By Usborne

By Dover

By Dover

How to keep young children occupied on the plane

I always make sure I pack a great bag for the plane ride with a host of items to keep them occupied.  If I had my way I wouldn't give them their bag until they were on the plane because there is so much to do in the airport (as long as you don't get delayed) but I don't always get to make those sort of decisions.

So here's what I like to pack.

- ALWAYS make sure they have their favourite soft toy or blankie and keep an eye on it at all
   times. I remember losing my 'monkey' when I was young (luckily we found him) and the
   heartbreak that goes with it....you can never  replace a special friend like that even if you
   have a replica it never has the same wear and tear of the original.
- A few snacks....somehow food always make them content for a while.
- Music and books on tape are wonderful to listen to, our library has a great selection to borrow
   for 2 weeks.
- Crayons, a new colouring book and a pad of plain paper.
- A few new cheap toys are always a hit.  I usually walk around the big stores like Target or
  Walmart and see what I can pick up for a few bucks.
- Paperback story books are always good to have as is a new children's magazine.
- Easy games to play with no small pieces that may roll away.
- Something that has kept us occupied are sticker books....you know the kind with the stickers
   in the middle and you have to place them in certain spots throughout the book.  $6 well
   spent!
- Everyone's favourite seems to be the personal DVD player or laptop/i-pad with movies and
   games downloaded.  This was the number 1 choice when asked by parents and some
   nannies.  I would suggest that ear phones accompany such devices....I have been on planes
   where people just don't care if anyone else is disturbed as long as their child is happy.

Those are just a few ideas for plane travel.  I didn't want to make the list too long or too specific.

Do you have any great ideas to keep children occupied on the plane or airport......I am sure it would be extremely beneficial for us all to share our tricks.

Happy traveling.

Easy sewing projects for children: a pencil case

So yesterday our predicted weather was heavy rain, thunder and lightening so like a good nanny does, I planned an afternoon activity that should keep me and my 6 year old occupied for a decent chunk of time.
She loves to sew, so I scanned the internet to see if I could find some inspiration.  Good old Martha Stewart to the rescue....I found this quick and easy pencil case to sew.

http://www.marthastewart.com/268902/felt-pencil-case

It didn't look too tricky or time consuming so I thought we would give it a whirl.  Here's our version.

First we cut a rectangle out of felt and measured by folding up the bottom around a pencil

We decided we wanted a heart design on it so we made a template

We traced around the heart template and cut out 2 felt hearts 1 for her pencil case and 1 for mine

Next we pinned and hand stitched the heart on to the end of the flap

The seamstress in action.  Check out the blue nails she's such a fashionista

We then folded the case together and I ran a tacking stitch to hold it in place while she did a running stitch with embroidery thread from the bottom to the top.

I sewed on a small button near the top of the pouch and cut a hole in the flap (through the heart) for it to pass through

VOILA!  The finished product by a very proud 6 year old

I'd love to hear of any easy sewing projects that you think are good to do with a child.

A single mother is born

A new little person has entered the world and in doing so has changed the life of many others.

This weekend I stayed up all Saturday night with one of my best friends while she waited for her son to be born.  Being the sort of person that's not particularly good with needles and blood etc I did the first 12 hours and one of her other best friends was there for the painful part and the birth.  What a team!
Our friend was amazing through this whole experience.  Calm, relaxed and rode through the early contractions without even a wrinkle on her face at a 6 out of 10 level of pain I think I would have been at least scrunching my eyes.

So why was this journey so different than others?  Well maybe it wasn't.  Everyone has their own reason to become a mother.  My friend had, like many others, always wanted to be a mother. She has been a nanny for over 20 years and was desperate for the day when she could hear the words "Mummy" and some little fellow was running to her instead of straight past her.

So she embarked on a journey......a very daring journey that took a tremendous amount of strength and courage, she set out to become a single mother.  What an honour it has been to be beside her every step of the way.  From the begining feelings of doubt and choosing a donor to moral support through the failed attempts where she felt like it was never going to happen to yesterday when her son was born, 4 weeks early and took us all by surprise but he was ready to come and meet her.

My friend took great strength and information from the online boards that she is a part of. They have been a tower of support for her through this whole process.  As she explained to me yesterday there are many different areas of the board, there are different members in different sections such as a section for women who are trying to become pregnant, who are pregnant, who have been pregnant etc etc  I know she visited a few different areas and asked questions and was able to answer questions and it helped her tremendously through the whole procedure.  Yesterday I witnessed all the love and support that came flooding towards her from the women on these boards when she posted that she was in the hospital and little 'beany' was on his way.  It touched my heart to think there were all these people reaching out to her that hadn't even met her.

My friend has a tremendous amount of love and support from her various groups of friends both online and in person and her family overseas who has stood by her every step of the way.....this has to make such a staggering difference on the road that she has been on and is about to be on.  I have to think that knowledge, love and support are just as important factors as being healthy and having a great doctor and team of nurses.  I know my friend has been touched by many people in this last year and is so very grateful to each and every single one of them.

I realize there are many women out there who struggle with becoming pregnant.  I don't know if this little story will help you to stay strong and stick with it or perhaps it will give other women who are thinking about becoming a single mother courage, strength and the power to go ahead and take action.

If you are thinking of becoming a single mother surround yourself with like minded people, people who love and support you for what you want to do even if this means making new friends along the way.  Believe in yourself, educate yourself and be determined.
 
Here is a very helpful site to visit for informarion and support http://www.singlemothersbychoice.org/

Always believe that dreams can come true.

Gummy Vitamins for Children

So, ever since my charge was able to, she has been getting her vitamins from the pharmacy via a prescription from the doctor.  These tablets combined a multivitamin and fluoride and tasted like grape.  She was more than happy to take them every day.  One day we picked them up and realized they were a slightly different colour but figured it was the same vitamin so went ahead and gave them to her.  They tasted completely different and after a couple of times trying them she wouldn't take them anymore.  So the solution was to get  fluoride from the doctor and then to buy the gummy vitamins that she had been asking for for quite a while now.

As I sit here and research the gummies for children I wonder if there are any disadvantages to taking them.  The obvious ones that spring to my mind is that they are very much like candy and an unsupervised and uneducated child may end up eating way too many at once just like candy.  But this wouldn't happen in my care....the child I look after knows they are vitamins and not to abuse them (even if her mother eats more than she should, I have to admit there has been a time or 2 when I have done the same).

The other aspect I worry about is the amount of sugar that is in them and the fact that they are gummy they will probably stick to teeth longer and cause greater decay.  On our last visit to the dentist he told us that really chewy and gummy candy are the biggest culprits of cavities.  So I think the only way around this is that she takes the vitamins and then brushes her teeth.  This will also mean that we have to give her her fluoride at a separate time because it needs to sit on the teeth for 30 mins without eating, drinking and brushing.

So today I am off to Whole Foods to find the best gummies out there for my girl!  I think it is important to know your child's diet.  A lot of studies say that children really don't need a daily vitamin and that they should be getting everything they need from food and drink.  The girl I take care of is in fact a fantastic eater.  She eats more fruits and vegetables than any man I know but has to be pushed to drink her milk or yogurt and she dislikes cheese so I am going to make sure that the multivitamin I choose has a good supply of calcium and vitamin D.  The other thing i will be looking for is no food colouring.....do you think that's possible???

Anyone got any healthy gummy vitamins they love?

"Hands up if you know what to do in a Tornado"

I know what you are thinking.......bizarre title for a blog to do with children.  Maybe it is, maybe I'm feeling a little desperate today but after 2 recent 'possible' Tornado incidents I was wondering what do I do if I am faced with a tornado and how do I protect the child that is in my care (a topic that was not covered in my Norland training).

My first encounter was a couple of weeks ago, New Jersey had a Tornado warning.....which I completely blew off .....until I came out of Trader Joe's in Florham Park at 7.15pm and saw this.

Angry skies in a tornado warning.  Florham Park, New Jersey

It was a complete circle of dark angry cloud (you can only see the edge of it here) surrounded by normal blue skies.  I had never seen anything like it in my life.  To the left it was sunny to the right it looked like midnight.

Then, this afternoon I received this picture from my friend who has family near mine in Yorkshire. 

Funnel Cloud. Outskirts of Leeds, North Yorkshire, England

 This pic was taken just outside of Leeds and wasn't quite a full blown tornado....a mere wind tunnel but caused plenty of damage none the less.  A wind tunnel becomes a tornado when it touches the earth.

Now I know we have all seen 'The Wizard of Oz' and how Dorothy and gang geronimo into the basement of the house through the bilco doors but what do you do if you are in a building without a basement?  Where are the safest places to be and where do you avoid in a tornado?

Without further ado here are some interesting facts about tornado's and some advice that may help you prepare.

- Tornado's are most likely to occur between 3pm and 9pm
- Most people are killed or injured from flying debris.
- Have a predesignated place of safety for you and your family to go to in a tornado.
- Watch out for tornado warnings.
- Do not try to out run a tornado in a car.  You are most at risk of danger in a car.
- If you are caught outside with no building in sight find a low piece of ground such as a
  ditch and lie flat in it.
- Mobile homes are not a safe place to be. You need to try and get out.
- If a tornado is approaching try and put yourself in the lowest part of a building, the basement
   is best.  If there is no basement move to an interior room or hallway and get under a sturdy
   piece of furniture, such as a table.
- Stay away from windows.
- Some suggest to get into a downstairs bath tub if you have one and cover yourself with couch
   cushions.  

Families should have a 'disaster supplies kit' in their predesignated areas and according to the Red Cross should include the following:-

- a supply of water, non perishable foods and a hand operated can opener
- a flashlight with extra batteries
- a battery operated radio with extra batteries
- a first aid kit with all the essentials
- sturdy shoes and gloves
- written instructions on how to turn off your home's utilities

So I feel I have learned a little more today and I may be a tad more prepared if faced with a future tornado.  If there is anyone out there reading this who has survived a tornado and has some tips that I have not included I would love to hear from you.

Be safe everyone.

The cost of a child's birthday party.

How much is too much to spend on a child's birthday party?

When I grew up it was all very simple. 
You wore your best party frock (always that my mum had made).  Invited a few friends over.
You played games like musical chairs, dead lions, pin the tail on the donkey and of course the chocolate bar game.  "What's that"? you ask.  Well you put on hat, gloves and a scarf and try and eat as much of the still wrapped, chocolate bar with a knife and fork BEFORE your friends who were passing a dice rolled a '6'.  You would no sooner get all the stuff on then you had to take them all off.  Then you had the obligatory sandwiches and crisps followed by jelly (jello) and ice-cream.  And for party favors everybody got a slice of cake wrapped in a napkin!

I realize it's not always going to be like that, that would be totally boring.  But it is quite amazing at how much some people spend on birthday parties.

Suri Cruise's butterfly themed 2nd birthday party was reported to have cost $100,000.
A Real Housewives star reportedly spent $60,000 on her daughters 4th birthday party.
Brooklyn Beckham was said to have received a custom built playhouse for his 6th birthday costing $187,000.
And a bargain party at a supposed $15,000 was Kingston Rossdale's 4th birthday party.

How much is too much?
Obviously it's really none of my business whatsoever how much people spend on their children's birthdays but I'm curious to know the average.

Parents magazine conducted a survey in 2010.  They asked 2,264 readers how much they expected to spend on their children's next birthday.
26 % said less than $75,
49 % said $75 to $200,
19 % said $200 or more, and
6 % said they didn't know.

During my career I have seen some extravagant birthday parties but not one that I would have expected to top $100,000.

A Nanny's Life

So as I sit here wondering what I'm going to write about today (and so many things are going through my mind) I'm thinking that maybe every once in a while (I can't pin point a real schedule) I'll write about a situation or a story to do with being a nanny.

Of course I am going to have to bring in back up for these segments because I have been lucky enough to have quite nice bosses over the years that haven't been too crazy.  I'm not sure whether that was just the luck of the draw or whether it has something to do with my judge of character (which I have been told is quite intact)....anyhoooo I think I will start with a story about a temporary job I had.

I had just finished my probationary period (the time when I had to work 9 months in a proper job before I could graduate the Norland College) and I was looking for a temp job in the UK whilst I interviewed for positions overseas in the good old U.S. of A.  I didn't want to get tied down to another full time job in London when I knew that I really wanted to be out in the States.  So I did a couple of temp jobs.....one of them being a baby nurse with a family not too far outside of London.  This was a very affluent family with a fully staffed household who were already quite well known to the college and had a bit of a reputation for going through nannies....but I thought...how hard can it be...it's just for 3 months!  I'll give it a try.

Like I said the position was to care for a newborn and they also had a 2 yr old girl. Each child had a nanny and each nanny had their own self contained flat (apartment) on the 3rd floor of the house.  I would work 5 days, 24 hours a day and then have 2 days off.  During those 2 days off the other nanny had both children and when she had her 2 days off I had both.  It was exhausting!  The baby barely slept, she cried a lot and I had my first real taste of as close to motherhood as I could possibly get.

Now you may ask where the mother was in all of this.....well....she was resting a lot of the time...and taking care of the household.....she did come up and spend some time with the baby and I would take the baby to her in the evenings to be fed.  This whole situation was a little (shall we say) 'unusual' to me but to each their own.....it's people like this that give us nannies a job. 

It was definitely an interesting job.  Not one that I would have stayed in full time but I was glad for the experience (after all, I could put baby nurse on my resume now).   Christmas fell a week before the end of the job, so I went back home to celebrate with the family....and had full intentions of returning but fell sick with a heavy cold/flu so thought it wise not to be around the baby.  During this time I had been offered the position full time but it was not what I was looking for so I politely declined.

A couple of weeks later I got a call from the agency at college for a chat to see how the job had gone.  They were looking for feedback on the day to day reality of the job so they could give applicants a better description of the position!  At the end of the conversation a very awkward "umming and ahhhing" came over the line.....the lady that I was talking to wasn't sure how to tell me what she had to tell me.  I had a dreaded feeling come over me as she told me that there had been a formal complaint against me logged with the college.  I was aghast....I had taken care of that baby in the best possible way, I was polite to the mother and the other members of family and staff, always a cheery disposition, I had even insisted we visit the doctor when I thought the baby had thrush on the tongue (which she had)....I couldn't believe there was a complaint about me!  I racked my brains at 100mph trying to figure out what I had possibly done wrong.  The voice on the other end of the line told me not to worry at all, the college was not taking it seriously as they had had some experience with this family before.....of course I had to ask what the complaint was.....and I could barely believe my ears when I was told "you walked around the house loudly in your slippers"!
WHAT????????      oh wait there's more..... 
"you walked around the house loudly in your slippers and you knew it annoyed Mr. X but you still kept doing it".

Well if that's the worst complaint they had then I was pretty chuffed!  I put it down to the fact that I turned down the job and they were so miffed about it that they felt the need to complain, and I definitely don't need to be around people like that!

This was my first introduction to the crazy stories I was about to encounter during the next 20 years of being a nanny.

Are there any nannies out there that have a story to share that feel will not implicate their jobs, relationships or reputations?  (And I don't mean my close friends cos I'm gonna need you and your stories to fill this blog at a later date).

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Planting herbs in pots

At the end of spring my little girl and I always plant herbs in pots.  I like herbs because I think they are very easy and a good introduction to gardening.  I for one still get excited when I see something wonderful and luscious growing just from putting a few seeds in some soil.

Growing plants from seeds teaches a child a valuable lesson in nurturing and caring for something.  It's a responsibility that with the help of an adult is easily managed and with a little TLC and a dash of patience should produce something they can be proud of.

Just some of the herbs we chose, cilantro, parsley and basil.

We chose organic soil and seeds.

They are so tiny you have to be careful you're not tempted to dump the whole packet.

Planting them all by herself, under special guidance of course.

Cover them up and give them a good watering (we didn't use bottled water, just the container).

VOIILA!

It doesn't take much time to see these tiny things grow....if you have never planted seeds with a child I would encourage you to give it a go it can be a lot of fun for both of you.....plus it's cheaper than the grocery store.