The fridge of a bad parent? Meme

This is the first time I've been tagged in a Meme and I was tagged by Emma at mummy musings. This Meme was started by Sally to see how our fridge contents compare to hers and if her fridge is that of a bad parent!

Luckily I was tagged today as *fingers crossed* next week we will be starting our kitchen project and this fridge will no longer be!

So here goes!

Top shelf

• Gu chocolate pots (only one left)
• Organic peru decaff Coffee
• Tiptree Seedless Raspberry Jam
• M&S Apricot Jam
• Waitrose Smooth fresh orange
• Bottle green sparkling elderflower
• Waitrose organic mild cheddar
• Waitrose mozzarella ball
• Lancashire Cheese

Middle Shelves

• Organic semi skimmed milk x2 (Blake won't drink full fat milk!)
• Thunder Toffee Vodka (Everyone should have this!)
• Plum baby fromage frais
• Petits Filous chocolate desserts
• Yeo Valley spreadable butter
• M&S Instant Porriage
• Chargrilled Chicken bits
• Parma Ham
• Organic rocket, spinach and watercress
• Organic cucumber
• Organic Strawberries
• Organic Plums
• Seedless Grapes

Bottom Shelf

• Meatballs
• Organic breaded chicken fingers

Door

• Cobra Zero
• Tiptree Tomato sauce
• Mr Bump cold pack
• Mini bottle of smirnoff
• Grey Goose Vodka (if only I wasn't preggers - Vodka lemon and lime needed!)
• Creme de cassis (note the missing champagne)
• Ribeena (The hubby's - full of artificial sweeteners which I think should be banned!)
• Full fat coke - for the hubby but I quite fancy it for myself actually!
• Tropicana smooth orange juice

Not too bad? We're having Mozzarella salad for tea/dinner (I'm northern so it's tea for me but hubby is southern so calls it dinner!) 

Where I can, I buy organic because I was brought up in the north west countryside and educated in the ways of organic farming which I fully support!!! (seriously - my school had a farm!) and also because I don't really want to eat a whole bunch of unnecessary hormones and chemicals.

A lot of my shopping comes from waitrose as there is a branch in walking distance!

I love to cook and can't wait to have our kitchen redone so I can do more! - we're completely starting from scratch - even taking a wall out and I will be blogging about it, we've never bought a kitchen before!!!

I'd like to tag the following to continue this Meme...

Louise at My Mumoirs

Steph at Stephanie Connolly

Planettots

Jessica at Mumzy not

And anyone reading this! 

Please leave a comment when you have done your fridge so I can pop over and be nosey!

Emma in Bromley x

4d and 3d baby scans in the Bromley area.

When I was pregnant the first time round, I had a 4d scan in Lancaster where my parents live. We had a fantastic time and I loved seeing how our baby looked - we didn't find out with baby 1 if we were having a girl or a boy and it was fun to get everyone guessing from the facial features on the scan. The other lovely thing was, we actually recognised him from the 4d scan when he was born - it really did give a true representation.

Now I'm pregnant with baby 2 we were keen to have a 3d/4d scan again, but this time we wouldn't be travelling all the way to the north west and were looking for something a little closer to Bromley.

I'm aware that there isn't anywhere actually in Bromley so I started looking into other nearby locations and we found somewhere in Sevenoaks - a 45 min drive away called The Avenue Clinic.

The Avenue Clinic only does the 4d scans on either a monday evening or a saturday, we booked for a saturday so we could make a day of it with our toddler - we went to Knole park afterwards so he could chase deer and run free!

It was a little tricky to find, Sat Nav got us to the right street but the clinic is actually an annex to someones house and has a very small sign that we almost missed! The reception area was welcoming and the room we had the scan in was large, bright and airy - and had enough chairs for everyone - nobody minded that besides myself and hubby, we also had our energetic toddler and my in-laws with us. Ohhh and the loo was lovely!

There is a flat screen tv on the wall so I could see everything in comfort and the scan started with a few routine checks and measurements to check all is progressing ok with the baby before launching into the pure vanity of trying to capture good images of baby's face. We left with a string of excellent printed photos and a cd with images and video clips on it.

The clinic only accepts cash or cheque as payment so we had to visit a cash point before we started the scan (who has a cheque book these days!!!) Our package was £165.

I'm struggling to find any other 4d scans in the Bromley area, a friend had suggested Apeekaboo imaging over in Erith but I've sent 3 emails and left 2 telephone messages and haven't had any replies so I assume they are no longer in business.

BMI Chelsfield Park Hospital press office got in touch with me to say they will be offering 4d scans in the near future which will be very handy for Bromley parents to be.

Has anyone else had a 4d scan? where did you go and what did you think?

Emma in Bromley

Website Wednesday: Liguria Pura Olive OIl

I wanted to share one of my latest purchases with you, Olive Oil!


I'm not going to pretend to be a total foodie, I love the idea of being a foodie, I love cooking and daydream over owning a KitchenAid Mixer but in reality I'm a fussy eater and not as adventurous as I'd like to be. 


However I do have quite a thing for good Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar,  I like to dip lovely fresh rustic breads into it as a side to a big hearty salad. 


We recently bought a bottle of Liguria Pura online and it arrived very quickly. They've been going for 2 years but only just launched in the UK. I love the tattoo-esque logo and how family run this business is.


This olive oil isn't filtered, something I always look for and they only do a harvest by hand once all the olives have perfectly aged. 100% Italian Extracted from Olives grown on the Riviera Dei Fiori, Western Liguria.


I found the flavour to have a slight peppery overtone but to be very smooth and almost a sweetness to it, the colour is a lovely golden colour and the bottle has a drizzle top so you don't have to worry about pouring out half a bottle by accident. 


The motto is "Superior Category Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Made with Love" - You certainly get the feel of that from the care taken in the flavours, not to mention, neat stylish packaging and leaflet telling you about the history of the company which starts with Boy Meets Girl...


www.liguriapura.com


Emma in Bromley x

Who's more excited about Duplo? Me or my little boy?

We all had favourite toys as children, some of which have made it all this time and are still available. There are of course one or two things that seem to make us parents more excited than our children. I loved my glow worm and was very excited when we got one for our baby boy - they've changed over the years, I remember dismantling mine and having just a glow stick! The new ones also play music which is fab!

My hubby can't wait until our little boy is old enough for Scalextric but for me, it's all about Lego, at 21 months, he's still a little too young for Lego but we've been having a blast with Duplo (Lego for younger children). Our Son got a few kits for Christmas but we've also bought a few extra bits and pieces since and now we have a tub full! I get lots of enjoyment from building little houses from Duplo and Blake love's to build and dismantle towers, he also loves the train and Buzz Lightyear figure from a toystory3 set but his favourites have to be the farm animals from a small animal set we bought.

When Blake got his first Duplo set at Christmas, he was 18months and it took a little while to get used to it, at first he just got a little frustrated, then he moved on to putting all the bricks in the box and then tipping them all over his head, but now he's very good at putting the bricks together and taking them apart. I absolutely love watching him play and seeing what he thinks to do with his bricks. I love encouraging his creative side and I think Duplo is also helping his co-ordination. Our collections of Duplo are getting too much to fit in the green box that came with a starter pack, I think before too long, we will be shopping for a new box just to keep all the Duplo bits in!

I think that between the age of 18months and 2 is a great time to introduce Duplo and it's one of those toys that Mummy and Daddy get just as much enjoyment from too!  Duplo bricks are chunky versions of Lego bricks, making them easier to handle for little people and less easy to swallow but word of warning - they still hurt if you stand on a brick bare foot!!!

Duplo is currently one of my little boys favourites and I can't help but giggle at the thought that maybe one day in the future, his children will be playing with Duplo too!

Emma in Bromley x

Diddi Dance Taster Session at The Glades, Bromley

Mummy Mondays Club in The Glades is offering two free taster sessions for Diddi Dance tomorrow (4th April 2011).
Both lasting for half an hour and in the atrium outside the Disney Store. 
Staring at 10.30 and 11.15am.
No need to book, just turn up with your mummy monday club card - if you're not already a "mumber", join for free at the information desk.


Other Mummy Monday offers available until midday include:

Auntie Anne's Pretzels - buy 1 get 1 free.  Free tea when any full price pretzel purchased.
Build a Bear £5 off when you spend £25 or more
Costa Coffee 10% off
Debenhams 2 for 1 coffee
Dengrove 10% off
Flutterbyes  20% off
Gymboree Free playtime
Hawkins Bazarr 10% off
Head 10% off
Hotel Chocolate 10% off
Krispy Kreme free original glazed doughnut with any hot drink purchased
Levis 10% off
Lush Free hair and skin consultations plus free sample pack
Oil & Vinegar 10% off plus free tasting sessions
Patisserie Valerie BOGOF on all hot drinks
Pineapple 10% off
Regis Free color consultations, GHD masterclasses, 20% off hair cuts booked between hours
Rituals 20% off
Rocks 20% off when you spend £20 or more
Rush 10% off services
Sia Beauty 10% off
Starbucks 10% off
Steiff 10% off

Adventure Kingdom Soft Play Centre

Entry only £2.50 for children every Monday before 3pm

Emma in Bromley x

Parenting Etiquette, what do you do if someone elses kid is a bit of a terror?

It's always a tricky one, we've all been at a toddler group when another kid has snatched a toy from yours or slapped or kicked or said a naughty word but what do you do? You would like to think parent of said kid would come over, apologise and speak to their child but you are more likely to win the lottery. You can't really tell off someone elses child, so I've found myself saying "that wasn't very nice" and moving my child away from the terror kid! - I don't feel it's fair on my child for me to be moving him away when he hasn't done anything wrong, but on the other hand, I'm not going to leave him there to be upset by another child.

My child, at 21 months is a little copycat and this week he's seen another child hitting others and seems to be at the start of a phase which I'm desperately trying to nip in the bud. Twice this week he's hit another child, but he does it with a playful look and isn't doing it out of a tantrum. I've found myself apologising to other mums and taking him to one side to explain that what he did wasn't very nice and I make him say sorry to the poor child - luckily he's not hit hard enough to make other children cry and it's happened only the twice so fingers crossed that's it!

There was also an incident at Adventure Kingdom (Soft play centre) where two older boys were in the play area for under 4 year olds and were throwing balls around. My little one went to copy and I quickly had to stop him. You can see the confusion on his face, he doesn't understand why I'm stopping him from doing what other children are doing. I can't believe how different parenting can be, I by no means think I'm perfect but I do try my hardest. The mother of the boys throwing balls in the baby area (where there were some very young babies) was just sat in the cafe area playing on her mobile phone, oblivious to her older kids being in the baby area and throwing things - to me, that's not trying your hardest at parenting is it!?

Then there are the 50p rides! My son loves the Iggle Piggle boat ride so I sat him in it and put the money in and pressed start. An older kid shoves past me and climbs on the ride too, a very dirty scruffy looking kid who kept blowing a party streamer in Blake's face and scaring him. Again all I could say was "that's not a very nice thing to do" I looked round to see if I could see the kids mum but I couldn't. I didn't mind so much that I was paying for someone elses kid to have a ride as I was doing it anyway, but I did mind that this kid was scaring my son, climbing all over a moving ride and that I felt like I had been left responsible for this other child - what would have happened if he had fallen off the moving ride? he wasn't exactly sitting nicely. Should I have lifted him off? I'm 28 weeks pregnant and no idea how heavy a 5 year old would be? I don't think that would have been sensible!

What are you supposed to do when it comes to parenting etiquette with other children? I really felt like lifting the other child off the ride and making him stand in the corner for a minute and think about how it's not very nice to scare other children but I have a feeling if I had done that, the kids mum would have made herself known!

Have any of you been in similar situations and what is the right thing to do?

Emma in Bromley x