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  • Being A Big Brother Is Hard

    My name is Harrison and I am nearly 11, I have a little brother and sister, I want to share with you what its like to be the oldest sibling.

    I often get blamed for things I did not do and mum says I should know better.

    Mum always expects me to tidy my room even though I share with my brother and he’s the one that makes most of the mess…thats not fair, is it?

    I hate meal times, we all sit round our dining room table to eat, mum is trying and clearly failing to teach my brother and sister to eat like humans, they leave their mouths open when they chew, when they try to cut up their dinner bits go flying off their plate and no matter what mum cooks one of them will say “yuck” and cry when mum asks them to try some.

    They don’t understand much to be honest and you have to really dumb it down for them to kind of understand, this can be frustrating.

    The front room TV belongs to my sister, she watches Talking pigs, and dogs driving cars and stupid songs, its rubbish, if I dare change the channel she will scream so it’s not worth the hassle.

    My mum is on her own, she tries to make lots of time for me but its hard with the terrible duo around, I do appreciate it more when we get sometime for just me and her.

    Just once I would like not to have to flush their poo, mum and I have both showed them where the flusher is, but nope they poop and run.

    They love me and want to cuddle and kiss me but they are sticky and that’s really not nice.

    My stuff is never mine for long, they destroy anything nice or hide it from me, its like a game to wind me up, they want what ever I have even if they don’t really need it.

    Even my own bed isn’t safe, they will sneak in for night time cuddles but this makes me hot and sweaty and once my sister peed in my bed.

    They take all the good snacks and will leave crumbs and wrappers where ever they go, my little brother doesn’t like to share and will often sneak snacks. 

    Both of them ask me stupid questions, like why don’t dinosaurs live here now and when I tell them they argue with me and answer their own question with the wrong information, like seriously why ask me and not want to hear my reply.

    Games are not fun, if you beat them at anything they will cry and cry and cry and if they win they tease me.

    I sometimes am dragged to little kids parties, someone explain to me how a man dressed as a monkey whilst the wheels on the bus is played in the background is remotely fun.

    It is totally and utterly impossible to have any quiet time in this house.

    Mum has turned me into a shop slave, I’m forced to get bread whenever required, but at least its quiet on the 3 minute walk and sometimes I get to keep the change.

    Mum also asks me for help with bits and bobs like taking the washing up stairs or laying the table, she never asks my siblings as they can’t even tie their shoe laces yet. But I don’t mind helping as my mum works hard.

    There is no privacy in this house, I can’t take a bath without one of them wanting to join me or using the toilet, they don’t have any issues with privacy themselves as they will happily run round the house naked or poop with the door open.

    It’s not all bad though I’m never lonely and there is always someone to play with or snuggle up to.

    I think Christmas would be too quiet without siblings, it’s the one day I love the noise and excited screams.

    I feel so proud of them when they learn anything new or achieve something.

    I like teaching them new skills, like my little sister couldn’t say Dora for ages she would call her Dor-Dor and I spent a week teaching her how to say it properly and this made me so happy.

    I feel having younger siblings has made me more patient and I’m so over protective of them, I will never let anything bad happen to them.

    I Love them even though they are really annoying and often smell.

    Being a big brother is awesome and I would not wish my life to be any different.

    Harrison

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  • Growing up around mental illness 

    Growing up around mental illness
    Normal childhood, my parents would take me out all the time

    But from what seemed like nowhere my mother got agoraphobia

    Obviously this didn’t just come from nowhere, but to the mind of a child, it just appeared
    One weekend going all over the country to visit family or friends or whatever, then… BAM! Can’t leave the house
    “Can I have a lift to dads?”

    “I’m sorry, we can’t”
    “Can I go to the park?”

    “Not today”
    “Mum, Emily is having a sleepover, can I go?”

    “Another time”
    “Can I go on the school trip to Italy?”

    “We can’t afford it, and it’s a very long time to be away”
    I never envy or feel bitter about the fact I couldn’t do what I always wanted, don’t get me wrong it wasn’t always a “no” or “another time”

    My parents did their best to maintain a “normal” childhood for me
    Except for the fact, they relied on me.
    I’d be out with friends and my mobile would ring “can you come home, we’re having a bad time”

    And I’d return, to help diffuse the situation of a panic attack
    It’s always been described to me as an elastic band of safety

    The elastic band used to cover a larger area, but over time it’s gotten smaller and smaller.

    To the point my parents are stuck in the house for the most part
    But, while I never got to do all of the things I wanted to when I was younger, I was taught skills of empathy, care, compassion and the importance of family to a degree I’m proud of.

    My parents are my everything, and every day I hope it’s a good day for their sake.
    I am forever grateful of my childhood, it led to me being who I am today
    A daughter, a wife, a mother and a nurse
    I am forever grateful.

  • Nappy Tax

    A new “nappy tax” will hit families with babies in nappies – as they will be expected to pay an additional charge for “special bins” as if having a new born isn’t expensive enough.
    As a result, local councils are asking parents for an additional fee to take away nappies as part of their household waste. This extra cost can be as much as £62

    These charges are for either larger bins or special plastic sacks.

    7 local councils in the south-west are demanding the payments – resulting in them gaining up to £100,000 a year in extra income.

    “Family finances are often at their most stretched with the arrival of a new baby, due to maternity leave  and the costs associated with a newborn.”

    MP Jo Swinson told the Daily Mail

    “The last thing parents need is to be whacked by extra charges from the council.”
    What do you think? Would you pay this extra money?

     

    Original story https://www.familiesonline.co.uk/life/news/parents-set-to-be-hit-with-a-brand-new-nappy-tax

  • Don’t Walk away

    What do you do when you feel like everything is against you, that your constantly sad but you don’t know why.

    That the only way to feel is to drink or to cut.

    When your friends and family are all bored of hearing about how your feeling.

    You know you need help but have no where to turn, your doctor just wants to give you pills, but all they do is dull your senses.

    When all the advice people give you is “you’re better off than others”, “cheer up a bit”, “have you tried being happy”.

    No shit Sherlock do you really think I chose to feel this way?

    What people need to understand is no one with depression wants to feel down or have self loothing.

    Listen to them, support them, and be there for them, do not walk away, do not assume they are attention seeking, love them, help them and be a constant shoulder to cry on 

  • DO NOT BREAST FEED….HERE

    Breast is best according to medical professionals and extensive research has been carried out and one of the most natural things in the world so why is it such a taboo subject and frowned upon to breast feed.

    DO NOT GO OUT IN DISGUISE! 

    This isn’t a good look

    Now this place is fab to breast feed a puppy not so good for a nursing mum 
    Looks a bit cramped
    Toilets are never a great place unless you’ve got the runs and have no choice. 
    Germs, germs everywhere
    Hiding in the cupboard is silly, although some have mummy snacks, not the most comfortable place though.
    A seat would be nice

    Breast feeding shouldn’t be a time to feel embarrassed, or that you have to hide from the world.

    Feed your baby where ever you feel comfortable.

    Mums advice support breast feeding, formula and tube fed babies.

    Your baby your choice 

  • Boys- The Gross Truth, What You Need To Know

    Now as a mother of two boys, one who is 8 and the other just starting puberty at the age of 11, I wish someone had giving me a heads up a mini pre-warning of the gross and weird things boys do.

    Now I love my boys to death and wouldn’t change (much) about them.

    Ok so these are the things that no one ever tells you about little boys.

    • Farts.. there hilarious to boys and if you have more than one boy they will have farting competition and often will thoroughly enjoy farting on each other.

    • Baby boys get erections…I was shocked when I first saw it and assumed they didn’t erm appear until puberty.

    • Boys like to pull their willy and will openly do this whilst mid-conversation or when in public

    • Boys are proud of their poos and will often call on you to view it.

    • Bogeys are often wiped on siblings, furniture or even eaten.

    • Boys talk…by the time your child is in double figures they will be asking multiple questions about hair on bits, and how does milk get in boobs, they will have no shame in discussing all the things they have learnt off of their friends at school.

    • The words poo and bum are the funniest words ever.

    • Their aim is off! Wee goes on the seat, on the floor, sometimes even on the walls.

    • My boys walk better in heels than me

    • Boys are rarely clean, mud and trees are their greatest play thing

    • Boys are gross they will set each other dares, like sticking 30 marshmallows in their mouth and then end up spitting it out

    • Boys are just as sensitive as girls and that’s absolutely fine.

    • Boys love their mum and will always need you

    Can you think of any more gross truths? If so please add yours in the comments section.

  • Do Not Cover Your Baby

    Seeing a parent pushing a pushchair with a blanket draped over it is a fairly common sight. However, Doctors have warned it could potentially be fatal.It would quickly become uncomfortable and potentially dangerous for the baby … if a baby gets too hot then the baby may think that it is back in the womb, which is why breathing may stop.
    An experiment was conducted when the pushchair was left on a normal summers day  uncovered the temperature did not rise above 22C. A thin cover was then placed over the pushchair. After 30 minutes the heat inside had risen 34C. An hour after it was a sweltering 37C.

    Parents end up resorting to draping blankets over their prams to give babies some shade from the heat and darkness to help them sleep, but what they’re not considering is that these blankets or sheets are not manufactured to be breathable.

    Regardless of what you choose to use on your pushchair, it is common sense to keep your baby cool and shaded in hot weather. The sunlight is made even more dangerous by UV, so if you can also use something that blocks these rays, your baby will feel even cooler.

  • The Worlds Youngest Mum

    Lina Vanessa Medina – the youngest mum in history was Peruvian Lina Medina she gave birth to a baby boy at the age of five in 1939.

    She is still considered the youngest mum all over the world and registered in Guinness World Records.
    The pregnancy of world’s youngest mum progressed almost unnoticeably and impalpable and only the growing belly indicated her condition.

    It was found out only in her 7th month that she was pregnant. The delivery passed successfully by means of caesarean section, the newborn son was healthy, his height and weight normal: 18.8 inches and 6 pounds.

    Her second child was born 33 years later in 1972.
    Interesting fact: the girl’s mother noticed that her daughter is physically developing too fast almost immediately after Lina was born. Her pubic hair began growing at 3 months after birth, and at the age of 8 months her first menstruation period began.

    When Lina was four, her breasts started developing and that year she became Pregnant 🤰 . 

    The doctors confirmed it, saying that the youngest mother’s ovaries at that time had already been as those of an adult woman. This phenomenon is called early sexual maturity and it is mostly rare in occurrence among children younger than 5.

    Who was the father of the world’s youngest mother’s baby now that is still a mystery. The fact of sexual abuse was confirmed, but we won’t have ever found out who did it to a little girl. Lina Medina has never given any interviews, not then or ever.