Naked babies in the Dark from the Modern Mrs. Bennet Diaries by Tracy Spiers Bath time was an endurance test for Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. It required both of them to wash Miss Rosie Bennet who quite literally screamed the house down if a sponge or jug came anywhere near her. In fact mention the word wash, she’d howl and try to climb out of the bath, pleading with her big blue eyes: “Somebody please rescue me!” Her smaller twin sat like an anaemic frog on her lily pad – a sponge bathmat - and carried on bobbing the heads of her duck pals, ignoring the distressed pleas and waves created by her unhappy water companion. This evening Mrs. Bennet was embracing the calm before the storm. The bath babes, with their adorable matching round tummies were enjoying a splash. Shampoo, sponges and anything to do with washing were out of sight. Mrs. Bennet was sitting on the toilet seat, quietly reading an escape novel. Keeping one eye on the children, she noticed Miss Rosie was sitting on something and it wasn’t a plastic duck. The bubbles in the water confirmed her worst suspicions. It was too late; an explosive deposit meant a swift scooping up of babies and offending objects. It was time for evacuation. Leaving the naked babies to roam around upstairs, she risked not putting nappies on them while emptying the bath in order to carry out a swift clear-up operation. Happily entertained by their eldest sister, the twins bounced on Miss Megan Bennet’s bed as fresh water filled the bath tub. But as Mrs. Bennet bent over to turn off the water, the house plunged into darkness, causing an instant double cry of panic from the tiny Miss Bennets. Fumbling around, Mrs Bennet managed to find two naked children, who instantly clung to her, digging their chubby fingers into her arms and wrapping their legs tightly round her middle. “I’m here girls, it’s alright, it’s alright – just don’t you dare wee all over me!” she told them. Mr. Bennet, outside the house at the time, re-entered to an orchestra of cries. The two smallest girls refused to be consoled, despite reassurances from Miss Naomi Bennet and their mother, while Miss Emily and Miss Megan Bennet simultaneously whined that the programme they’d been watching had disappeared. Mrs. Bennet, pinned to the spot by crying limpets, couldn’t move. So her own Mr. Darcy did his best to rescue the damsels in distress by lighting candles and winding up torches. Scared of the flickering lights and unsure what was going on, the little Miss Twin Bennets – nicknamed Spag and Bol by their mother - cried all the more. Their volume control turned up a notch as their source of comfort began searching for bottom protectors to prevent certain spillages. Dressing a frightened baby in candlelight was not an easy task – neither was picking up hundreds of Polly Pocket clothes, shoes and accessories, which covered the lounge floor. Without Mr. Latte and Mr. Google, Mrs. Bennet felt lost. Having not had any tea, she took comfort in a bowl of olives, a chunk of bread and her favourite Jarlsberg cheese. But then she remembered olives weren’t such a good idea. Her mother, known affectionately as Jannie, was convinced that’s why she had so many children. Dark nights with no heat, often led to a baby boom nine months later. In Mrs. Bennet’s case, it didn’t bare thinking about! She went to bed with a bar of chocolate instead. To read more log on to www.modernmrsbennet.blogspot.com  Treasure those early memories with professional Photographs, and raise money at the same time! PLAYGROUP & SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHY: As a special
offer for playgroup's and schools, I can offer my 'schools pack' option (minimum amount of children required).
I do offer my photography at this level for bulk purchases because I do not wish for anyone to be excluded from seeing me and also sometimes it is just so convenient to get that updated image through the school or playgroup.
Gives you a chance to not miss them growning up! The playgroup's can earn some commission and raise funds too! Here are some examples of my recent playgroup work. They were taken at ULEY UNDER 5's PLAYGROUP. A lovely setting with a great team of staff.
So dedicated, professional and very caring. CONTACT JENNIFER FOR MORE INFORMATION
telephone: 01453 542576 www.jenniferhenryphotography.co.uk
Is Michelle breeding moths in her purse? Or Is She Leading A Frugal Family Life? So I figure there are four types of people in this world. Carefree spenders who don't give a fig about the price - they want it, they buy it. Sensible spenders who consider their purchase, and spend wisely. Frugal spenders who will completely wear out everything before even thinking about replacing it. And then you have Me! The expression 'tight as a ducks ar*e' was invented for me. Although if I had a duck it would probably end up on the dinner table (sorry for offending any duck owners reading this!) along with a serving of plum sauce and Chinese pancakes. Anyway, I digress. The main emphasis of this article is to help pass on some helpful, if not frugal, money saving tips, so here goes: Grow Your Own Veggies. If you have been relying on the supermarkets for your fresh veggies, it's high time to consider growing your own food. What can be better than picking you own grown vegetables fresh from the garden for good health and family life? Even if you don't have a garden, growing vegetables and herbs in pots on your window-sill, also known as container gardening, can be very useful. Mint, sage, rosemary, basil and thyme are great herbs for container gardening. If you are pressed for time, opt for low maintenance vegetables that include garlic, onions, tomatoes, turnips, cabbage, leeks and kale. Make Your Own Meals. Its been said time and time again, cooking your own meals from scratch is far cheaper than relying on overly processed, overly packaged convenience foods and ready meals, and is by far the best thing you can do for child & family health. If you are really pushed for time, why not have a marathon cooking session on a lazy Sunday where you prepare and cook meals for the whole week that can be frozen. Cooking in large batched saves you money on your energy bills too. Imagine having the oven on and crammed full with a large cottage pie, lasagne, fish pie, bread and butter pudding, and a pot of home made rice pudding sitting on the bottom of the oven. Cooking everything for the week once, then reheating portions in the microwave is much cheaper than running the oven to heat through a couple of frozen ready meals for dinner each evening. If you make large enough portions, you could even make enough for two weeks of meals. Use your leftovers. Any leftover cooked veggies or meat can be added to a pot of soup, chopped and mixed with eggs, milk and cheese to make a frittata or crustless quiche. Save those stale loaf ends to make bread and butter pudding, or grind them up pop them into a bag and freeze. Handy for topping off savoury pies, coating chicken breasts before cooking, or making bread sauce. Improve your grocery shopping habits. Never ever go shopping when you are hungry! You will let your stomach rule your head and overspend on unnecessary items. If you have a friend who needs to shop, why not make a shopping list each, then meet at the supermarket and swap shopping lists. You certainly wouldn't think of adding things to your friends shopping basket that's not on the list would you? You just meet back at the checkout and swap trolleys. Frugal Living Tips from our readers: Tessa Swift emailed us a top money saving tip. Tessa says "For my Birthday I always ask my husband for my favourite brand of body lotion. Unfortunately it is very expensive, and being a 'tight' mum by nature, I like to get the most out of everything. So what I do is to buy a bottle of cheap, un-perfumed body lotion, then mix it with the expensive one. This makes it last much longer, and I can smell wonderful every day" Jemma Richards sent this top tip in to us: "if you find any out of date natural yoghurt in the fridge, don't ditch it. Use it as a revitalising face mask. Just make sure it's natural yoghurt and not a fruit one, or else the fruit pieces will slide off your face and make a mess!" Here's a top make up tip from Susan P: "In hot weather, try storing your make-up, perfume and lotions in the fridge. This keeps my eye liners sharp, and my body butter from melting". Here is to a purse or wallet full of wealth - and not moths! And also to a bit of frugal family fun! | | Michelle Gets A Midnight Surprise And Contemplates Her Childs Nightmares Don't you just hate it when you get woken up in the middle of the night by a sobbing child! Especially if it's for bed wetting reasons, and you have to do a bit of nocturnal bed sheet changing while you are half-asleep. I have been there and done that, and I thank God that we are past that stage now. But sometimes we still have an occasional nightmare to contend with, which usually results in me cuddling my son back to sleep with re-assuring stories and funny jokes. However, I do still have conversations in the school playground from fellow parents who are still suffering from bed wetting in kids. One parent in particular told me she cured her son's bed wetting through using a hypnosis CD. This made me curious, so I had a search around on the internet for some information about hypnosis for children. Hypnosis for Children. Could This Be A Cure For Bed Wetting And Nightmares In Young Children? There are more and more children who are feeling the effects of broken sleep due to bed wetting or having nightmares. Night time waking among children is attributed mainly to the child's nightmares. These may be an effect of several factors like environmental aspects, or consumption of caffeine containing drinks. Children who go to sleep late of course tend to wake up late. Hypnosis for children is used to help children relax or calm down before bedtime. In contrast to what you may think, you do not have to be asleep to be affected by hypnosis, but in a deep state of relaxation. The subconscious is more receptive to suggestion during this period. There are also visualization techniques you can use with your child in which the mind can be programmed to shrug off the negative thoughts and feeling that bring on nightmares or bed wetting. You can take sessions personally from a qualified practitioner who will also give you some tips to use at home, or buy a specialised CD or DVD that have been produced with children in mind. Prevention is still better than cure, so with bed wetting focus more on the success they have achieved for staying dry overnight. Remind them to visit the toilet before going to bed, and try limiting their drink intake during the two hours before going to bed. So when searching for bed wetting solutions for children, or help for your childs nightmares, hypnosis for children could be a perfect solution. Here is to nights free from nightmares in young children, and no more bed wetting in kids! Michelle gets nostalgic for her childhood and thinks about happy families and health. Do you ever look back at your childhood with rose tinted spectacles? Those care-free days where summers were actually warm, and the days seemed to go of for ever. Rushing down your breakfast so you could escape from the house to see your friends and spend hours roller-skating, climbing trees, and riding around on proper scooters that had big wheels, with tassels fluttering from your handle bars, not like these modern micro-scooters you get today. How times have changed! With the new computer generation of kids, you will more than likely find them staring at a computer screen than riding a bike. Or if you do spot one actually outside walking in the fresh air, they seem to be permanently attached to a phone, either talking, texting or playing with their aps! Hardly as exciting or physically challenging as climbing a tree is it? So are computer games, phones and other electronic gadgets really to blame for the rise in obesity amongst the current generation of children? A child's health and family life can be severely affected by obesity. Resulting problems can be carried on into teen years, and eventually, to adulthood. Of course, when a child is overweight they can become targets of school bullies, which could lead to a whole host of psychological problems you will need to tackle along with their weight problem. Getting kids into a regular routine from an early age that incorporates plenty of healthy exercise can be one of the most important steps to avoid gaining unhealthy weight, and addressing your family health needs. Getting outside for a bit of family outdoor fun is a great first step. Going out for a family walk or nature ramble at weekends, or take along some sports equipment to use at your local park, such as rackets, different sized balls, skipping ropes, hula hoops, bean bags, a Frisbee or a kite. Doing this on a regular basis can also encourage them to discover an activity or sport they would like to take up, such as the school football, netball or athletics team. It may even encourage them to take up an out of school activity such as Cub Scouts, Rainbows and Brownies, or joining a club to learn martial arts. All these activities are healthy both physically and mentally, and will foster good relationships with other children and adults. Banning children from using the computer or games console will only cause resentment, so why not encourage child & family health with the playing of sports or activity games where the whole family can get involved. There are lots of options with modern consoles for games that get you up off the sofa and be physically active to play the games. Examples are tennis, golf, bowling, hula-hooping, ski-jumping, slalom skiing, baseball, and many more! There are even games aimed more at younger children that involve jumping over imaginary objects, leaping around catching flying creatures, and balancing games. So there's no excuse for only having games that do no more than exercise your thumbs anymore! Getting your children to eat healthy food can sometimes be difficult. So if they already eat a particular healthy food without fuss, such as apples and carrots, why not see if you can increase the amount by an extra portion a day. Give them an extra apple after dinner instead of a sugary pudding, or add some raw carrot sticks to their lunchbox if they happily eat carrots with their dinner. Try serving fresh fruit salad with natural yoghurt as a dessert twice a week, replacing a stodgy pudding. Activity games for children to play: In the spirit of theme for keeping kids healthy and active, here are some ideas for quite silly, but fun games to play outdoors. Wellie Wanging! Dig out your wellies for this one! You will need: Wellingtons, hula hoops or a long ball of string, paper and crayons. Make up some score sheets with paper and crayons. You will need to make one each with 10, 20, 50, and 100 written on in large, bold numbers. Gather up all your wellies along with any hula hoops you have and head out to the garden or local park. If you don't have any hula hoops you can use lengths of string to make circles on the floor instead. Spread out the hula hoops or make string circles, then place one of the score cards in the centre of the circle. Make a line with another long piece of string for you to stand behind. Take it in turns to throw each Wellington aiming for different circles with each throw. If you succeed in landing a Wellington inside a hoop with no part of it touching the hoop or going outside of the hoop, you score the points on the score card. The winner is the person with the highest score. Double Football This is a really silly game that will have you laughing while you play! You will need two footballs, and a couple of sweatshirts or jumpers for the goal posts. The idea is that instead of kicking one ball into the goal, you have to kick both balls at the same time. You only score a goal when both balls go through the goal posts. You will be running all over the place retrieving the balls as they fly off in all directions! Here is to good health and family life! |
