July, 2005

Well we’ve finally done it, our house is now (or soon to be) dummy free! No I don’t mean dummy as in stupid person, think soother, pacifier, etc. The saga is a long one. our 3 year old was always very attached to her dummy, to the point where she was wakening every night crying as she had lost it during the night. The only way to get her back to sleep was to go rummaging under the bed for the offending item and put it in her mouth asap. We tried giving her two but she always managed to lose both. So at christmas last year Mr Levee decided enough was enough and threw all Rays dummys away saying that santa had taken them in return for her presents as she was such a big girl now. At first all seemed to go well, after the first night she accepted the situation and didn’t make too big a fuss, and yes finally slept all night!

But we ran into problems when we put Jays bed into Rays room a few months later. Jay is almost 2 years old and also is quite attatched to his pacifier, in fact he wakes up most nights also if it gets lost. But most nights its not actually lost, its in Rays mouth. She lies in waiting every single night and as soon as jay drops off she pounces! Stealing the soother, claiming it as her own and happily sucking away until she falls asleep. Every night we retrieve it, return it to Jay only to be woken later on because she has done it again.

Well last night was the final straw. They are waking at the crack of dawn every morning, fighting over this stupid thing, so as of today Mr Levee has confiscated all dummies. Jay kicked up a bit of a fuss at afternoon nap time, but finally got used to the idea and went to sleep. Tonight he didn’t cry at all. Ray went to bed and the first thing she said is “Jay doesn’t have his dummy.” I told her that they were all gone now as both her and Jay are too big for them, but of course she took this to mean that santa will be leaving another present in the morning to compensate. She is going to be greatly disapoointed tommorrow morning! Anyway so far so good, both children are sleeping, fingers crossed it will last through the night! The last task will be going around the house tommorrow and rounding up all the stray dummies from the back of drawers, top of wardrobes and under beds. My kids are like sniffer dogs, if we leave any about they will surely find them. Just think we are going to have to do all this for a third time in approximately 2 years time. The joys of parenting!

Sunday, July 17th, 2005 // Family Life

We had an antenatal appointment on Wednesday this week. While Mrs. Levee was in with the midwife, I took the kids for an impromptu picnic in the main waiting room.

Sitting there brought back a lot of memories from Ray and Jay’s pregnancies. The smell of the corridors, the hospital staff walking past. The hospital was less busy on Wednesday than usual, but I remembered sitting in that waiting room times before, other expectant couples around us waiting for news, or those fleeting glimpses of their baby during the scan.

Part of me felt like a delivery veteran. “Third child? Pah! Seen it all before! Nothing could shock me about childbirth!” Oh yes, I could teach you a thing or two about childbirth. . .

Anyway, Mrs. Levee’s pelvic pain is increasing. Her mobility is getting worse with each passing day, as the baby gets heavier. The heatwave in Northern Ireland isn’t helping either! We’re both hoping that she’ll be taken in earlier to be induced, perhaps one or maybe two weeks early.

Friday, July 15th, 2005 // Family Life

Cloth nappies are something I have heard a lot about since having my first baby almost 4 years ago. Having frequented many different parenting websites and forums I often came across someone trying to persuade the rest of us to give up disposables and give washables a try. I have to be honest, I never even considered it.

So what changed…I can’t really put my finger on it. I suppose we started trying to be more eco friendly in general about a year ago. We made more of an effort to recycle, bought a composter and tried to use a bit less power, though that hasn’t been overly successful due to a husband who thinks its a good idea to leave his server and pc running 24hrs most days. Slowly I started to consider cloth nappies as an option.

I was greatly put off however by the thought of all the extra washing, drying, and scooping of poo into a toilet. It has to be said I am not the worlds best housekeeper, my house isn’t dirty, but I don’t think Kim and Aggie will be offering me any awards any time soon. So the thought of having to scrape, wash, dry and fold nappies each and every day really caused me a bit of distress.

I bit the bullet though and began researching the subject about 2 months ago, with the help of some lovely ladies from the www.ukparents.co.uk cloth nappy forum and a local organisation called Blooming Bottoms, with the intention of trying cloth instead of disposable on our new baby born due in August. I had no idea of the amount of nappies available. The choices are almost endless. Would I choose a two part system consisting of a shaped nappy with a waterproof wrap, terry towelling squares also with a wrap, all in one nappies, stuffable or pockets nappies. Once that decision has been made its time to choose whether I’d prefer velcro/applix fastening, poppers, nappy pins or nappy nippas? Do I want to buy small sizes and then buy bigger ones when baby gets bigger or opt for a Birth to potty nappy? Do I want towelling, flannel or hemp? Do I want boosters? Do I want fleece, pul, or wool wraps? Honestly I could go on and on…. I was terrified of choosing a type that didn’t suit the baby or me, of wasting all that money only to find I didn’t like them. So I decided to try them all (well within reason!) on my toddler (now 1 year and 11 months) and if I liked a particular type or system then I would stick with that for the baby.

So I started browsing through all the used nappies forums and eBay. I got some great bargains and so my experience with cloth nappies began. In order to fund the nappies I sold some of my sons and daughters old clothes and toys on eBay and used that money for the nappies. I also tried to buy popular makes in fairly good condition so I could sell them on if I didn’t get on with them. So far I have tried Tots Bots, Popolini, Little Lambs, Ellas House hemp Nappies and Bumhuggers, Earthwise Flannelette nappies, nature babies stuffables, daisy diapers, scallywraps stuffables, and my absolute favourite Fuzzi Bunz.

I have to say I am now a complete convert! I tend to stick with the stuffable nappies like Fuzzi Bunz as they are so so easy and never leak. They are basically a waterproof wrap that is fleece lined and can be stuffed with anything (as long as its absorbent), I tend to use cheap terry towelling nappies folded up. The nappy is then fastened by poppers at the front. I find this much easier than the seperate nappy and wrap as my son hates getting changed and is oh so wriggly, fuzzis are so quick and easy to put on, they dry much more quickly that the heavier nappies and wash beautifully.

As for the perceived extra work, there is hardly any! I have enough nappies so that I only have to wash them every 2-3 days, even I can cope with that. I don’t soak them, just use eco friendly laundry bleach and good old sunshine to remove any stains and line dry rather than tumble dry to cut down on energy useage.

I feel so much better about my son wearing natural fabrics rather than all those chemicals being so close to his skin. The whole thing also saves us a fortune as I got all the nappies second hand and sold on the ones I didn’t like and we spent such a lot of money on disposables before. Honestly maybe this is too much information but you have never met a child who poos as much as Jay, hes become quite a legend amongst friends, family and babysitters!

In all I’d say if you have a wee one or are thinking of starting your family you should consider cloth nappies as an option. They are not only for tie dye wearing hippies or Mother Earth types, believe me I am neither. But they do work out much cheaper, they are better for the enviroment and they are so so cute! Everybodys’ child will be wearing white pampers, think of how your baby will stand out with his cute blue, red, tie dyed or winnie the pooh nappy. Its definately worth some thought….

Tuesday, July 12th, 2005 // Family Life

As I rounded the Donegal Road Roundabout this morning, there was a structure on the horizon that I didn’t recognise. A square, wooden tower just in front of the old red brick chimney.

It took me a moment to work out what the structure was: an Eleventh Night bonfire. It was an impressive structure, well built and solid. It reminded me of the possible controversy that the next fiew days might bring.

Continuing along the Donegal Road toward the City Center, another skyscraping bonfire rose up in front of City Hospital. Against the early morning sky, figures could be seen making final adjustments near the top of the tower. More young men in hooded tops and baseball caps stood guard at the foot of their creation in case someone should try to topple or destroy it before this evening!

Closer to the City Center, another bonfire was surrounded by construction fencing on all sides and guarded by a lone sentry. Smaller than the other bonfires I’d seen on my travels, it was crowned by the unusual conbination of a Northern Ireland flag and a Nilfisk vacuum cleaner!

Bonfires can become quite contentious in Northern Ireland, and the built bonfire has to be protected against attack from either the authorities or from passing Nationalists. I had a look on Google for more information about the Eleventh Night and came across this article about bonfires in happier times.

As always, I hope it all passes off peacefully.

Monday, July 11th, 2005 // Northern Ireland: Politics

Boycotting this year’s Big Brother was my first thought as I watched the parade of desperate wannabes entering the Big Brother house a few weeks ago. As they went in I sensed the one thought that was already going through their minds: “I’m already famous!”

Copycat Tactics

I was hooked on last year’s BB. Everyone was a character: Vanessa was the sexy ice maiden, Shell the dippy hippy chick with naturist tendencies. We had Dan the gay hairdresser (a Big Brother stereotype by now!), who was actually a great, down-to-earth bloke. The we had Jason and Victor (and Achmed) who were really playing the game.

I can see elements of last years contestants being copied and exaggerated this year. Firstly, nearly everyone is trying to copy Victor’s repartee in the Diary Room. As dull as dishwater in the house, the contestants step into the Diary Room and HEY PRESTO!!! Personality switches on! These people are auditioning, in case you hadn’t noticed. Look at Derek, Roberto, Makosi.

On to the sex. Stuart and Michelle caused a stir last year with the romp under the table. So what do the latest contestants do? Rump, dry hump and grind as much as possible. Saskia and “cheeky-chappy” Cockney clone Maxwell are nominated for eviction and suddenly the attraction is just too much! Come on!

When All Else Fails, Sex Still Sells

Belfast girl Orlaith can’t keep herself covered up. She’s obviously targetting herself at the lads mags. She managed to work her way in on the pool action between Makosi and Anthony. Surprising how some girls act like they invented breasts. And now there’s the “what actually happened in the pool” story. Heat magazine will pay a fortune for this crap.

When Kinga entered the house in her fig-leaf bikini, the audience reaction was terrifying and nearly reduced the girl to tears. My reaction was the same: “Busty girl goes into the house wearing next to nothing. Here we go again. . .”

Clearly upset by the audience’s reaction, she had our pity for a moment. Then in less than five minutes she had flashed a boob and made a comment about stuffing a cucumber ‘up her minge’. Classy girl. Was sorry she got booted. Not.

What does it tell you when thousands of people audition for this show and then whore themselves to the cameras in the hope of a magazine deal?

The Death Of Reality TV? I Hope So.

In short, the Big Brother experience is fast becoming a farce. Bone-idle lookers with missing personalities, bitchy homosexuals and ‘bisexual’ girls have filled this place out, knowing they don’t have to do anything interesting. Just sit around, relax, and wait for the TV jobs to come rolling in after eviction.

With the recent porn show in the pool, I wonder how long the show can continue. It has gone from cutting-edge ’social experiment’ to z-list celebrity factory. Even Davina looks bored and has been quite hostile to some of the evictees!

Is it possible that the show that started the reality TV genre could be the show that eventually kills it? Here’s hoping!

Wednesday, July 6th, 2005 // News & Media

The sultry, humid days in Northern Ireland are roughly at their longest. It will be 10:00pm this evening before it starts to get dark, and yet even with this extended day, I am getting nothing done!

I am supposed to be working on a web project in the evenings, outside of my day job. Not only am I finding it hard to concentrate (the heat completely saps my energy), the kids just won’t go to sleep!!!

On top of all of this, I’m losing a member of staff at work in my IT Department, and inducting a new one! The very thought of training a newcomer is soul-destroying, but I’m sure I’ll get over it. . .

Anyway, back to work. . .

Tuesday, July 5th, 2005 // Family Life