A Cereal Bar for Christmas Lunch!

 

     Yep, seriously! While the majority of the wet English isle were crowding around dining tables laden with turkey, potatoes, Brussels, Christmas pudding & crackers, we were eating cereal bars!

     Yes there is a reasonable explanation!  With two of our children 6000 miles south and enjoying Christmas in the sunshine (interspersed with summer showers), and a daughter a relatively short 200 miles due west (and cat-sitting so tied to staying at home for Christmas), we drove under the grey skies and through rain curtains to spend a few Christmas days in the West with her, and the cat!

     After attending a Christmas morning church service in our village, we left The East about 11.30am and arrived in The West around 3pm.  As recommended by Highway & Road Safety Agencies we stopped for a very short break about 2 hours into the journey – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Motorway Services so empty! The restrooms were quiet; the usual constant whirr of the high powered but essentially inefficient air-hand-dryers was missing. It was just a little eerie!  WH Smith was open, fortunately, because we needed milk at the other side. Unfortunately we didn’t check the sell-by date.  So Christmas Lunchtime we were munching on our Cadbury’s Brunch Bar  - ‘The tasty cereal and raisin bar half covered with milk chocolate At last, a "wholesome" bar that tastes great! Suitable for vegetarians Oats, bran flakes, raisins, crispies & honey in a bed of Cadbury's milk chocolate.’ (Of course chocolate is wholesome, it’s made from milk!) …. splashing muddy road water on to the other road users possibly making shorter journeys, and getting splashed with muddy, flood water in return!

     However, while the majority of the wet English Isle were tiring from silly cracker jokes, getting irritated with broken toys or snoring in the most comfortable chair in the house, the three of us were enjoying our hot Christmas Dinner. Eventually. Once Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshire’s decided to react to the gas oven. It was a delightful meal, (eaten on our laps as there was no dining table!) And we were so satisfied we saved the Christmas Pudding and Custard for …. Thursday, the day after Boxing Day!! 

      It was a different Christmas to say the least! Maybe next year we’ll be able to have a few more family members to share it with us!  We missed you, our precious children, so far, far away!

TIDY YOUR ROOM!!

         Lately, while making my bed, I’ve been reminded of a set of books my children had. They were those book-club type books where you pay so much a month and get a book a month in the post.  I can only remember a couple of the story books they got. ‘Little 6 o’clock’ was about the number 6 on a town clock who wanted to see the town and so left the clock face but had to be back before the clock hands reached his spot! The other had something to do with a garden and a rose when it rained! (Maybe if my children who are reading this still have those books, they can put the publisher and the other titles in the comments!)  Each month these delightful stories would arrive in our postbox along with an activity book, all colourful, hard cover and beautifully presented.

      In one of these activity books there was a plan on how to tidy your bedroom! FANTASTIC IDEA!! And yes, it did work! Even today, probably about 20 years after my daughter first came across it, she sometimes uses this method! And I admit, so do I!  So I thought I’d share it with anyone who’s interested.

         This is not a ‘Go and tidy your room!’ plan. It’s a ‘Let’s go and tidy your room!’ plan! It’s something Mum and child do together, and, as proved in my daughter’s habits, eventually they may adopt it for themselves!

Step One:  Ask your child to bring a bin bag to their bedroom, for all the rubbish, and then to bring the laundry basket, or something to put their dirty laundry in.

Step Two:  Here comes the part they will LOVE! – Ask them to take everything off the bed and put it on the floor! Note that they are doing the work! Everything goes on the floor, including the sheets, pillow slips, duvet covers etc. which will eventually go in the laundry basket!

Step Three:  Help your child make the bed with clean sheets, pillow slips, duvet cover etc.  All children can help you do this, even if the three year old gets her head in the pillowslip together with the pillow!  It’s all about having fun together and getting a task done! You might like to put a children’s song CD on and sing together while working!

Step Four:  Now that the bed is all nice and tidy, pick up everything off the floor and dump it on the bed!  That’s fun too! All the shoes, dirty clothes, sweet papers, toys, books, papers – everything!

Step Five:  At this point they might be quite excited at seeing the carpet and finding so much space! Enjoy the moment!  Make yourself a spot to sit on the bed and explain to them that we’re going to find a place for everything! And then hand each thing on the bed to them to put in its correct place – rubbish bin, laundry, books on bookshelf etc. By this time my children were well into this ‘game’ and were quite happy to start putting things away. It might be an idea to have a drink-and-biscuit break on the carpet for very young children!

Step Six: Once the last item from the bed has found a place, the job is done and the rubbish bag can be dumped outside and the laundry basket back in its place! 

Not only is your child’s room tidy, but you’ve spent a happy hour with them, laughed together and worked together! Note that 99% of the tidying was done by the child herself/himself! You’ve given direction in a plan of action, you may have suggested places to put things, but the child probably had their own suitable ideas, and all you’ve done is hand the things over!