Santa Snacks
I'll admit, I'm not great with making things look pretty...
I hurriedly remembered to get this organised before my three-and-a-half-year-old went to bed. (She went early tonight. My husband and I are still drunk on the power of, “We can still call Santa’s elves and tell them to tell him not visit tonight…”.) It is the first time we have left snacks out for Santa…awww!
A peanut butter and banana muffin for Santa (recipe from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld) and a starting-to-get-limp carrot for a reindeer.
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and if you don’t celebrate it, I wish you a great holiday.
December 24, 2009
Posted in: Cooking, Lifestyle 
2 Comments
“Festive Season” products
It is the Silly Season and for many of you it’s probably one social event after another. For me, it’s like I barely go out for the whole year and then December is so full I feel like I am a debutante coming out to society or one of the hideous women off the series “Real Housewives of…”.
I have been sent a few products from Melbourne company Biorevive that are festive season-related.*
The first is called Hydrodol and these little capsules (it’s all legal folks!) are perfect to carry in your handbag to events where you are going to be out late and getting, well, a little pissy.
Hydrodol is a supplement containing vitamins B1 and B2 along with a range of amino acids, minerals and an antioxidant.
They are recommended to be taken while drinking and also the morning after. I don’t drink but I did go to my work Christmas party last week and was out very late so I popped four capsules as recommended and the four the next morning.
I may as well have been drinking. I got home at 1am, then was waking every few hours to my teething baby, so I felt hungover the next day!
All I can say is that every little bit helps so I am guessing that the Hydrodol could only have helped in perking me up for the day’s business of looking after kids!
The next product is Glutentest, which is a self test for the detection of glucose intolerance.
It is a really easy test to conduct, though you must read the instructions carefully. It it only takes five minutes for a positive or negative result. You have to prick your finger with a clicker and it doesn’t hurt, honest. (I was a bit scared!) The trickiest part of the test was to fill a tiny little tube with blood and I found myself squeezing my finger repeatedly to fill the tube before placing it in a little container filled with a solution. You shake it up (so the solution turns pinky-red with your blood) and then place the test strip in.
It’s like a pregnancy test. Two lines for positive. One line (the control line) for a negative.
My test came up negative. Good. I would have been pretty alarmed had it come up positive for gluten intolerance because I love bread and all associated products that gluten is found in.
I am wary of home health testing kits but all in all, a pretty great way to at least discover if a gluten intolerance is the cause of any uncomfortable symptoms you may have. And obviously, should a positive test result be had, follow up and see your doctor or a health specialist!
*I was not paid to review these products.
December 21, 2009
Posted in: Product reviews 2 Comments
More Cherie moments, please!
Pictures of a very fresh-looking, PJ-clad Octomum, Nadya Suleman have appeared online and if these haven’t been stage-managed I’ll eat a Christmas card!
This woman has 14 kids and can manage to put on a face mask and have coordinated pajamas? (Not just any pjs – Stripey Victoria’s Secret pyjamas, as reported in The Daily Mail).
I’ll admit, I was born a cynic and it has only grown with age. I only have two kids and I can’t manage to look even a fraction of how Octomum looks in those pics. I don’t own coordinated pajamas and I have serious tummy overhang from just two bubbas. I find her abhorrent but she looks amazingly together.
Personally, I would have ditched the baby bottle filled with juice (just another thing for people to slam her for…and I have no sympathy for her, just her poor kids)
In this age of spin and the micro-managing of all aspects of “public” figures’ lives, I want more Cherie Blair moments.
Cherie Blair opens to door in her nightie the morning after Tony Blair's 1997 election as PM.
December 17, 2009
Tags: celebrity, Octomum, Parenting Posted in: Media, Parenting 9 Comments
Poem ban insulting to teachers and students
UK examination board Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) has issued new copies of its school poetry anthology (used by teachers and students to prepare for GCSE English exams) after it removed a poem called Education for Leisure by current Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
The poem is simple and provocative and because a handful of people complained about its implied references to knife crime, has been removed from the AQA syllabus:
(I get our bread-knife and go out. / The pavements glitter suddenly. I touch your arm.)
The actual decision was made last year amid the spate of knife-related murders in the UK, where statistics gathered by the Conservatives reported that 227 stabbing deaths occurred between April 2007 and April 2008.
I must admit, I haven’t been keeping up as closely with UK news since I moved from there back to Australia in late 2006 so I have only just become aware of the removal of Duffy’s poem.
I taught this poem to my GSCE students in London in 2004 and 2005 and it was one of the most successful poems in generating discussion and engaging their interest. Isn’t that the whole point of poetry? It was especially popular with boys and considering many of them would moan every class, “why do we have to learn poetry, miss? What good is it going to do us?” that is quite an achievement.
Personally, the poem was one of my favourites and we had great classroom discussion on anti-social behaviour and what makes people want to hurt others. (“Today I am going to kill something. Anything./I have had enough of being ignored and today/I am going to play God.”)
In an article on the brilliant Sp!ked, writer Michele Ledda, who started a petition against AQA’s decision called Hands off Poetry! said “…if we accept this unprecedented, absurd decision, we agree that the curriculum should be devised and managed according to health and safety rather than educational principles…”.
What’s next? Romeo and Juliet because it may glamourise suicide?
December 12, 2009
Posted in: Uncategorized 2 Comments
Does pink really stink?
I have two young daughters and am very interested in the apparent sexualisation of young girls through media images and advertising.
My husband and I are careful about what is watched on TV, the clothes that we buy for them (No slogans like “It’s all about me” or “I’m a princess in training” etc.) and how we parent them. I read books and I talk to other parents and I can be a bit, well, paranoid.
But when it comes to the toys and colour of clothing my daughter favours, I have become less intense. We have always had a mixture of toys – dolls, cars, musical instruments, animals etc.- but at the moment, my three-year-old is very drawn to “pink toys” like Disney Princesses and My Little Pony and she loves looking after her dolls.
I’m not so worried about this but according to a British campaign called PinkStinks, by purchasing pink toys and allowing my daughter to indulge in things pink, I could be damaging her body image and self esteem.
Obviously, PinkStinks is not saying that the colour should be banned or anything extreme like that but its name is very provocative. PinkStinks says one of its aims is to “challenge the ‘culture of pink’, which is based on beauty over brains..”.
I disagree with PinkStinks’s current campaign against Early Learning Centre (UK chain of toy stores) because it offers “passive beauty-centred products and and a website where the search facility groups toys by gender…” . ELC offers many choices of toys (we shopped there often when living in London) and yes, it has “pinkified” toys that may not have needed gender specification but is it really that bad?
I have bought some pink toys because they are cute and I think my daughter will enjoy them. But I also buy her Lego and matchbox cars.
The other day I was in Kmart and all my three-year-old wanted to do was look at the make up and twist the tester lipsticks up and down. I don’t let her play with makeup at home (real or fake) but she does watch me when I put it on and wants me to pretend to put it on her.
There’s much that I like about the sentiment behind PinkStinks, especially its push to celebrate women who are inspirational in ways other than the fact they can look good, appear on reality TV or marry a sportsperson (we’ve all seen how that can backfire in recent weeks… just ask Mrs Tiger Woods!)
I loathe much of celebrity culture but I also work as a journalist and realise that celebrity has always intrigued people, including me (think of celebs like Elizabeth Taylor and scandals involving Lana Turner and Fatty Arbuckle. Newspapers covered these rabidly many, many years ago).
At my daughter’s daycare centre – a fabulous community-run place – the most popular activity for weeks with girls – and boys – was hairdressers. Parents were asked to donate empty bottles of shampoo and hair items because the children were really engaged in the role-play and creating different hairstyles.
Is it pink that really stinks or, is it worse to deny that many girls, at some stages of their lives, are going to want to “conform” to gender stereotypes and play mummies and makeup?
I would be more focused on letting kids be kids and enjoying childhood, rather than an obsession with keeping girls away from products and activities deemed “girlie”.
I’m sure that the people behind the Pink Ribbon campaign that has been raising awareness of breast cancer since 1991 don’t think the colour pink – and its feminine associations – stinks.
December 8, 2009
Posted in: Lifestyle, Parenting 7 Comments
Missing: A possessive apostrophe for Santa
I don’t consider myself a snob in many areas but I will admit I am when it comes to spelling and grammar.
The sight of a word missing a possessive apostrophe or the misuse of loose and lose, it’s and its and their/there/they’re makes me wonder what is taught in schools.
Here is a tee I picked up for my daughter today at one of those cheapo stores:
Maybe if they'd remembered the apostrophe the tee would have been more expensive?
December 5, 2009
Tags: Grammar and Spelling Posted in: spelling and grammar 13 Comments
Whatever happened to Strawberry Shortcake?
Strawberry Shortcake is unrecognisable to me. It seems that she’s had more revamps than Madonna.
I caught a look at the updated doll of my childhood in the shop the other day and she looks, well, too grown up. Too sassy. Too knowing.
My husband (who, if allowed, would have our daughters sent to a nunnery in rural France as soon as they hit their teens) said, “Strawberry is looking too much like a Bratz for my liking”.
This is what Strawberry Shortcake should look like (pictured is my vintage 1981 doll and puzzle) – cute, innocent and child-like.
My Strawberry Shortcake "blow kisses" doll and puzzle from 1981.
This is the 2009 update of Strawberry:
New look Strawberry Shortcake 2009
Just look at the subtle reincarnations over the past decade. She has become a little bit older looking with each revamp.
The "Noughties" reincarnations of Strawberry Shortcake. A little bit older-looking each makeover!
There was even this 2006 look where Strawberry’s jaw could rival Rumer Willis’s (daughter of Bruce and Demi) and she has a strawberry tattoo on her back (wildly inappropriate I think! Maybe the Peculiar Purple Pieman branded her?).
This 2006 look didn't work.
Strawberry Shortcake's Tattoo. Who gave adult consent to get this? The Peculiar Purple Pieman?
Why do companies have to mess with the toys that we loved as kids? They seem to be too “s-xed up” under the guise of being concerned with being more contemporary or health-focused. According to an article in the New York Times (June 11, 2008) “Beloved Characters as Reimagined for 21st Century”:
“…American Greetings worked for a year on what it calls a “fruit-forward” makeover. Strawberry Shortcake, part of a line of scented dolls, now prefers fresh fruit to gumdrops…and spends her time chatting on a cellphone instead of brushing her calico cat, Custard…”
So, she’s no longer the chubby little cutie we 1980s kids grew up to love. Strawberry Shortcake is now thinner and hipper thanks to her ditching the cakes and desserts and eating more fruit. (Word is she’s dumped her friends who aren’t associated with fruit. Bye, bye Angel Cake, Ginger Snap, Peppermint Fizz and Coco Calypso!)
Where’s the fun and innocence in that?
December 1, 2009
Tags: 1980s, marketing, toys Posted in: Uncategorized 33 Comments
Tupperware – my most lasting relationship
This Tupperware jug ( the pic is not great…sorry) is probably one of the most lasting things I have in my life. Longer than any romantic relationship or gym membership or club I have belonged to.
It is about 25 years old, (so my mum thinks) and it was our cordial jug. The vessel from which we gained great relief for thirst. Every time I opened the fridge at home it was there.
Now it is mine.
I went to a Tupperware party today (and most enjoyable it was) and I have purchased a few things that I think will revolutionise my kitchen habits. Basically, I am a sucker for anything that is a nice colour and has dinky little compartments.
I went a little overboard and spent about $200 (some of these are presents for Christmas, I justified to my hubby!) in my excitement over containers and drink bottles and things that chop onions.
I have recently reconnected with some girls, E and A from school (after 15 years) and the party was at the home of one.
I made mention to A (who was always very cool and slightly rebellious) that if was so funny that we were so intently studying the Tupperware catalogue and discussing the merits of the items.
Me: “Would you have believed 15 years ago that we would be at a Tupperware party doing this?”.
A: “No way”.
And E, who hosted the party ( another cool and gutsy gal from our Catholic girls’ school) turned out to be somewhat of a Tupperware afficionado.
When I was asking questions about one particular item E said: “I’ve got them if you want to have a look”.
Overwhelmed by this Tupperware love-fest I said to E: “It is so great that we have reconnected after all these years”.
“It is,” she replied.
And there was another little moment for me in how fantastic friendship is.
November 29, 2009
Posted in: Uncategorized 12 Comments
Too cool for (pre) school
My daughter and I got into a fight disagreement yesterday over the outfit I had chosen for her.
“It’s doesn’t look good mum. It doesn’t look cool!” she said.
She is three-and-a-half years old.
Once I got over the shock that she didn’t like something I had picked out for her to wear, I was disturbed by the fact that she had an opinion on what her clothes looked like…and used the words “not cool”.
Does this mean I have failed to shield her from media images of women that promote the s-xualisation of girls and makes them grow up far too quickly?
She certainly doesn’t get any fashion sense from me. I am no yummy mummy who looks put-together when I leave the house. I’m not one of those mums profiled in magazines who slip into their Citizens of Humanity jeans, French Sole ballet flats and organic designer cotton tee and zip out the door.
If I am lucky I put some mascara and blush on, have remembered to wipe off baby spew from my top, put on deodorant and clean my teeth.
A particularly stylish day for me is when I have jeans on with a tee that is long enough to cover the sight of the open zipper. (I am still wearing my maternity cargo pants and my baby is now five months old.) My shoes are from Target (on sale) and tees from Kmart.
I am no fashionista.
So I am perplexed as to where my daughter gets this concept of “cool” from. Is it from daycare? TV? I am already freaking out that she’ll grow up too quickly, despite our best efforts to keep everything age appropriate. (My husband thinks most little girls’ clothing is too grown up!)
I’m also wondering how old she will be when I become embarrassing or “uncool”.
Probably next year.
November 27, 2009
Posted in: Lifestyle, Parenting 4 Comments
Holiday Blues
I have a severe case of holiday envy.
It seems that most people around me are going on exciting vacations. So, to stave off the jealousy I have started to enter competitions. If I can’t afford a holiday right now, I am determined to win one. I even bought a loaf of bread the other day purely because the company was giving away a trip to Europe.
Any kind of holiday will do but in particular, I’d like a tropical, five-star getaway. (Hawaii would be nice.) Tropical holidays have never appealed to me much until I had kids. Now, I would really love a break where everything is in one location – hotel, pool, food, entertainment. And because these kinds of holiday are not in my reality I rarely read travel articles or watch travel shows on tv. I don’t deserve a holiday but I really want one!
A while ago I caught up with an ex-boyfriend who casually informed me that he couldn’t stay long at our coffee catch-up because he was “going on holiday to Micronesia with a girlfriend” the next day. I tried my best to mask my feelings of jealousy and curiosity. I mean, the furthest I had got to travelling for a while was on Puffing Billy when my in-laws were visiting (If Cal Lightman from Lie to Me was in the cafe at the time he would have had a field day with my micro expressions!) and there in front of me was someone who was off for a luxurious, tropical holiday!
To this day I still haven’t Googled “Micronesia” for fear that the knowledge of the fabulousness of the place will make me want to stab my eyes with a fork.
It’s really never a good idea to catch up with an ex, especially when you are carrying a ton of post-baby weight and the only thing stopping your shirt front and fly from popping and flashing the public are safety pins and sticky-tape! I mean, the whole purpose of those meets is for some one- upmanship and a tropical holiday trumps pretty much everything – especially when it’s not you taking the holiday!
It’s not like I haven’t had my chance to travel. I lived in London for quite a few years and had the world at my doorstep. But like many people, I got lazy and took it for granted.
Oh, well…back to entering competitions, unless some mysterious benefactor wants to give me a holiday!
November 24, 2009
Tags: Travel Posted in: Travel 14 Comments
