Rehydration fluids for Children and Adults - save a life!

So this is totally off topic but I am in my 3rd day of a D&V bug, quarantined from my children and feeling awful.  I am surviving on Rehydration fluids, this is the most important thing you need for rehydrating after vomiting or diarrhoea.

You don't need to buy Dioralyte or other branded rehydration solutions all you need is boiled water, salt and sugar.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the following mix.  In 1 litre of boiled water dissolve 1 level tea spoon of salt and 6 - 8 teaspoons of sugar. Sip little and often to maintain hydration after a purge.  Drop the salt a little for children.

Babies (under 1 year) should see a doctor the same day and children after 36 hours or if they become really unwell (ie floppy or unresponsive)

And whatever you don DON'T take anything to stop the diarrhoea, it will just keep the virus, bacteria etc inside your body and keeping you ill for longer.

For more information see the world health organisation's web site, or NHS Direct.
(normal service will resume soon)

Dressing up to sit in the dark

My New Year's Resolution was to date my fantastic husband much more this year.  So, at 6.30pm on Saturday I started the delicate dance that is getting the gothlings to bed while getting dressed up.

At 7.15 we left the house, and our two children mostly in bed with a sensible grown up in charge.I was wearing my behaving badly shoes, a pencil skirt, purple lace body stocking and a little military jacket.  Add to this a full face of make up, carefully chosen jewellery and a very cute beaded hair band (my new favourite accessory).  I was Dita Von Teese incarnate.

Where were we going?  The cinema! and I was about to sit in the dark with my husband.  Part of me wondered why I was bothering.  Did I really need to wear stockings and high heels to go out with the man who sees me in my dressing gown every morning, where no one would see me.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!  After 6 years of marriage, 2 children and many trials and stresses I want my darling man to know that he is still married to "a woman who cares about herself".  I want to be able to walk down the street with my head held high looking fabulous.

So for 4 hours I looked dead glam with GothDad on my arm, then I came home, took it all off and made a bottle for Bat Boy.  3 hours later I was up for the night feed in the dressing gown, but I still felt glamorous.

8 mummy uses for baby stuff

We all have houses full of baby crap.  They are so small but need so much stuff.  Well fear not, you too can benefit from all this stuff.  Behold, 8 things you can do with your kid's stuff.

1.  Bonjella - teething gel.  This works great on burns.  It will numb pain and help healing.  Obviously the first aid stuff about running under cold water for ages still holds, but this stuff will help no end 30 mins or so later.

2 & 3. Sudacrem - nappy rash cream. This lovely white cream, beloved of sore botties world wide, is a godsend for your skin too.  It will help clear annoying spots with it's antiseptic and healing properties and also works great on any sore, dry patches on your hands from washing them too much.  If you have mild excema you can also use sudacrem if it's not bad enough for cortizone cream but too bad for normal moisturisers to cope with.

4, 5 & 6. Baby wipes.  These are in constant use in our house, from bottoms to faces, they keep my world clean.  And as an aside; you know they wash pretty well too - if they just get a bit of pee or general muck on them - and can be used again as disposable flannels.  But back to us grown ups, Baby wipes have 3 additional uses in our house, most importantly as an eye makeup remover.  Much cheaper than cosmetic wipes, and generally free of over drying alcohol, baby wipes will get off even the most gothic of make up.  Next is as a mud remover.  We have dark beige carpets but they still show every speck of mud that comes in on the paws and boots of the family.  A baby wipe will get even the muddiest marks out without staining.  Finally, in the car a baby wipe will quickly and easily get all that dust and muck off steering wheel and consoles and they smell great, giving your car a quick and easy valet in 20 seconds.

7. Nintendo Wii, or other games console.  We bought a Wii for our oldest daughter but I have to say we probably use it more than her.  The Wii Fit games are a great way to snatch a few minutes of activity a day to get that figure back to the one you remember from all those years ago.  For my next birthday I am asking GothDad for Just Dance.  My sister in law has it and it's brilliant for dancing around and being silly, and getting a great cadio workout.  Consoles are no longer just for the geeks and teenagers.

8. Petit Filou Chocolate pudding.  OMG This is the best ever pudding in the entire world.  Full fat, high octane taste.  To make it look dead sophisticated take 4 or 6 nice champagne bowl type glasses, split the 4 dark chocolate pots between the glasses and then spoon the white chocolate on top.  Then grate a little bit of chocolate (choc buttons etc) over the top and pop in the fridge until you need to serve it.  If you don't tell no-one need know it comes from the kids aisle.

OK, I wanted to do 10 but I could only think of 8.  If you have any siggestions please post a comment.

WOO HOO I'm growing another gothling!!!

That's right folks I'm pregnant again. 12 weeks now. I had a scan on Thursday and there is definitely a baby in there (and only 1 thank the Goddess).



So far I have been feeling sick, exhausted and my boobs are huge and very sore. To top it all my back is playing up and I can't take my horse pills (much much pain). If I didn't know I was geeting such a big prize at the end of it (well in mid November) I would be fairly pissed off already.

Tomorrow I'm going to buy some sensible shoes and some work clothes that will be comfy and glam. Hmmm, Appatemyly Blooming Marvelous is having a sale.

More later, on other things.

Making another Gothling

Yes, that's right folks. We're trying for a baby. I can hear many of my friends whooping with delight as they read this as they ganged up on me late last year as told me money was not a good enough reason for not having a baby.

There is still one problem. Mechanical contraception has been been taken out of the equation (with a pair of pliers longer than my arm!!!!!) but there is still the small noisy one who likes to get into bed with Mummy & Daddy of a morning. Mostly I fall asleep before my head hits the pillow (too much work makes Goth Mum sleeeeeepy) but we have a standing offer of sleep overs and I really will stop working quite so much one day (maybe after the new PCs are in, or our big inspection is over, or the whole new curriculum I have to develop, or the new classrooms we are going to have to move into or the .... oops)

Anyhoo I will keep you all updated.

Manners maketh the Gothling

I read this in my trawl of the net. I thought it was very interesting and certainly fits in with how we are trying to raise Little Miss.

Positive pressure

Goth dad & I have been thinking about expanding the household. Now, we are thinking about a foreign black kitten to replace our beloved LuLu who passed earlier this year. But we are also thinking about another baby. Initial thought were that we would be evicted if I had to stop work for 6 months to have another baby (my employer only offers SMP) but everyone we talk to say DO IT! DON'T WAIT, and we have really talked ourselves around to the idea. More news as it happens. XXX

(what am I getting myself into!??!??!??!)

Positive neglect - a parenting position

I just read this and found that I was blessed, as they put it, by being ignored by my mother. My brother & I used to amble out of the back door to go and play out and come back when we were hungry, or it got dark whichever came first.

I try very hard to ignore Little Miss as often as possible, while still of course listening to her every move; she is only 3, and she is a stuborn, strong minded little madam. Excellent, just what I have been working for.

Parenting tips from way over there!

I can in now way recommend or condone these parenting tips but this came to me through the ether and cheered me up after a long day at work.

I give you Duct tape as a Parenting tool.

Things to keep sick goth kids quiet

We've all got a tummy bug. So between mopping up sick and various other bodily fluids I have been trying to keep Little Miss quiet yet entertained. Daddy is quite happy to be left alone with a book and I don't get the luxury of being ill *sigh*

I found this fantastic online app for creating your own super hero. We have been playing with it all day, along with watching Howell's Moving Castle and the Cat in the Hat, and have created this. It is suposed to be me. I tried to veto the trainers but got nowhere.



BTW I then had to cook tea wearing a cape and witch's hat while Little Miss zoomed around the kitchen in a purple bat mask and cloak! It's been a tough couple of days but I really have had some quality time with my little darling.

Bedtime stories: we all have a tale to tell

After a very fraught day I have just put Little Miss to bed with a bedtime story. Often she presents me with a "Rollie Polie Olie" book with no plot. So I have to make it up as I go along, with a little help from her. Currently we are jetting off to planet stinko to save the world from various cheese related dilemas (honestly, most of it comes from her).

I found this article from the daily telegraph and felt a little more inspired to create interesting stories at bed time.

I remember a vivid fantasy world my mother created for my little brother and I which revolved around a family of fluffy people (a bit like flumps) that lived under our bin at the bottom of the garden. I'm 34 now and I still remember those stories and the bed times we shared together.

I hope I can give Little Miss memories like that.

A matter of trust in the parent

I am just posting a quickie before I go to bed. I've been meaning to post about this for a while but couldn't quite find the words. I don't know if I have them now but I will try.

Before I go to bed I go into Little Miss' room, pick her up and carry her through to the bathroom. There I pull down her PJs, sit her on teh toilet and softly say "have a wee darling". Little Miss then obliges, often muttering something unintelligible about trains, or monsters or one of her friends (she takes after both of us there), and then I re-dress her and carry her back to bed.

This little ritual has served us well for quite a few months and has kept the bed dry. If fact one night I was up a bit late and she woke herself up, wandered through to the bathroom and announced her intentions (luckily we are fairly open plan and heard what she was up to from downstairs). But anyhow, the nature of this post is the trust that she places in me and Daddy and how that plays out in daily life.

Could I, as I have pondered as I kneel on the bathroom floor balancing a sleeping child on one arm, take her into a different place (ie the kitchen) murmur the words and would she wee on the kitchen floor? How easy must it be for parents to spin a child into a world that we would find horrific, because they trust their parent / carer and they know no different.

The thought that often nearly overwelms me as I carry a half sleeping child back into her bed is what a huge responsibility we have, as parents, to create a safe and happy and challenging envoronment for our families. I could really screw her up.

A friend of mine is a fab mum, she won an award and everything, and the reason that she is such a positive parent is that her mother is a bitch who made her feel like dirt for the majority of her childhood and she never wants her daughter to fell the same way. In 20, 30, 50 years time what will Little Miss think of her parents.

What do you think about your parents?

Love is...

...washing vomit off a pink fairy duvet at 3am. Being a mother means doing it naked in cold water. Such was my Friday night.

The good news is that the bug worked its way out (at 2 hourly intervals) in time for the Easter Sunday egg hunt and general chocolate extravaganza.

I love my daughter, my family and my life but forgive me for wishing I was elsewhere at 3am on Saturday morning.

I've had a lot of experience with such stuff and have come up with a few very important tips and considerations for the Goth Parent.

- NEVER let an ill child into your bed if you have satin, velvet or anything lush anywhere around the bed. If you sleep on rubber then go for your life.

- Black sheets are very cool but children will but all manner of bodily fluids on them at very frequent intervals and you can't boil wash black and keep the colour (believe me I've tried). This also applies to baby grows and vests / onesies. White / pale cotton really is the way to go. Then you get Grandma to stitch a fantastic quilt to go over the top of the bed so it looks both Goth and PINK.



- I have extended the rule above to our bed and the towels. I have boiled too much in the last three years to have any colour left.

I did have some beautiful black sleep suits and vest for Little Miss when she was a new born, but they got pooped and sicked on so much that they were grey within 6 weeks.

So take the wisdom of my experience; and sleep on rubber sheets if you want a good night's sleep with a sick child in the house.

Why don't ELC make toy hearses? any other such questions

Little Miss was playing happily with her Happy Land stuff today when Mr V came home from work. She was enthusiastically rounding up some run away animals who had escaped their plastic pen.

Why isn't there a funeral parlour? he asks me, and where is the abatoir? They really should make these play sets more realistic.

Our daughter was hiding sheep down the back of the sofa telling me they had gone to the cinema and sending little boy off to the tooth fairy's shop. I'm not sure she is ready for reality!

can I justify....

paying £20 for a hoodie for pickle which she will wear for aboth 3 months? It is very cute though.


We saw this in a shop in the city, but the pic comes from the Darkside Clothing web site

I could have spent a lot of money today, on her and me.

Goth Daddies

I've been reading some articles on Helium about Fatherhood; specifically when does a man know if he is ready. There are some good pointers, thinking about your childhood, thinking of your partner before yourself and looking at scantily clad women and thinking that they are a bad role model for young girls. I got to thinking. Goth blokes are some of the most self obsessed and disorganised people I know and I can say this because I love them very much and they all like scantily clad women.

I think that for Goth blokes they have to get out of spending 2 hours getting ready to go out 4 times a week and obsessing over their PC or their music or whatever before they think about all that settling down stuff. I must add here that Mr V and myself were both in our early 30's before little Miss came along.

Does 10 years of having fun, building a career and becomming an interesting person make you a better parent than someone who is in their early 20's and just starting out on their adult journey? Now I have to say I have seen it from both sides, as one of four siblings. Two of us had kids in our 30's and two in their 20's. All of the children are well balanced, well socialised young people who I have ultimate confidence in their future success. Can I also add as a matter of some smugness that all bar one (who did everyting first in the family) are still with the other parent.

I'll shut up now as it has been a long day and I have to work in the morning.

More Halloween fun

Tescos have a very cool selection, including stripy tights and lilac socks with witches on them, again another place to stock up on some baby goth wardrobe at the beginning of November when they put it all on Sale YAY.

Halloween is nearly here

The yearly shopping frenzy on cool goth kids stuff that is Haloween is nearly upon us. Sainsbury's has just started to put their stock out.





£2 for orange and black stripy tights, all kinds of costumes. Very cute kitty handbags. More news to come.....

This is my little pickle (2 yrs old) in the 1-3 sized monster costume. They look like they are a bit small sized.