How not to lose your sh*t during Summer holidays

Hey readers,

It soon fast approaching the summer holidays where my boys have no school for SIX WEEKS, eek! Now, as much as I love spending quality time with my boys it can be hard work and be exhausting to keep them entertained and deal with the bickering/ boredom that occurs when during this period.

So how do you manage to keep your cool and not lose it?

Well, I  think one technique for me is to walk away and have my time out in the bedroom. I need quiet time as an introvert and space are important to me. Luckily I have a supportive husband who takes care of the little darlings and vice versa as well. I think you can feel guilty for not permanently wanting to look after your children yourself but I have learned that it is much more important to have time out away from the carnage. 

It makes the family home a much calmer environment.

I feel getting outside can help, breathing in the fresh air especially if you are like me and not in a position to have a garden. I take my boys out locally and get them to scoot about. This helps burn some energy and it is fairly simple to do. 

Alternatively, hitting the park for a picnic is a great way to have a day out and enjoy the outdoors.

On the other hand, it is ok to have chilled times at home and whack the babysitter tv on. I have a motto you do what you can in a situation and sometimes we all need to just relax in front of the old familiar place. Previously, I used to feel so guilty about putting the TV on but not anymore, I am thankful for it.

 It has saved my sanity and it is good to relax and not do a lot. That is what a holiday is for right? It is also ok not to be busy 24/7 as much as Instagram would like to tell us. It is much better to be relaxed and just enjoy the time, it is ok to simply do nothing. It is ok to allow your child to rest, remember they have worked hard all year at school, it is time for a break.

Don't always try to find things for your kids when you are bored. I know for a long time I felt I had to instantly deal with the dreaded statement, "I am bored" but do you know what it is good for kids to get bored. This time when your children are under-stimulated is a life lesson on trying to find ways to deal with the problems and enhance their creative skills.

It is ok for parents to let their hair down when children are around. I know shocking right but is not healthy constantly having to deal with the requests of the children. Sometimes you have to give your children that independence to learn to make decisions about their problems.

Cheers for reading X

Why it is good to date in your 40's and 50's. **AD**

Hey readers,

Being in your 40's can be an exciting time especially when you are participating in the dating game. Why you ask?... well let me tell you why. 

First off dating an older person in their 40's or 50's is a much more mature event compared to say a person dating in their 20's. This is because they have a lived a bit more and have a more mature outlook on life. The chances are they are more experienced and can treat you better.

As your older, you have achieved things that you don't have to worry about when you are older so less pressure such as having children. 

The likelihood is the individual will have older children, therefore, won't have to worry about childcare etc.

 So, there is not that pressure to get married or have children, therefore, dating when you are older is a much more relaxed affair. 

With age comes more awareness of who you are and gives you the confidence to be the person you want to be.

 You know what you want when it comes to doing dating and you know the kind of person you want to take on a date. An older person is more reliable in what you say because you have that confidence in themselves which again is something that is developed with age. 

Some people assume that older people give up once they reach an older age but that is not the case as websites based on over 40 dating

sites out there on the internet. Therefore this clearly demonstrates that there is a market for the older individual looking to date. 

The times have changed in this modern world where it was once deemed standard to date, settle down and have children in your 20's and that was for life then.
 Not any more as there is a lot of people aged 40's -50's who are wanted to date similar people like themselves. There are mnay reasons why people are separated in there 40s and 50s and they want a second go at the dating game and why not I say, life is about having fun after all. 

With age comes experience and that means that the individuals dating at an older age have already made mistakes and learnt from them. Plus with all trial and error situations, you learn what is right and what is not right for you so then again comes confidence in what you are doing. There is nothing more attractive than meeting someone who is confident and a person that you can rely on.

Dating when you are older could mean that you have the financial freedom to enjoy going out to restaurants and getaways. This, therefore, allows you that change to have a good time without worrying about how you are going to pay for it. 

I think the best tip for when you start dating is to smile, look interested and ask lots of questions. This gives the other person a sense that you like them and are interested in what they have to say. 

If you're in your 40's or 50's then a website to check out would be older-dating.com
where you can meet like-minded individuals like yourself. 

Cheers for reading X 

This is a sponsored post for Older-Dating.com. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

I hate camping

Hey readers,

As the title of this blog post suggests I HATE CAMPING! I had the recent experience of camping again and finally, that will be the last ever camp again. I detest it for so many reasons but one it takes so long to put up the tent, We had an 8 person tent so took roughly 2-3 hours and with young children around that is not what I deem as fun.

Even before setting up a camp it is bloody hard work with spending a ton on all the things you need like bottles of gas, food and all the other equipment. Then you have to try and squeeze it all in your blinking car.

Getting back to the tend its self there is the fact you don't get a good night sleep. You end up having your children with you. They constantly moving about and if that weren't bad enough they stick their feet in your face.

Then there is the sleeping bag and literally, have to sip up and jump up and down to get in a comfy position. If that is not bad late at night you have to decide do you want to get out of your warm cocoon or do you want a wee. 

The choices are hard! if you do opt for the toilet you then decide is it worth walking up half a mile to the communal toilets or shall I take a leak next to the tent in the freezing cold. 

The latter brings the risk of the change of someone seeing your bare ass. Finally, after you have dealt with that trauma you have to zip back up again and jump up and down. Changes are you wake up your little darlings doing this and then guess what they need a pee. *sigh*.

Another point regarding the sleeping situation is the fact that the ground is bumpy and you feel dirty all the time.  It doesn't matter if you have used a shower, you never clean and you walk back from the nice warm water to a dirty and muddy tent.

The next morning you wake at the crack of Dawn because the light brightens up all the room and the little darlings think it is fun to jump around the tent. Whilst this is all happening you are cursing and getting more and more homesick and you don't even care about the prospect of washing at this point.

Especially in the summer if you dare leave the tend door unzipped then you risk a gang of flies to enter. You are constantly bitten by all the bugs and it leaves you with months of marks all on your leg. I still have them marks after a year of previous camping have and it resembles someone who is a crackhead.

After two days of staying in a tend you have grass everywhere and appears in your food somehow. My god the food taste rank and it such a ball ache to still on the ground and fiddle about preparing food on a camping stove. It is lukewarm and depressing especially when it is p*ssing it down.

As time progresses you sleep deteriorates as so does your mood and you finally glad when the day comes when it is time to go home. 

Only to be greeted with the perspective of trying to put down the tent and making sure it all fits tightly together in its holders. Which incidentally never does on the first go, try the fifth in which your hot mess and in a bad mood. But that is fine because you then can rest on the drive home with two tired and ratty children.

But the time we eventually come when you get home and you have the pleasure of dealing with the endless pile of stinky, muddy washing.

Everything with tending just feels like a chore. It doesn't feel like a holiday and yes you save money but personally, I would prefer to be in bed at home in the warmth eating hot food.

Cheers for reading X

My Sunday photo 23/06/2019

Free Beauty Samples Are Perfect For The Holidays! **AD**

Freebie fans all know that receiving freebies is great regardless of what time of the year it is, but over summer these beauty freebies will become even more useful.

Even the smallest of the free samples are handy to take on a holiday. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Free Samples save Weight and Space in Your Suitcase

The perfume samples are probably the most useful to take on a holiday as they are lightweight and compact. Taking your favourite perfumes on a flight is risky as the bottle could accidentally break while in transit or go off due to the altitude or high heat. In addition, this is the perfect time for you to experiment with new fragrances. The alluring perfume adverts always advertise that their fragrances are either suitable for “day” wear or “night” wear, but to be honest not all of us are able to afford to have specific fragrances to match up to specific times in a day.

Taking perfume samples with you is a convenient way to make sure you smell great throughout your holiday. In fact, the postcard version is just about weightless and the foil helps to ensure the freshness of the fragrance. They are also small enough to store in your hand luggage or handbag for easy top-ups. This makes these free samples the perfect solution to save more space so you can take along more of your favourite holiday outfits.

2. Free Samples Can Help You to Avoid Baggage Charges

Taking along every full-size beauty product on your holiday will take up space that is valuable in your luggage. Replacing the regular sized products with samples could even mean you only need to take hand-luggage. When you travel light you won't have to pay for baggage fees, which is a definite win-win situation.

Keep in mind that many of the skincare freebie samples come in the 30ml travel-sizes or sachets, which meets up to the “100ml or less” rule when it comes to liquids. These samples are also easy to store in a small plastic bag which means you won't have to worry about decanting your beauty and skincare essentials into the travel size bottles, saving you both money and time.

3. Freebies Will Save You Money on Miniatures

It is really ridiculous how many of the well-known beauty brands charge such a high price tag to put their products into miniature bottles. Clever advertising and marketing may trick you into thinking you are saving money and traveling lighter, yet these cute miniatures which are found at most of the beauty counters are made to catch shoppers out when they are in hurry to finish those last-minute purchases for their holiday.

If your freebies include many sachets of the same product you may want to think about pouring them out into a mini jar. You can turn all those samples into a single neat freebie.

Top Hint: Hold onto those “7-day supply” skincare freebies. These are perfect when it comes to knowing how long the freebie is going to last while you are away.

4. They Will Keep Your Beach and Make-Up Bag Light

You may have never thought about claiming those foundation freebie samples, yet they are really handy for holidays. When you are packing a make-up bag for your holiday, a 1-week supply can free up tons of space so you can take with other products to make your holiday even more special such as lip glosses, and bronzers.

When you are on holiday, you will probably need to pack other skincare essentials such as after-sun. This could mean lugging around a lot more bottles, but free samples can really help with this. For example, not long ago I received a few free E45 skincare samples, which helped to keep my bag for the beach a lot lighter.

5. Safeguard Your Favourite Beauty Products

There is not much worse or heart-breaking than taking all your best beauty products on a trip abroad and they end up lost, spoilt or broken while you are away. The heat is known for spoiling perfumes, melting products or even separating liquid-based make-up. For this reason, it is always a better idea to leave anything expensive or valuable at home.

Free samples will often come in a tube or sachets which are made for travelling. You can also discard them before you come home, which frees up more space in your suitcase for gifts.

So before you rush into using your freebies or even throwing them away, keep in mind how handy these samples can be for your next holiday.

**This is an AD for wowfreestuff.**

Challenging

Hey readers,

My word of the week is:

because this week has been challenging with my eldest as he has been really aggressive. Found out he has been bullied because he has long hair (his choice). But we all know how cruel kids can be about the slightest difference. So, that is one trigger and having change effects my eldest now a lot. We had visits round which takes it out on him especially with the change of routine. 

In other news, we have an appointment for the 3rd to see the psychologist who has been doing some observations so find out if my son can get an assessment for autism. I hope so because we have spent the last 3 years trying to fight for one. He is slowly starting to display characteristics, so only time will tell what will happen with that. 

We went to Legoland on Wednesday as it was a teachers training day so grabbed the opportunity to go when it is quiet, which it was and so much better for both me and my son. 

My youngest has made great improvements to his swimming and he should be moving up a level. On Friday it will be his first sports day. He will be so happy to participate as the last two years he has watched his brother from afar. 

So, yeah overall mixed bag of affairs as life normally is. 

Hope you have a good week. 

Cheers for reading X

Ways to enjoy the sun safely

Hey readers, 

It is really important to be mindful when being out in the sunshine during the hot seasons. Here are some handy tips to help keep you enjoying the sun but being safe at the same time. 

1.  Shade. 

It is important to make sure that you don't stay long periods in the sunshine as you can feel ill after awhile with headaches and the potential risk to heat stroke. One way to help combat the reduction in exposure to the sunshine is to find places that have shade, therefore, you can still enjoy the sun and even nip and out but you are being safe at the same. 

2. Drink plenty. 

Being in the sunshine can cause dehydration so itis important to drink often to keep you well and reduce the risk of not feeling good with headaches and feeling dizzy for example. 

3. Sun protection. 

By wearing hats particularly wide rimmed ones and sunglasses can protect you from the sun's harmful rays.  Also with an extra inch of rim added to your hat can reduce skin cancer by 10%. Wearing sunglasses will stop you from squinting in the sun.

4. Sunscreen Lotion.

Sunscreen lotion is so important when you are out in the sun because it acts as a barrier from harmful sun rays which can cause sunburn and skin cancer You should be getting SPF 30 at least and also select broad-spectrum or full-spectrum to protect you from both UNA and UVB rays.

5. Clothing. 

You should consider wearing light coloured fabrics as light clothing reflects light and dark coloured clothing absorbs it, therefore, more absorbed clothing will make you feel hot and that in yourself will make you feel uncomfortable. Light clothing is much softer and cooler to wear making being out in the sun a much more enjoyable affair. 

6. Peak hours. 

The best advice is to avoid being in the sun peak hours as this will be the hottest and most uncomfortable. Look at the weather forecast to see the temperatures and maybe go out in the morning or the evening when it is much cooler and comfortable to be in the sunshine. 

7. Location. 

If you know where you are going beforehand check out if there are any shady areas on google maps or the website to plan out the way to go to incorporate shady areas. 

Have you any tips to stay safe in the sunshine? I love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. 

Cheers for reading X