World

I want to get away…

| amazonianmummy

I’ve never really thought about moving away before. I don’t know if it’s because I’m approaching 30 or because I have a family of my own now but I’m fed up of living where I do. 

It’s not a bad area don’t get me wrong but it feels more crowded than it used to; for example – I park two roads away from my daughters school and walk the rest of the way because the traffic gets so bad on the actual school road, by 8.30am I’m lucky if I can get a parking spot…if I leave the car any further away I may aswell leave it at home and we’re not really within walking distance! Also, some of the teachers at my daughters school were my teachers when I was younger. When she started the school I found that to be a comfort but the older she’s getting I realise that I don’t want her life to be repeating mine.

I find myself scrolling through pages on rightmove at lovely houses in the country – but also not too far from the sea, with lots of land that the babies and I could plant vegetables in, bury a time capsule (lulus desperate to do this) have a little local school & a village pub on the green and maybe even keep a few chickens. Who have I become?! 😱

This one caught my eye…isn’t it gorgeous?! It looks like a cottage straight out of ‘the holiday.’ 


In my early 20’s my dream house used to be London penthouses, close to all the action and imagining living out my ‘sex and the city’ SJP lifestyle. I never moved into one of those and unless I win the lottery…I’ll probably never move into my dream house either but it does go to show that your tastes change alot as you get older. 

Until then, I’ll continue my search (just incase haha!) & keep watching homes under the hammer and location location location. Have any of you ever taken the plunge and moved away from where you grew up? Did you love it? Regret it? Move back? I’d love to know! 

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Should’ve gone to specsavers…

| amazonianmummy

My daughter was due her eye check so I made an appointment over the phone and popped along after school to specsavers. 

She was ‘star of the week’ at school this week which means we get to take this delightfully grubby little bunny teddy called Raggles everywhere we go…affectionately renamed by us as snot rag! 

Anyway, Lulu, snot rag and I arrived in good time for her appointment and perused the endless amount of glasses on display while waiting to be seen.


All the staff are friendly and accommodating and it’s not long before we’re seen. 

We were taken into one of the rooms where Lulu’s eyes were checked by using a mixture of little lights and a big machine that made the letters clearer or blurrier to get a good overall view on what she could see. 


I’m glad to report that both human and stuffed bunny both got glowing results in their eye tests and will not be needing glasses. The optometrist was lovely and really made Lulu feel at ease with all the checks & we will get another appointment for next year just to make sure everything is as it should be. 

If you’re thinking of getting an eye test for your child, look up specsavers online for your nearest store and booking info. I can’t recommend them highly enough! 🤓

Here ear…

| amazonianmummy

The past three weeks have been a little bit of a nightmare. 

My daughter was booked in to have her ears pinned back, her first ever operation. She handled it wonderfully…no tears…no drama…mummy on the other hand had a full on Kim K cry face sob when she went under the anesetic. I wondered if I was doing the right thing, hoping everything would go to plan and I could have her back with me soon. 

Once she was under I was handed a little buzzer…you know the ones you get in the harvester?…I was told when she was awake the buzzer would go off and I could retrieve my child, which made me feel like I was waiting for a table not my baby lol! 

The operation is classed as a day case, so once she was awake, eating and drinking again she was allowed to go home.

After taking the bandages off, one ear looked more sore and redder than the other one – but that was the one that was more prominent so we thought nothing of it. She had no temperature, no pain, nothing so we just cleaned it everyday and hoped it was getting better.

When we went for her one week post op check up – we were told that they were not happy with the redder ear and she would have to be operated on again right there and then. I had the baby with me, no clothes or anything for Lulu and I was a bit shocked that my little girl was about to have her second anesetic & operation within a week. 

When she awoke the second time, she was sore and sad and that made my heart sink. I was also told that she would be kept in for a few days on strong iv antibiotics as the ear is a hard place for antibiotics to get too. The baby was not allowed to stay at the hospital so luckily we had lots of great family members on board to take it in turns with me as to who would stay what nights. I wanted to be with her all the time but also didn’t want to leave the baby for too long so it was difficult, the more children you have the harder it is to split yourself in these sorts of situations.

Anyway Lulu felt fab in herself following the op and I think started to get cabin fever stuck in the hospital with the lovely weather outside. It was almost one week after the second op, her ear looked great, she was doing really well and I was expecting them to say we could go home but they dropped another bombshell…they wanted her fasted from that evening to possibly have a third surgery in the morning. 

I lost it by this point. The thought of her having to have a third surgery in two weeks when she was making great progress really really upset me. Thankfully the next morning the surgeon came round and said her ears looked great and we could *finally* go home! Which was great timing as we had a holiday to Devon booked for the following day and she so needed the sea air and change of scenery. We’ve still got two weeks of oral antibiotics to get through and we’re not necessarily out of the woods yet but we’re on holiday…her ears look fantastic…her confidence has grown and she’s so happy with them…although I’ve been told I need to learn how to do plaits now haha! X 

To all of the wonderful nhs staff that looked after my baby and helped to calm my nerves…thank you 💗

The story of Benjy Bunn…

| amazonianmummy

We were lucky enough to be sent a copy of ‘Benjy Bunn’s Busy Day’ so tonight, after bath time my babies and I sat down to read what Benjy had been getting up too. 


You could be mistaken for thinking that Benjy is a naughty bunny…but that’s not the case, he just wants to help even if he gets things wrong along the way. 

The Benjy series was written in 1973 by Bev Scott Prior as a story for her children, now all these years later it has been illustrated by her own grandchildren which I think makes the book that little bit more special. 

My six year old managed to read the book to her brother almost without any help from me and her favourite part was when he tried to make his mummy a cake, she also loved the reoccurring worm illustrations and actively looked for him every time she turnt the page. When asked if she thought Benjy was a naughty bunny, she replied; ‘No mummy, he’s just trying to be helpful!’ 

Overall we really enjoyed the book and can’t wait to find out what trouble Benjy will get into next time…

These shoes are made for walking…

| amazonianmummy

We’ve reached another milestone with my little man…his first shoes. He’s not walking on his own yet but is walking confidently if you are holding his hands so we thought it was about time. Obviously our first stop was Clarks. I love Clarks…especially for first shoes, aswell as being a trusted brand & super comfy, the staff are so helpful and make a potentially stressful situation (with a mischievous toddler) into a moment you will treasure forever. 


We went for the Tiny pebble navy canvas trainers priced at £19 and Rocco looks pretty pleased with the result! I know Clarks are sometimes considered a bit more expensive than other brands, but the quality speaks for itself and these will last him a good while now…unless he has another growth spurt haha! X 

What’s your emergency?…

| amazonianmummy

Recently I’ve been teaching my six year old about what to do in an emergency. You hear these stories about the wonderful and brave children that have saved a parents, siblings or a friends life and although I hope she’s never in a situation where she has to do that – I want her to have an understanding of what to do if she is.

Firstly, I started off with 999 and told her if there was a fire, a burglar, someone was choking or hurt to call that number. She asked ‘How will I know who I need out of an ambulance, fire engine or a police officer?’ I said that someone would answer the phone and if you were unsure who you needed to just tell the operator what’s happened and they will send out whoever they think is most appropriate to deal with the situation you describe to them.

As many of us do, I have a password lock on my mobile phone and if I was unable or incapable of making the call she would have to do it. She knows my password but in a stressful situation she might forget it so I showed her how you can still make an emergency call on a locked I-phone.

Incase you were unaware, when you swipe to unlock your phone two options come up at the bottom corners, cancel or emergency. I told her to press on emergency and then (in an emergency) call 999. You can also set up your ‘Medical ID’ so if something had happened to you, a doctor or nurse etc would be able to contact whoever you had put as your emergency contact numbers and tell them where you were and if you were okay. You can also put down if you take any medications or are allergic to anything so they don’t give you any medication that could potentially do more harm than good.

I don’t know if six is too young to teach her this, I think you can gage for yourself whether you think your child is mature enough to know what you’re telling them and only use it in a life or death situation or whether they’ll start calling 999 every time you refuse to buy them a kinder egg while out shopping! But, in all seriousness I was trying to equip her with some potentially life saving knowledge as I know she can handle it.

I read recently that St John Ambulance are trying to get first aid taught to school children and I definitely think that should happen. You never know what’s around the corner and I think we should all be a bit more clued up on how to help people in any medical or emergency situation…You never know – it could just be your life they help save! x

The wonderful Harrods grotto 2017…

| amazonianmummy

We were lucky enough to get tickets to see Father Christmas at Harrods grotto this year. I have been a few times before and always found it a lovely experience – but this year was even better. We arrived a little bit earlier than our allotted time slot and were allowed straight through (this could be because we went on a quiet day) where we were greeted by Ginger the elf and his friends who pointed us in the direction of the comfy bean bags and sofas ready for the show to begin. The elves put on a funny little skit for the children with magic, silliness and really fully engaged all the children. I have a six year old and an eight month old who were both laughing their heads off. While seated I noticed all the children’s names where written on the blackboard (they had let through three families into the ‘waiting area’) and referred to the them by name which they loved! Once the show was finished they handed all the children a big gold coin and told us parents/carers that we could take pictures while we waited – which we did in front of their gorgeous tree. 

Then after only a few minutes wait, one by one the families were called in to meet Santa and he did not disappoint! As soon as the door opened my daughters eyes widened with excitement. Santa was wonderful, he called her by her name without having to ask it first and also knew that she had started gymnastics this year (they ask for your children’s names, ages and something memorable that’s happened this year when you book online) he was brilliant, so patient and engaging with the children but also had a laugh with the parents aswell. We weren’t hurried at all. His lovely elf managed to get the baby’s attention long enough for us to get some great pictures that we’ll treasure forever and I was blown away by the presents they both received! They were handed a red Harrods bag with a gorgeous brown teddy bear inside, with Harrods embroided on the foot and a Harrods ribbon bow tie!  

From memory I think the grotto had only cost £10 for all of us to go and them to both receive a gift which was more than worth it – you do have to be a Harrods reward card holder to be able to get tickets and have spent money instore in the last 12 months though. All in all we had a fabulous day and if you’re travelling with a buggy like us there are ample lifts to go from floor to floor and huge bathrooms with lots of baby changing space and a buggy park so you don’t have to take it in the grotto with you. I think I loved it more than the children and ‘santa’ certainly restored a bit of my Christmas spirit. If you can get tickets – it’s so worth it. I hope we manage to get some for next year…merry Christmas everyone. X 

It’s a very, very…mad world…

| amazonianmummy

Driving around Surrey today I was overwhelmed by the amount of police I saw. Whether they were on foot patrol or in vehicles – there was just so many. While it’s reassuring, I suppose, to see them – to me it was also a very sad sight and a prominent reminder of the danger we could all be in at any given moment. 

There are so many natural diseases, disasters or accidents waiting to cut us down in our prime and I know firsthand how absolutely devastating that is after loosing my wonderful step dad Mark this year to Multiple sclerosis. He was 52. So please, let’s stop killing each other. Without trying to sound too much like Miss World, the older I’m getting the more I want world peace. I don’t want to be scared every time I go on a bus, train, plane or even just leave the house. Life is so short. So precious. Cherish it. 

I never understand the people that say they don’t want to get old. If you were playing a computer game, reaching the highest level would make you the winner. It should be seen the same for age – I think it would be a wonderful prize to reach 80, 90, 100+ To see my babies have babies. Their babies have babies and so on. To see all these little humans arrive in to the world that wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for you. To see the world change, hopefully for the better and to see things through an older & more wiser set of eyes. You guys are the winners in this game called life a lot don’t even make it far past the starting post. Be proud. Be thankful – and tell me your secrets 😉 x