Silent Sunday 23.03.14
All posts by LearnerMother
Wheels!
My girl spent the whole of last Summer trying to ride without stabilisers and just never quite got the hang of it, leading to several cuts and bruises, tears of frustration and more than a few stormy moments about the utter stupidity of people who invented bikes in the first place.
She’s not mentioned the bike for ages, using her scooter to get around instead, but when the sun popped out last Saturday, the Husband took the opportunity to get all the  bikes out of the shed, check them for punctures, tune them up and do whatever else one does with bikes that have been sitting in a damp shed over the winter. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to include stretching the wheels and frames to match the winter growth spurts – I suspect Halfords will be making quite a bit out of us this year!
‘Will you take me to the park with my bike Mum, Just me and you?’
I must admit my heart sank just a little at this, remembering how hard she had tried last year and how upset she’d got with herself when she couldn’t quite master it. But she was insistent, so off we went, with me fully expecting her to ditch the bike after ten minutes and find some friends to play with instead. I even picked up my paper on the way, thinking I’d have time for a sneaky read while she was chasing monsters through Death Valley with her mates!
No chance. This time round, she’d decided she was NOT leaving the park, unless it was on two wheels. Ninety minutes we were there, starting her off over and over again, only for her to wobble to a stop, or fall off, Â or at one point crash impressively into a rubbish bin. Ninety minutes of sheer concentration, determination, and refusal to give in – that’s a long time for a six year old! I was so in awe of her, and so proud of her for trying so hard, that a few times I might have had a tear in my eye. Or early hay fever, who knows.
It paid off though! Something seemed to click and suddenly I could see she was right on the cusp of getting it. I think she could see it too – even though she was flagging a bit by this point she seemed to get a burst of energy and confidence and then, hey presto, she was off! Which seemed to coincide with a bit more hay fever on my part….
I’m so proud of my girl x
I’m linking up with the fab Countrykids at Coombe Mill – head on over for an absolute treasure trove of ideas for getting out and about with the kids!
Mopp.Com – Review
**Disclosure – I was offered a free clean by Mopp.com for the purposes of this review; I was not asked to say anything specific in return, and this review as always reflects my honest opinion of the service received**
Cleaning. There’s something that’s fallen by the wayside over last few years if I’m honest. Time was that I’d make sure the house was clean and tidy on Thursday night, we’d do whatever it was we did all weekend before we had kids, but come Sunday night the place would still be vaguely presentable, if strewn with newspapers (NEWSPAPERS? REMEMBER THOSE?) Then we’d go back to work on a Monday – things would go a bit downhill from there – and the cycle would start again on Thursday night.
It’s much less organised now! The cleaning bit itself takes much more time, but the tidying up bit so I can find the house to clean – well that seems to take forever. Even though the Husband more than plays his part (it’s been a journey, but we got there!) it feels impossible to keep on top of everything to the standard I’d like. And tidying and cleaning the house before a weekend? Not bloody likely, that’s just a pointless exercise. Basically now, as long as the bathroom and the kitchen are clean, I try not to worry about the rest  – we keep on top of it somehow and if we don’t, well we don’t, and I try not to bitch stress about it too much.
I’ve also started getting into the habit of booking us a one off visit once or twice a year from a cleaning company – usually right before we have friends to stay, ha! This means I can spend a bigger chunk of time on tidying and sorting (umm, perhaps a bit of pre-cleaning too) leading up to the visit and also means that all the bits I skip over (glass shower door? polished taps?) get done properly, my house looks all sparkly, I feel all chirpy and life is generally marvellous . Well, until the place looks like a car boot sale again anyway!
It can sometimes be difficult to find a company that are willing to do a one off clean for a manageable price, and who are bookable reasonably quickly (last minute? moi?) Also often one-off cleans will be for a set amount of say 6 hours, whereas I only really need and can afford two or three hours. I’ve also found it difficult to get hold of cleaning companies in the past – sorting a booking can take a couple of days of missed calls and emails (on both sides) when really I just want to press a button. And then there’s the finding the chequebook, or making sure I have cash…and suddenly my ‘treat’ to myself is turning into a hassle.
So I was really interested to be invited to trial Mopp.com, a new cleaning service launching in Cardiff and throughout the UK. Mopp promises to connect customers with local trusted and reliable cleaners online, and also to provide an easy, flexible booking service, whether for one off or regular cleaning sessions. A quick look at their booking page (put in your postcode to access it) will show you how easy it is to organise what you need, with a choice of regular and one-off cleans, slots between 2 and 7 hours long, and even the option to have cleaning materials provided by Mopp for the ultimate in no-hassle cleaning. Payment is nice and simple too – one-off cleans are debited from your card immediately, while regular cleans are taken from your card 24 hours later – either way, no faffing with cash or cheques – perfect!
So with the booking sorted, I did what I always do in these situation and had a massive tidy up, and I might have done a titchy bit of pre-cleaning too, I mean that’s normal when someone you don’t know comes to your house, right? RIGHT? But I didn’t need to worry – when Mihaela turned up (early) she did not take one look and run screaming for biohaz Breaking Bad type industrial protection wear, nor did she seem particularly fazed by my four year old following her around demanding to ‘help’ – instead she got stuck in straight away. I told her not to worry about the kids’ rooms as I had not had a chance to tidy them properly, but amazingly she managed to spruce them up in any case, as well as give the rest of the house a really good once-over – including the dreaded glass shower screen, which now looks shinier than it ever has done!
I was really pleased with my visit from Mihaela, and with the whole Mopp experience, and would definitely book through them again for a one-off clean – and if I ever, ever reach my pre-kids earning power (sigh) I’ll be booking a weekly slot quicker than quick. Until then, I’m just going to satisfy myself with another look at my lovely sparkly house before chaos takes over once again!
