Month: September 2015

Peace comes from within…

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

 What a terrible reflection in this picture? So sorry. This quote is from Buddha.

When I wake up late, the toast burns, the traffic lights take forever to change to green and my day generally collapses into a pile of chaos…peace is hard to imagine, let alone re establish.

Many gurus in motivation and life coaches suggest that your morning routine is the most important of the day, it sets you up – although I agree, I’m not sure many of them have a toddler in tow, a nursery bag to pack, coats to grab (or not, I always forget my own) and of course the most essential meal of the day – which I call the ‘ram it in and run’ meal, I have heard people also refer to it as breakfast.

My mornings are precious and regular readers will know I’m partial to waking before the birds to catch my breath, a yoga session or just to walk around the house giving order to objects and in turn order to my day.

However my favourite ritual is what I’m doing as I write this post – Sunday evenings.

It is precious.

First, I walk the dog – alone (as in, not with a toddler), nature and walking is good for my soul. I then come home to help pop a little man in to his PJ’s and settle him for the night – next is bath time, mummy style.

For me, there HAS to be posh bubbles and classic fm blaring, the water has to be so hot my skin is pink, no toys insight – the rubber duck who use to keep me company is now strictly for toddler tides.

My only other essential is some sort of facial ‘treat’, it could be mask, new exfoliator or cleanser.

Tonight Mr Fridge came up trumps – a knock and glass of red wine was delivered…win!

 Then it’s downstairs for some blogging, Twitter action and general wind down / social media time and lastly I paint my toes red.
I’ve been a red chick on my tootsies since I was 13yrs old, all seasons – no excuses and the polish has to be high brand…OPI coca cola is my current favourite.

 Not long after the paint is dry am I ready for a good book before I close my eyes and the chapter of the weekend comes to a close, I’m fighting fit ready for the week ahead.
This is my ‘peace’ perhaps cliche but a bubble bath and ‘me’ time is how I control the rest of the week – I set the tone and it comes from within.

How do you find peace? (Remember it’s important that you make time for yourself, as much as you make time for your children’s pack lunch boxes or paying those horrible bills…make time, you’re worth it)

You’re worth it

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

 Quote from L’Oreal I guess hehe, well slogan? It’s a pretty good slogan to have for yourself – if it’s good enough for Jennifer Aniston, it’s good enough for me.

Okay, so we all have things that we love and we know are naughty to consume, my list would probably mainly be made up of crisps and alcohol. I’ve always been a savoury girl and if there is a bowl of crisps at a BBQ or party it literally calls my name….I cannot leave them alone and I will even eat the crumbs at the bottom until the bowl is crisp free.

I grew up with classic lunch boxes that contained them everyday (it was the 80’s and we didn’t know better) and I ate them frequently until about 2006 when I read an article that said eating a bag of crisps a day was the equivalent to drinking 5 litres of vegetable oil a year…gross! I then had to look at my unhealthy approach to those little savoury delights and I quit – cold turkey, like a drug addict. I didn’t have them in the house until my little boy came along and even now I deliberately buy crisps I’m not a fan of (mainly puffy cheese creations) to avoid the naughtiness, I still adore them and still prey on them at gatherings. I’m now at the point where I buy a ‘treat bag’ every few months, but that’s ok with me.

Chocolate: I don’t love it but I also believe people who don’t like it are not to be trusted.

Like I said before, I’m a savoury girl so I’ll always pick a starter with a meal in a restaurant rather than a dessert but I’m also human and often get a craving for chocolate after my evening meal. (We don’t have desserts at home unless it’s Christmas or some kind of scoffing occasion) and I have recently been inspired by Matilda from the magical talents of Roald Dahl.

There is a section of the book / scene in the play where Miss Honey talks about her mothers special chocolates and how she had ‘just one’ every evening as a treat. Now, if you think you are a scoff the box kinda chick this probably will give you diabetes BUT at the end of term a pupil in year 10 bought me a huge and very generous box of posh choccies. Since I received them I’ve been having JUST ONE most evenings after dinner (they are still going) usually with a cup of tea before bed (I’m so gangsta) and I love it!


It’s usually the only sweet thing I have in the day (except for fruit) and I love the indulgence, it hits my need for some thing sweet and probably most importantly – it makes me feel special. I can’t describe the anguish I felt when Mr Fridge asked for one of my lovely choccies…trying to not be too mean I explained that they weren’t for sharing and that he should never ask again…but I’m not completely heartless, so I gave him one. I think he saw my heart break slightly as he hasn’t asked again since 🙂

So what it all this talk of naughty food about…I guess it’s about me realising that sometimes (crisps) I just have to say no. But that if I do say yes, know they are going to be the poshest crisps I can get my vegetable oil hands on! We don’t always need to indulge, but when we do – go special, you deserve it and also, to keep it special make sure ‘treats’ are things to look forward to.

Sensory #6 shapes

~ Fridgesays ~ 4 Comments

*yet again I’m not sure there is any ‘sensory’ learning involved in this game.

Basically, I realised that thanks to Mr Maker (J has CBeebies issues so we now have to restrict TV time) and his dancing shapes – J can say the names of a rectangle, triangle, circle and square. What I was worried about was if he actually recognised them…

So, I made this little gem with:

  • 2 pieces different coloured card
  • Permanent marker
  • Ruler
  • Scissors
  • Paper clip optional

 I plan on reusing it, and therefore the paper clip is to keep the shapes to the board.
If I’m honest I’ve seen better versions, some have used felt for the shapes and Velcro to secure them. I deliberately didn’t use a variety of coloured card (obviously you could) because I wanted the learning to be purely about the shapes.

 You may be able to see from the picture above that I labelled each shape and we did have a bigger and smaller version – this is so that I can play with him too and ask him to pass me the ‘big circle’.

I also numbered the sides of the shape for when he gets bored of just the shapes.

Now the amazing bit: J isn’t a quiet sit down and colour kind of chap and HE LOVES it! Since we’ve done it together he has played with it himself and loves to ask his Superman figure if he can see a square (how blooming cute!)

It took seconds to prep and should last a while…give it a try and let me know how you get on.

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