Month: August 2017

There is a strong shadow where there is much light 

~ Fridgesays ~ 44 Comments

Quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.

To my little dude,

Our diary is always a whirlwind of dates, appointments and activity and there is a huge transition that is dominating the pages in September, you start school.

From the moment you were born and placed in my arms you have been transitioning, it has been a blessing to watch. I cannot underestimate this, many parents are worried for the loss of their babies, the independence of going to school can be concerning and I often hear comments like ‘It feels like only yesterday she was born’ or ‘He isn’t ready for school’ for you im excited to see your world grow and skills expand. I’m extremely at home in the school environment as Mummy is a teacher and this feels a blessing and a curse – I know the highs and lows like the back of my hand.

At four years old your humour is a magnet greater than any computer could create. Just this very evening we laid on your bed and you played me twinkle twinkle on your harmonica – it sounded dreadful, but your laughter was infectious as you broke out into a variation of the song which began twinkle, twinkle chocolate bar…” this is a gift that it precious, don’t let other children’s comments curve your humour.

At the moment you wear a combination of clothes and then you usually like to add an accessory or twenty from various Marvel characters, following fashion is fine but I’ll always support your creative flair and imagination.

I think you’ll like the staff and you already have many friends to play with in your class. You’ll have opportunities that I could never give you to socialise and learn, I really want you to grow in your own way, not with my regrets or desires forced upon you. To make this easier I’m going to make a few promises…

  • I promise not to make you do a extra curricular club because I did it, or Daddy did it…you can pick
  • I promise that as you learn to read, I will still read to you as long as you want
  • I promise to listen to you talk about your day, rather than hurl questions at you as I walk through the door
  • I promise you that as you grow older and forget things I will never drop a PE kit / lunch box to you, save your phone credit. Resilience and organisation are self taught by error.
  • I promise not to show my anxiety over your first few weeks at school.
  • I promise to help you in any way I can to fulfill your potential, but your happiness is paramount.
  • I promise to back you up when issues arise. As long as you are always honest with me.
  • I work full time and will rarely be at the gates, but if you need me I will always be there. I will also be there any time I can, when our school diaries don’t synchronise.

When you are older, we will look back at this September as a small step on a wonderful and exciting journey that you are taking. It’s not always a parents duty to be next to you, but I will always be a shadow.

Love you to the moon,

Mummy x

P.s. Good luck to the staff trying to get you to sit still and hold a pen.

The Saturday Session #one

~ Fridgesays ~ 5 Comments

Welcome to #thesatsesh linky party designed for a weekend of chilled blog reading and joy. Ive teamed up with Hayley from Mission Mindfulness Blog to create a mini world of blog reading pleasure. I asked her to join me on this adventure as her blog is all about bringing calm to the masses and with my motivational sparkle we are a winning duo, we also happen to be teachers – so detentions for any of you that break the rules 🙂

Im totally out of my comfort zone, so I’m practising what I preach; until last week I thought coding was voodoo and widgets were from some mystical land… I still think this but I’m looking forward to using them and developing my own skill set, plus I love reading a variety of blog posts, with this in mind the linky is open to all bloggers and all topics.

Myself and Hayley will each pick our favourite post each week and share it with you in the following weeks post, so lets get this party started. Click the inlinkz below and make sure you are happy to follow the rules, its sad when people come to a party and don’t bring a plate – so make sure you don’t link and run. If you have any issues please email #thesatsesh here

The linky goes live at GMT 7:00am and closes at 8pm on Sunday evening. Perfect if you’ve had a hectic week and haven’t had the chance to give your blog the promotion it deserves

What My Fridge Says
  • Link up You can link up to 2 posts, old or new
  • Grab a badge Please do add the # thesatsesh badge. You can do this by copying and pasting the badge code into the text/HTML area of your post within your publishing platform
  • Tweet Share your posts on Twitter using the linky hashtag #thesatsesh and tag us in for retweets @fridgesays @mummy_mindful. Follow us if you don’t already please.
  • Comment sit back, relax (its the weekend after all). Please use #thesatsesh and in usual linky etiquette comment on each of the hosts posts, mine and Hayleys, the post before and after yours. If you comment on more, that would be wonderful. 

OPTIONAL EXTRA: Come and play in our IG community by using #thesatsesh for photos of your weekend or perhaps connected to a post you’ve linked. Follow us on Instagram @fridgesays and @mission_mindfulness_blog and we will keep up to date and follow you back.

Lets get this party started, click below and add your posts to the very first #thesatsesh linky.



 




 




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You gotta nourish to flourish 
		

				

						 ~ Fridgesays			 ~ 41 Comments					

				

		
Every now and then I see a quote and it lights my universe. 


At the moment I am planning kitchen renovations and I wouldn’t mind this little quote hanging somewhere? Food for thought (See what I did there)


Nourish according to the dictionary means ‘to provide food or the opportunities for people to grow and be in good condition’ 


If I’m honest when I see the word nourish I think of food, but what else do we need?


Self belief: if you can dream it, then you can make it happen. This is essential not just to be able to flourish but to be able to sustain any kind of growth (and that includes happiness) 


Drive and desire: these are easy to have and harder to actually make happen. Usually because they require us to get out of our comfort zone and perhaps even take a risk or two. I’ve found since becoming a parent that often the risk is scarier because of my son. However, surely the dream is always ultimately the better finish line for him to see me arrive at?


Tribe: a good family, neighbours, work colleagues and friends all help to make a little ‘you’ community. When the chips are down, don’t panic – team ‘you’ will be there like a giant pillow of love and comfort – looking around and it’s a bit sparse, no problem, sometimes the harder moments let us know which team members require demotion. 


Wellbeing: be it physical or mental you need to make your health number one. Balance is key to this; I’ve written thousands of posts on the issue so for more info read everything I’ve ever written, pretty much – give or take a gratitude post, oh…


Gratitude: a sprinkle of thanks and a piece of humble pie can not only make you a favourite amongst your tribe but you’ll find you manifest and receive even more than you thought possible…seriously Beyoncé and all the big divas are always thanking the people that surround them. 


P.s. Not such a big diva as Queen B but thanks for reading and I hope you leave a little more nourished. If not, what area do you need to step it up in? 



			

	


				
					


	

			
I don’t hold grudges, you just become irrelevant 
		

				

						 ~ Fridgesays			 ~ 18 Comments					

				

		
Quote by…the one and only Anon. 


This post is about how harsh and non emotional I can be. Since as long as I can remember I do not hold the ability to forgive, forget or even realise people that hurt me exist. I can cut emotions ties and literally forget that they ever were part of my world…or so I thought until I wrote this post.


I think it probably began with the girl at Nursery (aged 3) pinched me. I couldn’t be friends with her when she started my secondary school over ten years later. I didn’t forget. 


There was the ex boyfriend who I’ve watched treat every woman he has ever dated awfully. Over the years he has caused serious heart ache to many and perhaps once I held a grudge. Now, he is irrelevant and I pity his lack of ability to love honestly and truly. Time heals but in my case it seems to blur to the point I no longer care. 


Several years a go there was a murder of a young boy called Anthony Walker, the attack was racist and brutal. His mother publically forgave the murderers. It happened before I became a parent, but I knew she was sincere and inspirational. I knew I wouldn’t have the capacity to forgive as she had done. Gee Walker became my inspiration – I aspire to her sincerity and clarity of emotions. 


Forgiveness can release you from anger, illness and heightened negativity. Grudges only cause bitterness in those who hold it – not those it’s aimed at. So why is it so hard to forgive? 


I wish I had ‘the top ten ways’ to release anyone from negative emotions. I don’t. In truth it’s a battle I often come across in my own life. For me neutralising the emotion and making them irrelevant, like the quote suggests does help me to feel free of the negativity, but in truth I guess by making someone ‘irrelevant’ you care enough to put them in a ‘I don’t care’ category, which when I was smaller I distinctly remember being a hot air balloon, it was rammed with sarcastic teacher and kids who I didn’t like and the balloon was always a one way trip. Good bye! 


Whilst thinking about my own lack of forgiveness (seriously I can be harsh) the list of people who have made it to my ‘I don’t care’ list / hot air balloon ride is long and I know why each of them made it to my naughty list, which means I still hold a grudge…


Other inspirations for putting emotions aside is when parents separate and ‘for the sake of the kids’ (or their own sanity) stay on positive terms. Love is complex and broken hearts can be bitter and messy. It doesn’t surprise me that for your children couples often make it work in a platonic way, full credit due when this can be achieved, I know it’s not always an option. 


How do you deal with forgiveness and do you have any tips for others? …because I’m asking for a friend 😉 



			

	


				
					


	

			
Happiness is homemade #2 
		

				

						 ~ Fridgesays			 ~ 20 Comments					

				

		
So it’s the summer holidays and as a teacher I am thrilled. Not only does a bell not go off every hour and dictate what I do, but I get to spend time with the little dude. 


He starts school in September so these weeks seem even more precious. I love creating memories together as a family and have decided to do a similar thing to last year. Click the link to Happiness is homemade #1 for details of what we did and how you could do your own version. 


It was fab asking him for ideas on what he would like to do. I did add some parent pre planned events in also, and once again I was surprised at how simple the things he wants to do are, from ‘riding his bike’ to ‘playing with mummy’ #cute 




We went for a slime theme this year, because anything green and gross is his thing at 4 years old. 


As always he wants to see more crocodiles (his Godmother has this under control) and we have hung them in the porch (because blue tac does mark and this is a much faster paint job for us)   


I totally recommend doing this and will hopefully do it for years to come – until he way too old and tells me to ‘do one’ because he is back packing around the world with some mates and seeing crocodiles in their natural habitats (Sad Mummy moment / awesome times for him) 


Have a fabulous summer whatever your circumstances, enjoy, love hard and create memories.