School run style and feeling the feels

It's week three of the school run..I think..I've lost track of the days and weeks a little bit if I'm honest. I go through feeling like 'I'm liking the routine, he's happy, he's learning so much, this is good' to feeling like 'nope I can't be doing this everyday, I just saw a girl being mean to him, I'm taking him out we'll go home and built forts and watch movies'. It's a swinging pendulum of emotions.

I'm lucky that he's not shown any signs of NOT having a good time. He knows a couple of the kids in the other class, he always has someone to play with at break. He's one of the oldest in the year, he loves learning, he's desperate to read and write.

I went to the park after school and some girls were telling him boys can't play, only girls. I wanted to cry. He told me his friend said she wasn't his friend that day, she had a new friend. I feel like my heart is breaking for him, I can't bare other peoples kids. I want to wrap him in cotton wool and protect him and to always be there as soon as he falls down and grazes his had. I can't, sometimes kids need to work out their own things. I don't want anyone to make him feel like he can't play with his My Little Ponies. He loves My Little Ponies, he's a boy too, shock horror.

Does this settle down? Does anyone feel 100% about their school choice? About sending them there in the first place? How do you deal when people's kids are just...meanies?!

Any advice gratefully accepted.

My friend Kat gave me a great piece of advice about the school run. She said throw on some joggers for the run, when you're home you can shower and get changed. Wear a hat in winter, no one has time to wash their hair before 8 and get children ready..right?

For someone who spent about 15 years of their life living in skirts and dresses I've succumbed to the jeans and sweater look. Half way through the first week I was wearing pink joggers, unfortunately it's too warm still for hat to hide the hair situation. Blessing come in it still being sunny enough for sunglasses to hide the eye bags.

So I thought I'd come up with my favourite pieces for the school run, if your interested!

I've recently become obsessed with these 'mom jeans', I'm also not 100% sure I can pull them off. I tried these jeans in about 101 combinations of size and length and decided on the W 30/ L 30 size (I'm usually a 12) but in hindsight at they have stretched as I've worn them I could have gone a little smaller. I love that they are high rise because I have quite a long tummy AND because I always tumble try my tops and then accidentally make them that bit smaller!

I've teamed them with these trainers from Boden which I am currently living in and this top from La Redoute . My saddle bag is from here.

I've been trawling the internet for some other ideas on easy school run ideas though so I thought I'd make a little list below of others items I've been loving.

Oh P.S don't forget you can 'shop my looks' here now too if you want to see the bits and pieces I've been loving lately :)

Getting some 'me time' with L'Occitane

Picture the scene, I'd been running on about 3 hours sleep a night for the past fortnight. The baby is surely teething, won't let me put her down, the house is a tip, work gets back logged and I'm sitting on the living room floor, breastfeeding and holding back the 'oh so tired tears'.

Mum life.
The bits you forget, once your child is sleeping though, walking, talking..off to school. I know it goes so quickly, the hard bits are hard but the good bits are wonderful. It's amazing and lonely and wonderful and frustrating and the best and worst feelings you've ever felt time 1000.

The afternoon, when it felt like I was the brink of tears (OK there were tears). Then the baby napped, things didn't seem quite so bad. I made a cup of tea, went to the bathroom, cleansed my face properly and slowly (not like the mornings school run were I'm lucky if I get to moisturise) and popped on this L'Occitane facemask. Suddenly just like that, having some 'me time' made it that little bit easier. True story.

I'm working with L'Occitaine in this post to let you know about their competition to win a luxury hamper worth £300 . A little bit of pampering, of 'me time' that I think everyone needs once in a while. There are also runner up prizes which include L'Occitane Shea Butter travel essentials and L'Occitane Almond Travel essentials so you have a few chances of winning something for yourself. The comp ends on Oct the 3rd so be quick!

OK so a facemark isn't 8 hours uninterrupted sleep but it helps right? I feel like just these tiny moments to yourself, a hot bath, a cup of coffee, reading a chapter of a new book in bed. Life's little luxuries for sure!

What do you do to recharge? Are there little things that help you feel a bit more like yourself again? I'd love to know any 'quick fixes' you have to make you feel that way!

In association with L'Occitane

Joolz Geo Review

Joolz Geo pushchair review
Parents or parents-to-be will know that buying your travel system for your baby can be a total minefield! I remember looking around the shops when I was pregnant with Wilf and just feeling totally overwhelmed, what would be a good fit for us and what would be the useful for our city life.

I'm working with Joolz in this post to test out their Joolz Geo. We've had this chair now for about a month which I feel is a good amount of time to really get to grips with it and try it doing a few different things like getting public transport or how easy it is to use for naps etc. Hopefully you'll find this review useful if you're looking into getting this pushchair.

Design is a big pull for me and I think for something you use pretty much every day for a good few years you have to be in love with the design. I'm really into bold colours and patterns usually in the clothes I wear so it probably seems strange I would be so drawn to the muted subtle tones in the Joolz designs. My reason for wanting a pushchair in this tone is so I don't actually clash with it, ha! Although in these pics I've actually accidentally matched my outfit with my buggy ;)

I met up with my friend Nell Mallia for a coffee over the weekend and she was kind enough to take these pics for me which I love! Mabli was in such a grumpy mood so she did well to get these shots and ones of Mabli too that weren't of her grizzling.

The first thing I'd say I love about this brand is that they are very eco conscious. They actually plant a tree in Colombia for every pushchair sold with the idea that the tree grows with your child and encourage you re-use the cardboard box the chair comes in in lots of fun ways. They also use organic fabrics in items such as their baby blankets which are so so soft.

What I noticed immediately when we started road testing this pushchair is how brilliant designed it is for people are that little bit taller. I'm 5,8 and I've always had to stoop just that tiny little bit when pushing a pushchair. The handle actually extends to two different heights so I feel like it would be great for people of all different heights rather than a 'one size fits all' sort of approach. I also find it really easy to push one handed, which if you have a four year olds hand to hold on the school run is essential.

Although we have no plans to have a third child if we did have another baby this pushchair has the ability to attached another seat underneath which is pretty cool. It means you don't need to purchase a separate pushchair later on but only need to buy an additional seat.

Going back to the ergonomical aspect of the design, the seat it designed to be at table height so that if needed it can be pushed straight up against the table of a cafe for example. I love that we can keep her in her chair if needs be when I'm having a coffee and she's happy being part of the action!

I like really the size of the basket below (I've literally stuffed it in these pics as I had shopping underneath). An added bonus is that as it comes out further than the seat so when she drops her toys or dummy as we walk along it falls into there and not on the floor!

I'm using the seat on the parent facing mode but you can also turn it around to it's forward facing too of course.

We took of these pics in Mokoko coffee which was so nice! I'm defo going back there for pizza sometime soon.

You can actually customise your Joolz by added things like personalised handle bars. We chose 'Birdy' for ours as Mabli's middle name is Kittiwake and we often call her our little bird.

We live in a city so having a pushchair that was neat enough to fit into cafes and on the bus was really important to me which it does brilliantly but it's also big enough to have a seat that will really grow with your child and have a lot of basket space too! It goes up and down curbs really well without lots of bumping which is essential especially if you've got a sleeping baby! We've not really taken it off road much but it's worked well over the grass in the park too.

If I had to be really picky I sometimes find the 5 point harness a bit tricky especially when wresting a grizzly baby so if I had to change one thing it might be that but that's honestly the only thing I could find fault with! I have to say I'm really impressed with the Joolz Geo and it ticks all our boxes as a city loving family. Tom doesn't really 'get' the pushchair excitement as much as I do ;) but even he had mentioned a few times how much he enjoys pushing it.

I hope that's been helpful! Let me know if you are looking to buy one and have any more questions I could answer!

We received the Joolz Geo for purposes of this review

My five day lunch box plan!

I remember lunch boxes from when I was child, made by my dad (who stayed at home whilst my mum trained and then worked as a midwife). I remember the excitement of finding out what was in them when midday came around. I'd always have, something savoury, a snack and a treat (as well as a drink of course) and each day it would be different. Coming from a family of five kids I'm only now just realising how much effort must have done into preparing them all for us for the day ahead. I still miss my dad's cooking now and hopefully with a little practise my kids will miss mine ;)

With Wilf starting school I'm thinking more and more about the practicalities of these things, school bags, homework, p.e kit and lunch boxes. It's all becoming very real! I'm working with Flora on this post to share with you my 5 day lunch box plan Incorporating Flora Original into the meals I make. 

When it comes to Wilf's meals I've previously struggled with just how much he is supposed to eat and at what age. I often fall into the trap of thinking he should be eating much more than he does or give him portion sizes that overwhelm him. I think that can be a concern for lots of parents but I've learnt that smaller portion sizes and looking at how much he's eaten over a whole week rather than just a day is really helpful. 

I hope you've like my five day lunch box plan and that it's maybe given you some ideas for your own. I find food can be such a tricky one with kids at times so it's nice to mix it up and not eat the same thing every day whilst still keeping things quite simple! 

Flora have a section on their website for 'healthy kids meals' which can help when trying to work out what items to look for to ensure your kids get their 5 a day. You can also download their lunchbox guide which will give you lots of ideas and inspiration for your child's lunch box. What do you pack in your packed lunch box?

Lunchbox Plan

Monday – Cheese and tomato sandwiches are a real staple for our week. I find routine and familiarity really help when it comes to mealtimes but we try and mix it up as the week goes on. I include breadsticks as a snack then blueberries as a superfood and an orange to finish. It's worth noting I pack a bottle of water with all his meals and try to limit juices as much as possible.

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