Bubble London - Kidswear Highlights

This time around my visit to Bubble London was a short one, but I still managed to browse the new collections of some of my favourite brands. Spring Summer 14 is full of exciting pieces for kids to wear and if I ever get Miss G to get out of her dresses obsession I will surely buy some of this gorgeous pieces.

Indikidual
I was slightly cuckoo over the banana print that was all over the Autumn Winter 2012 collection and it was nice to see that there is still some banana print in the new collection. The clever people at Indikidual, however, have thought of adding to their trademark bananas and have created jellyfish, maracas and straw prints for next Spring as well as coming up with the most fun swimsuit ever. 

Slugs and Snails
These tights are the creation of a wonderful Irish mum who realised that the best way to keep her baby boy warm and comfortable was to have him in tights. If tights were the answer, she thought of creating some that boys (and girls) would be happy to wear and look good in. Slugs and Snails was then born. The little boy is now four years old and has contributed to the family business with his own trucks design on red background. As for us, Miss G has the boat and the spider ones, but I have my eyes on the mushroom ones next.

Cute Graffiti
I had not heard of this brand before my visit to Bubble, but it was hard to resist its charm when I walked past the stand. Cute Graffiti is aimed at street-smart little rebels who embrace bold colours and contemporary design. All T-shirts are designed and produced in the UK and they simply look and photograph amazingly. 

Tootsa MacGinty
This lovely brand is designed as a unisex offer for children who want to have some fun with colours in their clothes. Rather than sticking to simple jersey, they showed knitwear pieces that any adult, let alone a kid would be happy to wear. The Christmas range has treated wool jumpers who are fun, warm and easy to wash. Three out of three in my books. The Spring collection features tie dye jumpers that made me wish to be a child all over again to be able to fit in them. 

Beau Loves
This brand was possibly my favourite of the ones that I saw at Bubble. There is a fun spirit that runs through all the pieces and I found myself imagining my daughter in all the garnents and looking just the right mix of child and trendy fashionista. The silver leggings would make her the star of the party, whilst the printed pieces on grey, purple and green palette would give me such a welcome break from the hideous pinks that dominates most girls clothing.

Oh, to be a child again...

Father's Day

And so yesterday it was Father's Day and for the first time Little Miss G made something for Mr H. Not with me, but at her crèche. She was so excited for him to open her 'artwork'.

She expected a much bigger reaction, but Mr H is not the type of person who gets all emotional, if at all. It was however very sweet to catch them sharing a hug during our day out at the brilliant Marylebone Summer* Fair. Aww. 

Happy Father's Day, Mr H! We love you.

*where is summer? 

Why Why Why

I love my daughter, but I mostly dislike other children. There, I said it. Of course I love spending time with Miss G's little friends and my friends' kids but it stops there. Kids friendly hotels and restaurants fill me with dread. I have never in my life before becoming a mother, or after, for that matter, seen a cute baby or a pretty child and felt the desire to talk to him/her.

Of course I love my daughter more than anything in the world and I take her to playgrounds, play groups and other vile places venues that she might like. Of course I love spending time with her and playing, even if it means that we have to be princess all day long. At the same time I also want for her to do something that I like, such as travelling, going to museums or nice restaurants. It's a constant balancing of needs and we often find a good compromise.

Miss G at soft play. My idea of hell.

I view her hours at the creche as a great opportunity for her to be independent and play with other children and for me to be just me, without a toddler attached to my leg. Win win all around. In an ideal world she'd want more time with me. In an ideal world I'd want more time to myself, even entire days spent at work in the company of adults. We are both aware that we have to make compromises and we are both mostly happy.

So, why on earth do people feel the need to pass this type of comments: 
1. why are you not having another child? It would be so good for her
2. why are you not be back at work now that she is 2 and a half?
3. why do you drop her at the creche instead of spending the whole day with her?
4. why don't you let her play with play-doh / felt tip pens / glue / scissors inside the house?
5. why do you never take her swimming or to soft play and take her to art galleries instead?

I often wonder how some adults never made it past the toddler's habit of asking 'why' every two seconds. I wonder how hard it can be to think something, but actually not having to say it out loud. I feel delighted that their children are much better cared for than my own, I just wish they would keep basking in their glory and let the rest of the world carry on with their lives.

They should just open a twitter account and tell the world about their kids' achievements and how they are brilliant at parenting and how shit everyone else is. It seems that Twitter and Facebook have become great platforms for exactly the above. #just saying

Roma

I booked a Roman holiday as a birthday treat for Mr H whilst Miss G stayed at nonna's house in Italy. We only had three days, but it was delightful to be just us two, like in the old days before Little G came along. Rome was an obvious choice as we both love the city and, being full of steps, stairs and treacherous pavements it is a nice place to explore without a child. Those old Romans did not care much for pushchairs, toddlers or heels.

In three days we did so much, but then I guess ones forget how having children slows you down when it comes to exploring and being out and about. Here are some of the places we visited. I hope they'll inspire you to hop on that plane and lose yourself in the Eternal City.

Day one: Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum: €12 worth spending especially at sunset

Utter beauty and historical wonder

Roman Forum: the oldest building in the complex is from the 8th century BC. History in front of your eyes.

Day 2: St Peter and the Vatican Museums

Sneaky photo of the Sistine Chapel and powerful reminder of Judgement Day courtesy of Michelangelo

Pantheon: here since nearly 2,000 years and one of my favourite buildings in Rome

Pantheon roof: built in 126 AD and still the world largest unsupported dome (with a hole)

My favourite Roman Piazza: Piazza di Pietra

Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona

Castel Santangelo or The Pope's house, if you prefer

Day 3: Lazy Sunday stroll to the Spanish Steps

San Giovanni in Laterano: a church where everything is gigantic

Of course there was more than art, beauty and history to our holiday. There was laughter, fun, delicious dinners, a fun aperitivo people-watching in Trastevere and a couple of late nights and lazy lie-ins. There was just us, as we used to be, careless and free.

Every time I go I feel an utter sense of bewilderment. It is as if I become so small and insignificant compared to the history and beauty of this city and the world. This feeling is reassuring rather than depressing, it always energises me and makes me believe that I have only one life after all and I should worry about the important stuff and enjoy the rest of the ride. 

Rome, it was brief but nice and, of course, I will be back. How do I know? I made sure to toss a coin in the Trevi fountain. The legend says that I am guaranteed to return to where so much of our world started from and I already can't wait to be back again and perhaps I'll take Little G with me next time.

Bruised but Resilient

I was very undecided if to post this at first as it is somewhat hard to admit that things have been a bit shit lately, but then I read your comments and tweets and I realised that most mothers daughters relationships are fucked up the only way is to come to term with the shit and find ways to move on.

Soon Miss G will have to realise that poo is a fact of life and I will not be changing nappies at night when her body finally sees a chance to overrule her stubborn mind. With regards to her allergies, we already have the epi-pen for sesame, so I guess that we will have to add most nuts to the list and move on. Freaking dust mites will not help her asthma, but they provide the perfect excuse to keep this household carpet and pet-free forever. Result. And who needs grass anyway when one could move to a sandy beach somewhere, right? 

As for my own shit, well, my mother is and will remain a pain. As far as I can see, she has had her chance with me and wasted it. I have a lifetime to be a better mum to Miss G and to make sure than when she is older, she'll want to hear my opinions rather than having them shouted at her. I should not waste any single day from now on.

Mr H and I are not a perfect couple, but when I am sad he is there for me. That is what matters. Our holiday in Italy and my mum's madness has probably made us stronger as a couple, so good things really do happen out of bad ones, I guess.

Finally, Mr H is training hard for a charity marathon that he is running at the end of the month and seeing his commitment and steely determination annoys the hell out of me has really inspired me. If I channel my frustrations to achieving something positive I will increase my self esteem and fill my brain with positive thoughts which will hopefully kick out my mum's negativity and the inevitable frustration that comes with raising a toddler. The odd hours at the gym and writing this blog are all good, but I am now officially in search of a project. It is time to move away from family issues and come up with a plan. Any ideas?

Bruised

Ciao. I'm back from Italy and I'm a worse for wear. If you are looking for a happy post, I suggest you look away now. Life is not always idillic here and the past couple of weeks have been frankly shit. 

Boom, there it is, a honest blogger who is not sugar coating life. We are an endangered species, so treasure us. Or look away. You choose.

My mother drove me mad whilst in Italy and this time she very much overstepped the line. She was so far off the proverbial line that she could have not seen it with a telescope from where she stood. Seeing Miss G scared of her screams made me both angry and frustrated. 

I have decided to take a break from it all and we are currently on non-speaking terms, which is a blessing. My mother is in fact a galaxy of self pity, neediness and negativity. Whilst she is a good person, she is also an emotional drain. She will always be the elephant in the room. She lives in my brain but I need to find ways to kick her out or I will explode.

A hospital check up for G's allergies did not help my sorry state one single bit. Instead of outgrowing the bastards as we had hoped, she has picked up a few new enemies, including some that she tested negative for in the past. It's not the end of the world, but it is in fact disheartening to learn that a cashew nut could possibly kill her. 

Whilst fencing off stress-induced migraines, this week has also featured Miss G's epic frustration at poo. I will spare you the tales of starvation, tears and glycerin suppositories for now. All I will say is that she hates shit and will do her best for it not to happen. Ever. Everyone says it is a matter of will, but this kid is as stubborn as hell, so I fear she might stretch this out for a while.


I am feeling pretty miserable right now and Miss G has been on and off feverish and run down. Being homebound and watching Cinderella on repeat when the sun has finally come out is a whole new level of torture. Happy me. Not. Thank God for the three Cs - Cuddles, Chocolate and Calpol.

Whilst Little G is fighting a losing battle against human anatomy and the need for poo and I try to figure out a way to deal with my own shit, we wish you all a happy day. I promise that a happy post will follow soon, but don't say that I didn't warn you at the start.

Arrivederci

The seven readers of this blog (*waves hi* ) might have noticed that I have been rather sparse with blog posts lately. I'm pleased to say that it has been mainly for happy reasons. Life has been manic with lots of social commitments and, for once, they were all happy ones. My luck had to change at some point in this misery 2013, right?

There has been all sort of friends gatherings and celebratory lunches and dinners. Three good friends told me that they are expecting their first baby (oh, I love the excited faces at telling me the news!). One of the nicest girl I have ever met came to visit from Toronto, Canada, where she moved two years ago with major sadness on my part. It turns out she is also expecting. It is as if life is the news at last, and not death, as it has been for the last few months. And that feels thrilling.

In between all the happy gatherings I managed to go to the movie theatre and catch 'The Great Gatsby' (not amazing, but worth going to watch despite all the bad reviews) and to arrange a little surprise treat for Mr H's birthday next Sunday, so, yes, I've been busy.

There has also been the joy of potty training amongst all this, but that will wait for another post soon. Miss G is never missing an opportunity to do things 'her way'. You will soon find out what I mean.

Now, back to us. In six hours we will be on the road again. We are off to Italy to celebrate the 'all clear' and to gather some more answers about this fucking cancer that seems to take pleasure hunting my family down, the bastard!

For now then it is 'arrivederci'. I will spend some time 'in famiglia' and hopefully I will be so busy having a good time with people who mean a lot to me that you will not hear from me in a week or so, or at least that is the plan. See you soon and thanks for reading. Arrivederci.