School blues - yes, literally

Michela getting some mouse practice in time for school

My daughter is starting school in September and I have been rushing around to buy clothes and shoes in the right colours - blue and white. Most supermarkets and children's stores sell clothing in black, white and grey, which doesn't help.


Apparently I left it a bit late for black shoes as I went two weeks ago and the choice was limited to say the least. All the good stuff had gone and I was lucky to find something in Primark that was the right size and colour. The pinafores, tees,  jeans and white socks were bought in Sainsbury's, while the leggings came from Primark. Having received a massive bag of clothes from my brother, I wasn't going to spend a lot of money on school clothes, especially since the colour is a bit boyish.

It's quite a challenge to find blue trousers for girls, I had to buy jeans and a pair of gym pants from the boy's area. Luckily I got a few bits with the school logo from the school fete earlier in the summer, the second-hand uniform stall was a fab idea!

I'm told Asda is very good and very reasonable, I didn't manage to get that way this time but I will check it out when I do.

More sales... and what I purchased

Cup cakes made with my sales purchase, the brilliant mini cup cake maker from BHS (see link below)

So far I have bought pretty thermal underwear from M and S (link below), pretty socks from John Lewis (link below), a set of four wood/leather storage chests from TK Maxx, a pretty dress for my daughter at Primark, a pair of trousers from Next and various bits and pieces from Sainsbury's (link below). There are some great sales still about, below are all the links....

Bhs
Boden
Clarks
Debenhams
Dyson Cleaners & Spares
GLTC
John Lewis
Kaleidoscope: great sales..........
Marks and Spencer
Minibarratts
National Magazine Company:
discounts on magazine subscriptions
Next Bathrooms
OXFAM Online Shop
Play.com
Sainsbury's
Zavvi

A truly horrific carnival

Yesterday was Halloween and even the staff in Sainsbury's were celebrating by wearing fancy outfits. It became soon apparent that Michela was not going to enjoy the celebrations this year when she burst into tears after a Sainsbury's employee wearing a scary clown mask said 'Boo' to her.

Undeterred I carved a tiny pumpkin and got the pumpkin candle out of the cupboard. When it got dark I placed the tiny pumpkin outside as a signal for children that they can ring the bell - which is the etiquette in our street.

I had a box of gummy sweets prepared and some chocolate biscuits - no apples this year as fery few children went for them last year and I felt sorry for the little fellow who was egged on by his dad to take the 'nice apple'.

When the bell rang I ladled sweets and chocolate biscuits into baskets and little bags. Michela got scared by the masks again and refused to come out even when a couple of girls wearing less scary outfits rang the bell. It was a pity as she enjoyed it so much last year.

Toddlers change so fast you can never predict their behaviour. Sometimes parenting can be a truly scary experience - if you like to read some horror stories, click the link below and enjoy!

http://hotcrossmum.blogspot.com/2009/10/british-mummy-bloggers-halloween.html