Our Adventures with a Recycled Tuff Tray

I love this Tuff Tray. Like, properly love. It saved my poor, abused carpet from more spills. It kept my crazy toddler's mess contained. Plus, it's made out of recycled plastic. SWOON.

We used it near-enough constantly. Indy is getting to the fiercely independent stage of wanting to feed himself. With the tray, no problem! Any spills were easily wipe-uppable, and no damage to my carpet.

Finger painting had always terrified me. We attempted it a couple of times on our dining room table, but things invariably got covered in the thick, staining goop. I was more than happy to strip Indy off and let him prod and poke the paint to his hearts content. I was able to just peeeeel it off the tray when it was dry. Obviously, after this activity, Indy himself was covered. I contemplated trying to take him upstairs and to stand perfectly still in the bathroom while I ran a bath, but realised that was silly talk. Find me a toddler who can stand still while covered in muck. (tip, you can't.) A flannel just wouldn't cut it, a baby wipe wouldn't cut it, visions of looping the hose into the house did flash across my mind (albeit very briefly) and then I had a flash of genius. Our old washing up bowl! It would fit into the tray, it would get him clean, he could play with the water and it would be fine! So, voila. A mini bath/water play.

Butter. Wouldn't. Melt.

I looked around for more ideas on what I could do with this magical tray. Then my mind flashed back to the kinetic play sand I had picked up at the pound shop. Indy had the HappyLands zoo set, and I thought it would be a great activity, to have the animals trampling in sand, mark making. I set up the blue and the stone coloured sand, and let him have at it. No sand got smooshed into my carpet, and it was so easy to put it all away afterwards!

In short, I really really recommend getting a tray. We used it in the garden when the grass was damp, we used it in the kitchen, we used it everywhere. It's perfect for when little hands get the colouring bug but can't quite stay on the pages. It's ideal for Play Doh and other slightly mucky activities. And snack times are super easy when you've got a lipped container for your child. Ha! The tray can be found here. Go get one!

Cloth Sanitary Pads and the Media!

Today I stumbled across a wonderful news article regarding CSP, and from a mainstream newspaper no less! The Telegraph published this article today, and I think it's fantastic. I use resuable menstrual products myself, and I have done since I had Indy. Once the CSP bug really 'bit' I started making my own, preferring to add as many absorbant layers as I felt comfortable with, tinkering with the length til I felt confident, altering the snaps til I felt my CSP didn't budge when I walked. I now use a ready-made pattern, as I finally found one commercially available that I loved. I now sell the CSP that I make, finding great pride in spreading the reusable joy. (In case you wanted to find where to buy them, my page is Silly Panda Nappy Co.

I agree with the article, I too find them to be far more comfortable than the great wodges of sweaty, crinkly plastic I used to stick to my knickers. Gone are the embarrassing rustles in the public toilets, the tell-tale clank of the sanitary pad bin. Hello to soft, dry, pretty periods, with sleek designs and reassuring sturdy poppers. I almost get the urge to show them off at every opportunity. Almost. Instead I spend hours in my sewing room, Indy playing nicely (hahaha) in his bedroom next to me, whipping up another batch of pretty pads, occasionally stopping to cackle or stroke them or just bask in all the lovely fanny fluff.

So whether you're a cloth veteran, or simply intrigued by the notion, I honestly urge you to buy a couple, maybe a few different lengths and absorbancies, and to just treat yo' self. Honestly, your vajayjay will thank you.

A Catch-Up. Grab a cuppa.

It's been a while! Things have been pretty manic over here, the count down to the wedding is ON. (It's a week today for anyone interested...)

My technology post has been so far the most popular I've done, and I'm happy with that. It seems a lot of parents look for reassurance online, so if I've offered that then I'm proud. I hope to keep up the on-topic posts and give people a glimpse into the way we parent. If there's anything you'd like me to touch upon, feel free to let me know.

Indy and I recently visited a local commune with my friend Emily. Emily knows the gardener there so we were treated to a tour around where they live. It's a beautiful place, and a lovely community feel, but I don't think I'd be able to live in a commune. I love my creature comforts and I think they'd probably frown upon me bring my xbox. Indy was right at home, running around barefoot and playing all the instruments they had. I love the idea of everyone having their own role within the community, and living to help each other out. I think that's missing a lot within today's society, people look after themselves before one another. I'd love to stay somewhere like this for a week or so, and reset my body clock.



Back home, Indy decided he wanted to have a go at babywearing. We've done this before with a silk play scarf, but he was pretty determined to have a go with our Boba. Something tells me I'm going to have to have a go at making him his own (baby-safe) buckles!

Later today, in between my makeup trial and a package collection, we'll be playing with some rainbow rice. I'll have a step-by-step instruction post so you can join in with the multi-coloured fun too :)