http://www.cathykeir.co.uk Welcome to the home of Beta Mum - who lacks the lifestyle and perfectionist tendencies of Alpha Mummy, but rubs along pretty well most of the time Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:00:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This year I'm renaming Mother's Day. Not as a British protest vote against the Americanisation of Mothering Sunday. And not as a way to decide, once and for all, where the apostrophe goes... Mother's Day? Mothers' Day? But as a way to manage my expectations. I have decided to call it, privately at ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/mothers-hour/ Now the festive storm has passed, we can spend our downtime trying to navigate the multiple functions on our shiny new cameras, phones and laptops. They all seem to do much more than anyone could need in a human lifespan. But if you have a problem with your new gismo, ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/privacy-settings/ Christmas is looming large and loud in our house. Lists are dotted about the kitchen in unnaturally tidy handwriting, featuring ponies, playmobil, i-phones and other expensive electronic gadgetry. The home-made advent calendar has been patched up ready to hold 24 daily trinkets for just one more year and we are ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/a-question-of-christmas/ As the prospect of Christmas shopping threatens to crowd out the hazy fragments of summer memories, I decide to surprise the children with a question. “What do you prefer,” I say, nonchalantly, “Hallowe’en or Bonfire night?” As I utter the words, images from my childhood flash through my mind. Weekends spent stuffing ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/halloween-or-bonfire-night/ It was nearly a year ago that Ben (now ten) had his first brush with childhood romance. Her name was Sandra and she's in his class. It lasted a few weeks, the summer holidays intervened and on their return to school it was all over. "She can't play football," was Ben's verdict. Well ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/it-must-be-love/ I thought it was time to check how savvy my children are about staying safe online. They don't really use the computer to talk to their friends yet, but they do play on Club Penguin, which has moderated chat rooms and is probably a good introduction to the 21st century world ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/e-safety/ I had to take Ben to work a few weeks ago. It was just for an hour in between clashing delivery timetables - delivery of children to after-school activities, not babies into the world. I know 9 isn't 2, and his tantrum, plate-throwing days are (mostly) over. But he can be ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/work-experience/ What do Man of the Match, Hundred Club and Limited Edition have in common? They're the only answer I ever get these days to questions like - "How was school today?" "What did you do for lunch play today?" "What did you choose for Golden Time this afternoon?" Match Attax cards seemed quite innocuous ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/match-attax-are-not-topps/ What links Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin and Blog Fodder? It's not another lateral thinking puzzle, it is a real question with a truthful answer. They were all born on the 12th of February - exactly 200 years ago in the case of two of them. The one that wasn’t born quite ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/blog-fodder-tackles-darwin/ Where do I start? I haven't even mentioned the rats yet, and I can only blame the children for them if I use the guinea pigs as an intermediary. First - the nits. I noticed them when we got back from Christmas holidays, and I immediately set to work on Hannah's head ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/nits-worms-and-verrucas/