Things We Love: June

How did it get to be the end of June already?! Madness…

I’m off to BritMums Live this weekend, and then we’re spending some time in Scotland, so I’m just squeezing in my June review roundup while I have the chance. As ever, any review items I’ve been sent are noted in the disclosure statement at the foot of the post, and all the others are things I just love.

Moves App: It is no secret that I am a total lazy dog not a big fan of exercise. I walk everywhere, so there’s that. Once or twice a year I’ll blow the cobwebs off my trainers to go for a run. And occasionally I’ll buy a fitness DVD and let it sit on the shelves for a few weeks, hoping that by some magic process its mere presence in the room will shave inches off my waist and tone my abs… but that’s really about it. An optimistic friend has nudged me to try a free app called Moves, which tracks your physical activity throughout the day as it runs in the background of your phone. Each day, and then again at the end of the week, Moves send you a notification letting you know how much exercise you have (or haven’t) done, hopefully motivating you to do a little more each time. I am starting from a pretty low base, so you’d think it’d help, right? I’ve downloaded it today. Will let you know how it goes…

Activism not Slacktivism

My good friend Adam Ramsay had a piece in the Guardian the other day about student activism, putting forward his view that the main job of students is to save the world and have fun. Despite what many people think the two are not mutually exclusive.

I credit my time at university, and the people I met in that period of my life, with shaping my politics quite substantially. The groundwork may have been laid earlier – by compassionate parents and dinner table discussions – but uni was the time when I became more able to articulate what I believe in, and why.

Tuesday Treats

A slightly shorter than usual Tuesday Treats from me this week, but I hope none the worse for that. If you’ve only just joined me, and don’t know what this is all about, it’s really very simple… Tuesday Treats is a weekly roundup of top posts, as chosen by me, Chris, Becky and Lizzie. We take it in turns to share with you the blogposts and articles that we’ve enjoyed reading recently.

So without further ado.

“One day we will enjoy telling you all about our childhoods and I am sure that my stories about phones with cords and four television channels will make you shriek with laughter and incredulity.” I’ve only just discovered Emma and Isaac, and I loved this post about how childhood has changed.

Question Time

DorkySon was just lying on the sofa, playing a game on the iPad, while I tidied around him.

“Mummy,” he said. “Dying doesn’t mean that you go away and never come back, does it?”

I froze.

One Week: Spring

It has been very quiet around here, with not much news to share, but I can never resist the opportunity to join in with Older Mum’s One Week project, which she runs once every season.

This week it’s time for us all to write a post reflecting on Spring.

It was a long time coming but now – in the first week of June – it finally feels like Spring is here. It’s a little blustery out, but there has been sunshine for the last four or five days, and it’s meant to carry on into the weekend which is good news because we’re going to our first barbecue of the year. I’m also sporting my first sunburn of the year. Never bloody learn…

Live in the Now: May

The Bank Holiday weekend was a good reminder of how important sunshine is. Everything seems easier, everything can be done with a smile on your face, everything seems more possible when you open the curtains to a warm, bright day instead of a cold, grey one.

We had one of those weekends where it didn’t feel like we were doing very much, but we still seemed to pack it in. A lovely lunch and an afternoon at the park with a friend we hadn’t seen for a long time. (‘Jeez,‘ she said. ‘Is this what people do in the suburbs?‘) A drink at the pub in town with a beer garden where, to DorkySon’s delight, there was a bouncy castle set up. A little potter around the farmer’s market to pick up some local honey and strawberries. And some bread and ham. And some cheese and radishes. Oh, and some chicken, and some ribs. And some freshly ground coffee… Wasn’t it Oscar Wilde who wrote ‘I can resist anything but temptation.’

Food for Thought

I love it when nice people do good things. Nothing makes me happier. So when I saw that several of my very favourite children’s writers are backing the latest campaign from Save the Children, it put a huge smile on my face.

More than 25 children’s writers and illustrators, including David Walliams, Oliver Jeffers, Michael Morpugo and Philip Pullman have come together to warn of a global literacy crisis, ahead of the G8 nutrition summit on June 8^th.

‘Eh?’ I can hear you saying. ‘What have literacy and nutrition got to do with each other?’

Well the answer to that is ‘quite a lot, actually’.