Alone in a Crowd

First of all let me start by saying that this is not a plea for attention, pity or suddenly lots of visitors. It is merely me acknowledging my feelings. I was unsure of whether or not to publish this, but if you are reading this then clearly I did.

 

I am very lucky to have lots of amazing friends and family for some brilliant support networks and I know that I can call on them if I need to. When I am home and it’s just me and my baby, Alanna, I am fine and just get on with things. It helps that she is super cute and we entertain each other all day.

Today, however, I decided to go to Blenheim Palace Food Festival with Alanna which was a fantastic event, it was very busy and buzzing with people and yummy smelling food as well as some live music. We had a lovely time, I had a falafel wrap which Alanna tried, and she seemed to enjoy her first taste of falafel. She also enjoyed watching all the dogs as we walked around.

I am not very comfortable in large crowds, especially when I am trying to walk and people just stop or block the obvious path, this only gets more complicated when trying to manoeuvre a pushchair. It makes me get stressed out so I was doing my best to stay calm and not get stressed as I was attempting to find somewhere to sit whilst pushing the pushchair with one hand and holding the falafel wrap in the other. I eventually found a seat and had a quick sit down. After enjoying lunch we went into the butterfly house to see all the beautiful butterflies and finches flying around. We then started to head to the car to come home. That was when the feelings of loneliness kicked in, I realised that even though I had actually seen some friends when we first arrived and had had a few conversation with strangers that it was just me and Alanna and it will be this way for a while.

I know that I need to get used to it just being me and Alanna for a while as my husband is away with work for a bit. I have a lot of different groups of friends, from some of my best friends and neighbours, Rach and Rich, the local Mummy group, NCT group, craft group, home friends, London friends, Uni friends and Yorkshire friends as well as my amazing family and in-laws so I rarely have to go to events alone with Alanna but it is a skill I have to learn. If anyone has any tips on how to feel comfortable alone in a crowd please comment down below. 

Mini First Aid Course

Recently I was given the opportunity to attend a Mini First Aid course run by a lovely lady called Leanne.

This course was for 2 hours and covered the important basics of first aid for infants (0-1 year) and children (1 year- puberty).

My husband dropped me off for the course as we had a baby class afterwards in the same building. The fact he was off work meant that he could look after Alanna while I went on the course. That was really helpful as I could fully focus on learning.

I entered the room and was warmly greeted by Leanne, I was the first to arrive so we had a nice little chat before the class started. She had two cancellations and only 1 other lady turned up so we had a very small group which was actually really nice.

We covered so much information in the 2 hours but I felt that we covered everything in plenty of detail. We started off going through what to do if we find an infant or child laying on the floor, for example; check for danger, if clear check for a response, if no response call for help and check the airway then check for breathing. If they are not breathing then we were told start CPR by giving 5 rescue breaths and then onto 30 chest compressions and 2 breaths and continue to do the 30:2 until help arrives. We were also informed that it is a bit different for adults because we don’t need to give the breaths because adults can hold between 5-7 minutes of oxygen in their bodies but infants and children can’t. We were able to give this a go using the CPR dummies. The infant and child ones were very different so I think it was really useful to give it a go on each of them.

We also covered burns, wounds and bleeding, choking, febrile seizures, symptoms of meningitis, head bumps, breaks and fractures, a brief bit about how to deal with shock and what should be in your first aid kit. We were also advised to keep our first aid kits in the room of the house we spend the most time in. I spend most time in the living room so I will be moving mine into the Welsh dresser as it is easy to get to.

I would highly recommend Mini First Aid to everyone, especially parents or people who spend time with young people. I think everyone should do basic first aid anyway as it is very useful knowledge to have.

See the links below for details:

http://oxford.minifirstaid.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/minifirstaidoxford

Hotter Shoes, Oxford Blog Event 2017

Hotter Shoes Blog Event

 Hey,

I was invited to attend a blogger event at Hotter Shoes in Oxford on a nice Wednesday evening. I decided to go along and see what all the fuss was about. Turns out, they are super comfy shoes!

I was unsure of what to expect as my impression of them was that they were targeted at the older generation, however, as soon as I walked in the shop I could see that my impression was wrong and terribly outdated. They had such a range of shoes that I think anyone could go in and find a pair that they liked. 

I was originally drawn to the floral Mabel Shoes and slip on Tara Shoes at the front of the store, but after looking around I saw a pair of heels which looked really lovely. One of the other bloggers, Abi, had been trying them on in suede lavender so I thought I should have a try of the dark aqua suede version Donna Heels. They have them available in other colours and some are suede and some are leather so have a little looky. I tried the Donna Heels on and walked around, they were so comfortable,but I rarely wear heels so thought that I would keep on looking, that was when I saw another blogger pick up the Pixie Boots. I went straight on over to try them on in deep teal and they were my favourite shoes of the evening so I kept them on for a while just to be sure. I was then pleasantly surprised when I was given them for free. I have worn them a lot already and although we are heading into spring and soon it should be too warm for boots I have still managed to get a decent amount of wear out of them and I know I will look forward to next autumn/winter when I can wear them even more. 

The lovely ladies in the store even sprayed them with a water-proof and stain-proof spray so they should last longer. 

I haven't even mentioned the food and drink!!! Wowzers, I couldn't believe what a lovely spread they put on for us. As we walked in we were offered a Prosecco, orange juice or water (I stuck to orange juice as I was driving and am still breast feeding my baby) then to the left of us there was the table laid out with a beautiful spread of really scrummy food. There was loads left over at the end so some of us took some with us but me and Rach (aka The Inelegant Wench) gave ours to some homeless people as we thought they would be more appreciative of it.

All in all I had a fantastic evening with some yummy food and drink and even a free pair of what are probably my most comfortable shoes I own. I would like to say a massive thank you to Hotter Shoes, Oxford for letting me be part of such a lovely event. 

Below are some of the promotional videos we were part of for Hotter Shoes.
Cat's: Chopsworld 
Rachel's: The Inelegant Wench

Center Parcs 2017