Persil 2 in 1 with Comfort - a Netmums review with teddy pictures!

I had one of those moments when changing the children's bedding recently, when I realised that it was taking me twice as long because of all the teddies and soft toys which needed rearranging at the foot of the bed when the clean bedding was on. We have a LOT of teddies.

Right, I thought to myself. It's time to say goodbye to some old friends. So, me and the boys sat for a while and went through the teddies, trying to decide which ones they could pass onto charity, or to one of their friends. It turned out they (or I) had a pretty valid reason for wanting to keep all of them - but eventually they relented and found a couple of teddies each which they would be happy to give to another little girl or boy. Phew.

So, it was a happy coincidence that I was then asked to participate in the 'Pass on the Love Picnic' campaign being run as part of the launch of the new Persil 2 in 1 with Comfort and review the product for Netmums. The idea is a lovely one, where Mums and kids have a picnic and swap soft toys or donate them to Oxfam for another child to love, having first spruced them up with a wash in the new Persil product, of course.

So, I decided to basically wash all our teddies with the new product. The two pictured above are definitely being kept, my life simply wouldn't be worth living without them, but they then shared a tearful farewell with some of their buddies who would leave us later that day. As you can see, they had a lovely 'last supper type picnic' lounging around in the sun.

We also were inspired to rummage through the other toy boxes and the wardrobes and managed, quite easily, to fill an entire sack for Oxfam with things the boys don't play with or wear anymore.

As far as the Persil 2in1 with Comfort product goes, it does everything it claims to - it leaves the items clean, soft and the passion flower fragrance is really lovely. I could even smell it on my little boy's PJs the next day after he'd been snuggled up to his freshly washed teddy all night. The 875ml 'Small & Mighty' bottle does 25 washes - using the 35ml cap to measure the correct amount for a standard wash. I've always been quite brand loyal to Persil and would definitely buy this again for the lovely smell alone!

So, why not pass on the love yourself - dig out those unwanted teddies and toys, give them a quick spin in the washing machine with Persil 2in1 and then take them to your local Oxfam.

Unfortunately, even with the couple of teddy sacrifices the children agreed to, there is still a heap of soft toys to rearrange at the foot of the bed but, if I'm totally honest, I kind of like it that way.

Disclosure:

I am a member of the Netmums Parent Bloggers Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team from our database to review products and brands on their behalf. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time (and childcare if the fee is big enough!) but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever about what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I get to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity.

Persil 2 in 1 with Comfort - a Netmums review with teddy pictures!

That's not my child.....

That's not my child, his nose is too snotty.

That's not my child, his face is too mucky.

That's not my child, his fingernails are too filthy.

That's not my child, his clothes are too crumply.

That's not my child, his knees are too muddy.

That's not my child, his shins are too bruisey.

That's not my child, his trousers are too grassy.

That's not my child, his hands are too sticky.

That's not my child, his voice is too noisy.

That's not my child, his pretend gun is too army.

That's not my child, his monster face is too scary.

That's not my child, his bedroom is too messy.

That's not my child, his mother is too shouty.

Oh, hang on. That is my child. Thank goodness for that. Thank goodness for normality.

That's not my child.....

The Hot Cross Guide to Surviving the School Summer Holidays

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

and RELAX!

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a sponsored post - it is the product of a desperate woman's mind.

No gin was harmed in the making of this blog post.

Enjoy gin responsibly - i.e. relaxing in your favourite chair with nobody to disturb you.

The Hot Cross Guide to Surviving the School Summer Holidays

Children's vocabulary - to correct or not to correct?

I'm afraid I am a bit of a pain when it comes to words. I take issue with poor use of the English language and incorrect punctuation - you know, those signs you see with commas in all the wrong places, or the wrong type of 'there' or 'where' used in an email. Gah. It makes me cross.

Anyway, all of this goes totally out of the window when it comes to my children. They have invented some fabulous words of their own and I just can't bring myself to correct them.

For example, among many others, my three-and-a-half year old currently refers to things being 'benear' something (which is a hybrid of 'beside' and 'near') and he has a fabulous word 'impressful' which is, well, for anything really good or - impressful!

I also realised only recently that my five-year-old says 'thuge' for 'huge' and then yesterday he thought I'd told him I'd been to see the 'Food Fighters' at a music festival.

All of which are just so much more brilliant and entertaining than the proper versions - so I don't correct them, for the time being at least, and wonder what other parents do when their children mix words up, or make up new words entirely? Do you correct them - should we correct - or is it OK to enjoy the innocence of childhood while it lasts and tell them, when they are twelve, that there isn't actually such a word as 'benear' which might explain why they didn't do so well in their test at school and - while we're at it - that Santa isn't real.

What do you think?

Children's vocabulary - to correct or not to correct?

Rollercoaster

I wrote a post a while ago about the life cycle of a blog. It's about the different stages you go through as a blogger; how sometimes we are all excitement and inspiration and post three times a day and at other times just lurk silently in the mud, lacking in energy, time or inspiration to say anything of interest.

I've been lurking in the mud for a while.

This is because I've had stuff going on, but is mainly because I have been writing a novel - a new one; one I'm very excited about and have been completely immersed in, hence the bloggy silence. Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know that one of my biggest dreams in life is to be a published author. I've made some steps in the right direction, but until that novel is staring down at me from the shelves of the bookshops, I just cannot let it lie (as a certain Mr Reeves and Mortimer used to say).

Being an aspiring novelist is a very frustrating thing and is certainly not for the faint-hearted. From those thrilling moments when a brilliant idea pops into your head and you can't stop writing and creating and plotting and planning, to the inevitable slump when you get stuck on a detail or have crippling self doubt and re-read your work and convince yourself it is the worst thing ever written - ever. Then back to a fleeting moment of giddy excitement when you make contact with an agent or publisher and there is interest and hope and then more frustration, waiting and waiting for feedback or getting the feedback you didn't want to get and on it goes....

Well, I had a bit of a revelation at the weekend about my 'authorial' quest (I know that isn't a proper word but I like it, so it's staying in) and it happened as I was riding a rollercoaster at a funfair with my two boys. We sized up the big rollercoaster but the little fella wasn't tall enough and the bigger fella wasn't sure, so we opted for the smaller one (they are only 3 and 5 after all - and we'd all had a lot of ice cream). But, small as it was, as the clink, clink, clink of the incline turned into the rush of the descent, I watched their little faces and they were so excited. Round we went, up and down and around the corners and they squealed with delight and wanted to ride it again and again and again.

"Mummy, I'm a bit scared being this high up," admitted my five year old as we set off again the next day. He was smiling as he said this though, and followed it up with, "But I still like it." And that's the point of rollercoasters, isn't it - that even though they frighten most people, we still line up to go on them because for all the fear and trepidation and suspense, the thrill of the rush down the other side is oh so worth it.

And that, I have realised, is exactly why I will keep writing and keep dreaming about that novel of mine on the shelf. Because, even though it would be much easier, I don't want to stand and watch everyone else having all the excitement - I want to know what it feels like when you finally do get to the top and go hurtling down the other side.

So, I'm back in the queue, heart-pounding, knuckles at the ready.

Rollercoaster