ecomum: eco

Monday, 2 April 2012

How Long...?!?

My goodness, how time flies.. where have I been? Where have YOU been? Whats going on??!
I've been living, living in family world. Yep, that's right, real actual living. Not sure what kind of life, but I'm still here just with a bit more grey hair.

The Boss, we still call her that, is now 3 and a right little madam and and we have opted out of London living. Moved to the 'burbs. Jeez Louise, its quite a culture shock. What with the spiralling costs of, err, everything, it seemed like the sensible (small puke for using that word) option. In other news, I am in a proper grown up relationship with The Boss's daddy, but I still feel like I'm 16 and someone is going to tap me on the shoulder and say 'shouldn't you be at school?'. Nope, that is never going to happen because I'm in my mid-thirties (how did that happen?) and I really really don't look 16 (really).

This was intended to be blog about being an ecomum... That seems like a bit of a joke as the last 3 years has seen me ditch and then pick up again the parental eco banner many times over. Its somewhat challenging to be green and be a parent. Let me rephrase that, its challenging to be green if you're a poor parent. If you're lucky enough to have money living that green lifestyle is very possible. But if you're hard-up and living in a big city, the ethical lifestyle can be a distant dream. Last time I looked Tesco Value weren't doing an organic range. As a family we have tried to be as green as we can. For instance:

- Using Ecover, Surcare washing powder (when on offer bulk buy)
- Buying chemical free cleaning products.
- Buying Nature Babycare nappies and wipes (we didn't own a washing machine the first year of The Boss's life so washables were out of the question. Could you imagine the other people's faces in the launderette?)
- Growing our own veg, well trying to.
- Most clothes being second-hand and hand-me-downs (check out Fara Kids - a-mazing)
- Second-hand toys, furniture when we've found it in shops and the side of the road.
- Cooking with fresh ingredients from scratch.
- Not buying too much stuff
- Using the free services on offer in the area (Hello childrens Centres!)
- Going on holiday in the UK (I will never tire of camping)
- and I'm sure lots of other bits and bobs..

Sometimes though, it is and it has been, impossible. Like when she would do 3 poos back to back (that's 3 separate nappies in the space of 10mins) all the time, when I had to throw away a load of whizzed up courgette cause she hated it and it made me feel sick, when she really really wants the most plastikiest of all the toys, when we bought 4 highchairs as we kept forgetting to take one away with us, when I was so tired I broke 5 glasses in a row and had to wrap them in newspaper which was heading for the recycling, when I end up buying supermarket stuff in those hardcore plastic trays which are on offer but are landfill hell, when I try in vain to get The Boss to do craft things with recycled stuff and she just turns her nose up so I end up doing it, like the fact I will not do without a car, like when my boyfriend tells me I hoard too much and I have to throw some things away as even the charity shop won't want it. And like a zillion other things.

So, how possible is it to lead an eco life as a family whilst living on a one parent income? And will my daughter EVER stop screaming in inappropriate places? I'll start talking about that on this here funny little blog. I'll also tell you all the tales of living in the 'burbs with a 3 year old. Like what we're eating, what The Boss is dancing to (currently Metronomy), where The Boss had her latest mega tantrum, that kind of thing. Its pretty good. But please don't hold me to that.

x

Thursday, 5 February 2009

New Life.. But Not as I know it..

Where do I start?? Its been a whirlwind, I've been in a bubble, my brain is mush, my baby is divine!
My goodness has it really been over 8weeks?? Thats just ridiculous.. The last 8 weeks have covered most bases emotional-wise.. I've smiled, laughed, cried, shouted, cried, wailed, giggled, cried some more and stared at the wonderment that is my little girl.. She is just perfect and it makes me cry just saying that.. At the moment anyway she is sleeping in her cot. Bloody hell, that is a mean feat. She has been sleeping in my bed since day one.. every night.
She weighed 7lb 1oz when she was pulled out of my tummy. Her temperature dropped immediately so she was wrapped in lots of hospital towels to keep her warm before she was given to me. She was howling too, like all babies do, but as soon I held her it stopped. Just like that. She stopped crying and opened those big eyes and looked at me. She was covered in vernix and all swollen from being in all that fluid for 9 whole months, but I loved her. Immediately. She just looked and started to become accustomed to life in this strange old world..
The decisions that we have to make as new parents are aplenty. We have so so many every single day. Do I follow a routine? should I stay in bed? When did I last have a shower? What should I eat? Drink? should I feed her now? Leave it a while? Does she need changing? Is that a poo? In fact what is that?! Is she tired? Blah blah blah..
You give birth to this little gift and the hospital just let you go. Without saying 'excuse me, where do you think you're going?" This is easy you think.. Thats the easy part. Back there. At the hospital. Its dead simple in there. Once you leave the hospital thats when the real work starts..
So, here begins life as an ecomum. Here life is very different from before. But i'm excited. In my weary, exhausted state I see excitement ahead, changes afoot and madness unfolding...

x

Welcome to Ecomum!

Hello!
So, i'm going to be a mother. i can't actually believe i've just written that down. hang on.. i need to read that through.. yep. i'm gonna be a mum. not that this might be very interesting to you. its pretty interesting to me. and the people around me. lots of smiles and tears and shocked faces all round. you see this wasn't a planned person. no. a complete surprise actually. a nice surprise though. when the little pink line came up on the stick.. i mean, the line didn't take 3minutes like the test says. boom, it came up straight away. and i bought the cheapest test you can get. don't believe the hype about getting the best most expensive test for a correct result. if you're pregnant that thing is going to tell you. standard. no messing about. there i was, almost homeless, jobless and penniless with a little person growing inside me... bloody hell. there was no going back on this, no 'choice'. this is how it is. my new life will be as a mum. i'm up for it.

i spent the first few days frantically trawling the internet looking for likeminded people going through a similar experience - to which i never found. so i spent days looking at askbaby.com, newbaby.com, prettybaby.com blah blah blah.. typing in the date of my last period and thinking oh god i've created a saggitarius (theres some history there. i won't go into it). but the whole time thinking that i must be some kind of freak as all the sites i saw seemed to cater to the opposite kind of woman to me. have you seen those sites?? don't get me wrong but its like as soon as women have children they become a pale comparison of their previous self. a parody. a carbon copy - and the fifth carbon copy at that.

it got me thinking. and i thought i'd start up a blog to air my views.. if anyones interested. its for women who love life, like to be green and ethically aware, and have or are having kids. there seems to be some great things out there for dads. that bloke in the sunday times style supplement, hang on let me go get it from the loo... thats it, andrew clover, seems to have fathering off to a tee and he makes it seem pretty funny too. who do us ladies have?? Nigella Lawson, Melanie Sykes, Lisa B. all amazing women but really, really really. what do their lives have in common with ours? they've given birth. tick. they have hormones and have shouted at their friends and partners. tick. they like to be ethically aware. tick. but what we really don't have in common is that they have nannies, pa's, hubbies credit card, beautiful houses, not a money worry in the world. I trawled through the book selection at borders, only to find books by all the above women and many more just like them, trying to give us regular folk advice on bringing up baby. sorry ladies, but i can't and won't be taking advice from you. I want to create my own place. for people like me. people who are living life without a goldcard and with an ethical conscience.

So here it is. Ecomummy. i wanted ecomum but someone else has that name in new zealand, so its ecomummy. its fine. i'm over it.

I'll be posting randomly about life being a pregnant woman, tips on how to cope with it all, whether i find somewhere to live, how to live on a budget and most importantly of all advice from the ecofairies who will be giving their precious knowledge on babies, pregnancy and being green as you go. and other stuff like new bands i'm into.

bye. x