Littlemummy.Com

There’s been a lot of coverage recently about an impending recession, the american mortgage crisis, and the rising price of food and fuel. Is there anyone who hasn’t given at least a quick thought to their monthly budget and looked for where they could trim some fat? I have, and I’ve also been wondering how I’m doing with my food budget compared to everyone else. This isn’t an opportunity for one upmanship, I’m actually more interested in finding those who are spending less, and how?

Please answer the following questions either on your own blog (and link here, so I can find you) or in the comments.

Here are the questions and my answers.

1.) Predominantly, where do you shop? Tesco

2.) How often do you shop? Weekly

3.) How much (on average) do you spend? £60(this includes household products and nappies)

4.) How many people are you buying for? 2 adults, one infant

5.) Do you do any of the following - meal plan, make a list, have a budget? Yes to all

6.) If at all, how have you tried to lower your spending on food and household items? I started meal planning and buying online to keep my costs down, recently though I have had to increase my budget from £50 to £60 as I was really feeling the squeeze.

Thanks for taking part.

I haven’t done a post for review me for ages, perhaps a year or more - however, this offer really caught my imagination.

LVUTV

It’s basically a website that has collated the information of colleges across America into an easy digestible format for prospective students. Students can study the wealth of information and make comparisons before settling on a shortlist.

You can search for colleges by a number of criteria, including rank, state and size. Each college website offers various other information including the basics such as address and phone number through to the average cost of supplies and selectivity. The site offers a dedicated facility to make college comparisons based on statistical data - this alone would be an invaluable tool.

But there’s more…perhaps the most exciting feature is the student reviews - short video clips of students providing the insider knowledge that can only be gleaned from those in the know, like what the classes are like, where the best bars are, and what the general atmosphere is like. This feature also has a search function, so you can type in anything you like and it will find the most appropriate video clips.

I think LVUTV is invaluable to someone considering their academical future. I’m already wondering if the UK has anything similar, because this is very impressive both in it’s conception and useability.

I’ve been tagged. I’m going to change the rules to suit myself slightly;

a) I’m going to take the first part of mother at large’s answers and complete them myself.

b) I’m going to offer two answers to each, one will be a truthful answer, one will be completely false. I realise this defeats the purpose of the meme, but hey, it might be fun! Here goes…

1. My favourite food is…. Salad

1a. My favourite food is… Seafood

2. I get pleasure from… Cleaning

2a. I get pleasure from… Winning

3. I have a…. Combine harvester (and I’ll give you the key)

3a. I have a… big pile of ironing to do

4. I am NOT…. Lazy

4a. I am NOT… slightly OCD

5. I am looking forwards to… doing the big pile of ironing

5a. I am looking forwards to… improving my poker skills

6. I am already nervous about… the social science degree I’ve just started

6a. I am already nervous about… performing with the local amateur ballet group

I’ll tag anyone who leaves a comment on this post.

Women Work Harder Than Men (and other interesting facts)

Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, buy earn only a tenth of the world’s income.

I found this fact to be particularly disturbing, although not really that surprising. There is still huge inequality in the developing world, however, that’s not to say we don’t have our own issues here in Britain, like the inequality of wages. If we are all being fairly remunerated for our efforts then what’s the problem with making the figures public knowledge? Problem solved. Some would argue this would be a breach of privacy, they are probably the same people earning more than they are worth.

Other facts included;

Women produce half the world’s food but own less than 2 per cent of the world’s land.

Domestic violence, where women are predominantly the victims, kills and injures more people in the developing world than war, traffic accidents or cancer.

A third of the world’s women are homeless or live in inadequate housing.

It’s easy to forget that there are huge swathes of the world where women do not enjoy the same level of equality that we currently enjoy in the west.

(Source: OU Social Science Newspaper)

Teachers Stifle Pupils Interest in Current Affairs

Stories like these are appearing more often, perhaps because of the social appetite to criticize our education systems, or maybe it is representative of the actual situation, who knows… There’s always some news piece about children being prevented from going on vacations (educational or not), or taking time out of school to do something other than study within the constraints of four walls. Four walls are not a prerequisite to learning, and neither is a formal teacher for that matter, every man (woman, or child) is capable of being his own teacher. That’s not to say that I don’t hold our teachers in high regard, I do, I just believe that there is more to learning that being taught (within four walls) and we, as a society, are missing a trick not to recognise this. I’ve always felt that a more flexible education system is what is required for the future, a flexible and dynamic education system which will nurture tomorrow’s generation of free thinkers.

I’m upgrading the backend of LittleMummy.Com, so things might look a little squiffy or stop working entirely for a short while. Bear with us.

*Update* - Aaaand we’re back. Still reactivating plugins etc, so there might be some oddness to go, but the database is upgraded and everything seems to be working fine.

My brother taught me to play poker about two years ago during a home tournament with friends. I now play online at party poker under the nickname ‘Eccy100′ (if anyone wants to join me)* and just recently (the past couple of months) I’ve been playing at a local casino. I’ve made it to a few final tables, winning £250, £75 and £40 at each visit.

I tend to go through phases with hobbies (we call them mini-addictions in my house!), last year it was blogging (still going strong, all though not quite as obsessive), before that was scrapbooking, before that card-making, and before that still, online roulette. Each mini-addiction can last anything between a few months to a few years being the longest so far (blogging!). I immerse myself quite deeply in the hobby, and it’s been the same with poker. I’ve already read a few books which I’ll review soon, and I’ve bought my first poker set ready for our regular home tournaments!

I’ve added another category to the right named ‘poker’ as I’d like to do poker performance updates along with book reviews etc..

If you’re interested in poker or have a blog please leave a comment and link for me

*£12/$25 bonus available if you want me to refer you as a friend, send me your name and email via the contact form

Photo by flickr user brtsergio

Biologist turned child psychologist Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896. Piaget’s studies focused on the intelligence and social awareness of young children. In the 60’s educationalists developed new teaching methods from Piaget’s findings such as ‘learning through play’ and ‘reading readiness’, these methods are still prevalent today.

The idea of egocentric speech also came from some of Piaget’s work, the theory being that young children communicate in a way that is focused on the self “Erin wants to go swimming”, “Erin is eating a banana”, they find it difficult, if not impossible to see the world from anothers’ point of view. It was also observed that young children will use such language even when in the company of others, Piaget coined the term ‘collective monologue’ to accurately describe the way in which children will use egocentric speech in the presence of peers which may appear as communication, but is actually several children talking about themselves in the company of each other - sound familiar?

Based on his observations Piaget developed a general theory that children progress through four stages of cognitive development. Although children may pass through these stages at slightly different rates, Piaget found that it was impossible for a child to miss a stage completely.

As a parent I found these stages quite interesting.

Stage 1: Sensori-motor (birth - 2 years

The first stage involves the infant using his senses and motor abilities to explore, this begins with ‘primary circular reactions’ ie doing something over and over again - like sucking a thumb. The next phase (secondary circular reactions) moves onto objects within the environment ie grasping a ball, or playing with a light/sound toy - she realises that she has the power to make interesting things happen again and again. Finally during the second year tertiary circular motions come into play (pun not intended), this involves transferring the grasping/banging skills and trying them out on different things - banging a drum, banging the table, banging the door!

Stage 2: Pre-operational (2-7 years old)

The term ‘pre-operational’ describes the stage where a child lacks logical understanding. They can’t see anything from another point of view, physical or emotional. They take things at face value and struggle to understand the full consequence of an action. They are still egocentric, believing a lot that the worl revolves around them, clearly this isn’t helped by the fact they cannot see things from anyonelse’s perspective!

Stage 3: Operational (7-12 years old)

Finally children at this stage can understand a point of view other than their own. Their logical thinking is more advanced and so problem solving becomes easier.

Stage 4: Formal Operations

At this stage children can apply logic to maths and consider events in the future or in another place.

We’ve been busy enjoying a nine day break from work. We’ve been out on a few days out, a weekend to a caravan near pitlochry and I’ve had some mixed results on the poker table (more on that later).

Last week we decided to head to the Time Capsule in Coatbridge. I’d been there a few times when I was younger and remembered it being a lot of fun. Erin has only recently begun showing an interest in ’splashies’ aka swimming, so we thought it would be a good idea to go and check it out.

The prices were really reasonable, under £5 for us all to swim (I really mean bob and splash), and an extra £1.80 for soft play. Unfortunately the flumes were closed which was a little disappointing, although Erin proved herself to be a daredevil on the rather large (and steep) children’s slide, or perhaps is was an over protective parents view that the slide was “large” and “steep”.

It was a cheap day out, after stopping for lunch the whole day cost under £20.

Last year I did a short round up of what I thought were the most appropriate gifts for a one year old. Here is my new version, especially for two year olds. I realise that I only have a girl’s eye view on the subject so jump in with extra ideas, especially for boys.

1. In the Night Garden Characters & Figurines

One commenter recently had a go at me for promoting these items, arguing that there was nothing educational about a babbling character toy. I beg to differ.

The said commenter argued that children in Erin’s age bracket should be learning colours, shapes and numbers. Indeed they should, however, one of the most important (and undervalued) types of play is ‘imaginitive play’. This is any game which involves the child using their imagination to act out scenarios through toys or themselves. This can include playing ‘house’ with cups and saucers, ‘mummies and daddies’ with dolls, or various scenarios with in the night garden characters. This sort of play is highly creative and helps children deal with a variety of emotional situations.

2. Vtech Laptop

This winnie the pooh version is ideal, there are about a dozen games including spelling, basic maths and finding the odd one out. Erin isn’t using it to it’s fullest potential yet, but come the summer I think she’ll understand it a lot more. However, I have heard her imitating the phonics game which is encouraging.

3. Books

It’s old but true, you can’t go wrong with a nice book, or if it’s a special occasion a book collection. We’ve both bought and received the Angelina Ballerina set, which is lovely.

4. Paints

Erin loves painting. I like to find new and interesting (read: CLEAN) ways for her to exercise this hobby. These paint wands are good fun.

5. Play Doh

A big tub with play doh and all manner of tools is a great choice for a two year old. Santa bought one for Erin at christmas and she loves it.

6. Tent/Wendy House

I love watching kids playing ‘houses’ or ‘mummies and daddies’, it’s the cutest. Any tent or wendy house can act as home/shop/vets clinic/doctors office/army bunker/and anythingelse our kids care to think up. You can’t beat imaginitive play - we’ve had plenty of use from our ninky nonk already.

7. A Play Phone

Heard yesterday ” ehlo….yes……kay…..juice….toys…..byeeeeee”. My two year old daughter taking a phone call from whoever…iggle piggle perhaps??

8. Baby Dolls (and accompanying paraphenalia)

Two year olds make suprisingly good parents…until they accidently drop baby, while trying to carry two balls, a boat, a handful of play food and a tombliboo.

9. Personalised plates, bowls and cutlery

If you want to buy something ’sensible’, plates, bowls and cutlery are always handy.

10. Musical Instruments

This is a long standing favourite. A piano and stool have been the latest addition to the collection.

I’m not really keen on the term organic. It’s become a little too fashionable for my liking, it seems to be as much about the expensive upper class image as about it’s actual roots - no pesticides, ethically produced etc…

Having said that, I do realise that the term ‘Organic’ is serving a valuable purpose.

The Problem

Currently, products are predominantly marked with monetary costs, social costs are rarely advertised.

For example, when you visit tesco (or other food outlet) the only costs displayed are the monetary costs. Each item is labelled with a monetary price. Purchasing decisions are based on these monetary prices, personal preference and efficacy of the marketing/packaging of a product.

Many consumers have become concerned about a different cost. The social cost. That is, the cost to the environment to produce the product and the cost on the animals or humans that produce the product. ‘Fairtrade’ and ‘Free Range’ are relatively new terms to help as make decisions based on social cost. These terms, along with the ‘organic’ label help consumers understand how a particular product has been produced, it also helps to explain the higher price tag these items carry.

These terms enable consumers to make comparisons between products, considering monetary price and social cost.

Beyond Organic

As interest and concern increases over the environment and social cost of products I expect to see new systems come to the fore further enabling consumers to understand social cost and make decisions accordingly, we’ve already seen suggestions of short video clips demonstrating the social cost of battery farmed eggs and caged chickens.

Some possible scenarios might include a traffic light system or star rating based upon the social cost of a product, with air miles, workers pay, animal welfare, packaging and recyclability all being considered and rated. We’ve already seen a similar system established for white goods (based on energy efficiency), is food and drink next?

Will we go one step further and have seperate sections of the supermarket for products with the lowest social costs? Not so far fetched really, we already have seperate sections for organic products, gluten free, wheat free etc..

I also forsee further tax breaks for ‘green’ goods, we already have a tiered system for motor vehicles, we will surely see this going further with VAT breaks on high energy rated white goods and perhaps one day on food too.

This of course would make ethically produced and ‘green’ goods more affordable to the masses, thus having the economic effect of less demand for the products causing the highest social costs. As demand drops, so will supply. We would eventually see farmers and producers change their practices to meet this new demand for products with low social costs.

How far we are away from this is anyone’s guess, but the wind of change is definitely here.

Your thoughts..