Getting Over a Traumatic Birth.

*Trigger Warning*

Helen, you may or may not have some urinary and possibly faecal incontinence......actual thoughts going through my head at this moment in time........ *what the actual......*!!! Here is a leaflet to read on how to care for your stitches and perineum and nether regions after surgery, I reassure you that I've given you a designer vagina. Actually the last part wasn't true but I like to think that's what I left hospital with as well as a squirmy baby. In all honesty though this was not at all what I expected after giving birth. Hell no. I watched One Born, it's supposed to be a blissful experience, yes?  I was extremely naive expecting my labour and birth to be quick and without complications, a few pains a couple of pushes and out pops a baby. I couldn't have been further from this with both my labours.

It's something that can be a bit of a taboo subject, something that is perhaps not discussed as much as should be. The days after having a baby you are supposed to be in that blissful newborn bubble and be overjoyed with your little bundle, but what if you're not. I have made no secret of the fact that I had 2 fairly traumatic and lengthy labours, I don't tend to sugarcoat things (unless you're really queasy then I might lay off some of the gory details!). I feel it's important to talk about things and get stuff off your chest and after both my labours, particularly my first, talking it through massively helped me get over alot of the trauma that I suffered. It's strange, I never really thought that the birth had affected me in the way it did, I bottled alot of it away for many months and when I fell pregnant with Elarna alot of my anxieties and concerns rapidly took over and almost consumed me, it had clearly traumatised me more than I perhaps realised. It was difficult to confront demons that I wasn't really aware were there but I did try.

I had very strong feelings that I wanted a c-section 2nd time around to avoid going through labour and although it was an option to consider, I was strongly advised to go into labour naturally, I was assured time and time again that a 2nd labour would be quicker, easier and I would be unlikely to suffer as much as I did the 1st time. I have written candidly about both my births on my blog, you can read Alfie's here and here and Elarna's you can read here.  Although, I'm pleased that I did labour naturally again I do wish that I'd had a smoother and quicker labour, clearly my body is not very efficient at labouring. 

A smile but not really that happy if I'm honest.

There isn't much help and support available after having a traumatic birth, or at least there wasn't after I had Alfie. I am aware of a few online support groups now but I wish I had known about them more if they existed back then. One thing that I would say helped is being honest with myself and to the midwife that visited me at home. I remember telling her I was struggling to understand what happened when giving birth to Alfie and what went wrong. She listened, she didn't judge and quite frankly was a bit of a rock for me, she'd been my midwife since the early stages of pregnancy so I guess I'd built up a bit of trust with her. She arranged for me to have a birth debrief, I was able to go back to the hospital and be talked through all of my labour notes (and I mean all.....even the parts where I was apparently vocal and swearing, haha), they discussed it from the very beginning of labouring to where it all went a little wrong. I was able to ask questions and there was no rush for us to leave, I was able to get them to repeat bits back to me and ask why might these things have happened. It really gave me an element of closure to things and as I was starting to almost blame myself for having some complications it made me realise that it was nothing that I had done but just simply my labour didn't labour as effectively as it should. 

So, in a nutshell........ if you have suffered a traumatic labour, birth or both please be reassured you are not alone and you will get over it. Don't bottle up your emotions, don't lock away those negative thoughts, ask for a birth debrief, it really does help. Don't blame yourself and lastly do give yourself time to get over the birth. I was plagued with negative thoughts and flashbacks for a long time and then more so when I fell pregnant again, I managed to get these under control but don't suffer in silence. 

Has anyone else got any tips to help get over a traumatic birth?

 

Reasons to Buy Second Hand Furniture.

We all like to have something brand new, but it’s not often we can justify hitting the shops every time we have a bout of home envy. For frugal families looking to get their hands on some furniture, here are some great reasons to look away from the high street, and into the classifieds instead.

Save some money

Buying second hand is almost always cheaper, and if you don’t mind something that’s been owned by someone else before you, you could get a great deal. If you like the look of a particular brand’s style, why not see if there is any pre-owned furniture of theirs you can get your hands on. Compare prices with completed listings on eBay to see similar items sold to get an idea of price.

Upcycle Opportunity

If you fancy trying your hand at a bit of upcycling (as is all the rage right now)but don’t want to take on anything too ambitious, why not buy a small piece of furniture (like a children’s chair), and have a go! You could try sanding down any imperfections, adding a cushion, and of course giving it a coat of paint or varnish. For extra points you could decorate with your child’s name or give away as a baby shower present.

Local collection means no delivery fees

Buying local is likely to mean no delivery fees, but it does mean you’ll have to go and collect it yourself. Use Gumtree or Shpock to search only within your area so you know you won’t have to go too far. If you do end up falling in love with something that’s out of reach, don’t worry - you can use sites like Shiply to make the delivery for you, but remember to factor this into your budget.

Find vintage items

For something that’s unique and screams history, you’ll HAVE to look for second hand!

Auction houses could be a great place to look, and more and more now have live online auctions for you to bid on the action from home. It’s recommended that you take a look at the item in person to check it’s condition as you normally can’t dispute anything later.

Tips:

• Make sure you measure the space you’ve got AND your doors to make sure it’ll fit in its new home. If the seller hasn’t specified - see if you can find the same sofa on the official website with the measurements, or contact the seller directly.
• Make sure you take the time to do some research in advance so you know approximately how much you’ll be expected to pay and what condition you expect the item to be in.
• A lot of sellers include information like ‘from a no smoking home’, or ‘pet-free household’ so look out for information like this for extra peace of mind.

Good luck and happy bargain hunting!

* Features sponsored content.

Best and Worst Linky #100

Hello and a big welcome to this weeks best and worst linky. We look forward to reading lots of new posts. This week is going quickly and here we are again, Wednesday and linky day.  I cannot believe this is the 100th best and worst, amazing! 

Let me welcome you, as always to the best and worst linky run by my lovely friend Sarah who blogs over at Run Jump Scrap and co-hosted by myself. If you're new to the linky we're delighted for you to join in, please do have a read of the rules. If you're a regular then thanks as always for the support. Sarah and I split the commenting now, it is working well doing it like that. You should have received a comment from one of us so if you are missing one please do drop us a tweet or email. We've had some great posts over the last few months and we're looking forward to reading some more fabulous posts!

So what is best and worst all about? This is the linky where you can tell us about the best or worst things that have happened in the last week or even the last year, this could in the form of a blog post, a photo or even a video. It can be an old post or a new post, we don't mind we just want you to share it with us. We want you to share your babies firsts, the crappy day at work you've had or a makeup disaster basically the good, the bad or the downright ugly! We want to share your excitement and tears, highs and lows no matter what it is.

Remember to tag us over on Insta and Twitter with the #bestandworst hashtag. We would love to see more of you over on Instagram and Twitter sharing your pictures and posts with myself @helsy_1983 and Sarah @runjumpscrap this can be throughout the whole week not just when our linky runs and we will then aim to feature some depending on who uses the hashtag. As this is still a fairly new thing for us it might take a few weeks before people start using the hashtag more.

So as always, on with the linky........please have a little read of the rules and we look forward to reading this weeks posts.

We are going to be keeping a close eye on the commenting in the coming weeks, it's not fair to link and run so please take some time to visit some other blogs and comment, linkys  only work if people spend time to read other blogs and comment on them.

Featured posts from last weeks link up are from Little Orange Dog Blog it made me giggle.....the part about the roundabout, intrigued....go have a read! 

Next up is from the lovely Fran over at Back with a Bump with a post that I could have written myself, blogging is definitely something I have had the odd wobble about recently. 

Rules

• The linky will open at 5.30am on a Wednesday and close at 23.55pm on a Friday
• You can link up one or two posts each week
• Please comment on the 2 posts before yours and have a nosey at the host's too. We've noticed that some people have just been link dropping and not commenting on the 2 in front, please do return the favour so everyone gets some comments and linky love, thankyou.
• ***Please add the badge to the bottom of your page so everyone knows where you have linked up***
• Tweet your hosts @helsy_1983 and @RunJumpScrap once linked up so we can retweet you. When tweeting and commenting use the hashtag #bestandworst so everyone knows where you have come from and remember to hashtag us over on Instagram too

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An InLinkz Link-up

Air Hogs Jet Rocket *Review*

With the weather been so lovely recently we've been spending lots of time in the garden. I'm always trying to find fun and engaging toys that the kids can play with that will keep them entertained for longer than 2 minutes. We were lucky enough to be sent from Spin Master, this foot powered jet rocket. On the outset perhaps a simple toy but don't be deceived and certainly don't judge a book by a cover (like me......I confess I thought it might be a flash in the pan toy, I was proven wrong). 

On first look the concept is very basic. A foot powered air rocket, simply stomp on the pad and watch the rocket launch into the air. The whole thing is super easy to set up, connect the legs to make the tripod, attach the tubing and pop the rocket on and you are good to go. Take a good jump and stomp on the launcher and shoot the rocket high, high, high into the air. Sometimes, it is the most simple toys that create the most interest. 

I have to say, this thing is fab. As soon as it was set up Alfie couldn't wait to have a go. In fact we all did, the rocket goes so high into the sky......much higher than I was expecting, it says it can go up to 35-4o feet on the box but you know when you kind of don't believe it, I had those feelings until I actually saw it in action.  If you go full welly onto the launcher the rockets flies miles into the sky, it definitely went higher than our house that's for certain. One thing I would say is the rocket itself is fairly lightweight so it works best with minimal wind, if there is even a slight breeze the rocket won't go as high and doesn't quite go where it's meant to. 

Retailing at a perfectly reasonable £9.99 this is without a doubt well worth the tenner. I think we'll even take this on holiday with us as it's small enough to pack in the car and will provide several minutes of entertainment......and perhaps even allow us to sit and have a cheeky glass of wine, hey! 

So if you want to purchase the jet rocket it's available from many leading retailers. It's aimed at children 5+ but I can honestly say that even Elarna, at just over 2 had a good go at stomping on the launcher and making the rocket fly, she loved it and found it hilarious! So, overall the jet rocket gets a big thumbs up from the Beautiful Things household. 


* Please note we were kindly sent the item free of charge in exchange for review, all thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

Best and Worst Linky #99

Hello and a big welcome to this weeks best and worst linky. We look forward to reading lots of new posts. This week is going quickly and here we are again, Wednesday and linky day.  

Let me welcome you, as always to the best and worst linky run by my lovely friend Sarah who blogs over at Run Jump Scrap and co-hosted by myself. If you're new to the linky we're delighted for you to join in, please do have a read of the rules. If you're a regular then thanks as always for the support. Sarah and I split the commenting now, it is working well doing it like that. You should have received a comment from one of us so if you are missing one please do drop us a tweet or email. We've had some great posts over the last few months and we're looking forward to reading some more fabulous posts!

So what is best and worst all about? This is the linky where you can tell us about the best or worst things that have happened in the last week or even the last year, this could in the form of a blog post, a photo or even a video. It can be an old post or a new post, we don't mind we just want you to share it with us. We want you to share your babies firsts, the crappy day at work you've had or a makeup disaster basically the good, the bad or the downright ugly! We want to share your excitement and tears, highs and lows no matter what it is.

Remember to tag us over on Insta and Twitter with the #bestandworst hashtag. We would love to see more of you over on Instagram and Twitter sharing your pictures and posts with myself @helsy_1983 and Sarah @runjumpscrap this can be throughout the whole week not just when our linky runs and we will then aim to feature some depending on who uses the hashtag. As this is still a fairly new thing for us it might take a few weeks before people start using the hashtag more.

So as always, on with the linky........please have a little read of the rules and we look forward to reading this weeks posts.

We are going to be keeping a close eye on the commenting in the coming weeks, it's not fair to link and run so please take some time to visit some other blogs and comment, linkys  only work if people spend time to read other blogs and comment on them.

On to the featured posts! Mine comes from Four Princesses and the Cheese oh how I laughed at this post. We don't have a hatchimal at the moment and after reading this post I perhaps won't be either, ha! Go have a read!

Sarah's featured post comes from the lovely Naptime Natter with a beautiful and emotional read about PND and how it's perhaps not what she expected to be. Really worth a read so head over and have a nose.

Rules

• The linky will open at 5.30am on a Wednesday and close at 23.55pm on a Friday
• You can link up one or two posts each week
• Please comment on the 2 posts before yours and have a nosey at the host's too. We've noticed that some people have just been link dropping and not commenting on the 2 in front, please do return the favour so everyone gets some comments and linky love, thankyou.
• ***Please add the badge to the bottom of your page so everyone knows where you have linked up***
• Tweet your hosts @helsy_1983 and @RunJumpScrap once linked up so we can retweet you. When tweeting and commenting use the hashtag #bestandworst so everyone knows where you have come from and remember to hashtag us over on Instagram too

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An InLinkz Link-up

Parenting - The Challenge

I don't know what's worse, parenting a fiery 5 year old, a diva of a 2 year old or my husband......pick up your own grungy undies dear, it leads for an incredibly bad example. Each poses a challenge unto itself that's for sure. It's exhausting. 

Yesterday was one of those nights. Trying to tackle tea time and bed time myself with a shrieking, tantrumming toddler and a cranky, over tired, starving (well he isn't starved but he's a growing lad that eats alot at the moment) was not a whole lot of fun if I'm honest. I couldn't get food on the table quick enough, a mutiny was just avoided.......... just. 

The minute we sat down to eat tea the yelling and yobbish behaviour started.......you would think my son was some sort of animal the noises he comes out with which then starts his sister off. I go to the toilet and I'm gone a couple of minutes to come back and find him scaling the kitchen sides like Spiderman......why I hear you ask......no idea, apparently it was a fun thing to do. I then turn into 'shouty' Mum who doesn't come out very often but being the hormonal time of month (makes things sooo much worse) shouty Mum does sometimes appear. We then have a stint on the step for some time out when Elarna then starts screaming and decides she didn't want her tea and only wanted an ice lolly. Cue us both having a stand off over her plate and the contents nearly ending up on the floor as we pushed it back and forward between us like a game of air hockey.  The conversation went a little like this but times it byt 10 'no food, no ice lolly' - broken record springs to mind. 

I then get Alfie off the step and he then proceeds to tell me 'you are NOT my best friend anymore Mummy, I'm really mad at you', that's fine son I'm not your best friend anyway I am your Mother and that is a fact. The thing is I hate having battles with my kids, I truly hate it and I find it hard to discipline effectively, shouting results in a war of words and speaking on their level is just laughable. Elarna takes herself to the naughty step so that isn't overly effective and Alfie just wails and strops while sitting on the step. Parenting is tough. It really is, every day is a constant challenge in our house, never does a day go by when they will do as they're told. Elarna perhaps still a little young to expect understanding from her but Alfie, he's 5 now and I know he understands between right and wrong but he has become very good at pressing our buttons, testing us to see where his boundary lies and just how far he can push us. I can honestly say it takes a good 3 times of asking him to do something before he might think about it, consider it and maybe do it. At times, it is like having a conversation with a pineapple. 

So as I started my post I come back to my original question. Who is harder to parent? I find both my children polar opposites really, as much as they look alike they couldn't be further apart. Alfie has the attention span of a gnat, can't sit still and is very much a boy that will do things on his terms.......at times I do feel like he tries to rule the roost and has some serious problems using his 'listening ears', but he's kind, caring and quite the bookworm. Alfie actually never used to be this character, he was always quite reserved and shy but recently has come out of his shell hugely, so I find trying to contain his exuberance hard at times. Elarna is everything Alfie wasn't when he was her age. She's confident, cheeky, throws the mother of all tantrums, knows what she wants and is creative, loves to colour and look after her dollies. I guess that makes it even harder having to adopt a different discipline to each child and to try and remain fair but it can be really difficult to get the balance right, if I ever do. 

I conclude that both my kids are hard to parent in one way or another. I never thought for one second it was going to be easy but god I wish they did come with a manual to at least point me in the right direction! 

Anyone else constantly feel like they are having conversations with pineapples as opposed to their children?

Best and Worst Linky #98

Hello and a big welcome to this weeks best and worst linky. We look forward to reading lots of new posts. This week is going quickly and here we are again, Wednesday and linky day.  

Let me welcome you, as always to the best and worst linky run by my lovely friend Sarah who blogs over at Run Jump Scrap and co-hosted by myself. If you're new to the linky we're delighted for you to join in, please do have a read of the rules. If you're a regular then thanks as always for the support. Sarah and I split the commenting now, it is working well doing it like that. You should have received a comment from one of us so if you are missing one please do drop us a tweet or email. We've had some great posts over the last few months and we're looking forward to reading some more fabulous posts!

So what is best and worst all about? This is the linky where you can tell us about the best or worst things that have happened in the last week or even the last year, this could in the form of a blog post, a photo or even a video. It can be an old post or a new post, we don't mind we just want you to share it with us. We want you to share your babies firsts, the crappy day at work you've had or a makeup disaster basically the good, the bad or the downright ugly! We want to share your excitement and tears, highs and lows no matter what it is.

Remember to tag us over on Insta and Twitter with the #bestandworst hashtag. We would love to see more of you over on Instagram and Twitter sharing your pictures and posts with myself @helsy_1983 and Sarah @runjumpscrap this can be throughout the whole week not just when our linky runs and we will then aim to feature some depending on who uses the hashtag. As this is still a fairly new thing for us it might take a few weeks before people start using the hashtag more.

So as always, on with the linky........please have a little read of the rules and we look forward to reading this weeks posts.

We are going to be keeping a close eye on the commenting in the coming weeks, it's not fair to link and run so please take some time to visit some other blogs and comment, linkys  only work if people spend time to read other blogs and comment on them.


My featured post from last weeks link up was the beautifully raw post from Kids Versus Copy head on over for a read of this honest and open post. 

Sarah's featured post was from Through Ami's Eyes I read this with tears in my eyes, please do go have a nosey at this lovely post. 

Rules

• The linky will open at 5.30am on a Wednesday and close at 23.55pm on a Friday
• You can link up one or two posts each week
• Please comment on the 2 posts before yours and have a nosey at the host's too. We've noticed that some people have just been link dropping and not commenting on the 2 in front, please do return the favour so everyone gets some comments and linky love, thankyou.
• ***Please add the badge to the bottom of your page so everyone knows where you have linked up***
• Tweet your hosts @helsy_1983 and @RunJumpScrap once linked up so we can retweet you. When tweeting and commenting use the hashtag #bestandworst so everyone knows where you have come from and remember to hashtag us over on Instagram too

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An InLinkz Link-up

Alfie turns 5!!

Oh Alfie. How are you 5?  How is it possible that you are no longer a small, wriggly little baby but a young lad, a proper little boy these days - with the attitude to match I may add! 

I had similar emotions the night before Alfie turned 5 to when he started school. This weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, a mixture of feeling proud and yet emotional. 5 just seems the 1st of many milestones doesn't it? 5 whole years! Unbelievable. He's been on this planet for 1,825 days and I have successfully managed to keep him alive. Quite the achievement.

The build up to his birthday seemed to go on for weeks and weeks! He was so flipping excited, had a very concise birthday wish list and strong views about how he'd like to celebrate, ha! As a stroke of luck, one of my lovely Mum friends suggested throwing a joint birthday party as her son and Alfie's birthday are just a few days apart and they get on so it made sense to join forces and throw them a fab party. I have to admit it was lovely to be able to share the planning stress (and cost!) between us. We were able to have a couple of pub get togethers to arrange everything and it was nice to have a good natter at the same time. We decided  on a space/disco theme as both boys are keen on that and we knew it would be a good theme to work with.

On Alfie's actual birthday, the 26th May it was a very busy day indeed. Not only was he turning 5 but it was his last day of term, May day and a teddy bears picnic for the new EYFS class starting in September. A packed day! Now I tried to be organised Mum and booked 1/2 a day off work so I could come and be part of all these celebrations, however I booked the afternoon off rather than the morning so clearly my organisation wasn't that great! Think I need to work on it......... I was absolutely gutted if I'm honest, I hate missing out on things and I often do as things tend to be arranged on a Friday so I was kicking myself for not checking when it was all taking place. Anyway, I had to suck it up and my husband went along to watch it all and took plenty of photos and videos so I could see how he got on in his 1st May Day. He did brilliantly and wore his birthday badge with pride, he also got a headteacher award for good writing again so I was over the moon for him. A very memorable birthday for sure. 

Think you'll agree he looks very smart in his May day attire, looking all grown up! I think that's the thing that strikes me about him recently, he just seems to be looking much more mature and has shot up in height, he also seems to be eating for England!

I have to admit to being a bit of a mean Mummy and I didn't let him open all his pressies before school, he was allowed a couple of small ones but I didn't want him rushing it. Besides mornings are always slightly frantic making sure we all get out the door on time. Plus, it was something for him to look forward to after school. He was very pleased with his pressies, we got him more Marklin trains to go with his set (well worth a look if you have a train mad child), lots of minion related items, books, a couple of games, a watch and various other bits and pieces. We had already bought him Crossbones (his corn snake) so didn't want to go to over the top. 

We then had a special pizza tea (delivered at Alfie's request!) and a (another) cake before convincing him to go to bed so he could go to the zoo on Saturday. It does seem to be a bit of a birthday tradition in our house now, every year we've taken Alfie to the zoo as his birthday treat and this year we went back to Whipsnade. We'd been a few months before and it is lovely so we were more than happy to go back, plus it isn't too far for us to travel. 

Whipsnade really is a lovely zoo. Really spacious and lots to see, a ton of walking to do though. We've said when we go next time that we'll take the car in and pay the extra to drive round each part as that way you get to see it all. I'm fairly sure that we missed a chunk again this time which is a shame. It was a really nice day weather wise but it was pretty blustery, considering the day before had been the hottest of the year so far it was nice to be able to walk around without getting too hot. We took a picnic and it was really nice to sit and look over the Dunstable Downs. If you haven't been before go and visit!

Sunday was party day!! It came round so quickly from the point of us chatting about it to planning to it actually being here. Alfie was so excited to see his friends and have lots of fun. We used a local company to hire a party package consisting of a disco dome bouncy castle, balloon display and candy floss tubs, between us it was pretty good value. We halved the cost of everything else and between us did the usual generic party food. We also provided a few boozy drinks for the adults, one of things that I've noticed when going to kids parties is that the adults don't seem to be catered for and yet the last few years we've always provided the option of beer or wine, as there is nothing more dull than standing around watching your kids have fun so why not let the adults have a bit of light refreshment. I have to say it went down well and several parents said how nice it was to have the option of an adult drink. We also provided non alcoholic beers for those parents who wanted to feel like they were having a cheeky drink but weren't! 

Disappointingly, only 9 children out of Alfie's class of 20 came. We knew some weren't able to attend who had let us know, but we were expecting a few more that had replied and said they were coming to be there. I toyed with whether to write this paragraph but thought I would as I find this a little rude as we'd prepared tons of food and made a load of party bags. To not even be informed a child wouldn't be coming when they have said they would is a real shame in my opinion. I guess it happens though, people may have forgotten or children may have been ill, one of those things I suppose. That been said, both Alfie and Noah had a brilliant time and most of Alfie's best friends were there which is the main thing. They both had an absolute blast. I'm hoping we can do a joint one again year...... fingers crossed!

I just want to make a special mention to my other Mum friend who made Alfie and Noah's birthday cakes, she also made Elarna's back in April which you can see by clicking here. I think you'll agree that they are ace! Hannah is so crafty and creative, she runs her own little cake business and if you're local to the Peterborough/Cambridgeshire area check out her Facebook page, she is ace. I also want to add that the 'f' on Alfie's cake was initially intact but Alfie decided to poke his finger in it just as we were setting up....little monkey. 

I think it's fair to say that Alfie had a brilliant birthday. There was lots of memories made and it was a very tiring few days! Here's to the next year.......  I know it's going to fly by. 

Politics Can Kiss my .......

Arse. There I said it and quite frankly I'm not ashamed to say it. I don't know about you but I am sick of politics. Yes it's important we have a democracy,  but I was so not ready to be voting again, especially after the debacle of last years Brexit vote (and for the record I was a firm remainer and still am).  Every time something like this happens it's like a headache that won't go away. I'm not political in the slightest and I don't really take an avid interest in it all, as I find it just unearths the unpleasant side of people and I find the whole thing really quite tedious. The endless campaigning, the idiotic  intellectual leaders of the parties trying to win votes with their manifestos and as cynical as I may be, I feel that it's all just a little like playground antics. The politicians spout empty promises and it seems everyone on my social media feed suddenly turns into political geniuses and cusses you if your opinion differs to theirs or you even dare suggest a differing point of view, quite frankly I find it pathetic. I very rarely get involved in political debate or reply to threads surrounding it (other than yesterday when I did have a slight discussion with an old school friend and although there was a difference of opinion it was actually a grown up discussion rather than a war of words) because I just find it turns childish and I can't be done with that. 

Flowers. Because flowers are pretty and nice to look at!

Having a discussion with my best friend yesterday it was clear we agree on a number of things but our political views have at times differed but we respect that. The one thing we did agree on is just how important it is to vote and have our say, especially since us women couldn't vote years ago. A wasted vote is a no no. 

I do just find it all so tiresome. I have sent my postal vote in, and I confess it did take me a long time to decide where to put that big black cross. I wavered alot with my vote. I knew who was getting my vote last time but this year I wasn't so sure. I feel all the manifestos this year are awash with empty promises and yet I feel people see these as dead cert and that these sweeping statements will be carried out and all will be ok in the country. Take the NHS, it's been a big part of my life, both in a professional capacity and personal and although I work in general practice now I know it's vital we try to save it in some way or another. I have seen many a post on social media thinking if they vote one way it will somehow save the NHS. It won't. We can hope though I guess. 

In the meantime....let's all play nice. Let's respect other people's opinions and be pleasant. Just think it will all be over soon!

I will remain forever hopeful as to whoever is our next Prime Minister has their head screwed on and will pull our country out of the turmoil that it is in at the moment. Well, I always like to look on the positive side of things or at least try to.

As for where my vote has gone. Well that will remain a tightly guarded secret, ha! Why? Well my blog is not about politics and it never will be but I just wanted the world to know that politics can suck my arse!

#LoveNotHate