Weekly Update No10

I've been a bit quiet this week.  Life has been a bit overwhelming (for no obvious reason) so I've been in hibernation, and scoffing all the wrong things.  I've woken up brighter today, so hopefully I've turned a bit of a corner (though in the bad side, I've run out of my meds;  I ordered them last week, thinking I had another week left, but I don't.  I'm hoping this doesn't set me back).  Sunlight definitely helps, and I managed to do some washing and put it on the line. My cleaner also helps, especially on days where I can't face the world.

So, I've not lost any weight (put less than half a kilo on).  I'm going to try and cook better, because when I cook, even if it's the "wrong" things or reheating stuff in the oven, it is still much better for me than takeaways and eating out.

Pringles Ring Engineering Challenge

I saw the Pringles Ring Challenge on Facebook, and I thought that is one I have to try with my girls.  So, this week I bought 3 packets of pringles and we gave it a go.

Obviously, the first thing to do when given a packet of pringles is to empty them everywhere...
though I can attest to the fact that this step doesn't have to be done, as I didn't.

A sneaky peak of DD2
in the background.

The trick is to build the bottom layer thick enough to carry the weight of the pringles that are building up the sides.  Layer them, as if you are building a wall, so they overlap and hold firm.  (Though firm is relative in this case, as all three of us have experiences the pringles toppling sideways.)

DD2 has a gentler touch than DD1, and is well known in our family for balancing things, or building tall towers from bricks, even when she was pretty young.  DD1, otoh, was getting frustrated, until she use her brain and was able to make a pringles ring very easily.

Not sure that was was was expected from the challenge, but is a pringles ring nonetheless!

DD2 and I continued.  It looked like everything was going well for me, until I noticed that the two sides of my ring were unequal heights.


After a bit of readjustment, I managed to fix and complete my ring.

It only had one pringle on the top, so I wanted to make it a bit thicker.  This cockiness caused it all to collapse, but at least I have photographic evidence that I did succeed!

At this point, DD1 and DD2 were turning the table into a campsite by building tents out of pringles.

Eventually, though, DD2 had another go, mixing two different flavours of pringles, and managed to make a heart.  The camera angle doesn't do it justice, so you may need to use your imagination a bit.

Women of Courage: 31 Daily Bible Readings by Jennifer Carter

Women of Courage feels a short book because every chapter is only a few pages long.

Each starts with a short passage about a woman from the Bible, and then expands to how we can put the lessons into practice in our lives.

The blurb says:

Women of Courage explores the lives of inspiring women from the Bible, through thirty-one daily bible readings. In a quest to understand what a Godly woman looks like, Jennifer examines the often untold stories of thirty-one women in the Bible. Each of these remarkable women has much to teach us. They led busy lives and experienced challenges, disappointments and triumphs. Yet each found fruitfulness, purpose and contentment. Their stories can inspire us to be more courageous and help us find our place in God's plans and purposes. Understand more of why God has created you to be exactly the way you are and enjoy the special gifts that He has given you. Discover and embrace the unique plan and purpose for your life, and be set free to experience God’s gift of fullness of life. Find inspiration and hope in the stories of these ordinary, yet courageous, women.

I really liked this book, and it helped me understand more about the women mentioned in the Bible, especially when they are not given a starring role in that context. I particularly liked the thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter, as they made me think for a while after I’d finished reading.

Weekly Update No9

I started the week well, bought plenty of fruit and enjoyed delicious fruit salads. I only cooked one meal for dinners, and the girls actually ate some of them! DD2 helped making the spaghetti bolognese, and enjoyed eating it too. She also ate the lasagne. DD1 was less keen, but at least tried everything.

As the week progressed, however, especially Friday, Saturday and Sunday my eating went downhill a bit… DD1 made Welsh cakes as it was St David’s Day (my husband is Welsh), Saturday was taken up with the usual dancing, and we ended up snacking and eating sweets in the evening whilst watching a film. And yesterday, I went to church, ate breakfast for lunch, and we went out for dinner. On the good side, I’ve discovered that Pizza Hut’s flatbread pizza’s are delicious, and plenty filling. At home we often make ‘wrap pizza’, so it’s good to be able to have a lighter option when eating out. 

But, despite that, I have lost half a kilo (a pound) over this week, so that’s a good result.  And I'm going to plan some healthy and easy meals for this week too.

Children and Naturism

There's a lot in the media at the moment about children in naturism, and overall I have been pleased with what I've seen.  Much of it has been about the Sandcastle Waterpark event that is currently on in Blackpool, and is advertised as a naturist swim for all the family.  We've actually been to this one, when DD1 was 2yo, and I was pregnant with DD2.  It was good fun, and DD1 enjoyed herself, but it was too far away from where we live to attend every year.  These days, we tend to either go to the Splash Waterworld events in Stoke-on-Trent or The Alton Towers Weekend in Splash Landings Hotel - a full weekend of nudity from 6pm on Friday until Midday on Sunday.  All these events and more can be found on the BN Events Webpage.

This clip from ITV's Good Morning Britain shows a discussion about whether or not it is safe for children to be at these events.  It's a shame that the naturist, Kate Smurthwaite, doesn't have children herself, but I can understand the reticence of parents not wanting to be outspoken on this, not least because I'm fairly anonymous on this blog myself. However, she does make some good points.  The other person, Lottie Daley, didn't imo (though I acknowledge I am biased on this topic).  Her first comment says that body positivity comes from being a good parent - stigmatising parents whose children suffer from body dysmorphia, anorexia, bulimia and what have you.  Then she makes the comment "you're lucky if someone doesn't get aroused in front of your children" - as if a pair of speedos or swimming trunks will really hide an erection! Really?!  As I said in my previous post that BN has strong child protection policies, other naturists are generally very protective of children, and should there be any untoward behaviour, the police are on side.  Now, admittedly, this isn't my area of expertise, but I would imagine a paedophile would want to get his jollies off in such a way that he wouldn't get caught, rather than naked in front of a load of other people... If anything, I'd've thought there would be more kids at a 'normal' Saturday swim, than at a naturist one, and it's not like swimsuits don't show exactly what's underneath on the kids, either.

There was another article this week, on BBC News, about going to a family naturist swim, whilst also advertising the Sandcastle event.  This time it highlighted a petition from a whopping(!) 50 people who think the event should be 18s only.  As a naturist, and a parent, I much prefer events that are open to the whole family.  Partly because it means we can all attend - for example, there are many swims around the country, some of which are open to all and some of which are not.  In my town there is a fortnightly naturist swim, but it's 18+ which means my husband and I can never attend together, because we have children - but also because some establishments misuse the word "naturist".  For example, there are some "naturist spas" in London that are not so much naturist, as naked swinging...  Fine if that's what you're into, but not for me, thank you very much!  By knowing that children can attend if they wish, I know that the event is truly naturist - non-sexual social nudity.

If you are interested in finding a naturist swim where you live, have a look here or here.

DD1's going to school!

We received the email this morning that DD1 got into the school of her choice!

The type of school I like

As I explained in my All Change post, my girls have been home educated up until now, so it was a bit of a shock when DD1 said she wanted to go to secondary school.  We looked around 5 or so different schools and had different opinions about many of them.  There was one I particularly liked, not least because it reminded me of my school (and I liked school) but that it also specialises in Performing Arts, but DD1 didn't want to go there.  Others I was expecting to like, because
of their reputation, I actually didn't.  And one I expected to dislike, I didn't actually mind - so we put that as DD1's second choice. 

The type of school DD1 likes

Her first choice was a school that we both liked, and that is where she got in.  It's a new school, so there is no proven track record of exams or anything, but it will grow with DD1 and I think she'll really like it there.  She was really excited this morning to find out she got in!

DD2 was less pleased, as she likes her sister, and thinks she will miss her when she is in school, which she undoubtedly will.  But I pointed out that DD2 and I have never had time alone together (whereas I did with DD1 in the 3 years before DD2 was born, and even when DD2 was a baby and didn't do much), and she liked the sound of that.

It will be a shock for the family.  I will need to get organised, and I don't know how DD1 will fit in homework and dancing, but it'll be an adventure together and new experiences for the family.

Why are Women’s Clothes Policed?

Why are women not afforded the same rights in regard to choosing their own clothes? Ideally, I think everybody should be able to wear whatever they want, or not, because ideally people wouldn’t be wearing clothing with offensive or hateful slogans. But even with that caveat, why can’t everybody wear whatever they want, or not? (The ‘not’ is in there, because I think everybody should be free to not wear clothes if they wish. I’m a big supporter of the TopFreedom movement.) 

Just today, I saw an article about Decathlon selling sports-headwear for Muslim women, and I thought that was such a good idea. That will allow Muslim women to take part in sports that they may otherwise be unable or unwilling to. However, I then read on in the article to discover that these piece of clothing has been banned in France. France has already banned face coverings for Muslim women, and any form of religious dress (ie headscarves and turbans) in French schools.

I am aware that some men force women to wear full body coverings as a form of subjugation, and that Islam doesn’t specify that women must wear such clothes. However, conversely, some women prefer to wear such clothing because they don’t want their bodies scrutinised by men, or other women; they don’t want to receive unwanted attention; and simply, they like to wear a burqa (for example) as outwear, whilst still wearing their usual clothing underneath. Assuming that the women have a genuine choice, Let Them Choose!

Women of all walks of life are bombarded with messages about what they should look like, what they should wear, and how they should never wear the other… Women’s gossip magazines are undoubtedly the worst, but with the rise of social media, whether it be through FB or YouTube Influencers, the message is getting out that women should look as best they can for other people. I even read an article that was shared recently called 10 Ways your clothes reveal your heart at church  and it included the line “One can tell a lot about a woman that didn’t even have time to swipe concealer under her eyes before leaving the house.” Really? You see a woman who isn’t wearing make-up and you automatically make a judgement?! On the whole, I don’t wear make-up. It’s a choice I make, because I see it as a waste of my time. If I’m going out somewhere particularly nice, I’ll like to dress up, but otherwise, no. Isn’t sad that a woman feels they can’t leave their house without being plastered in war paint? [See, I can be judgemental too!] Why can’t a woman be free to not wear make-up if they don’t want to, or wear make-up should they wish? Whatever choice a woman makes, they feel judged for that choice, and it affects youngsters too. Even my 11yo daughter refuses to leave the house without at least foundation on. At the moment there is a reason, she is suffering with pimples younger than her peers, but I hope as she grows up she realises that it is truly her choice whether to adorn her face with make-up or not.

And if a woman does wear make-up, and dress up nice, and she goes out, there is the assumption that she is doing that for attention, rather than for herself. And if she were unlucky enough to be attacked or assaulted when dressed like that, the blame is put at her feet. Things are slowly starting to change, thanks in part to artists like Jen Brockman who are purposely drawing people’s attention to clothing through various art instalations.  

I saw a video that was shared on FB recently about the ludicrousness of blaming the victim, when gender roles were switched. A man had been mugged and had his watch and wallet stolen, but who could blame the mugger when the man went out dressed in a suit, clearly advertising that he was wealthy… I thought it was a fairly good analogy when I saw the clip – until a friend pointed out the canned laughter in the background (I had watched it in silence with subtitles, so had much more impact.) 

Picture: ABSOLUTE/D'ARCANGELI

And though this rant was originally about what women wear, why can’t men wear what they want too? If a man (or boy) wants to wear pink, why not? If they want to wear a dress, or heels, why should we stop them? Why should we assume that because they do like “women’s clothes” or “women’s colours” that they must be gay or transgendered or anything else? Why can’t we just view them as who they are?