I have in my head, what the conversation between these snails would be, but it’s Sat Cap day, so you all have a go instead?
Link up at Mammasauras or click on the linky below to see more Sat Caps and join in the fun!
Welcome to my Friday’s Rants from the Soap Box in my Living Room. A small space in the week where I can have a chunter about things that have made me twitch with annoyance or made me question if the world has gone mad or not….
I also linked up with MummyBarrow for her Ranty Friday. You can find her blog and link up here if you’d like to join in. A good rant can be therapeutic.
I recently ranted about manners and how rude people are, it seems, and how we as a society are forgetting our manners. This rant is on a similar theme, this week!
I am horrified by how rude people are to those who are serving them in shops,restaurants, and anywhere where the public generally expects a service.
I have high standards, I expect good value for the money I pay for things, but I also hold myself to a standard of being polite and pleasant to those who provide services. Just because someone is on the end of a call, in a customer service centre, does not mean I can be rude to them, any more than I would expect them to be rude to me!
I actually challenged someone today, in a supermarket, when they were appallingly rude to the woman behind the cash til, serving them. The “customer” had handed over her card, to pay for her purchases, but it would seem, she put the wrong PIN number into the machine, when completing the transaction. This, of course, meant her card was rejected. The woman serving her told her this, and asked her to put her PIN in again. The woman then started yelling at her, “you did this, you pressed the wrong button, you have messed up my card”. The woman behind the counter pointed out to her, that the machine was saying “incorrect PIN” and that it was nothing she had done, and the woman continued to yell at her and accuse her of tampering with her card. The poor woman behind the counter, trying to be calm, and polite, as is probably demanded of her, in her job description, kept trying to explain that it was simply an incorrect PIN and it needed to be re-entered. The other woman then swore at her, and called her a bitch. I then decided, enough was enough, and I interrupted, pointed out to the rude woman who it was HER error, and not the woman serving her, and that if she wanted, I could call the store manager over and explain to him how rude she had been, and that it was actually her fault. I try not to lose my cool or get involved in other people’s business, but I wasn’t standing there, watching someone be so rude, because of something that was actually her fault. Fortunately, she calmed down, and re-entered her PIN, and then realised she was actually entering the wrong number. She then took her card, picked up her shopping, and walked away, no apology, no response to the woman she had behaved so appallingly towards. Frankly, my 3-year-old has tantrums like this. I expect it from him, he is a toddler, not in control of his emotions, but a grown woman, in a shop? Horrifying.
It seems to be common, to think that it is ok to yell at those providing us a customer service. It’s apparently acceptable to yell at someone, to call them a rude name, and then to walk away without apologising. It appears to be fine to be rude to someone in a mobile phone shop (ok, I know that dealing with mobile phone providers and sales people can be an issue) because you happen to have waited for a few minutes, but are in fact in a queue, and were not first, and need to learn to be more patient. It would seem it is considered normal to berate a member of the waiting staff team, in a café, when your child is running amok, and causing chaos, climbing over tables and laying on the floor, when they trip over said child and nearly pour hot coffee all over them.
I could go on, I see things like this all the time. I am sure I am not alone.
Really, I despair. I feel like I want to avoid humanity some days, when I see people being so rude and treating people, their fellow human beings, like a lesser species, simply because they work in the service industry.
That’s my rant for this week. Link up with some other rants by clicking on the Linky below! Have a good weekend!
Sometimes I blog about things, that seem to me like a sort of parenting confession session. This blog post is one of those!
I had an interesting conversation, with a mother, at a toddler group that Small Boy and I attend, occasionally. (Not the one I work at) My bag, was on the floor, under a chair, and Small Boy was playing happily, and I was chatting a friend, who is a parent, and a child-minder. A small child, aged about 18 months old, wandered across, and sat down on the floor next to us. I said hello to her, and offered her a toy, I had found on the chair, and then carried on chatting. I then noticed she was trying to get into my bag. I gently removed the bag, and put it on the chair, which of course, the little girl didn’t like, and she started to cry. I felt a bit mean, that I had made her cry, and looked about for her mother. She came across, and I explained that I had moved my bag, out of her reach, and that she was a bit upset. The mother was semi apologetic, but told me “oh, she likes handbags, I let her play with mine, all the time, she probably didn’t mean any harm”. I replied, “well, I’ve got paracetamol, hand santisier and migraine tablets in there, and I wouldn’t want her to get hold of any of those things”. She looked at me a bit oddly and wandered off. My friend and I then had a brief conversation about not letting our kids play in our bags, and then we got dragged into making pasta necklaces by our children.
Afterwards, I was thinking about it, and I realised that I don’t like anyone, rummaging in my bag, my own children are not allowed to play with it’s contents, I even prefer LSH not to go into it, unless he asks. I do let Big Girl get things out, or I may ask her to go and find something for me, but as a rule, my bag is off limits. For me it is two fold. As a parent, I don’t get a lot of private space, and my handbag is one space that I regard as mine, and I object to little fingers fiddling away with my things. Also, as I said above, I keep items that would not be safe, in the hands of small children. My emergency migraine medication or some paracetamol, if ingested by a small, curious child, could be serious, if not fatal. My children know my bag is off limits, and very rarely will even try to explore it’s contents. I learned the hard way, that my bag was not a good toy activity for my children, when in a busy restaurant, having a meal with a friend, who didn’t have children, and was being very polite and tolerant of my then 2 year old Small Girl, (who was a bit bored, after waiting a long time for her food, then not wanting to be confined in a highchair, and had discarded all the toys and child friendly items I had brought with me to entertain her) I gave her my handbag, removed the non safe items (pain killers etc.) and let her merrily empty it’s contents about. She had great fun, and it kept her happy and amused for a good 20 minutes, while we ate, but then when we had to pack up to leave, I realised that not only had she smashed my favourite lipstick, but had posted my travel card through a slot in the floor, next to the table, and we couldn’t retrieve it. This was when travel cards were paper, and not registered online, so basically, I lost a months worth of travel fare, in one fell swoop. After that, I swore that my children would not play with my handbag, or it’s contents and I have stuck to that, ever since.
I have, on several occasions, had to ask friends to not let their children rummage in my bag, when they have come across it, and have gently extracted my bag, from curious little fingers. It often surprises me, that it is ok to let children ferret about in other peoples possessions. I sometimes feel like a control freak, and of course, if you as a parent, are happy to let your child play with the contents of your bag, then that’s not my problem, but I don’t feel I should have to allow it myself.
I did ask about how people felt about this, on my blog’s Facebook page, and on Facebook, and got mixed responses, some agree with me, that handbags are personal space and off limits, and some admitted they let their children play with their bags. It is of course, a personal choice, and it may be that I am of course, being too strict. I would love to hear what your thoughts are…..?
I’ve also linked this post up with Post, Comment, Love, at Verily Victoria Vocalises. Click on the linky to join in!
It has been big news, this week. Angelina Jolie, announced that she carries the BRCA1 gene which means she is in the 5% of the population at risk of the most severe forms of breast and ovarian cancer. She lost her own mother, who died at the age of 56, to ovarian cancer. She has an 85% chance of developing these cancers and has had a mastectomy and breast reconstruction, and will have her ovaries surgically removed, to reduce her risk of developing cancer, to a much more reasonable number of 5%
She has received much praise and some criticism. Some people have slammed her for making such a radical choice, and I have read articles claiming “eating well, and sensible sun exposure” would have been just as good a choice. I have seen some people claiming she has only done it to get herself a new set of perkier breasts, post pregnancy and breastfeeding. Sad really, that the choice to have such a difficult series of medical procedures performed and to share about it, has brought out the nastiness in some people. She may be famous, she may have Brad Pitt as her partner, but she is a mother, and a person, and she wants to live, and to maximise her chances of life. I don’t think we can say that is wrong? In the genetic lottery, she has been dealt a bad hand, and whilst diet and healthy living can reduce the risks of some cancers, if your body is genetically predisposed to a condition, and your risk is as high as 85%, then making the choice to have surgery to reduce that risk, is understandable.
I won’t claim to know the ins and outs of the medical choices she has made, and I can’t quote scientific stats at you, other than the above, which are taken from the various articles I have read today, but I can tell you that if I were her and I had tested positive for the gene, I would do exactly the same. To have a mastectomy and remove your ovaries is a drastic choice, but she has a family, of young children, she watched her own mother die, at a young age, and having seen my mother die, at the age of 45, of a disease that 20 years later is far better understood, and has better treatment options, and knowing that if she had been able to, my mother would have done anything to stay alive and be around for us, I would make that same choice. Breasts can be reconstructed, and whilst the loss of my ovaries would mean no more biological children, for me, the choice to give myself a fighting chance at life, and reduce the risk so dramatically of leaving my children before they have grown is the one I would make.
I know someone, who has two children, one the same age as Small Boy, and one aged 1, who’s own mother has been diagnosed and treated for ovarian cancer. She herself is making the radical choice to have a mastectomy and her ovaries removed. She is slightly younger than me. This is no light, easy choice for her, medically. She will have to have major surgery, and face a lot of pain, but I support her decision. She is going to be around to watch her children grow up, she is beating the cancer gene, that is in her maternal family, in her breasts and ovaries before it can beat her. In a heartbeat, I would make the same choice. I have seen personally, through friends and family, what breast cancer can do, and how it takes lives far to soon.
So, I think Angelina is very brave, and tough, to make the choice she has made. I know many won’t agree with her, but it’s her body, and her life, that she wants to live, and she has given herself better odds of being with her children, and hopefully living a long and healthy life. She actually has a home, near us, in London, and often is out and about with her kids. I doubt I will ever get the chance to speak to her, but if I do, I would like to tell her, and thank her for speaking out. I think motherhood gives us an inner resolve, to do whatever is our power to be there, and stay alive for our children, I think she has made a choice a lot of women would make.
I love the creative things my children produce…
This week’s favourite, is a jewellery box for me, apparently! Who needs designer, when you can have “created by 6 year old”? 
(Image sourced from an ENT website, with permission)
So, if you have been following me here, Facebook or Twitter, you will know we have had some major ongoing sleep issues with Small Boy. We suspected he was suffering from recurrent ear infections, with very few actual symptoms, and we have been working our way to confirmation of this and treatment, and hopefully him feeling better, and more sleep for us all….
Yesterday, we had our first appointment to confirm the diagnosis. We went for a hearing test, and to get his ears looked at properly (not just by our GP) with an Audiologist. They used a special machine to check if he had fluid in his ears, causing the infections and checked his hearing. Thankfully, his hearing is “perfect”, although she did say it might be affected when he has an ear infection, particularly in his right ear. The picture above, is what is inside Small Boy’s ears. He has fluid accumulating behind his ear drum, causing pain, and infections. It is ongoing, and one of the main reasons why he hasn’t slept well for a long time!
It sounds weird to be writing that this is my Magic Moment for this week, because it isn’t exactly a nice thing, this recurring ear infection malarkey, but secretly, I was worried that we would come to the appointment, they would check him out, tell me there was nothing wrong with him, and send me away telling me I was imagining it all, and that I was a neurotic parent. When the lady said “moderate to severe glue ear”, I nearly cried, and hugged her, because it is what I needed to hear, and now we can move forward.
Small Boy was a rock star all the way through, on the way there, whilst waiting in the waiting room, during the appointment – he totally took to the audiologiust, and was chatting to her and went along with all her tests and requests beautifully, and even gave her a hug and kiss goodbye (I think her letting him play with her gadgets before she used them on him, made him warm to her) and was happily rewarded with a strawberry ice lolly on the way home.
So, off to ENT we go for the next step….
Have a great week. Why not click on the linky and join in, or read some other blog posts?
I thought I would post a bit of randomness, about me, Mother Of the Mad Cats and Babies (although, they aren’t babies anymore, but I don’t want to change the name of the blog, because we might add another baby, at some point 
)
So, 10 things about me, little snippets or facts, that I can share with you, to give you a bit of an idea of who I am..
So there you have it…. and a photo of me, rare, because I don’t like photos of myself…
Shared at Post, Comment, Love… Click on the Linky to see more posts and join in!
Welcome to my Friday’s Rants from the Soap Box in my Living Room. A small space in the week where I can have a chunter about things that have made me twitch with annoyance or made me question if the world has gone mad or not….
I also linked up with MummyBarrow for her Ranty Friday. You can find her blog and link up here if you’d like to join in. A good rant can be therapeutic.
As I have mentioned before on the blog, LSH has is dairy intolerant, and we strongly suspect that Small Boy is too. I am used to feeding a family on a dairy (cows milk product) free diet, and I have become an expert in working out what is in food, and analysing food labels. I try to feed my family fresh meals cooked from scratch, but sometimes, buying ready-made meals or sauces is convenient, and quick. I have no problem looking at labels, and making sure that they are “safe” for LSH and Small Boy, but what really makes me cross is when foods have dairy products in them, that they really don’t need to have. Below, is a sample of the ingredients of 3 items bought from a local supermarket (I won’t name and shame them, but lets just say that “Every Little Helps” is not the case here)
These items are not foods that when I cook, I expect or need to add cows milk products to and, traditionally, they shouldn’t have milk products in . The supermarkets bulk out their foods with cow’s milk, because it is cheaper, and easier to use than the right ingredients. (I have spoken to someone who works in the food industry and knows this is what they do)
So, below, you have Thai Green curry soup, with milk in it. Thai soups are not traditionally made with milk, they use coconut milk, cows milk is not an ingredient you expect to find in a Thai soup. It’s bulked out the soup and made it “creamy” in place of the coconut milk, which is more expensive. That’s all well and good, but a person with a dairy allergy or intolerance can’t eat this item. The other list of ingredients is a Thai Curry sauce, also with milk products added, for similar reasons.
Chicken Stock, Milk, Onion, Cooked Chicken (5%), Coconut, Fish Sauce, Sugar, Ginger Purée, Cornflour, Concentrated Lime Juice, Lime Leaves, Lemon Grass, Spices, Garlic Purée, Vegetable Oil, Potato Starch, Wheat Flour, Green Chilli, Coriander Leaf, Black Pepper, Chicken Stock contains: Water, Chicken Skin, Chicken, Sugar, Cornflour, Salt, Chicken Fat, Onion Concentrate, Cooked Chicken, contains: Chicken, Cornflour, Fish Sauce contains: Water, Anchovy Extract, Salt, Sugar
Water, Coconut Cream (17%), Coconut (4.5%), Sugar, Green Thai Curry Paste (2.5%), Modified Maize Starch, Double Cream, Onion, Soy Sauce, Acidity Regulator (Lactic Acid), Lime Leaves, Ginger Purée, Garlic Purée, Lemon Grass, Salt, Tamarind Concentrate, Coriander Leaf, Onion Extract, Carrot Extract, Flavouring, Capsicum Extract, Celery Extract, Leek Extract, Maltodextrin (Turmeric Extract), Coconut Cream contains: Coconut, Water, Green Thai Curry Paste contains: Coriander, Vegetable Oil, Garlic, Lemon Grass, Shallot, Galangal, Water, Wild Ginger, Green Chilli, Salt, Sugar, Kaffir Lime Peel, Thai Basil, Turmeric, Coriander Seeds, Cumin, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Soy Sauce contains: Water, Salt, Sugar, Wheat, Soya Bean, Acetic Acid
This next list of ingredients is from a Mexican chilli sauce. I was making a meal for a group of people, at the last-minute, and to save time, bought some sauce, so I didn’t have to cook from scratch, in a hurry. This has lactic acid in it. This is a milk by-product, and again, for some dairy allergy sufferers and people with dairy intolerance, renders the food inedible. It is used as a preservative and for “flavour”, but is it really necessary. Proper Mexican chilli, doesn’t have milk in it, why do the supermarkets and food manufactures feel the need to add it, and make it almost impossible for those of the population with food issues to eat their products??
Tomato Purée, Water, Kidney Beans (10%), Red Pepper (4%), Modified Maize Starch, Onion, Sugar, Salt, Lactic Acid, Citric Acid, Garlic Powder, Chilli Powder, Cumin Powder, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Oregano, Thyme, Acidity Regulator (Potassium Carbonate)
These are just a couple of items, but I can tell you that almost every time I go shopping, I find something with milk products in it, that really doesn’t need it. It’s frustrating, and time-consuming having to avoid certain things, and for someone with a serious dairy allergy (LSH is not in this category, thankfully) it could be potentially fatal, if they are not aware, or the labelling is not clear. Lactic acid doesn’t leap out as potentially an issue, but it actually is a problem, for LSH and other people with a dairy intolerance, we know, we have tried and tested, and he cannot eat foods with it added.
The food industry, generally needs to get its act together. With the recent horse meat scandal hitting the headlines, I am again reminded of how much I want to buy healthy, wholesome, fresh, locally sourced, organic produce, good quality meat, and foods that don’t cause health issues. It would be wonderful if I could live on a self-sustaining farm, and never have to enter a supermarket again, but sadly, that isn’t likely to happen, and I have to shop to feed my family and I have to battle with ingredients in food, that really shouldn’t be in them.
I’d be interested to hear from other people who have struggled with the same issue, or similar issues with ingredients in foods, when they have an intolerance or allergy. I am thinking of contacting various supermarkets and food companies with this issue.
Also, feel free to click on the Linky to join the other Rants, on Mummy Barrow’s blog….
