Sunday 15 September 2013

New Achievements and a Little Noshtalgia

Ah! The rollercoaster that is life with 2 year olds. While they might drive me to distraction with the yelling, and the clinging, and the drawing on the walls, I can't help but be delighted at every little achievement. For example, Gareth can now walk down stairs, instead of crawling down backwards (although sometimes he still slides down, for speed), they can both climb ladders to go down slides at the park. They can make the appropriate animal noises for cat, dog, lion, cow, sheep, duck, bird, and cockerel (as well as doing a completely adorable squirrel impression). Molly has started speaking more, and will say 'shoes off!' among other things. She will count to 5 (she always misses out 3, but hey, she's 2 years old, I'll take it). Gareth likes to help mummy when we go shopping, by carrying the nappies in from the car. Both of them now hug me and their daddy, and if I tell Gareth 'nice and gentle', he'll stroke my hair.

They really are lovely, bright, kind children. If I lay down on the floor and pretend I'm going for a nap, they'll run to get a blanket and pillow. Despite their sibling bickerings, they're kind, and generally pleasant, and I couldn't be prouder of them.

In other news, my husband unfortunately lost his job recently, so things are a bit tight. We're both applying for things, and hoping something turns up soon, but in the mean time, we're in what might be politely termed as a State of Financial Embarrassment. In an effort to keep our food bills down, I'm trying to cook low-cost, somewhat old-fashioned meals. The things I remember my mum and nannie making when I was younger. Soup, mince and potatoes, stew and dumplings, toad in the hole, liver and onions, rice puddings. I like to call this harking back to the foods of my childhood 'noshtalgia' (sorry, I can't resist a pun). It's a way of almost making this time into a project of sorts, and attempting to keep what could otherwise seem like a pretty bleak time, fun.

I think it will be good for us. We will (hopefully) develop good habits, eat more veggies, and less meat. Think more about what we buy, plan meals. I'll be inspired to try more recipes. When I make a tasty, somewhat old-fashioned dish, and it turns out well, I will endeavour to blog about it. I'm going to call this 'The Noshtalgia Project'

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