The Blog of a Full-Time Working Mum

So! We have decided that having an au pair would be more suitable for our lifestyle.  Trevor (my husband) works continental shifts - days or nights. I have an office-based job but I frequently need to travel for work, which means that I need a bit of flexibility when it comes to childcare. Also we have no family around so our childcare solution needs to be foolproof. Our preference is for a French au pair because we have some French relatives and we are trying to raise our kids bilingual French/English. Now the hardest part... How do you find an au pair and how do you trust her with your children? Au pairs are not CRB checked or OFSTED regulated. You know nothing about them: you do not know where they are from, what their background is. They are young and most of them have no experience with children... For me personally, this is a deal breaker. I have put off the au pair idea for years because of that but if I am honest with myself it is the most ideal solution for us.

You will never guess what I did today! I drove to the local Tesco during lunchtime (because it was raining), park my car, get my sandwich (nothing exciting - ham and cheese) and walk back to work. A couple of hours later, I look out the window. I cannot find my car. Where is my car? Did I park it somewhere else today? I go to the (company) car park. The car is not there. Where is my car? Did I leave the keys on the contact and someone stole it? I run back to my desk, check for the keys in my handbag. I find the keys. WHERE THE HELL IS MY CAR??? By then I am completely panicked and I am shaking. I finally remember that I drove to Tesco... I take my car keys, storm out of the office (without telling anyone) and run as fast as I can to Tesco. On my way to Tesco I get a few weird looks from passers-by. What? Have they never seen a woman sprinting in stilettos? Apparently not :). My guess is that I may not have been very gracious. Sorry people I was i

Now that the school is over, it is time for the kids to have a bit of fun and relax. I have put together a list of all the things that I would like to do with them over the summer holiday. I have tried to think of all the fun things that my kids love doing and also what I loved doing as a child. So this is my shortlist: 1- Decorate the pavement with chalk 25/07/16 2- Bake cupcakes and decorate them 07/08/16 3- Go to the local library and take part in the summer reading challenge 15/08/16 4- Go to the swimming pool 14/08/16 5- Have a water gun race 6- Eat a Fish and Chips at the beach 23/08/16 7- Play footgolf 15/08/16 8- Have a scavenger hunt 31/07/16 9- Make stick raft boats and make them float 10- Pick berries and make a crumble 22/08/16 11- Make a homemade pizza 10/0816 12- Go camping 05/08/16 13- Go to the cinema and nibble on sweeties and popcorn 14- Have a Mario Kart Tournament 30/08/16 15- Have a "Flying Paper Plane Competition 09/08/16 16- O

Last night I had a very interesting conversation with Dylan at bedtime. It went like that: Me: Time for bed Dylan! Dylan: Do I have to go to bed? Me: Yes it is late now. Dylan: Can you read me a book? Me: No it is bedtime. Dylan: But I haven't spent much time with you tonight (sad face). Me: We will spend more time together over the weekend. Dylan: That is not fair, you always work! (Between you and I, I know what game he is playing at ;) but I know he means it too, for having this conversation with him before). Me: Do you know why mummy works? Dylan: No. Me: To earn money so we can buy food and have a house or have the car fixed when it breaks down. Dylan: And to buy petrol for the car? Me: Yes we need money to do all sorts of fun things like going on holiday, or going to the zoo or the beach. Dylan: And to buy my school uniform? (Dylan is starting a new school in September so we talked about getting him a new uniform) Me:  Everything costs money. If I did not g

I have the perfect birthday cake for you if you are a beginner (like me) at baking. This cute Smarties Cake is really easy to make and it hides all little imperfections :). It serves about 12 people. Ingredients + equipment: - 2 cake tins (20cm) - Round cake tray - 4 boxes of Cadbury Fingers - 4 Smarties Sharing Bags (125g) - 2 Chocolate Fudge Cake kits (it comes with the cake mix and the frosting mix) Method: Use the cake mix recipe to prepare the cake mixture. Pour the mixture into the cake tins and bake in the oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before taking out of the tins and placing on a cooling rack to cool completely. Prepare the frosting using the frosting mix recipe. Sandwich the cakes together with a third of the frosting. Place the cakes on a round cake tray then use the rest of the frosting to cover the top and side of the cake. Place the Cadbury Fingers all around the cake (the frosting acts like glue). Use the rest of t

I have got a thing for cupcakes... I am simply addicted. I cannot really explain why but I really am obsessed with cupcakes right now. Is it because it is a TINY CAKE? Is it because it is REALLY PRETTY? Is it just because it is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! Probably all of the above to be honest ;).  I have started making my own cupcakes. The first attemps were simply horrendous. I did not realise how hard baking was. I am NO baker but I love these little cakes so much, I don't mind trying a little bit harder :). I think I have (almost) perfected the cake part. The best cupcake recipe I found so far is the Hummingbird Bakery Vanilla Cupcake Recipe: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/475442/The-Hummingbird-Bakery-vanilla-cupcakes . I am still struggling with the frosting for some reasons. I don't always get the right consistency and my frosting piping techniques urgently need attention. I watched loads of tutorials but I think I will need to go on a course or something. A

Today was Dylan's New Pupils' Taster Day at his new school. It was an exciting but scary experience for him. You see, we are moving home around November time. Unfortunately this means that Dylan has to change school. So far he welcomed the changes relatively well but this morning... not so well... Daddy is off today so he took Dylan for his Taster Day. Poor Dylan cried all the way to his new school :(. Part of me is heartbroken because I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE! Sometimes, like today, I really hate the fact that I work full-time! I cannot help but think that it could have been different for Dylan this morning if I had been there (Daddy would roll his eyes if he read this). I AM HIS MUMMY after all, it is MY job to accompany him every step of the way... My company tries to be flexible with the doctor appointments, dentist appointments, sicknesses, Big Breakfasts, Sports Days, Birthday Assemblies, Walk-in Wednesdays, school holidays (and everything else)... Can I really

For Ryan's first Birthday, I opted for a Very Hungry Caterpillar  themed birthday party. The Very Hungry Caterpillar  is a book by Eric Carle that we simply love at home... ...so I knew it had to be the theme for Ryan's first birthday. It was quite fun to organise actually, particularly the food. I chose the food menu based on what the Very Hungry Caterpillar  eats in the story. "On Monday he ate through one apple" (I made apple roses). Here is the link to the recipe if you wish to make them:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rGrwvEjZIQ . "On Tuesday he ate through two pears" (I made pear roses). On Wednesday he ate through three plums (I made a Far Breton: it is a prune custardy pudding cake - it is delicious and easy to make too). Here is the link to the recipe if you wish to make one:  http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/470/far-breton.aspx . "On Thursday he ate through four strawberries" (I made mini strawberry/raspberry

Today I thought I would surprise the kids with outdoor water games but once again the weather was pretty awful so I decided to plan a playdough activity instead. They love it but they do not get to play with playdough very often. I tend to avoid messy play as much as possible. Too much cleaning ;)! So today playdough activity...  Not a good start... No playdough... I must have discarded the dry and cracky playdough and forgot to replace it (yep definitely something I would have done!). Luckily I found a playdough recipe online:  Ingredients - 3 cups floor - 1 cup salt - 1 cup water - 2 tsp vegetable oil - Food colouring Method Mix it all together in a bowl and keep kneading it until it is just right. Easy as that. It takes 5 minutes more or less.  Ryan (1 1/2 years old) enjoyed planting popsicle sticks in the playdough. Dylan (6 years old) chose to write his name with the playdough and build a house with popsicle sticks and dough balls (I did not g

Hello everyone, I just thought I should start this blog by introducing myself :). My name is Celine French. Or should I say my pen name is Celine French. I have chosen a pen name for my blog. I was not sure whether it would be a good idea but I went for it in the end because I thought it would be the best way to protect my friends and family. Why Celine French? It just came to me like that. 'Celine' because I know that my parents shorlisted the name Celine for me. And 'French' because I spent all my childhood in France and it is part of my identity. I live in the UK. I am married to Trev. We have two boys together: Dylan 6 and Ryan 1. Our boys are raised bilingual (English/French). I work full-time... I love what I do but sometimes I feel that I don't get to spend enough time with my children. I am in a constant battle with myself: Is working full-time the best decision for my family? The truth is that I feel really guilty and that I would like to spend m