Meet Uju of http://babesabouttown

Uju has already created a real buzz and following on the Lazy Daisy® site with her sparky posts (such as Is Parenthood the Death of Cool?) as she writes and reflects on life as a mum to two boys!

We knew therefore, that her interview with our resident presenter and fellow mum Sophie would be really fun and it does not disappoint!

In this interview you will hear Uju talk about cool parents, the need for a sense of humour, the support she received post baby and about her own birth.

And her family anthem - it brought a lump to our throats as we revisited a poignant and super cool track!

What a treat from Daisy Radio this week...

Meet our resident presenter Sophie T, as she not only talks about her own experiences of childbirth but interviews mummy and blogger (and indeed regular contributor to the Lazy Daisy blogs) Mrs Penny Alexander.

Sophie takes Penny's blog Reach out and touch me published earlier this month, as inspiration for this interview and together they chat through birth, c-sections, bonding moments, parenting heros and family life.

This is a really uplifting broadcast, especially if you are a mum who knows your birth journey may need a little extra help (watch out for our residential workshops in Surrey, giving a beautiful day of extra support too) and finishes with Penny selecting her all time fav parenting song and family anthem - it's a classic so get ready to have a bop with your bump or baby!

Last week I mentioned I read a book about Raising Boys, by Steven Biddulph,

it's a fascinating read that helped me to prepare to raise a boy. So this week I'm reflecting on how to raise happy boys.  It's the girl's turn next week.

For me, I think the difference in girls and boys first hit me when my mother in law commented on my baby boy's need for closeness.  He would wind his fingers in my hair, sneak his head under my cardigan, push his toes in my pockets.  It was, my mother in law said, just as my husband had been as a baby, 'as if he wanted to be back in the womb'.

Now aged 3, throughout the day at regular intervals, he will come and find me, clamber on me or cuddle me, in order to charge his emotional batteries. Last weekend I returned from a weekend away, and while my daughter proceeded to bamboozle me with chat, my son jumped on me, gave me the hugest cuddle and once I had collapsed onto the sofa, attempted to put both his feet up my jumper and pull it over his body like a duvet.

Knowing the sex of your unborn baby

Last week’s post on Reach out and touch me provoked interesting debate here and on Twitter, so this week I thought I would keep on the bonding theme.

Last week my brother sent me a text. It simply said 'It's a boy!' He’d just come out of his girlfriend’s 20 week scan.  Straight away, proud aunty-to-be that I am, I called him back shrieking 'I knew it, fantastic, congratulations!'  Cue obligatory jokes about footy teams, and him being a striker.

Doctors this week suggested there is no need for parents to know the baby’s sex at a 20 week scan. A specialist recommended 30 weeks. But how important is this information to parents?

My mum and grandmother marvelled at my scan photos and the idea that we could know our babies' sex in advance. I couldn’t resist finding out, there was something magical about being able to bond just a little bit more with my babies.  During pregnancy lots of time is spent dreaming and fantasising about your baby, and the child they will be.  For me knowing whether I was having a girl or boy made those images more tangible. 

I’m biased, so I asked my fellow bloggers what they did. Mostlyyummymummy has found out, not found out, and for one child wasn’t able to tell at the scan.  Her favourite she says, was the exciting surprise of the ‘it’s a boy/girl’ moment at the end of labour.  @Clearbean explained her thoughts changed with each pregnancy, the first time she was impatient, second time she wanted to prepare her first child and third time did not want to, but her partner did.

For her first two children Rachel of Right from the Start didn’t find out, she felt that it would take something away from the birth, looking back she has no regrets and felt it added to the magic and surprise of having a newborn.  But, for her third child she found out, because she had 2 girls at this point and wanted to be prepared, boys names were proving challenging, as was choosing a third girl’s name.  But she says knowing she was having a girl the third time didn’t take any excitement away.

I’m Penny, a freelance writer, mum to two and a blogger at Alexander Residence.   I’m really excited to be blogging on a weekly basis for Lazy Daisy.

Where better to start my first post than at the beginning of my parenting journey?

This week, after a comment made on a recent documentary about parenting, I briefly found myself questioning whether my children, both born by c section, had really and truly bonded with me.  Seems ridiculous now I write it, they are after all 3 and 5 and going forth happily in the world, but rarely does a day pass as a parent when you don’t question some aspect of what you are doing, and sometimes this means scrutinising events that happened years ago.

Instead of letting it buzz round my head creating unhealthy doubts and niggles, I decided to look at the evidence.  I turned to the photos of the first weeks of their lives.  Before I had children I was a drama teacher, I can’t help but analyse body language, eye contact, facial expressions.

Really interesting programme on Channel 4 last night about ‘How to be a good mum’ …

As those who know me well will have pre-empted, I was in awe and completely on the wave length of the mum of six (and soon seven), especially as she was running her own business too.

I can totally get the love of being part of a big family.  Whilst some may see it as organised chaos, to me five feels so normal and when people ask me how I cope with running Lazy Daisy with five children, I ask how they cope with getting on with anything, with just one.

Having lots of children means there is a sense of community at home, which I guess is really replacing that lacking in society now.  True, I’m not living with grandmas and aunties in the house to help with the raising of the children (like days gone by or other cultures), but the children are all keen to take part and to help look after each other.  Don’t get me wrong,  chores are as unappealing to them as to any child, but I mean in terms of talking, playing, communicating with each other when I need an hour to catch up on some work.  My littlest is always happier when the girls are all at home, even if they are not playing with him…