Posts Tagged "Uncategorized"

£3 a month – an alternative message.

Posted by Josie on Oct 1, 2009 in Uncategorized | 8 comments

Today lots of my favourite bloggers are busy promoting the launch of the Pampers and UNICEF ‘Gift of Life’ Campaign.

Pampers, in association with UNICEF are pledging that during the months of October, November, and December for every pack of Pampers nappies and wipes featuring the logo “1 pack = 1 life-saving vaccine” that you purchase, Pampers will provide the funding for one life-saving tetanus vaccine in less industrialised countries.

Tetanus hasn’t been something to worry about to those of us living in the UK for 50 years, but in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo Tetanus is still a very real threat. In fact it’s estimated that Tetanus is still killing over 128,000 mothers and babies worldwide every year.

Mothers and their babies seem to be especially vulnerable to this disease. Tetanis is caused by bactoeria found in soil and manure and is often contracted when umbilical cords are cut with dirty instruments or through traditional practices such as rubbing the cut with ashes or mud. It’s a horrible disease. Newborn Tetanus develops especially fast and is usually fatal, causing lockjaw that makes babies unable to feed and painful convulsions.

But the cruelest thing is that it’s completely preventable. Cheap and simple immunisations given to woman during pregnancy protect both the mother AND their unborn child.

Pampers, in association with UNICEF have been running their ‘Gift of Life’ Campaign since 2006 and have already raised funding for over 2 million campaigns. It’s a fantastic campaign and you can read all about at the Pampers and UNICEF websites or at these fabulous blogs whose authors attended the launch day of this year’s campaign on Monday:

Hot Cross Mum

Cafe Bebe

Bringing Up Charlie

Rosie Scribble

New Mummy

HOWEVER.

Yes. I do have a however.

Because the reason I’m writing this post is because I have slightly different message today. Because although I support the campaign and the bloggers putting their name behind it absolutely and think they should be proud of their involvement, the message of ‘buy more of our stuff and we’ll save more lives’ doesn’t sit all that well with me. Maybe I’m a cynic, I don’t know. But I am one to speak my mind.

I just want to put this out there.

Maybe you’re like me and have chose to use cloth nappies as a way of lessening your environmental impact and helping to save some money. We do use disposables some of the time and at night but I’m proud to say that for most his life Kai has been a cloth-bottomed boy. Maybe you use washable wipes. Or maybe you use eco-disposibles as a compromise or buy Organic brands of baby wipes. Maybe your children are out of nappies now. Or maybe you haven’t got any children.

I’m not knocking the campaign. It’s a GREAT campaign. I just need to say it. Buying a brand name bag of disposible nappies or a packet of wipes isn’t the ONLY way you can help .

Pampers are offering a Virtual Donation by a way of a free download wherby every download=1 vaccine – I really approve of this option and would encourage you to visit the site and download the song as soon as you get a chance.

However I’m asking you to go a step further.

I’ve been doing some research and have discovered that a Tetanus vaccine costs approx 6p.

6p!!!

By setting up a direct debit with UNICEF for just £3 a month that means you can pay for 33 vaccines a month – in fact if you tick the Gift Aid box option you will add an extra 28p per £1 to your donation so potentially that could actually mean more like 64 vaccinations. Times that over the course of a year and that’s 768 vaccinations.  Now I know not all the money from your donation will translate exactly to the cost of a vaccination but still, you get the point.

Your money will also go to help UNICEF’s many other fantastic campaigns – working to provide emergency response in times of global crisis, famine and natural disasters; and their invaluable work to help counter the effect and spread of HIV and AIDS.

I know you’re broke. So am I. But it’s £3. It’s the cost of a cup of tea and a piece of cake in Starbucks, probably less than that (espcially if you tend to go for a Hot Chocolate with extra cream like me).

I won’t be buying Pampers nappies for the next three months, although I do use their wipes sometimes so I guess that’s something. However, I have set up a direct debit this morning as an alternative.

But even if you do buy Pampers or plan to do so to help support the campaign I’m asking you to do this.

Give £3. Give £5 if you can afford or even £2 if you can’t. It’s not a lot. But it’s gift that will keep on giving month after month. And it could make a real difference.

Thanks for listening x

———————————

Writing Workshop Wednesday

Posted by Josie on Sep 30, 2009 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Just wanted to say hi to anyone popping in from Mama Kat’s who was lovely enough to use my prompts for her writing assignment this week.

I’ve been feeling extra guilty lately. I say extra because doesn’t it seem like every day comes with some sort of guilt since becoming a mother? Come find out what I’ve been wringing my hands over at ‘Out, Out Damn Spot’.

A fab blogging friend tagged me in a cool meme recently that lead to a emotional and evocative trip down memory lane. You can read some of my most precious childhood memories here at ‘Memories of a 2nd House’.

I hope you enjoy reading the posts behind the writing prompts. I’d love it if you’d stick around and read some more – and don’t forget to subscribe to my feed if you like what you see.

——————————————–

Hold The Phone! It’s Slanket Time!

Posted by Josie on Sep 23, 2009 in Uncategorized | 11 comments

My goodness, what an odd evening. I’ll come to that in a minute but first… news!

The Sleep Deprivation Carnival!! Wow – what a response! I’ve had dozens and dozens of submissions via the comments and email, thank you all so much! And from all round the world too. I’m going to have to start calling this the (probably) World’s First INTERNATIONAL Sleep Deprivation Carnival. The UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, all across Europe – a veritable feast of multicultural bleariness.

There’s been an amazing variety of stories and experiences coming in which was just what I was looking for. Hopefully, once it’s up and running, the posts from the Carnival will provide a permanent refuge and resource for all the world’s sleep deprived looking for a bit of advice and solidarity.

Pretty awesome I think you’ll agree. But that’s not the best part.

No the best part is what happened to me earlier this evening.

It’s a normal evening. I’m amusing myself being my usual random and slightly annoying self on Twitter. And I happen to mention the rather amazing discovery that I had just made via a lovely friend on Facebook. The discovery of THIS:

I know.

Isn’t it the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen??!

I thought so too. It is a Slanket. A blanket. With sleeves.

Anyway. Innocently tweeting about the fabulous Slanket, I soon found myself at the root of a veritable Twitter frenzy as news of the Slanket spread like wild fire through a Slanket factory.

EVERYONE wanted one. Well, almost everyone.

By the time I had put Kai to bed and got around to emailing the MD, he’d be inundated with requests from bloggers to review a Slanket on their site. I thought I had missed the boat (and was rather peeved about it too since I had started what shall be known as the Great Slanket Twitter Madness 2009).

But do not fear dear readers, do not fear.

For I, queen of Slankets, have obtained one for you. Offered up as probably the world’s greatest give-a-way in the history of give-a-ways. Turns out the MD Gary is an absolute peach and was all too happy to oblige.

There is no difficult question, there is no need to tweet it or stand on your head to prove your worth. Just submit something to the Sleep Carnival and you will be in with a chance of winning (all names in a hat and picked at random). If you’ve already submitted something you will be automatically entered. If not then hop to it!

Here’s the bonus though. Submit a post and you’ll receive one entry. Submit a sleep deprived photo of yourself? And you get an extra THREE entries into the competition. You can even just submit a photo if you like – I’ll still give you three chances to win.

Yes. I want to see the bags under your eyes and your bed head THAT much.

So what are you waiting for??! You’ve got till Sunday…

P.S. If, for some reason, you haven’t fallen madly in love with the Slanket (mental illness perhaps) then you are very welcome to opt out of this competition and just submit a post or photo with no Slanket-strings attached. Just let me know and you’ll be excused.

P.P.S Images courtesy of Slanket.com - you should go check it out! It’s brilliant!!

P.P.P. S Is it just me or is the word ‘Slanket’ starting to sound really weird?

————————————–

Zombie Chickens have pooped in my Trophy Cabinet

Posted by Josie on Sep 7, 2009 in Uncategorized | 5 comments

Quick awards post while the monster is asleep (my total number hours of shut-eye last night… TWO! Joy!), then I promise I’ll be back with something more juicy later.

I’m starting to love these little badge awards thingys. Is it sad that they totally make my day?

Anyway. First off is a ‘Lovely Blog Award’ from the equally lovely Ruth over at Look Left of the Pleiades (although I have to be honest and say the cup full of pretty pink rose petals did make me throw up in my mouth a little bit). Thank you my favourite feminist typist. I am seriously coveting your turquoise and black stripy socks right now.

I am told this is an award for new blogs or blogs you have just discovered. So here’s who I’m passing it on to:

Firstly, OF COURSE! is my very special friend Emma of at Not Such A Yummy Mummy who has just started blogging and is now starting to make me regret introducing her to it all because she’d just that damned good. (And yes – she’s a REAL LIFE friend!!! See? I do have some! And I can testify that she is, in fact, a very yummy mummy no matter what she says).

The other is Kat over at Slugs on the Refrigerator, whose very brilliant blog I have just started reading. She says lovely affirming things about forgiving yourself for being imperfect and that creativity is WAY more important than housework (and if you haven’t read her post on creativity then you MUST – right now!). Oh, and she knits! I’m sold… 

My other award is probably going to go down as the greatest blog award in the history of time. Even if I blog for another 20 years I don’t think I’ll ever get another one quite so cool.

It’s the Zombie Chicken Award.

And was awarded by the wonderful Emily ‘Woah that’s a big one! Let’s take a photo of it!’ Bassin at Maternal Tales From The South Coast.

It is explained as follows:

“The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all.”

Awesome.

So in the same spirit of Zombie Chicken Excellence I hereby pass this award-of-all-awards to the following five people:

The NDM at Not Drowning, Mothering. Of course – this award could have been written for you. I can’t think of a more a more worthy recipient. Now come and accept it graciously and no farting till you have left the stage area please.

Rebecca Weston-Super-Mum?(survey says… YES!) for accidentally eating something that was NOT Tesco Value Mousse and living to tell (and blog!) the tale. There but for the grace of god go I (I have a habit of sniffing things that look like, but are in fact not, chocolate – the tasting is only a matter of time).

Hazel Hot Cross Mum because her brilliant ‘Eliza Plum – Credit Crunch Mum’ was the best thing I’ve read in ages AND because she’s not letting her kids watch any TV for an entire week! Is she mad?! Or just very, very brave. Who knows (and no, I’m not following suit. When would I eat?!)

Amber at Strocel.com because her blog never fails to make the world seem a little sunnier and brighter and because she is my fellow adventurer in the whole ‘living your dreams’ writing bungee-jump I seem to have embarked on lately.

And last but not least, the fabulous Insomniac Mummy. Because she only had a baby 15 weeks ago and yet still manages to blog brilliantly and talk in whole sentences. She is my hero.

There you go! Congrats! x