The Busy Mommy UK

Tap dancing starter!

I have taught tap dance for 14 and a half years and I’ve done tap dancing for a 31 years and I can honestly say that I love it!!! It gives you a great work out, improved balance, a more solid core, a better sense of rhythm and a love for old classic movies!! So I thought I’d bring my love of this dance style to you and get you started on your tap dance journey.

First things first – you’re going to need shoes. There are loads of different styles of tap shoe but the best ones I’ve found, for beginners, are these. They have a small heel but nothing too high and they tie up to give a snug fit. I have had a few who bought full lace up Oxford styles but unless you spend a fortune on them, the rubber on the sole just behind the metal toe plate is too thick and you’ll struggle to get a good sound without sticking to the floor! If you’re going to a school, check what their uniform policy is. You might need a specific style and colour. But please shop around! You will find a massive price variation across different shops.

You also need to think about practice. If you are going to a dance school to learn, you’ll be obviously fine there. But if you’re doing this at home, you’ll need a surface to practice on. Please don’t do this on your floor – I scratched my parents new tile floor as a teenager and before that I’d pulled holes in the lino with the screws in my taps! You can buy a tap dancing floor for home but they run really expensive. Your best bet is to grab an offcut of lino from your local flooring shop and pop that on top of upper hard floor (not a carpet). As long as you’ve got no screws sticking out of your taps, this will be fine!!!

And that is the starting points to get you tapping. Over the summer I will try and bring you 1 lesson a week and you should be able to grasp the basic steps by autumn. How exciting!!!

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I don’t like cricket, oh no. I love it!

I have been starting to look for things to put on the children’s rolling Christmas lists that we keep going and just add to and take off as needed (I know, I know!!) and Jonah is heavily into cricket. So I’ve been looking for some things to put down for him that can encourage this love. Just putting ‘cricket gifts’ into a search engine tends to bring up more adult gifts, so I’ve trawled Amazon for the following ideas for kids.

1. Test cricket pocket sport game. This contains different dice and you work to get the batter out by appealing and reviewing. It’s a great way to pass the time and pops in your pocket or bag to play wherever you are

2. Cricket activity book. This is a great buy to get their minds working and I’d also brilliant if you need to go out anywhere. Jonah really enjoys doing this with his Uncle and they end up in a debate about the Bears or the Pears!!!

3. Cricket water bottle. There are lots of bottles and drinking paraphernalia out there too with football and rugby but this is the nicest thing I’ve seen to do with cricket!! This is on Jonah’s list (sssshhhhhh 🤫) and I really hope he gets it!

4. You are the umpire book. This is a book of illustrations and you have to decide the outcome in each instance. This is brilliant for anyone with even a passing interest in cricket and provides hours of good natured debate about who is right!

5. Cricket t-shirt. I lurve this t-shirt!!! It’s so understated and any non-cricket lovers might be left a little bit uncertain as to what it is about. And it’s budget friendly too.

https://www.numonday.com/product/cricket-birthday-celebration-card/

6. Cricket card. This card comes from a small business and can be made with any writing on it and in it. It’s perfect for a birthday or Christmas card for a cricket lover.

7. Cricket biographies. This book is pitched perfectly for kids who are enjoying cricket. It gives enough information to keep them entertained without overwhelming them or boring them!

8. Cricket score book. This is a must if you’ve got a stats mad child! It is laid out so it’s easy to understand and fill in and will enable you and/or your child to keep track of trends and oddities.

9. Score board desk tidy. If you’re always trying to get your cricket mad kids to get tidy, then this is the trinket for you. It’s not just for the desk either – it can be used to keep anything in!

10. All Star and Dynamo cricket clubs. Lastly is the thing that got Jonah into cricket. My mom buys these for Jonah for his birthday and he loves them. He started in All Stars 2 years ago and is now on Dynamos and the improvement he’s made is astounding. The programme is a number of hour long sessions for a few weeks starting in May or June and the coaches are brilliant with the kids. I can’t recommend it enough.

I hope these few ideas have helped with your cricket loving gifts. Let me know if you’ve got any more ideas 🥰

Slimming World dieting

In May 2021 I had to see a consultant about my arthritis in my knees. They basically told me that the only thing I could do was to lose weight and pray as I was too old for a knee replacement. I wallowed in self pity for a few days and then got my act together. I joined Slimming World and got started. My husband wasn’t 100% sure about it but was happy to help me out!!

I decided to go for the online version of slimming world which gives you a funky app to record all your meals in, a million books and best of all, no meetings to attend!! It seemed pretty easy and I genuinely wasn’t hungry at all. The meal prep took a little bit of time but batch cooking was easy and I got into the swing of it. In the first month I lost 9lbs and after 6 months I was at 3st gone. But then my online membership ran out, I wasn’t in a position to renew it (it’s not cheap!!) and I really didn’t want to go to groups and get weighed etc in front of people. On top of this, I’d got all my books and knowledge from the previous 6 months so I decided to go it alone.

Unfortunately this was over Christmas, my birthday, new year and the greyest few months we’d had in the UK for a long time! And so I put half a stone back on. I started looking at pictures of myself from before I started losing weight and looked at me now and I am so much happier and contented with my life. I needed to get back on the horse. Again, money was tight so I couldn’t join up again. I had to be more disciplined and actually use what I’d got at home.

I bought one of these weighted hula hoops (https://amzn.to/3Nsx2rJ) a long time ago and decided to start using it. It’s really easy to put together and after a week of using it for 10 minutes a day, I’ve dropped a link already!!!

Once I decided to get back on track I knew I needed a way to do it visually as well. So I had a look on Amazon and found this set of books. I LOVE THEM!! The work well with Slimming World and keep me on track too. I can’t find a better set of tools to help me on this journey.

Let me know if you have any other ways of helping me and others on this journey 🥰

3 things to keep you sane at a soft play!

I’m sat, almost at the end of my second kids party of the day feeling a touch overwhelmed my the noise and sugar intake!! So I have been thinking of ways to make it easier at a soft play. Let’s face it, soft play is a massive room filled with screaming, grubby children all hyped up because they are at a party. It’s never going to be easy to deal with!! But hopefully these things will help you out! (I may get a few pennies if you click and buy from any of the links).

1. A water bottle!!! This seems simple but you will function better if you have a drink and the drinks in the soft play aren’t always the nicest or cheapest. On top of this, a drink for your charge in the soft play is always a good idea! I love these here https://amzn.to/3J8f8YF in a variety of colours and I’ve not managed to make mine leak yet!

2. This works if you’re sat at a table on your own and if you’re sat with people – a puzzle book and pen. It doesn’t need to be a big one, just enough to keep your brain focused on something other than sticky Oliver and his screaming! https://amzn.to/43xXVA0 is a great one with a variety of puzzles and you can do them with the people at your table (if you feel like talking to them!)

3. Wipes. Always carry wipes! I really struggle with the stickiness of the tables at a soft play. I have no doubt that they are cleaned, but my own personal issues mean I feel much better after I’ve wiped the table myself. I always have a pack of these https://amzn.to/3P0DyXL in my bag to make sure I can clean what I need to, when I need to.

These 3 things have really helped me get through today and I hope they help you get through any other sticky, grubby parties in the future!

5 Father’s Day gifts on a budget

With Father’s Day just around the corner, I’ve been looking at gifts to get my husband from the children. I’ve not got a great rep with this!!! The year we had Grace I decided to get Phil a hairdressers head so he could practise doing her hair. He didn’t touch it and I ended up selling it a couple of years later! So here are my top 5 amazon buys (so they arrive in plenty of time!!) for a happy dad! (I may get paid a small fee if you click and buy).

First up is a novelty gift (currently at £7.95) that most dads will love!!! It’s perfect for every type of dad – sport loving, beer drinking, tee-totaller. Whatever your dad is in to, he will love this gift. Jelly beans in a unique can! 😂

Next up is a slightly quirky gift – a grow your own bonsai tree set. These are obviously something which needs a bit of work but they are easy enough to grow and look beautiful.

Third is this super cute leather bracelet for less than £10!!! It comes from a small business and can be personalised too so it can be made for any relationship. On top of all that, it can be adjusted to fit so it really is the perfect gift!

This one is one of my favourites. It comes as either a pin hammer or a claw hammer and you can have it personalised. This is perfect for that DIY loving (or hating!!) man in your life. And for less than a tenner too.

Lastly comes this little gem. I know, having lost my dad at the age of 21 in 2006, that Father’s Day isn’t always easy. Loss of a father, divorce, estrangement, foster care, adoption and so many other reasons can make this day difficult. This bookmark is great and gives a perfect message. Whatever your situation, stick with those you love and who love you 🥰

The best outdoor toys for kids for less than £10!

My kids have gotten into water balloons, big time, this year but they are a ridiculous use of single use plastic and are horrible to fill and tie!! So I started to look around for alternatives and found loads of great outdoor toys for kids that won’t break the bank. And they can be used in any size garden!! (There are links through this article that may pay me a small amount if you click and buy.)

1. Reusable water balloons: these are put in a bucket of water and the little lip held to the sides. They fill with water and then self seal. Once they have been thrown and there is a soaked child, you can refill them again and again. It’s brilliant!!!

2. Scatch bat and ball: this was a hit when I was a child and it’s a hit now! My 5 year old hasn’t got to worry about catching it (but it helps with hand-eye coordination) and my 9 year tries to catch it ridiculous positions!!! These can be found here (https://amzn.to/3MZw3xp) but you may find them cheaper in your local B&M/Home Bargains or similar.

3. Easy to fill water pistols: my 2 were given a pair of these from their godparents and they provided hours of fun. Pop the one end in a bucket of water and pull the plunger back. The barrel fills with water and you can fire it at your sibling or parent!!

4. Safe dartboard: this funky dinosaur can be hung inside or out (and comes with 2 hooks) and has sticky balls and safe darts for your kids to throw at him. This can help with hand-eye coordination, turn taking and on older kids, addition of their scores too.

5. Chalks: these are a toy through the ages! My grandparents had them, my mom had them, I had them and now my kids have them. Any sort of flat, solid floor (concrete, slabs etc) is a canvas and you can let little imaginations run wild. The clean up is really easy too – a bit of water and it’s gone. (A top tip is to wet the chalk slightly fit brighter colours).

I’m very glad I’ve got these for my 2 and they can get on well enough to play together! But I love the times they ask me to play too. Give me a shout if you’d like any more information 😊

My top 5 cleaning tips (from a cleaning business owner)

Something very exciting happened today!!! I got a second cleaner alongside me in my business! That takes me to 2 cleaners and myself. He’s a lovely lad and has great attention to detail. But it wasn’t until I was taking him through what needs to happen in each room that I realised what knowledge I had acquired since starting this business. So here are my top 5 cleaning tips:

1. Dust everything first. This seems obvious but the number of people who go straight in with a damp cloth in the kitchen or bathroom are just causing themselves more trouble! Get the dust up with a cloth that you are ok getting a bit damp and then spray and wipe. You may need to go over it with a a dry cloth again at the end but it’s much easier than have wet dust.

2. Dishwasher tablets for life! A box of the cheapest dishwasher tablets you can find will be a life saver for you. Pop one in the plughole and pour boiling water over it (carefully) for a grease free drain, put one in your mop bucket with hot water for gleaming floors and rub one on those pesky grease stains on your oven door. Just amazing!

3. Shower spray for stubborn stains. If you get a lot of limescale in your toilet or around your taps, try the spray for inside your shower. I spray a few times down the toilet and leave it while I can something else. Then I go at it with the toilet brush and it lifts so much easier.

4. Polish and a glass cloth. You can buy specific glass cloths for glass which are like microfibre but less fluffy. When you combine that with spraying normal polish on your glass, you get beautifully clean windows and glass with minimum effort. And none of that vinegar smell which sometimes comes with glass cleaners.

5. This is a do not! Please don’t but one of the silicon toilet brushes to completely replace your normal brush. They are great for getting under the rim but actually cleaning any stain off the toilet bowl is a nightmare with them! They just rub it around. Better yet, don’t have a toilet brush at all. Try one of those toilet duck ones which have replaceable ends which you flush away. No more stinky, bacteria laden brush sat by your toilet any more!!

Do your have any other top tips that can help make cleaning easier? Let me know in the comments 🤩

Craft selling sites for small businesses

One of my little businesses is a craft shop that I run with my mom. It’s all online and made to order (other than the first one which is made to take photos etc) and some of the things can be personalised or in distant colours. All of this means that we need a selling platform which takes all the stress out of the different variations but gives us enough coverage that we actually sell stuff! We were hiring a shelf in a local shop and paid out £160 over a few months and brought in £30. This was partially because we were learning our niche and how to present on a permanent shelf (rather than craft stall etc) but it was also just not the right place or time for us.

Since then, social media has tried to suggest various sites to me and so I thought I would have a look at a selection of them and give you a pros and cons list for each.

Etsy. This is by far the biggest and most well known but for us, it didn’t work. We are a small company who are quite specialised in what we do but we’re still learning our craft too.

Pros: really well known and the fees aren’t extortionate. There is also a really well developed app.
Cons: the fees aren’t as low as others and are commission based as well as a fee per item to list. Also, because it’s well known, you get a lot of sellers similar to you. This makes it difficult to sell.

Numonday. This is where we are at the moment and it’s great.

Pros: it’s cheap!! You pay £3 a month or £24 for the year and that’s it. Everything you sell is 100% yours! It also has a dedicated Facebook page for you to promote with tens of thousands of people meaning you can advertise for free to so many more people.
Cons: it’s not very well known so you may struggle to get traffic. There is no app either but the website is really good.

Shopify. I tried this but couldn’t get to grips with it.

Pros: this site is really well developed and is getting more popular. The app is great too. On top of this, it is a ‘site builder’ so you are investing in your business as opposed to just trying to get the sales.
Cons: the set up can be quite fiddly as it wants you to register, set up your payment provider and so much more in a very confusing manor. It’s also not massively cheap.

MadeMe. Again this is one that I’ve tried but not got on with.

Pros: you can cancel at any time and there is no commission on sales. It is £25 a year at the moment (November 2022) but is normally £50, or £5 a month.
Cons: not the cheapest and in the same way as Etsy, there are quite a few sellers on there so you may struggle to sell.

Conscious Crafties. This is one that I’ve not used myself but I’ve researched it.

Pros: this is an amazing outlet for those suffering with chronic conditions. You have unlimited listings and no commission is taken.
Cons: this is one of the most expensive out there at £5 a month, £25 for 6 months or £50 for 12 months. You also have to have met their criteria before you can sell.

There are so many more out there but these are the ones that are being pushed at the moment. I cannot recommend Numonday enough – they are great and always helpful if you need a question answering. But different sites will suit different people.

If you’ve got a favourite site or any comments, leave them below.

How I use social media to sell and promote my businesses

I joined the Body Shop at Home in May 2020 and obviously with the lock down in place, I couldn’t go out and do the typical parties that were associated with the brand. So I learned very quickly how to use social media to my advantage. I have worked the algorithms and made a successful business out of the Body Shop at Home, my own craft business and my cleaning business. On top of that it got me a place on the management team of the Dudley District of Read Easy UK as Publicity Officer. So I thought I would share my top tips for making the most of your social media profiles.

Get out there and seen. This means getting onto all the socials that you can. I am of an age that things like Snapchat but Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok I can get on with! It is up to you if you want separate profiles for the things you are doing but I find switching between them clunky. So I have multiple Facebook groups and pages and then just one of the others. If you have multiple profiles, pages or groups, remember you need to post to all of them as listed below.
Each day, pick a letter of the alphabet and go through your friends or those you follow starting with that letter. React to at least one of their posts, the more recent the better. Commenting is also a great idea if you do so without being creepy! This is easier to do on some platforms than others but is a vital step.
Find groups where you can advertise your business and make links with people – this is mainly on Facebook. Find your local groups, groups of things you like doing, makeup groups, sport groups, whatever floats your boat. You need to be able to make genuine connections with the people in the groups so don’t just join everything you can do – it won’t help!!
In these groups, react to comments and make your own comments too. If you make a connection with someone, request to be their friend with a little comment like ‘I feel we really got on when we chatted in xxxxxx group’. Just don’t be weird!!!
Spend 10 minutes a day going through your stories and reacting to all if you can. But be wary of companies. Don’t like ‘5 minute craft’ videos else you won’t be able to get rid of them, for example!!
Spend 10 minutes a day going through your feed and reacting and commenting to your friends posts.
Keep your profile active but don’t overdo it. You shouldn’t be posting things in quick succession as this plays havoc with your algorithms. Once in a morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening.
You must also react and comment to every single person who comments on your posts. This will help solidify the links between you and the other people in your algorithm.
Consistency is key. Keep your group/page active and include interaction posts as well as selling or information posts. And always reply to people! It’s only polite if nothing else.
Lastly I want you to try and stop using Facebook messenger and Whatsapp to chat with the people you are in business with. This might be other consultants or members of your team. As both of these are owned by Meta, it means that they contribute to the algorithm.

If you can do all of these, you should see your interaction increase. The basis of your algorithm is that it tries to figure out who wants to see your posts and who you want to interact with but you have to teach it.

If you find anything else which helps, comment and let us know

How I get my children helping round the house

I’ve been meaning to write this for ages and I’ve finally got round to it.

As a child, I always knew what I needed to do at home before I was allowed to play. I had ‘chores’ but I must admit I was rubbish at them!! When Jonah got to be the right age, I wanted to get him into the routine of doing a few things to help around the house and to get used to doing a bit of school work for when homework starts coming. And so my lists were born.

I’m a big fan of lists in general and Jonah is very particular about life so this seemed like a perfect way to keep him happy. The morning list is one of things that he needs to do before he comes downstairs. Make his bed, open his curtains, switch off his lamp and light and do his bathroom things. Nice and simple and for the most part he does them all. Grace is starting to do some of these where she can too.

The second list is an after school list. This happens regardless of whether there is an after school club or we go out straight from school. When we get home, the following has to be done:

1. Get changed. A really simple one and a bit of a hang over from covid when we wanted them into clean clothes. But it means that there is clear separation between school and home.

2. Put away the clean clothes in their room. Grace needs a bit of help with this but can do her underwear and trousers. Jonah can do this really well now.

3. Put away 4 things in their room. This is such an important one as it forces them to find a place for everything but on their own terms. If there aren’t 4 things to put away, they either put away things downstairs or they do a bit of dusting in their room.

4. This is their favourite – have a snack!!

5. Do 10 minutes ‘work’. This is based on what they need to do for school. Grace is practicing her writing and blending SATP sounds at the moment so we work on those. Jonah has TTRS and spellings to work through so that’s what he does. We also spend a few minutes writing the alphabet as his writing needs work.

As soon as they have done these they can do whatever they want. I try to get a different box of toys out each day but some days they just want a bit of comfort tv. They then help set the table for tea too.

The last list we have is for school holidays longer than a week. It starts with the morning list and adds on 10 minutes of reading, 30 minutes playing outside, help 1 person in the house and help tidy 1 room. It finishes with the after school list and the rest of the day is their own. In totally it will take about an hour, maybe a bit more.

None of these are easy and we regularly run into strops or tantrums but we talked about it before we set the lists up and agreed what was reasonable. I’m really hopeful that this will help them in the future and stops me losing my mind when their bedrooms are an absolute tip!!!

What do you do daily with your children?