Helpful Mum

I was unfortunate enough to end up in A&E in October. I hadn't anticipated it, but my GP said my headache sounded like it could be a bleed on the brain, and sent me straight there. I was seen quickly and processed through to the AMU unit where I was given a bed for the night. The communication was pretty poor to be honest, and I didn't realise I was staying on the ward until around 9pm, at which point I asked if I could have some food as I'd been in the hospital since 4.00pm.I'm not a fan of a tuna sandwich, but wolfed it down. At this point I still didn't really know why I was being admitted. I was informed at around 10pm that I would be having a lumbar puncture at some point in the night, but they couldn't be sure what sort of time. I was brought a toothbrush, some toothpaste and an eye mask for sleeping, as I hadn't brought anything into hospital with me at all.I figured it was worth trying to get some sleep. I was nervous because I didn't know if the other ladies on the ward had Covid, and I hadn't been informed of the result of my test either. I also hadn't been informed whether or not I should keep the face mask on, so I figured I should stay on the side of caution and leave it on. It did make sleeping rather interesting, with an eye mask and also a face mask. To be honest, I got very little sleep. One of the elderly patients had dementia and didn't understand where she was. She cried out 'help' every 20 minutes or so, which made sleeping impossible! At 3.30am the doctors came in to do the lumbar puncture, along with a student nurse who wanted to see how it was done. It didn't really hurt, I just made sure I breathed slowly through it whilst they stuck the giant needle in! One of the things I felt most sad about from my night on the ward was that the other ladies were all so alone. There were five of us in total, one blind lady, one deaf lady, a woman with dementia and another who was having irregularities with her heart. No-one was allowed any visitors and none of them had an advocate for them or their care. It was difficult to experience as someone who was able to take myself off to the toilet and eat my own food. The lady next to me told me that she hadn't seen her husband in nearly 8 months. They had been married 75 years, but he'd been taken into care. Due to the pandemic, she hadn't seen him since and you could tell just how heartbroken she was about it.When morning came, I'd had around 30 minutes of broken sleep and my headache was unsurprisingly worse than ever! I still didn't really know why I was being kept in, but I was told the doctor would see me on his rounds later that day. The nursing staff were amazing. How they manage to keep going is beyond me. One nurse mentioned they are not allowed to bring their own drink bottles in, so they are all drinking far less than they should at the moment, which made me sad. Food was delicious, and pudding was treacle pudding which is one of my favourite ever things to eat. The doctors did their rounds, but mine never came back to chat to me. I passed the time mainly lying still and wondering if I should be grateful that I was having some time alone!Late afternoon came along, and suddenly a doctor appeared with injections to put into my head. She started by saying "I am sure this has been explained to you, but I will just go over it again". No one had spoken to me, so I had no idea I was going to have injections into my head at some point! The doctor explained that once the injections were done, I would be able to go home, so I didn't hesitate in agreeing to them. The first one was uncomfortable, but ok. The second one seemed fine, but the second she took the needle out, I went totally lightheaded and very nearly passed out. She had to tip my bed so that my legs were up in the air, and said I gave her a fright! Not long after that, I was able to go home, with absolutely no idea what they had treated me for, or why I had spent time overnight in hospital. My discharge paperwork stated that I had occipital neuralgia, which I had to google to find out what it was.The headache certainly hadn't gone, but it wasn't quite as intense as when I had been sent to A&E. I assumed that I was just to contact my GP if I needed any further advice. My stay in hospital was in October, when COVID cases were low. I was lucky that for the most part, I felt safe. I was sad that the communication was so poor that I didn't have any clue why I was being kept in, or when I would be allowed to leave. Overall, I was so frustrated for the other patients on my ward, who had no-one to stand up for them and question what was being done and why. It's so difficult when you have no one to ask the questions that you forget to! HelpfulMum

Well January, what a month you were. All the anticipation of the end of the Christmas holidays, looking forward to the children heading back to school and having some time alone again only to enter a third lockdown. I have spent a fair amount of this month wondering how long it will be before I get some time alone again!We have knuckled down and got on with homeschool though. It's infinitely easier now that my son is at secondary school as all of his lessons are online. It leaves me homeschooling my daughter, which is definitely simpler than with both children needing me. My own work has taken a backseat though, which I find hard, but I will be ok. I took the huge decision to come off my antidepressants in January. I did wonder if coming off them during lockdown was my best ever plan, but so far it has been good. I hope it will reduce headaches that I have been getting. Here's hoping! I am enjoying the lighter evenings already and seeing the snowdrops peek through the ground. Spring is on the way! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sian Russell, helpfulmum® (@helpfulmum) I share these videos over on Instagram with the hashtag #miam and #monthinaminute I'll also still be posting on my blog, just without the linky. If you tag me, I shall still add your videos to my playlist on YouTube. I love seeing these round-ups! HelpfulMum

Have you ever thought about switching to a more natural deodorant? I hadn't really thought about it before, but once I started researching and realised the links between aluminium and breast cancer, I wanted to switch. I also wanted to try a more eco product as well, a more ethical brand that is cruelty free. I didn't know which brand to go for, so have tried a few and wanted to share them with you.  Wild is a sustainable Natural Deodorant which is delivered straight to your door. The case is made to be used again and again and you simply use a refill when you have run out. This is a very stylish design. You can choose your colour and also the scent you want. Again, this deodorant doesn't block your pores, so it's kind on your skin.  Again, this isn't an antiperspirant, but Wild has ingredients to keep you dry all day. Wild uses zero plastic refils using plant materials in packaging which can be composted. The company uses sustainable materials, which is a big win in my book. Wild skincare products are vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, dermatologically tested and free from artificial fragrance, parabens, aluminium and sulfates. Pitrok is a natural crystal deodorant, but not an antiperspirant. It doesn't stop you from sweating, but it stops the sweat from smelling. However, it doesn't block your pores, and is wonderful if you have suffered from itchy underarms in the past. I have to admit that I have suffered from itchy armpits in the past and I had no idea that this was because of the deodorant that I was using. Pitrok is vegan and cruelty free. It's free from all the nasties too, Parabens, SLS/SLES, Propylene Glycol, Silicone, Aluminium Chlorohydrate and Aluminium Zirconium. Initially I found it odd that I was still sweating, but have got used to it. The scent is nice, although if you prefer it to be unscented, they do that too. I really enjoy using this deodorant and will be buying this again. I bought these Salt of the Earth deodorants for my children as they are both reaching an age when they will need to use it. These smell amazing and both look fun and like a product they would use. Whilst my children are young enough for me to make decisions about giving them a natural deodorant I shall do. Salt of the Earth are vegan, cruelty free, aluminium Chlorohydrate free andeco-friendly. This is a crystal based product which is good for your skin and leaves you feeling refreshed.  I am impressed with this range too and will definitely buy from them again. There are so many natural deodorants on the market and I think it's a perfect time to look at changing your deodorant. It's not something I had ever really considered before, and now I don't know why I didn't think about it sooner! What are you waiting for? Make the change. Disclosure: I was sent the Wild deodorant to try, but was not asked to write about it. I purchased the other items myself. HelpfulMum

We were invited by Viking to try three great craft activities for children during lockdown. Viking are an office supplier who also sell stationery, craft supplies and cleaning products. We joined in with a zoom chat one Saturday morning with our children to get creative. We knew that it involved chocolate, so we were excited to join in! We'd been sent the products we would need by Viking ahead of the chat, including toilet roll, and hand soap. Both children were keen to join in, which surprised me as my son doesn't tend to enjoy crafts. We knew we would be making bubblewrap chocolate, a fire-breathing dragon and parcel tape feet. The lovely Jane from Tea & Crafting led the workshops and it was fun to simply be told what to do and not have to be imaginative about creative activities. I have definitely struggled to constantly come up with new ideas to keep the children entertained. The bubblewrap chocolate was definitely the favourite in our house and it looked amazing. I didn't even get a bite though as it disappeared very quickly! The fire breathing dragon was my favourite and I enjoyed seeing the children's creativity. My son's ended up looking rather like a ballerina and my daughter made an amazing scaled creation with huge eyes! The parcel tape feet were the most fiddly, but with a bit of help we got there and they were great fun and made us all giggle as they spun around. There are full instructions of how to make all the crafts below. I hadn't realised that Viking sold such a huge range of products and I will definitely buy from them in the future. In fact, I have been looking at the Viking website for hand sanitiser as we need some for the B&B before we re-open in a few weeks. Thank you so much to Viking for inviting us to take part in the craft workshop, it was really good fun and gave us some great ideas to keep entertained this summer. Fire Breathing Dragon 1. Clean your working area and wash your hands or use some hand sanitiser before starting. 2. Take a sheet of A4 paper. Measure how high your toilet roll tube is and then cut a strip of paper along the long side of the A4 using that measurement.  3. Spread glue over your toilet roll holder and then glue your paper to the toilet roll tube and cut where the paper overlaps. Trim off any edges that overlap the opening if needed.  4. Add eyes and a nose to your dragon's body, do this by using a Sharpie to draw the eyes and then draw a little square under your eye. This square will fold back and be glued down so that the dragon eyes stay upright. Do the same for the nose and glue the eyes and nose down. 5. Cut tissue paper into strips no longer than about 10cm in length and about a finger’s width. Glue the strips to the top (this would be where the dragon eyes and nose are placed) and bottom of the inside of the toilet roll tube. There’s no need to add tissue paper to the sides of the toilet roll, at this point it's fine if the tissue paper overlaps.  6. Hold your dragon at an angle in front of you and breathe into the toilet roll tube - you'll see it’s tissue paper fire breath come to life!  Chocolate Bubble Wrap  1. We loved using Aero chocolate for this activity as it was so easy for little hands to break this apart. It just crumbled with little pressure, making it the perfect chocolate to use.  2. As we'll be touching food products everyone should wash their hands or use some hand sanitiser.  3. Clean your working area thoroughly.  4. Cut a small piece of bubble wrap about A4 size and just give it a quick wash and dry it.  5. Crumble about 3-4 chocolate bars into a small bowl using your fingers to squash the Aero and watch it crumble beautifully into the bowl.  6. Wash your hands to clean away all the chocolate bits left on your hand. 7. Melt in the microwave at 30 second increments. Ensure you stir after each 30 second blast, so you can evenly distribute the heat and help it melt quicker.  8. Pour the melted chocolate onto the bubble wrap and then spread it over evenly with a spatula or knife, making sure it's not too thinly spread.  9. Pop it into the fridge for about 30 minutes to set.  10. Whilst the chocolate is setting clean your working area again wiping away any spilt chocolate etc.  11. After its set peel back the bubble wrap from the chocolate and be amazed at your homemade chocolate bubble wrap.  Parcel Tape Feet Make sure to clean your working area and wash your hands before starting on this activity. 1. Cut a straw in half and tape it (using the parcel tape) to the inside of the parcel tape roll making sure the straws stick out of the edge of the tape on opposite sides (i.e. left and right) and that they are placed on opposite ends (i.e. top and bottom) inside the parcel tape roll. Take a look at the image to help you place the straws. You only need a finger's width of straw coming out of the tube so trim off any excess.  2. Remove the cotton wool from the cotton buds on both ends. If you’re using a kebab stick, there’s no need to trim at all.  3. Take a sheet of A4 paper and fold it half. Then trace around your child's foot or get siblings to help each other to do this. Cut two little feet out of the paper.  4. Place your feet (ensuring it’s a left and right foot side by side) and tape the cotton bud to the inside of each foot (using image as a guide).  5. Slot the cotton buds into the straw, roll the parcel tape and watch your feet walk!   Disclosure: We received craft products in return for this post. HelpfulMum

We've had a small taste of normality now and it's fair to say that it was incredible. My son went back to school in the middle of June and the following week we had an email to say my daughter could go back too. Thankfully the school is small enough that all years can go back (albeit with some on a rotational basis) and they can all socially distance too. It was very strange having both children back at school and the silence was a bit overwhelming. I have felt on a far more even keel in June with my mental health being more stable. I've been having regular therapy which is definitely making a big difference. It's generally been a much better month than May and even the children are getting along better. Well, that might be pushing it a bit, but there's been an improvement. I am really looking forward to July. We're keeping the B&B closed for the next month and will get to spend time together as a family. We're also getting a dog in a couple of days and I can't begin to tell you how excited that makes me! I share these videos over on Instagram with the hashtag #miam and #monthinaminute I'll also still be posting on my blog, just without the linky. If you tag me, I shall still add your videos to my playlist on YouTube. I love seeing these round-ups! HelpfulMum