Friday 16 November 2012

Faces of Jasmine

The Serious One


The "Is it?!" One


The Happy One


The "Have You Not Got Enough Photos Already?" Eye Roll One

The Excited "Yay, You Let Me Use Your Phone!" One

Saturday 10 November 2012

I Miss You




I miss you, but you know this.  I miss the stupid things, the things I didn't realise I took notice of.  Watching you play Tetris of an evening; smiling at the concentration in your face.  Random road rage - bus drivers don't say the same things as you did when they see traffic wardens or police cars. I miss shopping with you, and for you.  I don't buy coffee anymore.  I see it and it reminds me of you, its smell and colour, everything.  But I do not buy it, it is of no use to me now.  I miss the cuddles, the contact we had without even thinking about it; how casual we were.  I miss you every time I see our children.  When our son gives me this look that is just you and I wonder how I ever managed one day without you, let alone 33.
I miss the laughter, especially at the things we found so hilarious that no one else really understood.  I miss the days we woke early and just decided to drive for miles and miles until we found a beach or a forest; someplace interesting and unfamiliar to share a day alone.  I miss watching you play with the kids, the way you made them chuckle helplessly.  I miss listening to your heartbeat in bed.  I even miss the football!
I miss you constantly.  The pain is less, with time, it doesn't take my breath away so much, but I do not miss you less.  The pain is different, it aches all the time and nothing is as fun anymore.  Knowing that I will not see you today, tomorrow, this week or indeed month, well, it makes the days long and cloudy.  I love you, for sure, and realise it now more than ever.  I could never doubt it.  And it grows, the love, it must do, to cover the spaces between us.  To reach us both, it must be huge.

I am lonely, and homesick.  Home is not where we have been staying, nor where we are moving to, it is somewhere I have yet to set eyes on, it is somewhere so far away.  It is with you, my home; it is wherever you are.

I miss you.  I love you.

Sunday 4 November 2012

Tantrums By The Bottle

With Sonny having just turned two, tantrums are at the forefront of family life.  Nothing is easy anymore and simple tasks, like leaving the house, can take hours.  Happily, this blog post is about a whole other kind of Tantrum.

 
 
With their own salon based in the heart of London, and an exciting range of bath time products, Tantrum are working hard to revolutionise the hair care experience for children.  The packaging is bold and funky, with real children starring on the labels.  This interested Jasmine, who was soon making up stories for them because she couldn't quite read the quotes underneath.
 
 
 
 
We began our bathtime routine by using the shampoo and body wash.  Being the independent little flower that she is, Jasmine decided she needed no assistance in washing her own hair.  Thankfully, the bottle was easy enough to open and close for someone with small hands.  The scent is fresh and, as Jasmine soon discovered, you only have to use a small amount to make a nice lather.
 
 
 
 
It also worked nicely as a body wash for both Jasmine and Sonny, who were sharing a bath.  Sonny is altogether more difficult when it comes to bathtime as he does not enjoy having his hair washed and also has very sensitive skin.  Thankfully, the Tantrum products proved mild enough not to irritate his skin or eyes.
 
 
 
 
Next up was the apple shampoo, which Jasmine helped me to apply to her brother's hair.  It lathered easily and rinsed nicely, with no residue.  Sonny was happy withe the experience, and Jasmine loved the smell - it was this that prompted her to tell me that she preferred this shampoo to her usual "princess" one.  High praise indeed!
 
 


 
 
 
We finished off with the coconut conditioner, which smelled divine and was easy to apply (Jasmine, once again, opted to do this herself).  Having rather difficult hair, a good conditioner is always on our shopping list.  We look for something that not only smells good but that leaves her hair soft and smooth, which it often very much is not.
 
 

 
 
Overall, we very much enjoyed our Tantrum experience and will definitely be using their products again, particularly the conditioner, which, after blowdrying, left Jasmine's hair looking like this:
 



Disclosure:  Tantrum provided us with a selection of their products for the purposes of this review.  All opinions are our own.