HABA 75th anniversary - Biofino play food

As a mum, it comes completely naturally to me to disregard my own wants and needs for the sake of my kids.  The last bag of crisps or the biggest piece of cake would always go to them, not me. That may be a very simplistic example but it illustrates the point.

My ex husband did not prioritise in the same way. He always put himself first.

To use the food example again, I distinctly remember an argument about the children eating all the cheese. He was furious that there was none for him. I was incensed that he was once again proving his own selfishness.

Horrified as I am with retrospect that we would have such arguments in front of the children, we did. My little Taylor was there. Taylor was timid and wide-eyed. She never really said much. It was so unexpected and hilariously funny when she interjected in a sing song play ground taunt sort of way (naa, na na, naa, na style) with theatrically wagging finger, you got no chee-eese!!

Taylor's 'you got no cheese ' comment has become the stuff of family legend with me and my girls. I don't recall my ex husband being particulalry amused by it.

Anyway, we DO got cheese. We got cheese courtesy of HABA's 75th anniversary blogging project.

We were sent a selection of HABA goodies to review, the first of which, from the Biofino play food range, is Sliced Cheese.

  

My children love preparing picnics and feasts with their pretend food and it is definitely something I like to encourage.

The Biofino Sliced Cheese Variety contains three different sliced cheeses (the identity of one I can hazard a guess at being something like Emmental because it  has holes) and a rather nice tomato slice as a contribution towards your five-a-day. It was a bit of a fiddle to separate the slices as they were firmly attached to each other to keep them looking neat and well displayed inside the packaging.

Once that mission was complete we had enough yellow and orange felt squares and circles (I mean cheese) to make sandwiches for all our hungry teddies!

Unfortunately, to re-use that phrase coined by my daughter many years ago - we got no bread!!

(The HABA Biofino play food range is suitable for children 3+)


See also:
 HABA Mini Memo
HABA Sleepy Princess

Britain in a Day

The Britain in a Day project invited everybody across the country to upload a video to their You Tube channel of whatever they happened to be doing on 12 November 2011 to create a snapshot of life in the UK today. As making videos of my family is something I love to do, it seemed like a perfect opportunity for me.

We had a bonfire party planned for the 12th November and media student, Ivy, was home from Uni for it so she was available to help with filming the footage.

I always enjoy preparing for parties. It was lovely spending time cooking and getting the house ready. My eldest daughter's fireman boyfriend and his friend were our pyro-technicians and arrived with impressive armfuls of fireworks shortly after it began to get dark.

This has become something of a tradition for us. They provide the fireworks and I provide the food and venue. Each year, they find new ways to improve their "letting off" technique to give the best possible display. Whether it was the blow torch or simply the new firework supplier I don't know but they completely surpassed themselves this year with a display so spectacular it sent my two little ones running for cover! I am glad I had contributed  a few 'gentle' fireworks and some sparklers more appropriate for those fearful of the big explosions.

My scorched lawn bears testament to the power of the rockets that were sent skyward but I am sure the grass will recover and the blackened circles will fade much quicker than my memories, which thanks to the video can last indefinitely.

I have had to edit some of the soundtrack of my final video before submission so that it did not include any music (didn't think of that when my girls put on their 'bonfire playlist' halfway through filming!) It was a bit of a fiddle but totally worth it to be part of a such an ambitious social record.