Beal Beal! Beal Beal!

This week, I took Caitlin out to lunch with one of her friends from nursery and the friend's Mum. It was carnage!

Caitlin and I go to this coffee shop quite often, just the 2 of us, and she is usually angelic. I bask in the approving glow of the old ladies who lunch there. They usually coo over my daughter and tell me what I great Mum I am (such ego boosts are always welcome).

Taking her with her friend was a whole new story.

The first thing that happened was that both of them sprinted in before we could catch up with them, grabbed the homemade greetings cards for sale and brandished them around, to the disapproving glares of everyone else.

“Caitlin!” I hissed, “Is that your thing?”
“No…..” she says, slightly shamefacedly.
“Do we touch OTHER PEOPLE’S THINGS?”
“No”, she replies sadly.
“Then PUT IT BACK!”

I put Caitlin in her booster seat as usual at the table. I like booster seats as I can strap her in (control freak). But! Her friend, Fabi, sits in a grown up seat.

“Why’s Caitlin in a baby’s chair” asks Fabi.
Caitlin looks dismayed.
“Because Caitlin isn’t as tall as you and that way she can reach the table”, replies Fabi's Mum, faster than the speed of light.

Next I put on Caitlin’s bib.
Fabi doesn’t have a bib anymore (oh dear, am I babying her too much? Mum insecurity mode ON).

“Why’s Caitlin wearing a baby’s bib?” asks Fabi.
Caitlin looks dismayed and tries to take the bib off.
“Because Caitlin is wearing a prettier dress than you!” says Fabi’s quick thinking Mum.

The worst part of the lunch was the NOISE. They were tearaways! Caitlin and Fabi were so noisy that I got ticked off by one of the old ladies who lunch (opps! very upsetting for me who can't bear disapproval, especially of my Caitlin!).

When Caitie and I went to the loo, I thought I'd grab the chance to get my Caitie back in line and whispered to her, “You and Fabi are being very noisy. Do you think you can be a bit quieter for Mummy as we’re disturbing the other people?”

Mistake.

Caitlin was too excited for reason.
And mentioning noise was a Very Bad Idea.
She has a game with Pig (one of her soft toys), involving Pig (who has a voice much like Dot from Eastenders) declaring “I don’t like noise” to which Caitlin replies with a large number of high pitched shrieks.

Yes, you've guessed right. As soon as I mentioned noise, the high pitched shrieks happened. Along with a lot of silent screaming in my head.....

But the rowdiest moment was probably when the 2 hoodlums both held their cheese sandwiches to the sky and declared: "Beal, beal! Beal, beal!" like a war cry.

"BEAL BEAL! BEAL BEAL, Mummy!" they chorused.

(At least, it sounded like "beal, beal". I hope it wasn't "kill, kill").

It turns out Fabi, Caitlin's friend, has been chanting "beal, beal" for sometime at home. So has Caitlin. Both Fabi's Mum and I are completely bemused as to what it is. Any ideas?

Oh by the way, since I last wrote, I came up with a Brainwave about The Boat.

I promised Caitlin she would get a sticker every time she used the potty and when she had enough stickers to fill up a large chart, she could have a boat like Isaac's. She was inspired enough to take potty training very seriously and has earned the boat already.

Oh, Denny has been forgiven. But he is rather outshined by The Boat at bathtime now.

Best wishes

Ellie x

The Battle of the Boat

I have been warned that Caitlin will hit the "terrible twos" and I'm starting to get an inkling what they mean . . .

Just before her bedtime last night, she spotted a toy boat on the side of the kitchen. I'd bought it for my friend's son's first birthday next week.

Caitlin's eyes lit up.

"Is that mine?" she asked excitedly.

"No, darling, it's a present for Isaac's birthday", I replied.

She is undaunted. "Can I have it?" she asked.

"No, darling", I reply, "It's a present for Isaac."

"Can we share it?" she asked, with the air of a lawyer about to pounce.

"No, darling", say I, "because it is for Isaac".

"That's not fair!"

"Well, firstly, life isn't fair", I say calmly, giving her the wisdom always imparted to me by my Dad, "and secondly, I think in this case it is pretty fair because Isaac gave you a watering can for your birthday and now you are giving him a boat for his".

"I WANT IT!!!!!!!" roared Caitlin, logic escaping her.

"I NEED IT!!!!" she added for good measure.

She then proceeded to weep bitterly all the way to bed. I say "weep" because it was more tragic than your usual cry. The tears rolled silently down her cheeks. She shook a little. Her lip trembled. Every now and then, she would whisper, as if the pain was almost too much to bear, "I need that boat!"

My word, it was hard. I had to bite my lip to stop myself exclaiming, "My precious girl, my darling one, have the boat! It's yours!" or "Don't cry, my sweet, we will get you a boat! Tomorrow, we will go and buy a boat just for you!".

But, I'm proud to say, I didn't. I manage to harden my heart to the pathetic, weeping mite and put her to bed, still snivelling and muttering about boats. She cried herself to sleep and I forced myself to go downstairs and leave her to it.

"She's just overtired" I told myself, "No one dies of a broken heart because they didn't get a small, plastic boat. She'll be herself again in the morning."

The next morning, Caitlin called me, as she does and I jumped out of bed (obedient Mum that I am but unlike an alarm clock, she doesn't have a snooze option).

"Good morning!" I said cheerfully.
"Good morning!" she replied, "Can I have that boat now?"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I stayed strong. It is now the Great Unspoken. But wish me luck when we give Isaac the boat next week!)

SPECIAL BLOG OFFER!

I promised I'd hide some offers in my blogs so here is the latest. I couldn't really find an offer for a cover featuring a plastic boat or a raging toddler, funnily enough, so I did some lateral thinking and here is a submarine cover instead!

It's an amazing submarine cover at that.
A classic from 2001, we officially produced it for the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. This edition has a British Forces Post Office postmark and I believe just 11 were personally signed by Victoria Cross winner, Ian Fraser VC. He won his VC at sea.

The full price is £45. We only have a few left in stock (well, he only signed 11 so you can imagine we don't have many!)

And for readers of my blog, if you move fast, you can own one for just £40.
That is a whole £5 off. But only while stocks last.
Click here to find out more & buy.

You might wonder that we have ANY left considering how good a cover it is and the answer, as usual, is that we forgot to advertise it! I think he signed much later, after the cover was issued, when we sent him a batch of other covers and slipped these 11 in to make up the numbers. We are always doing things like that and then forgetting to tell our collectors! Still, good news for you though . . .

Until next time,

Ellie x

Denny the Duck in disgrace

Denny the Duck has recently overtaken Pig and Jane as Caitlin's Favourite Toy.

He's a rubber duck and she's taken a real shine to him. He shares her bath before bed and then she insists that he keeps her company in the cot as well.

She used to HATE having her hair washed with the shower and would make a massive fuss about it. Then Denny the Duck started having HIS head washed with the show. He made an even bigger fuss!

"I WANT MY MUMMY" screams Denny the Duck (I try very hard not to move my lips for this kind of thing. I'm not a great ventriloquist but Caitie seems to go with it).
"I WANT MY DADDY! I DON'T LIKE THE SHOWER!" Denny the Duck cries.

Caitlin finds this very funny and insists that Denny MUST be showered.

"Don't be silly and horrid, Denny", she tells him seriously, "The shower will make you clean".

This little play acting has changed her from a complete pain to a complete joy on hair wash days! So I was inspired to go a step further and use Denny to encourage potty training.

Oh dear, I know. It is terrible the lengths to which a desperate Mum will stoop.

You know how these rubber duck toys fill up with water from the bath? And they have a little hole in them? Well, after bath time, Denny the Duck goes on the potty (Caitlin doesn't seem to think it odd that Mummy gives him a ferocious squeeze at the same time). And low and behold, Caitlin is suddenly keen to use the potty before bed time too.

So far so good.

The only problem? I didn't mention all this to Tom, my lovely husband. I have him very well trained since he's stopped commuting. While I put Caitlin to bed, he cooks my dinner! But of course, that meant he'd missed the Denny potty saga.

Over the weekend, Tom came up to keep us company at bedtime. She told Daddy that when she went in her cot, Denny must come too.

"Hang on, sweetheart, he's full of water", said Tom, and without thinking, he squeezed the water out of Denny all over Caitlin and her towel.

But Tom wasn't prepared a) for the sheer amount of water that Denny holds and b) for the strength of reaction he got.

Caitin was HORRIFIED. FURIOUS. DISMAYED.

"DENNY'S DONE A WEE ON MY TOWEL!" she wailed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Tom and I tried very hard not to laugh but we couldn't cheer her up until I removed the towel, promising it would be thoroughly washed and "cleaned" Caitlin with a wipe.

Denny was banished.

"You should have used the potty!" she told him, "Go away and think what you've done!"
And no amount of Denny's heartfelt apologies could persuade her to forgive him. Which is quite harsh really considering she never gets into trouble for her own "accidents"!

The next day she did tell Denny they could be friends again.

"But DON'T DO IT AGAIN", she told him firmly.

More stories soon!

Ellie x

QE2: Her Memory Will Live On

Well, I have plenty of Caitlin news this week after taking her to her first ever wedding on Saturday! It was an interesting occasion. She was brilliantly behaved in front of everyone but after a whole day of good manners, over excitement, confetti and more chocolate than I can bear to think of, she threw the first Serious Tantrum that I've ever seen when we got some. Pure toddler RAGE. It was rather alarming! But also quite funny although I tried not to laugh as it increased the fury.

Anyway, no harm done and after a long night's sleep, I got my smiley, sunny little girl back!

Caitie also kept me on my toes by cutting her chin open at nursery this week. I got a call at work to say, could I collect her as she was bleeding very badly and they were concerned she'd need stitches. You can imagine the panic of the Mum on hearing these words ... I drove to the nursery in a state of fear, imagining my precious baby girl bleeding to death in someone's arms. When I arrived, a very bouncy Caitlin greeted me by jumping excitedly up and down, exclaiming, "Mummy! I've hurt my chin!" in a delighted way.

But of course, the real news of this week is that Queen of the Seas, QE2, is making her final voyages right now.. Like everyone, I've found this incredibly moving and also, hard to take in.

It was mad enough when Concorde retired and in the same way, collectors are calling us all the time, desperate to talk of QE2 and what she's meant to them.

Jules, from our Customer Services team, had an especially lovely chat with one of our collectors Malcolm McKechnie who went to see QE2 on her last trip to the Clyde. Mr McKechnie took some breathtaking photos and also wrote a memory of the day and when Jules showed me, I really wanted to share it with you. I think he's done a brilliant job of putting into words what so many of us are feeling.

Farewell to QE2 by Malcolm McKechnie
Over 50,000 people visited Inverclyde on Sunday 05th October to bid farewell to the Queen of the Clyde, the QE2. She was built and launched on this strip of water 41 years ago and it was a very emotional day for all those who acknowledge the shipbuilding history that the Clyde was renowned for. The weather was kind to us and as she approached at 12 noon, she shone in the glorious sunshine as the beauty that she has always been. Watching her turn and back in to position at the berth, enabling her to sail away without turning was more poignant as in previous visits she has turned on her departure. As well as those on the Esplanade, all advantage points on the hills and high roads were filled with people trying to gain a view of her as she sailed home. She also had an escort from HMS Manchester as the Royal Navy were doing training exercises on the River Clyde that weekend.

As the sun started to set and darkness came in, the reality started to hit home that it was nearing the time to bid a final farewell and at 21-45, after thre blasts from the ships horn, a firework display began with glorious colours in the sky above the great lady. Then the moment when nobody was looking forward to, commenced. With more blasts from the horn, she started to move from the berth and sail down the Clyde for the last time.

Next year we will be getting a visit from the Queen Mary 2 and although she has the beauty of the Cunard line, she does not have the history of being built from these shores. The QE2 will always hold a place in my heart and to quote the local paper "HER MEMORY WILL LIVE ON".

Massive thanks to Mr McKechnie for letting me use that and I hope you found it as moving as I did.

Tracey, our Production Manager, is probably the least moved and most stressed about QE2's final voyages as she has the happy job of making sure all our covers are onboard, get postmarked on the right day at New York and then put back onboard to come home again. It's a hellish job producing covers, I'm SO glad I don't do it anymore! Tracey does a much better job than I did and always looks fabulous without a hair out of place (I had a tendency to burst into tears when it all got too much!).

We are working with Cunard once again to create 2 covers for QE2 and both are being carried on her final transatlantic voyages. All being well, we'll have them back in late November ready to get out to everyone by Christmas, but as Tracey will tell you, you just never know until the covers are safe home! We're working on certificates to go with each one and a few are being signed by the Captain on board. Click here to learn more.

BLOG OFFER THIS WEEK:

I'm going to start putting in a secret blog offer each time I write to reward you faithful readers . . .

This week, you can save £2 off one of our classic Cunard covers, creating to mark QE2's last Blue Ribband voyage before she was overtaken in prestige by their new flagship, QM2.

It is a fabulous cover, carried on board, double postmarked and stunning to look at. The signed editions are SOLD OUT and at the time of writing, we only have 13 (lucky for some?) of these unsigned versions left.

Click here to find out more and buy!