Abigail's Party

The boy went to Abigail's party this afternoon. Hubbie was so amused he kept mentioning Demis Roussos and cheese and pineapple on a stick - which I've only ever had when my friend Lou had a party years ago and I was so surprised I recall telling my Mum, "No it's a real thing, white people eat it at parties !!"

We got the invitation month ago and I didn't even know who she was, but clearly she goes to his nursery and never one to turn down a party I scanned it for the date and panicked when it didn't have one so I thought it was that Saturday. Turns out it was actually today and we could make it so we sent an RSVP saying he'd be delighted to go.

Planning today was a little more complicated than we had hoped for as the boy stayed with my parents last night and me and Hubbie stayed at a hotel so the first thing we had to do was get back home. Then I did that thing where I wanted to make sure we all go to do something we enjoy today so that meant the boy going to his party, Hubbie going to football and me going for a swim.

The logistics of this meant that the only way to make it work was a strategic and perfectly timed plan:

1.30: Hubbie takes the boy to the party on the bus
1.45: After tidying the lunch stuff I go for a swim
2.30: I drive to the party to take over from Hubbie and he leaves for the match
3.30: Party finishes and I take the boy to the football ground to meet Hubbie at half time
3.45: The boy and Hubbie watch football and I walk 3 miles in training for the Moonwalk

Neo and friends :)

So Hubbie and the boy made it to the party and I went for my swim. I was rushing to make sure I was on time for Hubbie to get to the football, so I didn't get to swim as far as usual or to dry my hair, but it was sunny so that was ok. On the way to the party I got stuck in traffic behind a massive Tesco lorry that was reversing into a residential road for some reason. I was now panicking quite a lot as it was perilously close to 3pm and I wanted to ensure Hubbie would make it for the start. It was clear this wasn't going to happen.

I sent Hubbie a text to say I was in traffic and he sent me one saying he'd been offensive about teachers and both Abigail's parents teach. I rolled my eyes and pasted on a smile as I walked to the door of the house. When I arrived at the party I met Abigail's lovely parents - she's Aussie and possibly pregnant, but I wasn't going to cause offence by asking. It turned out that ours was the only boy invited to the party and I half wondered if it was because he has a Punjabi name and they didn't realise he's not a girl, but it turns out that Abigail had said she loves to play with him at nursery so he was surrounded by girls - including Abi's older sister and her friend - he was in his element !!

Hubbie handed me an open packet of milky bar buttons (which I don't buy so they were a real treat) and we did the official handover. He left for the footie. Kids were assembled around to cut the birthday cake and my boy sat next to Abi, started the singing and scoffed pizza, cake and jelly tots. I knew we'd pay for it later, but hey it's a party.

I got a text from Hubbie saying the footie wasn't on. I rolled my eyes at the ceiling.

So, I didn't need to rush around all afternoon to make sure they got to where they needed to be on time. I could have taken my time and swum 40 lengths instead of the 20 I had to make do with. I didn't have to drive in Saturday afternoon traffic to get to the party to drop off the car and do 'parent tag.' I could have had an afternoon doing what I wanted to and they could have stayed at the party with Hubbie talking about music with the Dads and the boy being fussed over by girls while rifling through the dressing up box.

When Hubbie got back to the party he got 'the wife stare.' You know the one where your face is smiling, but your eyes are saying, "what the merry hell do you think you are doing ?" I had sacrificed my Saturday afternoon so that I could politely sip a horrifically weak cup of tea and thanks to my diet I couldn't eat the cake or pizza. We did some bonding as parents of threenagers and it was a lovely party, but to be honest I hadn't planned on the stress it took to get there. All Hubbie had to do was check the game was on and he hadn't even done that !! I rolled my eyes again.

Then I put on my walking trainers and set off to walk the 3 miles home.

He's so lucky I wasn't in the car going home !

Review: Nothing But & Fru Snax

As you probably know I'm trying to get back into fitness right now so I'm watching what I eat and exercising every day. In order to not spoil all the good work I also need to keep drinking lots of water and find that while eating balanced meals is all well and good it's nice to have a little something to nibble on when I get hunger pangs between meals.

The problem is snacks like crisps (too much salt) or dried fruit (too much sugar) can be laden with calories and don't really hit the spot that well. I've tried various options, but unless you prepare your own pots of fresh fruit and veg every day it's a bit of a faff to find low fat and healthy snacks that aren't processed.

I was sent some of the dried vegetable snacks from Nothing But to try and I'll admit at first glance these snacks do resemble pot pourri. I've tried vegetable chips before, but they're fried and salted so they aren't exactly a healthy option. The vegetables in Nothing But are dehydrated and packed so they are not only completely free of fat or added salt they're also very low in calories with each pack coming in at well under 50 calories so I can have them as a 'power snack' on my diet.

The varieties I was sent were beetroot and parsnip and pepper and mange tout - they also do a sweetcorn and pea one - and they do taste good. I prefer the beetroot and parsnip personally, but they are both quite nice. These are nothing like vegetable chips as they are a lot drier and the mouth feel is a proper crunch, but without the greasiness.

I was also sent some Fru Snax which are dried fruit and 'yoghurt melts.' These are available in peach and vanilla and fig and sour cherry flavours. These taste delicious and are slightly higher in fat and calories, but still far fewer than a chocolate or cereal bar. It's a small snack and I'd be happy to give this to my toddler as it's easy to handle and tasty too. With a lot less sugar than a packet of raisins it's also a better option for his teeth.  

It's not always easy to find healthy food on the move so having a snack in your bag is often the only option. I carry fruit and water most of the time to ensure I am not tempted to buy something unhealthy to eat when I'm out. These bags are around the same size as a packet of crisps so they'd also be ideal for packed lunches or picnics. When we go on days out I like to have a few things to offer my boy in case he gets bored or hungry while we're out and it's not time for a meal yet. These would do the trick for that as well.

I would suggest having a drink handy as they can be a bit dry, but otherwise the Nothing But and Fru Snax range are a nice addition to the already burgeoning 'healthy food' market and for a change they actually are what they say.

Disclosure: We were sent samples of Nothing But and Fru Snax in order to write an honest review.