Back To School: Stamptastic Name Stamps

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As we race towards the end of the first half-term of The Boy's Reception year in school, I thought now would be a good time to write my review of the Stamptastic labelling system that I was sent during the Summer holidays. Yes I could have written the review before school started, but I actually wanted to focus on the durability of the near-permanent name stamper on a range of different materials.

Stamptastic is a way of labelling children's clothes and other school belongings that takes seconds, doesn't require sewing or ironing on labels, or indecipherable writing with a Sharpie pen which has bled all over the label. Quite simply it involves a stamp with the child's name on it and an inkpad.

I did The Boy's entire uniform (5 polo shirts, 5 sweatshirts, 3 jogging bottoms, 4 pairs of trousers, 3 pairs of shorts, coat, hat, P.E kit – shorts, daps, t-shirt, joggers, sweatshirt), book bag, lunchbox, lunchbag, and water bottle within five minutes.

All of it, in five minutes.

The process is incredibly simple: order a resin stamp block with your child's name embossed out of polymer, choosing three different fonts and a variety of sizes; and then order an ink pad. Within a week, the set will arrive ready to personalise your child's uniform.

name stamper

The actual stamping surface is 38mm x 15mm so it fitted really easily onto every clothes label that we had, it is also clear and doesn't bleed; it dries within a couple of second. The ink is an oil-based ink, which is the equivalent of a marker pen, but doesn't run.

Stampastic labels

Apologies it's not the entire label but as I have never shared The Boy's name, I decided that would be a bit daft to do so now! However, this close-up shows the quality of the stamped image.

Six weeks after stamping everything, and with the uniform having been washed every week, it is safe to say that on clothing the ink is excellent and has not faded at all! The only thing that it has come off from is The Boy's plastic water bottle and plastic lunch box. This is something that Stamptastic are aware happens, it's to do with the coating that the plastic items have which prevents the ink from being absorbed. However, it's not a problem as it takes less than thirty seconds to locate the stamp set and restamp it!

The stamper costs £8.00 and the ink pad costs £10.00, and I think that is excellent value for money. It's an equivalent price to iron-on or sew-in labels, with the added benefit of lasting a lot longer, and being nowhere near as time consuming! Stampastic gets a big thumbs up from us!

I was sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Ham & Cheese Muffins

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I'm quite passionate about a balanced and nutritious packed lunch for school children, forget this nonsense that all children must have school dinners to ensure they are eating the right foods; have you seen how unappetising they are?

As The Boy started school recently, I've been keen to make sure he's interested and eager to open his lunchbox each day, but after a few weeks of varying the fillings of sandwiches and wraps, even I was getting bored of them! I decided to make him savoury muffins (with hidden vegetables) in place of sandwiches, and they went down a treat.

Ham & Cheese Muffins

  • Makes 12
  • Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
  • Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 250g/9oz plain flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 50g/4oz grated cheese
  • 50g/4oz ham. chopped
  • 2 eggs
  • 300ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 1tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 medium courgette, grated
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1 medium carrot, grated
  • pepper for seasoning
  1. Grate the courgette, place in a sieve over a bowl, sprinkle on 1tsp salt and place a small plate on top. This will press all the excess water out of the courgette, the salt helps the liquid drain. Leave for around 10-15 minutes while preparing and mixing the remaining ingredients.
  2. Whisk the two eggs, sunflower oil and milk together, then sift in the flour and baking powder. Slowly fold the mixture together until thoroughly combined.
  3. Rinse the draining courgette to remove excess salt, press out the remaining liquid in kitchen towel.
  4. Fold into the mixture the grated carrot, ham, cheese and courgette and add a small pinch of pepper for seasoning.
  5. Divide between 12 muffin cases and bake in a preheated oven (190°C/170°C fan) for 20-25 minutes.
  6. Use as an alternative to sandwiches in a lunchbox or serve warm with jacket potato, cheese and beans/vegetables for a light dinner.

Ham & Cheese Muffins

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5 Easy After School Play Activities

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Ever since The Boy started school, I've missed many parts of our daily routine especially the spontaneous play sessions. Once home from school, he tends to collapse on the sofa with a snack and drink, watching television for a little while, and I realised quite quickly that it would be very easy for it to suddenly be tea time and not have had any time together doing anything.

As a result I have started setting up a play invitation for him to explore, nothing challenging or requiring any detailed levels of concentration, more activities that allow sensory exploration. I think he finds them quite therapeutic, exploring different textures, drawing patterns and allowing his mind to wander as he plays.

5 Easy After School Play Activities

Play Activities

  1. Tiddlywinks: I used transparent counters, painted some wooden numbers and place them in different sections. Each tiddlywink that lands in that section scores that point. The Boy loved working out his score after we'd played, and yes he beat me.
  2. Decorate The Line: I drew a wavy line on a piece of A4 paper and provided a choice of different coloured sands, beads and sequins to decorate the line as he saw fit.
  3. Pom-Pom Pick-Up: Pom-poms of different sizes amd colours, and large tweezers. This gives the potential for the child to sort them (if they want to) into colours or sizes.
  4. Coffee and Cinnamon Sensory Play: Based on this sensory play activity, I let The Boy explore the different scents from the coffee, cinnamon and dried oranges.
  5. Curious Conkers: It's Autumn and that means conker season. Would work well at any time of the year with flowers, seeds etc.

All of these items are resources that we had lying around the house (or garden). The partitioned plate is one of three that I bought for The Boy's birthday party food last year from Asda. The large tweezers are from Amazon and the coloured counters for tiddlywinks from eBay.

Back To School: Trutex School Uniform

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Here's my final post in my series of school uniform review. And appropriately, it is for Trutex, which is the brand of The Boy's embossed school uniform.

We were sent three pieces of school uniform; shorts, trousers and a sweatshirt (the polo shirt in the photographs is another brand).

Trutex school uniform

Both the trousers and the shorts are single pleat pull-on trousers, with no fly or hook fastening and an elasticated waistband at the back. The trousers were available in either black or grey, and came in aged 2-7 years (we chose a size 4 years), and the shorts came in grey from 3-7 years (we choose a size 4 years again). Both are incredibly good quality materials and stitching, and they strike me as being very hard-wearing, something which I'll be reviewing in a few months time. I particularly like that they are just pull-on at this age, as The Boy (like many little ones over the country) becomes so distracted by playing that he needs easy access when toileting and dressing himself.

The sweatshirt is thick, with a soft fleece lining and raglan sleeves. It's worth nothing that the other sweatshirts that I've reviewed have normal sleeves, and that this is the only one with raglan sleeves. I've yet to work out if that helps retain the shape or is more comfortable to wear, but it's interesting to note. The cotton feels thick and hard-wearing, I'll be interested to see the durability of it. The sweatshirts come in a range of colours to suit any school's colours, and sizes go from ages 1-2 years up to 13 years when they turn into S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL. My one bug bear with the Trutext uniform is that the sweatshirts and polo-shirts come in 3-4 or 5-6 years. As most children start school aged 4, I don't understand why they don't have a 4-5 years.

Trutex is not available to buy online, as they are the company which most school uniform shops purchase in to resell once embroidered. Find your nearest school uniform stockist via the online store locator. There's clearly a reason why so many shops stock it, and that is because of the consistent quality.

Trutex's ethical trading policy and carbon neutral policy are available online, it's reassuring to see they have signed up to the ETI's Base Code initiative as the other stores have.

I was sent these products for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Back To School: Tesco School Uniform

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Over the course of the Summer I've been asked to review several different brands of supermarket school uniforms. It's been a really interesting review process for me as I've been able to examine the difference between the quality, range, fit and price of the uniforms available in four of the main supermarkets.

In this review, I'm looking at the Fred & Florence school uniform range available from Tesco. I have bought quite a bit of clothing from Tesco in the past for The Boy and have always found it to be well made and hard wearing. Essentially I did feel that a polo shirt, trousers and sweatshirt made in Bangladesh or Kenya would surely be much the same as any other on the high street, and wasn't expecting anything outstanding or different to the other uniforms I've reviewed.

The website for the boys' uniform is very easy to navigate and allows for selection under type of clothing, size, colour or price. As a first-time uniform buyer, I was slightly bamboozled by the selection of trousers available, as they all seemed the same quality and style to me, sold singularly or in pairs. I ordered a few different styles of trousers, both pleat and flat fronted, and a two-pack of flat fronted shorts (which The Boy is wearing in the left picture below). The shorts (£5.00 for two pairs) are actually a 3-4yrs size, I was optimistic in hoping they'd fit him but very pleasantly surprised to discover that they did. With an adjustable waist which has been tightened, and a good length in the leg, these shorts are seeing him through the warmer days of Autumn and hopefully last into Spring. The material is soft and not scratchy, but strong and durable.

Tesco School Uniform

I was impressed with the polo shirts (£2.00 for two) as they actually 'hung' well on The Boy and were a good length. I am quite hopeful that they don't end up with twisting hems as I suspect one or two other brands may, and the colour is a nice bright tone. The unisex sweatshirt is amazing quality for £3.00 with ribbed cuffs and hems, and has a soft inside.

The trousers are well cut, a thick material and soft, and with a Teflon® fabric protector which "repels spills and releases ground in stains easily with laundering". The Boy hasn't come home yet with any in-ground dirt, so I can't comment on the repelling properties of the fabric, but they do wash and iron very well. And from £6.00 for two pairs, they are a competitive price.

However, while it would be easy to promote the wonders of the repellant fabric, and paint a picture of droplets of mud and paint flying off at all directions with the forcefield of the mighty Teflon® fabric protector, there is a more important feature that makes the Tesco school uniform stand out above any other material feature.

The 'Buy One Give One' trousers cost between £3.00-£6.00 for one pair. Slightly more expensive than the two-pair packs, but let's face it they are still cheaper than a frappuccino! However, the major selling point of these (and what I think Tesco should be promoting more than stain repellant fabric) is that for every item of uniform bought from this 'Buy One Give One' range, a complete school uniform will be donated to a child in Kenya, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.

Tesco launched the scheme in 2009 and provided 12,000 children in Kenya with a brand new school uniform to attend school with. In 2010, they expanded the scheme to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and have given away over 100,000 uniforms to children in these three countries. 100,000 children in some of the world's poorest countries had a new uniform because parents in Britain spent £1 more on their child's trousers.

Surely that is the most appealing factor in the Tesco school uniform?

I was provided with a voucher to purchase items from the school uniform range for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Tesco's Ethical Policy can be found here.

Days 244-250 of Project 365

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244-250 of 365

244. Eruption (Following our science exploration activity the previous week, The Boy perfectly replicated how to make a volcano independently. We're now out of vinegar as he did it quite a few times. The blue lava wasn't quite as effective!)

245. Flinger (After I finished my first day back at work, I took The Boy down to one of the local beaches for some plopping good fun, our last bit of freedom before school started the next day.)

246. First Day (I know I've used this elsewhere, but what else could I have for today; his first day of school.)

247. Rainbow House (He came home with this painting that he'd done the previous day in school after listening to the story of Winnie the Witch who painted her house different colours.)

248. Xylophone (Another painting, I suspect there may be a few of these. I was incredibly impressed when he told me it was a xylophone; he's even got the keys different lengths and the pegs to hold them on!)

249. Swing (An exhausted little boy after his first week in school, he could barely manage to swing himself. Two minutes later, just as I'd taken my camera in out the way, he fell off backwards and nearly winded himself. Cuddles and Peppa Pig soon solved the problem though.)

250. Mix (Whipping up a birthday cake for Grandad who came over for a birthday tea. )

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First Week Memories

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This is a memory post. One for me, not one which will interest anyone reading it really. My blog tends to be a mix of real life events, play activities, reviews and photographs. 95% of it is written with the audience in mind, sometimes there comes a post where it is so I can remember something. This is one of those times.

Tuesday

I took The Boy into school at our allocated time, and we were accompanied in by the headteacher who was coming to check on the new pupils. I didn't mind her walking in with me as she's actually a parent from my school, so have spoken a few times with her. I handed The Boy over to his new teacher who showed him his peg, hung up his P.E. kit, book bag and told him where to put his lunch bag. Apparently I didn't need to send a second bottle of water in for him to keep in the classroom. We went into the classroom, I showed him where the toilet was and he asked the teacher if she'd like to play dominoes with him. Kissing him and walking away broke my heart, and I was ready for my little self-indulgent weep when I found the headteacher next to me again. While I understand that she was trying to reassure me, I was a bit miffed that I was robbed of my tears. This was a big moment for both of us.

It was only when I got home and the sun broke through the mist, that I realised I'd forgotten to give him a hat. I couldn't nip one in for him as I didn't want to disturb him.

When I picked him up at 3.20pm, he was happy to see me and I noted the big difference between nursery staff who were happy to share what he'd done that day and how much he ate, a teacher doesn't seem to do that. As a teacher myself I get that, but as a parent on the first day, I'd have appreciated the opportunity to find out about my precious bundle and whether he'd been anxious or not. A lesson learnt for my own professional practise.

Over the course of the three hours following picking him up, I managed to ascertain that he'd; played tag with the teacher on the field (best bit of the day), painted a rainbow house, listened to Winnie the Witch, eaten most of his lunch (no yoghurt or mini roll but did eat his wrap, crisps & fruit which is good considering the dinner hall was a distraction), played dominoes, blew his nose himself, asked to go to the loo and had milk, banana and apple for snack. He couldn't remember any children's names, which is what he said about nursery too.

A successful first day then!

Wednesday

Nana took and picked up The Boy today, a difficult step for me, but needs must!

The Boy had a terrible night, and woke up with a horrendous hacking cough that sounded like whooping cough. His nose was both blocked and streaming, and it was the type of grottiness that would have seen him stay home from nursery, but not something that I could do to him on only his second day of school. A hearty dose of Calpol and he was in the hands of Nana to take to school.

After I'd staggered home from school, I had time to give him a cuddle before I whacked some pasta on for him to eat dinner. This earlier dinnertime is something that's really tricky to adjust to when I'm working until 15 minutes before he needs to eat. Time to stock up on some Little Dish meals for my working days until I can batch cook him something that can be reheated easily.

Thursday

Another Nana day, and I am finding it particularly difficult to not be the one to pick him up at the end of the school day. To not be the one who sees that little face, carries the lunchbag with a few scraps left in it or the bookbag with the latest painting, not hold his sticky little hand, catch his stumbles on the 500 yard walk home. It's tough. Especially as this week is hard work in school and I'm not getting home until gone 5pm.

I came in exhausted and found a little boy with huge, dark, purple shadows under his eyes, pale and physically shattered. One thing that I am noticing is that The Boy is wolfing down his dinner, portions that he would struggle with before. It astounds me because he's not that much more active than with me, but it must be the constant stimulation and ongoing chatter.

Today I've established that his favourite part of the day was playing on the field. I knew this school was the right choice; nestled away in the corner of our town, no through road, rolling banks on a large field, it's the perfect surburban school. He also came home with two more paintings; the bow from yesterday, and a fabulous painting. It was clearly of something but I couldn't quite work it out at first, until he told me it was a xylophone. I was astounded.

5th September 2013 (Thursday)

Friday

The Boy was absolutely shattered today walking to school and I expected tears, but luckily he was still very excited to be going. It was the first day that I'd taken him since his starting day and mum hadn't explained what they did in the morning first thing, so luckily the teacher saw me hovering as she walked around to the classroom at 8.55 a.m. He tottered in quite happily with her, but the final turn and wave before he went into the building was a real heart-wrencher.

I managed to get all the washing done (but not dry because of the weather) during the day, and one or two blog-posts. I am trying to get into a new routine so that our weekends are free for playing together.

After school, The Boy and I played together in the garden quite happily and he chatted about one or two other things that he'd done in school. He's not very forthcoming in his information as he can never remember what he's done, or so he says. I nipped in to get a drink for us and I heard a huge wail; he had fallen backwards off the swing and nearly winded himself. He has never fallen off his swing before, so it shows how tired he is. Cuddles, chocolate and Peppa helped sort him out. It just shows how desperately tired he is from school.

The First Day

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I have been avoiding this day for weeks now.

I knew it was coming and practically we had everything prepared. The uniforms were stamped, washed, ironed, and hung on tiny wooden hangers ready for selection. The lunchbox had been practised. Various water bottles shaken upside down vigorously to see if they were suitable. Proper shoes bought from Clarks. Canvas shoes bought for the first few weeks when it's still hot and he's wearing shorts. Heels broken down so as not to cut little ankles. Lunchtime discussed. Dinner ladies talked about. Independent toileting has happened. Nose blowing practised. His name written over and over again, trying to correct the misformation of a certain letter which has come from nowhere. Snack time explained.

Tears wiped away in private.

Many tears.

Yet the 2nd of September still happened, just as I knew it always would.

And he is ready for school, and he's excited by it. He needs the social interaction and the challenge. Quite frankly he also needs squashing (and as a teacher, saying that doesn't come easily!).

Good luck my clever, funny, bright and sweet little boy. Enjoy your time at school, make friends but stay true to who you are, share and be friendly but don't be walked over, be polite and kind, be yourself because that it who everyone loves. I love you with all my heart, thank you for letting me guide you these past four years, and here's to the next chapter.

First day at school

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Sticky Fingers Photo Gallery

Days 237-243 of Project 365

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237-243 of 365

237. Fortress (A beautiful Sunday afternoon on August Bank Holiday weekend, saw us pack up our beach stuff and venture to Barry Island for the afternoon. And for once it wasn't crowded! We decided to make the biggest castle ever, and this was our finished product; gargantuan isn't it? This is the castle I've always wanted to make and it was brilliant fun, people along the beach stopped to take photos and comment.)

238. Practise (The biggest concern that I have for The Boy going to school is coping with lunchtimes. He currently has a cooked meal at lunchtimes, but won't be having school dinners as I don't think he'll eat them. I decided it was time to practise eating from a lunchbox, as I know how chaotic it is at lunchtimes in a dinner hall with minimal staff around. We packed up our tea and took it to the nature reserve for a picnic practise. I don't want The Boy to struggle with anything so we've spent this week practising opening and not spilling food, eating things in the right order, and working out what type of yoghurt is the best to send in for him.)

239. Climbing Boy (We headed out for another picnic lunch, this time in the park. And what better way to burn off that energy afterwards that tree climbing?)

240. Squelch (We had a very exciting morning visiting somewhere special in Cardiff, but I can't disclose any information about it until later in the year and it's under embargo until then! We had lunch in Pizza Hut and I spent the whole time staring at The Boy, absorbing ever cell of his face, trying not to cry about missing him in school. Then we went down the beach for some plopping fun, although The Boy has discovered sandballs are far more fun to throw than pebbles, filthy child.)

241. RUN! (My mum was looking after my niece and nephew for the day, so we took all three children to Barry Island, somewhere they don't go very often. Reluctantly at first The Boy's cousins entered the water, then his Boy Cousin came back out to remove his trousers so he could paddle more freely, while Girl Cousin just sat down in the sea fully clothed instead. All three had a whale of a time; all you need is sand and water, and they're happy!)

242. Ritual (Today was the last day of our old routine. Our last day together, just me and him, without being stuck in the rigmorale of bowing down to the constraints of school holidays. Our last day of him being my little shadow and us having the freedom to not rush and just do what we want. Just typing that makes me cry. I know we'll have half-terms and school holidays, but it is not the same. Every day for four years and two months, he has waited on our bed (sometimes with or without Mr. TBaM, depending upon age) while I shower and get dressed. Then Mr. TBaM goes to work and we have cuddles in bed for half an hour. Every week day (that I've not worked) for four years and two months. This was our last day doing this. And I am counting down the days until October half-term until we can do it again.)

243. ARGGGGHHHHH! (We took The Boy to Peppa Pig World for our last Summer treat and had a brilliant time exploring old favourite rides and new treasures. This was an old favourite and I took about fifteen photos of them on this ride, from top to bottom. I can't show later ones as Mr. TBaM would divorce me, but this was right at the top, just as they both realise how steep the drop is!)

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