Hello

Well, I think I have finally hit a point where I'm afraid Minti and I will (almost) part ways. When the site starte, I must confess to having been addicted. My boy was only a few months old and I had spare time a couple of days a week whilst my daughter was at nursery to see what was going on. Now, I have a lovely, calm 3 1/2 yr old and an almost 2 yr old who thinks nothing of climbing anything and falling off most things (caught him at the top of a 6ft high gate the other day, thinking he was safe in the garden as he couldn't reach the latch...!)

I am currently trying to learn two new computer systems, a new piece of legislation and brush up on my First Aid to teach these four courses, all starting in October. I have also just started my second year in a degree course in education. Added to that, I am planning to try and get out responding for First Aid emergencies one evening a week. I'm not sure where my free time is right now. I have hit the stage where I am buying course books in audible format to catch up on research whilst driving. Not ideal.

So, what I wanted to say is that I am this evening going to amend my preferences so that I don't get daily updates. I am then going to resign from many of the groups I am a member of. I say this not to get any messages to convince me otherwise, but purely so that friends I have met here and value know why I am not around.

I think that Minti is a valuable and helpful resource and I still recommend it to parents I know. I wish everyone here the continues benefit of the combined wisdom and experience of all the members. I know that I will stay a member so that I have a reference point for my next fix (and let's face it, with parenting there are many!) but without the emails I probably won't be logging on so often.

So, good luck everyone and hope that you and your family stay well. I will try and drop people a line but apologise if I don't manage it - next assignment due very soon!

Well, life has been quite hectic lately (am I just so disorganised that this is all it ever seems to be?) Have had three weeks of full time work as I have had to go on a couple of courses - an "Advanced Trainer Development" course (fascinating) and a "First Aid Trainer and Assessor" course (I teach First Aid at work and needed a refresher). Have also just qualified as a Neighbourhood First Responder - a volunteer to go out and cover calls when the ambulance is struggling to get there. Was convinced to go on call almost straight away to buddy up with someone who has been doing it for a while. This was last night.

Anyway, first call came in when I was just in the process of putting Nyle to bed. Had to dump the poor boy in the cot, grab the phone and then take details of the call whilst kissing him goodnight and turning the nightlight and music on. First job was a ruptured peptic ulcer and we were beaten by the ambulance, so stood down. Next job (about an hour later) was an 87yr old woman who had just come home from hospital that day and fallen at home. Paramedic arrived on his own and we stayed to help (I respond with someone else - we both charge out from our homes when we get a call). Anyway, the paramedic ran tests and she clearly had a chest infection, but had had her absolute fill of hospitals and refused any further help. Haven't met such a stubborn so and so for a long time. Hope she and her equally old and fragile husband are coping well.

Got home about 1015pm and settled on the bed with a cup of tea to watch some tv. Nick popped downstairs for some reason and called up to say that my mobile was ringing. Despite the fact that we had booked off ages ago, the ambulance control had phoned to say that there was a 1-month old, not breathing, about 8 miles away - could we go? The nearest ambulance was some time away, so of course I grabbed my shoes and hurtled out. My buddy had told me the road name but said he couldn't find it on the map. I had left the map book in the car, so looked it up in the index, found the page, but no road. Ran back in to grab the laptop and look up multimap. Found address (time ticking by...) and ran back out. Drove off, decided red lights might just have to apply to other people and phoned my buddy en route. He had now found out where the road was and had the address "flats 1 - 5". Flats 1-5? WHERE?

Fortunately, ambualnce (with their "blues and twos") had got there first and were whisking the little girl off to hospital. Cause? No idea. Outcome? No idea, but boy do I hope it was a good one. Hopefully we will get updated at some time. Incidentally, the map book had the index out by about two pages, so that's worrying.

Calls like that (which we shouldn't have been sent to as we are only there for adults, not kids) make me realise the massive need for the scheme. Imagine, an ambulance must have taken at least 10 minutes to get to that call. Please, whatever you do as a parent, make sure that you are confident in your resuscitation skills. Get on a course. Do something so that if you are ever, God forbid, in such a terrible situation, you have some idea about what to do. I am not purely altruistic. The scheme is teaching me more and more first aid so that I can look after my family and friends, alongside helping others. I read a statistic:

"70% of people who are carrying out resuscitation techniques are doing so on family and friends."

This isn't to scare you. This is to make you think and hopefully act. I hope you never have to use the skills you learn, but equally hope you never have to wish you had learnt those skills but decided to use your time and money on something else...

Well, this seems to be about the first time I have really had a chance to sit down and catch up a little bit, although I feel like I need DAYS and DAYS to try and see all the people that have joined since I drifted away, and read just a few of the articles.

Life is ticking along a pace for me. I went back to work three weeks ago and am still trying to find my feet. It is really strange returning after maternity leave as someone else has been doing my job (and she covered for me last maternity leave too) and my return means she is out of a job. I don't feel too bad about that in that if I hadn't gone off, she wouldn't have had the job at all, but it is a shame she has to leave. Feeling sorry for myself, it is also weird feeling like everyone is more sad to see her go than they are pleased that I am back. I wonder if she did a better job than me, and whether everyone would have preferred her to stay. Perhaps this is just paranoia on the part of someone feeling a little lost after more than a year off!

I am out two nights a week as I have kept up with Pilates and also am doing a 10 week First Aid course so that I can be a "First Responder" - a volunteer who does time on-call for emergency medical situations that an ambulance can't get to straight away. I don't know how much time on-call I will manage as my other half is also regularly on-call for work, but I guess anything is better than nothing. So, in my remaining evenings, I try to fit in the chores and helping with the decorating which is going ainfully slowly! Never mind, we are getting there.

I just wanted to say "Hi!" to my Minti friends - Izzy, EF, AllyP, Tink and all the others who are kind enough to pop in to my Minti lounge to post nice messages. I do think about you all but only seem to pop in for the very odd five minutes when something I have seen in the daily email has really got my curiosity going! I apologise for not writing back to people, keeping up with friends or joining groups - I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed so just log out again and go and do some tidying! I hope everything is going well with you all, esp. Izzy and your mammoth pregnancy - good luck with the twins. Wow!

Chele - hope you are also well and will catch up with you soon, too, I hope.

Well. Hope you are all having a great time and life is being easy on you. Nyle and Leala are doing really well at nursery and have settled brilliantly, which is such a relief. Nyle is walking and climbing like a mad thing (comment from nursery - "I have never seen a child climb on and fall off so many toys") and Leala is just getting smarter by the day (biased - me??). Love em! My Mum and Dad are on their mega, 10-week trip round Australia (look out for them in the Sydney area!) and so no babysitters until they get back in April, so maybe I will find the time to be on here after all.

Keep well and speak soon. Love Helen

Doesn't the time just fly past.

This evening, just before his bedtime, Nyle was playing in our bedroom and went over to a bookcase. He started pulling a book off the shelf, something he doesn't do, and managed to get one out and throw it on the floor. I then noticed it was "Everything You Need to Know...About Baby's First Year." Do you think he knows more than he is letting on? Spooky!