In a UK poll of 10,000 people this week for the favourite dog of 2019 Staffordshire Bull Terriers came out on top. Were you surprised? I wasn't! It is nice to see the breed shaking their aggressive stereotype and becoming known for the loyal loveable pets that they are. I have two gorgeous Staffies Marley and Minnie and the thought that people judge them for their breed makes me really sad. Personally I have experienced people crossing the road when they have seen me walking with them on their leads and parents that have been fine with their children coming to play at my house knowing that I have dogs, but on finding out they are Staffies have quickly changed their mind. A mixture of bad ownership and massive negative media attention has only fuelled the fire when it comes to how they are perceived but finally it seems they are getting the appreciation they deserve. Here are just a few of many pleasant facts that Staffordshire Bull Terriers should be known for -
Thank you for visiting my blog Just Holly Marie x x x
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It's another win for January and my fantastic hobby. I won this great set of Jack Dash books by Sophie Plowden from Parents in Touch on twitter. My son was overjoyed when I gave them to him today and I paid the massive price of £0 to see that smile. All it cost me was the time I took to retweet the post, a couple of seconds. I am a massive fan of reading and have a full and varied bookcase to show for it but I also think it is massively important for children to read. Not only does it improve their imagination, and educate them it helps them to focus and this is a challenge that my son Connor deals with on a daily basis. He has ADHD and struggles to focus among other things. Reading is something we have found helps him to focus and interests him enough to be an alternative activity to his video games. I have been trying to cut his tech time down. He owns a PS4, Xbox One and A Nintendo Switch. His ADHD makes it harder for him to focus on things but when it comes to video games he has an amazing attention span. We got to the point where a day out at the zoo was miserable for him and us because all he wanted to do was be at home playing his consoles. That's when we knew we had a problem on our hands. We decided that we would set him an hour a day for tech time while still be able to watch tv a little bit throughout the day. We had some major resistance at first temper tantrums would be an understatement, but after a while improvements in his behaviour were beginning to show. He was more polite and didn't have as short a fuse as usual and he also wanted to go outside and play with his friends instead of being cooped up in his room. This was a few years ago and since then his tech time has been increased to three hours a day, but Connor knows that if he his behaviour goes downhill the time he has can be decreased at any point.
As a parent it is hard to know where to draw the line and as a parent of a child with ADHD it can be even harder. It's a battle to discipline and do the best for them without punishing them for something that is out of their control. There is no right or wrong answer everyone knows what is right for their own child and in my case I got lucky and perseverance won the day that's not to say it always goes right lol! If you are experiencing a similar situation take a look at this article on Psychology Today I found it helped me to understand why when my son could focus on nothing the video games became a way for him to escape. Another Web find that I found really usual was this article on WebMD a guide to disciplining a child with ADHD. Thank you for visiting my blog Just Holly Maire x x x Today I have sat down and made my winning competition wishlist for 2019. This is a list of all my competition aspirations and goals for the year ahead and the beginning of the challenge to tick off everything before 2020 when I will start all over again (best hobby ever!) .
Here's what I have so far...……………
Ambitious or not I am going to give it my best shot and it's definitely not impossible. Some of the things I have seen other compers win are amazing. Why not make your own list and give yourself some inspiration! My first win was six years ago £500 to spend with La Redoute. It was a competition that I entered with Glam magazine online as I was surfing the internet. A month later and I nearly deleted the winning email with the rest of my junk mail. From there my crazy competition addition was born and I had so much fun scouring the catalogue for anything I wanted. There is nothing like the excitement that comes from winning things. After the recent rush of advent competitions things are a bit quiet but I have already won the Nella toys from Friendlings magazine and as soon as I get another win I will share. If you are interested in entering competitions or already comp and are just looking for some tips and tricks look out for my blog posts in the coming weeks. I'm not an expert but I know a thing or two. Thank you for visiting my blog Just Holly Marie x x x So yesterday was the first day on the school run. The uniforms were in the kids rooms ready to be put on and my alarm was set for 7:00am. What could go wrong? Everything! I snoozed my alarm (twice!), discovered that Mia had had an allergic reaction to the cream for her Psoriasis which left her looking like a beetroot and this would all be before battling Connors ADHD in a fight for his attention long enough for his school uniform to be put on. I'm running out of breath just thinking back to it all. In the end Mia stayed at home for a visit to the doctors and Connor was only five minutes late for school which isn't bad for me. It all went much better today :) Really it's no wonder I didn't wake up on time. I have found a new game to play called HQ Words where you can win money live for right answers and I love it. The only downside is that it is based in New York so it's not on till 2:30am in the UK hence me dragging myself out of bed in the morning. There are ten questions where you are given a subject per question and you have to guess the answer Hangman style, three wrong letters on one question and your out. I have got close but haven't won yet. I recommend giving it a go it's so much fun and you can win money. If you are looking at the time that the game goes live and know you will never be awake there are other more time friendly options. HQ Trivia, Q Live and Woosh. On these games there are 12 trivia based questions that come with a multiple choice answer. Although I mainly play on my own everyone in the family can play together on their own phones making it more fun and giving you all a better chance of winning. Let me know how you do. Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. Just Holly Marie x x x So it's 2019 and I have just turned 30. While grieving for my youth I realised that 30 didn't have to be so bad. Just as it's the beginning of a new year it's also the beginning of a new decade of my life so how can I make it productive and fun? So along with the usual boring New Years resolutions of being more organised (i run late for everything!) and stress less about the little things (i stress about everything!) I am starting my blog Just Holly Marie. Not only is today special because it is the launch of my blog but is also my son Connors 10th Birthday! He is having a great day and feels much older because he has just hit double digits. I on the other hand as well as being proud of the handsome young man he is growing into can't believe he is 10! Where has my little baby gone? If you don't already know I am completely addicted to entering competitions. I have won so much and I have fun doing it. I enter competitions on the school run, while i'm on holiday, in waiting rooms and even if I can't sleep in the middle of the night. You might say it's a problem I would say it's the best hobby in the world :) We are only six days into 2019 and I have already won a bundle of Nella the Princess Knight toys from Friendlings magazine and all it took was an email with the answer to a question. 10 seconds of my time. Head over to my Win Gallery if you wants to see pictures of my wins and other comping bits and pieces. Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. Just Holly Marie x x x |