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When asking my youngest daughter to do something over and over again, I began to tire of the relentless "why" and resorted to one of my mum's favourite sayings "because I said so". It was out of my mouth before I realised. What had I done? Had I morphed into my mother? Or just become "a mother".

There seems to be a generic list of things that mothers all say to their children, despite swearing when we were younger, that we would NEVER utter those words.

Here are my top ten things that I swore I would never say:

1. "Because I said so". (There is simply no answer to this one). 

2. "If you keep pulling that face, it will stick like that" (I truly believed this would happen.)

3. "Don't you make me pull this car over...." (incredibly effective for no apparent reason)

4.  "There are starving children all over the world who would gladly eat your dinner!" (unfortunately my smarty pants daughter suggested we should send it to them!!)

5. "Just WAIT till your Dad gets home!" (because his word is clearly more effective than mine!)

6. "If so and so jumped off a bridge would you jump off a bridge?" (the answer to this is obviously No!)

7. "Money doesn't grow on trees you know" (this was one of my mums particular favourites)

8. "Do as I say, not as I do" (especially prevalent when talking about the use of make up and mobile phones!)

9. "If you don't stop crying, I will give you something to cry about". (the possible threat of losing one of their favourite toys is enough to stop unecessary wailing but when did I turn into "the confiscator mum"?)

10. "One day you'll thank me" (although, I will probably have to wait till the girls have children for this to actually happen).

Did you nod your way through the list?

What would you add?

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I know it is only the start of November and a Christmas wish list may sound a little presumptuous but let me tell you why. The last week has been a merry go round of illness. The littlest member of the Lilypad family has been poorly and once again sleep deprivation has hit. I can never fathom the saying "sleep like a baby", as babies rarely sleep soundly, especially when they are in your bed resembling something akin to a starfish.

So my Christmas Wish List is very simple (albeit a little predictable) but all I wish for is a Silent Night ....

Unfortunately, this may mean a bigger bed and I have been stalking the internet looking at things to add to my wish list. My mood board from TJ Hughes is a work in progress, especially as I am always changing my mind but I love that we could all snuggle up in this bed on a weekend morning and let the children watch their shows while I grab an extra 5 mins *cough*, I mean read the morning papers.

I always say that you can cope with anything if you have had sleep ...... I just need to rid our house of this horrid bug and remind my girls that their own beds are just as nice as ours! Or maybe I should just get some children's bunk bed's so that they can sleep together!

Do your little ones want to sleep with you when they are poorly?

Disclosure : This featured post is brought to you in association with T J Hughes. All moans about sleep deprivation are our own! 

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It is evident from my blog posts that I love shoes and I live by the philiosophy that a girl can never have enough shoes. However the Man on the Pad suggested that maybe, just maybe I did have enough shoes and I should be saving my pennies for the already growing Christmas lists from the children, so I stopped coveting the latest heels and heeded his suggestion. Unfortunately for the Christmas lists, not spending money on shoes for myself, didn't translate into not buying shoes for the girls.

I have found bargains and not so bargains but I have bought through cash back site Kidstart, so that my spending is not only keeping great shoes on their feet but saving money for their piggy banks too! Unfortunately when you get your child's feet measured, it usually means they have gone up a size and need new sizes in every style! I don't know many children that have only one pair of shoes but how many is too many?

This is for both girls, just in case you were wondering that I do indeed have some strange shoe addiction.

I think the answer is the fact that we need a new shoe storage cupboard for all the shoes and boots in our house, especially when I have just been introduced to a gorgeous website called Strawberry that has the most adorable range of shoes called  Catimini ......... amongst other things. 

Ooops maybe he had a point after all ........

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The very lovely Kate Takes 5 started a linky called Listography just after Christmas 2010 and this was back in the days before I was blogging regularly so I never had the pleasure of getting involved but I was delighted to find out that she had recently revived it because if there is one thing I love, it is a list. 

So the challenge is to create a list about the Top 5 things .... and this time is is "Life Lessons", so here we go, here are mine ..

1. Don't worry about things you can't change.

One of my other half's favourite sayings is that worrying won't change anything and he is right. He also says that worrying is like a rocking horse, it will give you something to do but won't get you anywhere. Again, he is right. So sometimes, when you are staring at the ceiling and unable to sleep, it can be easier to write down your worries and go to sleep. Being tired and worried is never going to help either!  There are lots of things that will always be beyond our control (and that is difficult for a control freak like me to admit) but there really is no point worrying about them if you can't change them.

2. Spend more time with your friends and family than with your work

I love my work but I love my family more. This may sound like an obvious observation but it is amazing how sometimes work can take over and that precious family time gets shorter and shorter as I "just have to check an email on the phone" or "just take a call". I am always reminded of my Nan saying "on your gravestone it will say "beloved daughter and mother" ...... it is not likely to say "great worker". 

3. Laughter fixes most things

I love laughing. I love laughing till I cry (or need the toilet) 

Laughter is the best medicine, it can make you feel better, it can diffuse the most tense of situations and it creates less lines on your face than frowning. Who would want to be grumpy?

4. Girls can be mean

I spent alot of my childhood trying to be something to pretty much every friend I ever made but in the end, you have to accept you simply haven't got the time or inclination to pacifiy everyone, especially those who don't deserve it. Girls can be mean and it takes a while to understand that you just need to find the strength inside yourself to make your choices about your real friends. It is empowering when you do.

5. People will remember you

My final lesson is given entirely to the legend that is Coco Chanel:

“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.” 

What would your life lessons be?