The Christmas Nativity Star

Natty attends a mainstream primary school and last week Daddy Downs Side Up, Mia and I proudly watched her and her classmates perform in their second ever Christmas play.
Last year it was the traditional Nativity story, this year a jazzed up modern tale which included fish and penguins. Both were equally magical.

At least she wasn't rude to her fellow thespians like last year!
We rushed around to feed the girls after school, get them changed and returned for 5.30pm, all warmly wrapped against the chill of the dark December evening. We found a space to sit and chatted to other excited parents as we waited for the actors to ready themselves. 

As the action began to unfold, we sat and craned our necks to see a glimpse of our daughter past the heads of the other parents, all doing the same of course. Mia snuck down to the front of the hall and sat cross-legged, inches from her little sister. Once these optimum positions were found, all three of us didn't let Natty out of our sight for one moment, eager to catch every second of her festive role.

Well, the performance comprised some very nice singing, Natty joined in and all the words. There was dancing around the stage, waving wands and she knew exactly what she was doing and where to stand, interacting with her classmates perfectly.  She stayed where she should during the times when her group was not under the spotlight. Most of all, she was really enjoying herself.

There was also:
a little bit of nose picking, 
a small amount of fidgeting, 
a stand up and wave at Mummy 
a poke of her neighbour in the back with her wand
a couple of verses where she sat and yawned instead

"Oh dear," I thought.

And then I looked at her peers, all 30 or so of them, and I noticed these behaviours were, of course typical for any only-just-six year old. Mia had done exactly the same back in her day too.

And so, our Christmas play experience was much the same as yours I should expect, and that of your neighbour's children, your cousins and your neices. 

Each and every one a Christmas Star.







Changing Perceptions of Down's Syndrome in MAMA UK

I'm proud to have been featured in a new online magazine called MAMA uk this week.






Changing Perceptions of Down’s Syndrome

This summer as a new mum of two I attended BritMums Live!, a blogging conference held in central London. I love such events, they not only provide a great learning experience but it’s also an opportunity to meet and mix with friends you have known online for years. And to enjoy a bottle or two of Prosecco, natch.
One of the most popular features of BritMums Live! is the Crowdsourced Keynote Speakers, which is the final item on the agenda. It’s a carefully curated hour of blog posts that are read out to the assembled audience by their authors.
This year I was so deeply moved by one of the speakers that I have been shouting about it ever since...

Read the rest of Alice Arnold's article here: Changing Perceptions of Down's Syndrome with Downs Side Up

Natty's 6th Birthday

Children's birthdays are wonderful yet emotionally complex markers of time for me.
I've decided therefore to do two posts about Natty's 6th birthday, and this is the light-hearted one about parties, presents, jelly, tutus, Pass the Parcel, friends and family....

This time last year when Natty was 5, her Dad was unfortunately working away. I did a simple party at home but it's hard to take pics and cook and organise games and stop kids crayoning on your walls and smile and enjoy all at the same time. It was a lovely day, but passed me by in a slight haze. Read about it here in An Unexceptionally Exceptional Birthday.

This year was very different. We had celebrations over 2 days. A mini tea party with just our immediate family on the day and a party for school friends at the weekend.

Mini celebration on Natty's birthday with simple cake number 1


Not only was Daddy Downs Side Up here, but Natty's big brother and his wife were visiting too. We had an army of help and it meant we could all enjoy the tiny details of the day.

A very happy birthday girl

For the first time I think Natty understood that her birthday was coming. She got excited and chatted about the party both before and after the event. I'm so happy that she clearly loved every minute of it. Pictures speak louder than words, so here they are...

Cheeky Monkey!

The birthday girl donned her favourite tutu and big sister  Mia set up a facepainting station for all the guests, starting with hearts for Natty.






















Natty then then painted some of her friends' faces before decorating her big brother and turning him onto a rosy-cheeked elf!

I adore the look of concentration and love here


No party would be complete without a selection of games: Pass the Parcel, Pin the Purse on the Mermaid, (please excuse my feeble art skills!), and every parent's favourite Sleeping Fish (there was a vague swimming theme), as well as colouring in a little thing that shrinks in the oven, doing your own puppet show and decorating your own party bag.

Pin the Purse on the Mermaid, Pass the Parcel and Puppet Show




The children were all beautifully behaved and worked together, instinctively allowing for each others differences; explaining, calming, comforting, dancing, laughing, hugging, cheering up, consoling, asking for help if necessary. Wonderful to see, and exactly how it should be.

When it was time, they sat down for tea. I decided to swap traditional party food, which is always more time consuming and costly than you think to prepare, for a starter of cubes of cheese, pineapple and grapes on sticks, then a bowl of pasta and  blitzed homemade veg and tomato sauce (so easy to knock up in advance) finished with mini trifles in cups (fruit and sponge with jelly, then custard and sprinkles). All so easy and enjoyed by the kids and when their parents picked them up they knew they had eaten a 'proper' dinner too.

But enough waffle about healthy birthday banquets... the main player in this stage of the party was... the much anticipated... CAKE!!!

The cake, the reaction and the fingers in the ears during the very loud singing!
I am no baker. It takes me a whole day to make a birthday cake, but having bought them in the past I have to say I prefer the shabbier looking variety that is infused with the secret ingredient - LOVE. Well, it was a swimming pool affair with splashing Peppa Pig and George amidst a bright blue jelly (What a to-do making that I can tell you! Many a night was spent consulting friends on Twitter to work out how to do it), complete with icing floats and lilos. It wasn't perfect, but it was 'good enough' to please the children. (Phew!)

And there you have it, another unexceptionally exceptional birthday, like many taking place in homes up and down the country every weekend.

Birthday parties are a wonderful time to see the joy of inclusion first hand, to see how our children just accept each other for who they are. It always means so much to me and I see what I was denied as a child growing up in a more segregated society where people with disabilities were hidden away. Read The Significance of the Birthday Party Invite for a light-hearted look at this.


Makaton Advent Calendar and Shabang Calendar for 2013


December is here!

A time for little ones to get beside themselves with excitement, a time for high street frenzies, a time for Mums and Dads to step up a gear. 
I for one am panicking about fitting everything in and it's Natty's birthday in a couple of days too!


Anyway, to help keep us on track many of us will be opening our advent calendars now. Downs Side Up were lucky enough to be asked to take part in a novel new online one, organised by the Makaton Charity, those amazing people who enable our children to communicate with us. Each day you can click on a window to see a short film of children signing a Christmas word or seasonal song. 

I somehow missed the email asking us to take part, so had about 48 hours to plan and film it. Mia was in a bad mood, Natty wanted a poo, picked her nose, looked the wrong way, the sun was in their eyes, it was too cold standing by the log pile, the fire didn't look right unlit, the light was wrong, they signed with their hands the wrong way round, they had a little disagreement, they were hungry, the phone rang, the snowman was over the wrong shoulder..... 

and finally, at the end of the day, when I'd nearly given up and they were in their PJs ready for bed, we got a cute take. Natty and Mia are signing 'snowman' on Day 3. 

View the free calendar here Makaton Advent Calendar
There is also an option to make a small donation if you wish.


Looking forward to the New Year, Shabang Theatre (their website is well worth checking out for other resources) have brought out a lovely 2013 calendar which would make an ideal Christmas gift. It features lots of happy children who happen to have disabilities, role models for us all indeed. It is bright, cheerful and guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face.

Natty smiles at her Shabang calendar friends

The numbers are bold, as are the days of the week, with weekends in a different colour and it also features 3 Makaton symbols and signs to learn per month. So I think it will make an excellent teaching resource as well. 
I was lucky enough to have been sent one as a gift. I'm certain they will be brightening up many a kitchen from next month and you can buy them from the website, priced £9.99.

December page for next year


Slugs and Snails and really rather fab tights!

The lovely people over at Slugs and Snails sent Natty a couple of pairs of their fabulous tights to road test. 


It's not often that you come across a new product that is exciting enough to share, and this is certainly one of them. These are bright unisex tights, aimed at bold boys in particular. 

They have rubberised feet to prevent slipping, the pattern goes all the way to the top so that they can be worn alone as 'adventurer leggings' or they would also serve as a snug extra layer under jeans in the Winter.

They come with fabulous patterns such as owls, cars, clouds and toadstools and in colours from green to blue to yellow, brown and red. For us they were the perfect antidote to pink stripes and spots to be honest. 

The first thing that struck me as I took them from their packaging was the extraordinarily high quality and very generous sizing. They go up to age 4, which would fit most 5 year olds comfortably.

We love them, and we think you will too!




Our little film: What to Say When a Baby is Born with Down's Syndrome

To mark Downs Side Up's first anniversary last week, I recorded a reading of the most popular blog post of the year; What to Say When a Baby is Born with Down's Syndrome.

It was written as advice for friends and family predominently, but it turns out that it is useful for anyone and everyone who knows someone whose baby is born with a disability, illness or prematurely. It has fairly universal appeal therefore.

It's the post I read at Britmums Live this year, causing 500 women and a few men to blub uncontrollably into their glasses of Chardonnay. Most kindly, they gave me a standing ovation for upsetting them.

Anyway, here it is. I hope you enjoy it. Brew a cuppa first, it's 20 minutes long, but it might just change your life...