Latitude Music Festival - 7 Essential Talking Points

This weekend I got to have a break from mummy duties and

had a day out at Latitude music festival. My lovely husband was left in charge of the kids for the day for the first time since having Jacob.......so today would be a challenge for both of us. Before I had even left the house there was paint on the carpet and Mikey had painted his train set. As long as they don't kill each other It will be OK I kept telling myself.

Now my body has had time to recover, I wanted to reflect on my experience. I only have one thing to compare it to and that is Lowlands a festival in Holland. I have been many times and done the whole hog and camped. In my opinion, this is the most amazing festival and a tough act to follow. 1.Toilets - So for any festival goer this is a given...hygiene is a challenge at festivals and it's expected you will have to compromise on standards in this area. These toilets though were a whole other level of basic. Tin can springs to mind. I didn't realise you were expected to take the tissue before you went in. So it's a good job I only needed a number 1 (wee if you aren't sure what I mean). Also, it's a good job I'm a mum and carry tissues!

The toilet situation did get better in the main arena but I was hoping for running water but no such luck. I have so much appreciation for the cleanliness of the Dutch now. 2. Music - Now this wasn't a festival I was going to for the artists. I was going for the atmosphere, experience and time with my friends. I love music and feel my music knowledge is quite varied. Turns out I'm old and not down with the kids. I recognised songs because they are on adverts no other reason. Homework for me is to listen to BBC Radio 1 more in preparation for next time.

3. Food - This is something I say frequently "I love food". My colleagues frequently reply "yes we know!" Or "no really? We didn't know". I was excited to see what food this festival had as Lowlands is on another level of insane. I go for the food really and can spend hours deciding on what I will have over the weekend. As my friends went with Thai I decided I would go with this because I was just too lazy to queue twice. I was not disappointed. Considering this is not something I would normally choose I felt satisfied my belly was full and my purse was still happy. After a few beverages, I also had some dirty Dutch style cheesy chips which finished my day off nicely. The diet starts Monday! 4. Children - Latitude markets themselves as a family friendly festival which it is. There is something for everyone. However, I don't know if I would take mine. Partly because I would want to be selfish, drink, party and explore the grown up things and not want Mikey Constantly wanting to go to the play area. Also, the cost of the ticket, the amount you could spend on the crap food, sweets, balloons and costumes he would want, I could not justify. Even though I was a mum having a day off this did not stop my mothering instincts kicking in. I was uncomfortable seeing babies crying because of the loud music and being tired. At this point, it did make me think that it was then becoming more a thing for the parents rather than for the kids. Every family is different but this is exactly why I don't think I will be taking the kids for many years yet. I wouldn't want to leave early either knowing the money I had spent. 5. New mum experience- I was tired!! I forgot how much walking you do at a festival. My post pregnancy body was not ready for that. Hence the reason I sacked off staying until 3 am and got a lift from my husband at 11 pm (I have changed!). I should have checked the terms before he agreed to the lift because now I owe him 7 cups of tea (nobody can drink that many in a day surely). My body hurt and my breasts hurt. I spent ages trying to decide on if I should wack my boobs out and try and squeeze some milk out. I just didn't know where to put this milk. When I got home Phil said I should have done it down the toilet. I never thought the sound of expressing my boobs down the loo like milking a cow would sound like such a great idea. 6. Technology - now I'm pretty good with technology and can usually fix a problem but today exposed my lack of knowledge of the new Facebook feature of streaming live videos. I thought I would give it a go. It didn't go well....why could I not see anything? How do I stop this embarrassment? Thank god they thought to give me the option to delete it. Take two and I did it. Second homework...find something interesting to live stream again for practice but not anything where I could end up killing myself, husband or children. 7. Fashion - I spent ages thinking about my festival outfit.

I'm all for festival chic and I don't get out much so it had to be right. Turns out I could have rocked up in anything and it would have been acceptable. From wedding dresses to costumes, sequins to.....well not a lot at all! It was all being rocked and that's the joys of festivals if you have the balls to try it then go for it. Thank you to my friends for my amazing birthday/congratulations on getting your baby out of your vagina present. Amongst all the struggles I did have an amazing time. I saw some great comedy acts and I danced hard at the rave karaoke. I will definitely go again (with my breast pump in tow probably). Festivals will never get old for this Mum in a Mann's world.

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