Edinburgh dog fouling: Is there a shortage of poo bags or what? – Hayley Matthews

If I told you my week started with baby Oryn scraping dog poo off a buggy that someone had wheeled into Portobello soft play, and that it ended with an argument in said soft play with a catering assistant over a £1.25 ice lolly, then I’m sure you’ll understand why I’m a bit scunnered by the promenade just now.

If it’s not jumped-up softplay staff I’m fending off, then it’s an assault course whizzing round all the jobbies along the way.

I‘ll save the story on the argument over the ice lolly for another time. However, I will moan about the dog poo.

I actually think there are more piles of dog poop than there are roadworks in Edinburgh right now.

Do we have some sort of shortage of doggy poop bags at the moment or are we just really lazy?

Could you imagine if I let little Oryn take a dump at the side of the road and just left it?

We’ll go and do me a favour please and pick 
up your dog poo because if I have to jump into action to avoid wheeling over another pile of poop – I swear, I’ll scrape it off the pavement and throw it at you – that is if you let your dog poo and don’t bag it up.

So watch out.

Don’t sugar-coat realities of poverty and homelessness to kids

It can be a hard balance to strike giving your kids a little treat whilst introducing them to reality. However, I always try to explain to Harris how we are lucky to have the basics and a little extra at times.

He’s grateful and often shows compassion when he sees people less fortunate than himself. He always wants to give a few pennies when he sees someone begging or buy them a sandwich which I think is a good awareness to have. I often feel guilty for going out for a treat or doing something that many aren’t able to do but if a little can be given back then I always try and find a way of doing that.

Harris loves a Friday afternoon hot chocolate but this week we decided to try out the Pancake Buffet at Harvey Nichols who are doing unlimited American-style pancakes until February 25, so a nice thing to take the kids to for Pancake Day. It’s also good to see customers being encouraged to donate £1 to StreetSmart, a national charity raising money for homelessness in the UK.

We took a few of Harris’s friends as a little special treat to let them try some decent American-style pancakes which is a nice change from the thin rubbishy ones that I make for the kids, and I have to say it went down well. The favourite toppings seemed to be the chocolate sauce, lemon curd and salted caramel.

But in true Hayley style I kept it real, explaining how lucky everyone at the table was and how even just a little donation of £1 can really go to do some good in helping others.

The kids really took on board what we said – not to make them feel bad for having a treat but to give a taste of reality.