• book review - parenting - reviews

    Diary of a Sleep Deprived Mum

    My biggest fear about our new addition is the sleep deprivation! I have awful memories of the first few weeks with Edward where I quite literally wanted to gouge my burning eyes out I was so tired! At least I know what to expect this time. The people behind BBC Dragons’ Den success, Magic Blackout Blind, have launched a new book,‘Diary of a Sleep Deprived Mum’ written by a mum, inspired by mums and aimed at every parent suffering at the sharp end of sleep deprivation! It’s a fun book to read but also aims to inform via anecdotes and…

  • nursery - parenting

    Ready for nursery?

    As a stay at home mum I never thought we would be able to afford the luxury of nursery sessions for Edward. We’ve made the most of free story time and singing sessions at the local library, and since he was born tried baby signing, music classes and swimming lessons. As my second pregnancy progressed I found I needed to cut back on some of our activities but Edward needed more energetic things to do! We began to look at putting him in nursery for a couple of sessions a week and the only place which was willing to take…

  • motherhood - parenting - reviews

    I don’t know how she does it

    It’s five months since I handed in my notice at work and a couple of months since I received my P45 – nothing says unemployed more that a P45! The good bits I don’t have to commute I can wear what I like I can work on my blog, with the excuse that I’m ‘keeping my hand in’, for when I manage to land the perfect job I can say I’m bored, tired, stressed out and people empathise – a privilege not given to many people in paying jobs! I’m my own boss I have time to renew old friendships…

  • motherhood - parenting

    Top 10 naughty toddler moments

    I wouldn’t say Edward has a naughty streak and I certainly don’t want to start giving his behaviour a label at the ripe old age of 17 months. However, I’ll be the first to admit he has his moments as he makes the transition into toddlerhood. I thought I’d make a top ten of his most challenging activities and boy was it a hard job limiting it to ten…   constantly playing with the tv cabinet, switching the xbox on and off and pulling cables out taking advantage of my forgetting to put all the stair gates up and climbing…

  • blogging

    Vote for me: Best Overall Blog in the Gurgle Blog Awards 2011

    I’m so excited to tell you that I’m a finalist in the Best Overall Blog category in the 2011 Gurgle Blog Awards! I’m not sure who nominated me but thank you so much. In case you haven’t heard of them before, the Gurgles celebrate the best mummy and daddy blogs and as a relatively new parent blogger I am just really happy to be nominated. There are some well known bloggers in my category so I don’t expect to win but as a finalist I do get the opportunity to have a rare night out, go to a swanky London…

  • baby - competition - parenting - reviews

    Baby’s First Year: A Parent’s Guide

    *****Competition has now closed and the winner has been notified***** Shanta Everington is the author of ‘The Terrible Twos: A Parent’s Guide’ and she has just published her second book, ‘Baby’s First Year: A Parent’s Guide’, which has just been published (available from Amazon, Need2Know Books and all good bookstores). Shanta kindly agreed to answer some questions. What inspired you to write this book? When my son was born five years ago, like most new parents, I didn’t know what the hell I was supposed to be doing. I read a lot of parenting books but none of them really spoke…

  • parenting - pushchairs - reviews

    Gurgle magazine

    There’s a new glossy magazine aimed at modern mum’s just like me and you. It’s called Gurgle and available exclusively in Mothercare stores, Early Learning Centres, or via subscription. So what do you get for the princely sum of £2? I was sent the first copy to review and I loved it. It is packed full of advice on parenting and tips for family life, fashion must-haves, food, travel and celebrity news. I had a good read from cover to cover and will be passing it round my circle of mum friends. Things I liked: appealing front cover fresh layout…

  • days out - parenting - The Gallery

    The Gallery: trees

    The theme for The Gallery had me thinking and looking back through my archives for pictures of trees. My son is obsessed by them and spent the first few months of his life sitting in his pushchair and watching the trees above him. However. before I found a suitable picture I remembered what my husband did at the weekend. We love geocaching and find it a great way to get out and about. Last weekend we went out for a walk round Ealing and bookmarked a couple of geocaches. One of them was in an unusual place. Yes, that’s my…