Helen

Colourful midlife mum to two teens. Determined not to do as she's told and slide off into invisible old age. Much cooler at 50 than she was at 15. Host of the Teenage Kicks podcast, about mental health for teenagers.

Diabetes: Is the Artificial Pancreas a Diabetes Cure?

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been told that my daughter’s condition will soon be cured. It seems every day that a new headline lands in the consciousness of my friends, reassuring them that a cure for diabetes is imminent. Some even intimate that I can get it from her GP right now. She recently transitioned to insulin-pump therapy, and so we no longer have to think about diabetes. So say all her Grandma’s friends. Of course, the reality is in stark contrast to public perception, and she and I both welcome opportunities to change her pump site in …

Read more

10 Tips for Cutting Costs as a Family #SaveSmarter

Save smarter: watch the pennies mount up

Last week I took a test. Devised by Aviva, the Financial Personality Tool promised to enlighten me as to my own particular strengths and weaknesses when it comes to money. It got me completely right, and opened my eyes to some opportunities to be a bit smarter about how I save, spend, and manage my finances. I took the test for my husband, and it agreed that my suspicions were correct: we should never have got married… That shock out of the way (who am I kidding, it was never a shock – I love him to bits, but gawd …

Read more

How to Save Smarter (#SaveSmarter)

This post is sponsored by Aviva. Do read it though – it’s fun! A Fun Way to Save Smarter I always seem to have just enough money in the bank; never any spare, but even on a bad month, we always seem to be able to scrape something from somewhere to pay for what we need – usually involving some activity of the kids! We’re lucky. That said, I live in fear of something happening to the house that requires expense. It’s a bit of a dinosaur, our house, and something seems to fall apart at least once a year, …

Read more

Easter Baking: Moroccan Spiced Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Easter baking: Moroccan spiced hot cross buns recipe

  Easter Baking Ideas We have a bit of time on our hands for once this Easter break. I’ve longed for a holiday where we’re at home, just to spend time with the kids, doing simple things. And one thing they never tire of is baking. Schwartz got in touch to ask if I would get the kids involved in some cooking using some of their spices. Never one to turn down a challenge, and always a lover of a twist, I decided that we’d start our Easter baking preparations with traditional hot cross buns. Recipes for hot cross buns …

Read more

Stable Diabetes: it’s Mission Impossible #DPC16

Why stable diabetes is a fantasy

  I don’t know who this photo belongs to, but if anyone does, I’ll gladly credit. The man is a genius. If you’re living with diabetes I know you’ll be nodding at this point; if you’re not, please believe us – stable diabetes is not something that ever happens, particularly if you’re type 1. “Is she not stable then..?” There is nothing that infuriates a diabetic more than this question. Apart from possibly “Are you allowed to eat that?” See this image for the answer to that question. Then I promise we’ll crack on with the point of this post, but allow …

Read more

Diabetes: forget sugar and injections, it’s all about education. #DPC16

Type 1 diabetes equipment. Blood test meter, insulin vial and insulin injection pen

I’ve procrastinated with this post. Last week I was one of the official bloggers at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference (DPC). Professional. That means scientists, doctors, and researchers presenting findings from their studies, and debating new approaches in diabetes care. I run a parenting blog. Some of my readers are parents of children with type 1 diabetes, by virtue of the fact that I occasionally write impassioned posts on the subject since GG’s diagnosis. I applied for the position of conference blogger, but I questioned why I was awarded it. Most of my readers do not have diabetes on their …

Read more

How to buy for less online

Kids just want so much stuff, don’t they? And none of it is in favour for more than a few months, but it is absolutely vital that they have it when they need it, otherwise they’ll be the only one in the playground without the latest thing. My house is overflowing with discarded loom bands (remember those?), I have a huge tub full of mechanical hamster-type things, and occasionally a Furby will turn evil in the night and pipe up from under a cushion somewhere. Toy manufacturers know how to appeal to kids, they know when to pitch the product …

Read more

How to tackle the debt skeleton in your closet

  Given the rising cost of living in this country, with rents and house prices literally going through the roof, I wasn’t too surprised to read that UK household debt is at its highest in five years. In fact households now, on average, owe 26.5% of their annual income on loans and credit cards (including student loans; excluding mortgages). This is the highest level since before the recession. It’s makes for alarming reading, but it’s easily understandable that people are increasingly having to turn to credit in order to get by. Yet while debt is never enjoyable or desirable, it …

Read more

Review: Children’s Snow Boots from Mountain Warehouse

  Every Sunday morning, Actually Daddy would return from the Bug’s football match with cold feet, and trainers that were unrecognisable from standing up to his ankles in mud. “Why can’t I have snow boots like the kids?” he would complain. It’s understandable. Look what the kids wear when they’re kicking around outside in the cold:   We decided on snow boots for the kids this year, because we knew we’d be going skiing. Let’s face it, the UK doesn’t often have snow, and when it does, we’ve made do with a pair of wellies and an extra pair of socks. But …

Read more

Helping Kids to Make Healthy Friendships

Healthy Friendships

I’ll never forget the year my best friend send me to Coventry. There were six of us in our group, and I was completely oblivious of our status of ‘top dogs’ in the classroom, though I can see it now. We occupied the centre of the room, three double desks set together, making everyone else satellites to our clique around the edges. We’d been together right from the start, though Kaye and I were best friends. Both strong personalities, we probably vied for position, although conveniently, I remember her being the most confident. I’m the classic boiled egg – what …

Read more

Travel: Keeping Kids Safe and Happy on a Family Ski Holiday

Tips for keeping children safe on a ski holiday The girl sharing my lesson must have been around eight years old. “So, we’re in this together then?” I tried to make conversation. “Absolute beginners, you’ll probably do way better than me!”  “Oh no,” our instructor shook his head. “She’s a really good skier. But she broke her arm last season when some idiot lost control and careered into her. She just needs to get her confidence back.” I was 21, having my first ever ski lesson, and the eight year old girl with a broken arm was already a much better skier than I was. Fast forward a …

Read more

Perfect Low Carb Pizza Recipe

Low carb fathead pizza

A low carb pizza has been the holy grail of my Saturday night menu planning for a long time now. Takeaway pizza (and even the shop-bought variety) has a tendency to wreak havoc with blood glucose levels when you’re acting as your own pancreas and injecting insulin. (In fact, I have a strong suspicion that the insulin resistance of type 2 diabetes may have more to do with high fat, savoury junk food than with cans of Coke, but that’s a rant for another day). So our Saturday night fix in front of the TV has suffered since type 1 …

Read more

3 Things to do with Kids at Half Term in London

As the half-term holidays loom, frazzled parents know that unless they keep children busy and having fun, a week off can easily turn into a struggle to get through till term starts again. But it doesn’t have to be like that, provided you have a few plans to keep them active and engaged. Here are our tips for things to do with kids at half term in London. Scroll down for a list of ideas from elsewhere around the UK. Things to do with Kids at Half Term Try a Freaky Rivet day out Freaky Rivet is an organisation dedicated to …

Read more

Safer Internet Day: Should children have social media accounts?

The average age of a cyber criminal is 17 One in ten 16-19 year olds know someone who has engaged in a criminal activity online A third would be impressed if a friend hacked a bank website and replaced the logo with a cartoon One in ten would be impressed if a friend hacked an air traffic control system. (Research findings from internet security software provider Kapersky Lab). I once had an argument with a secondary school teacher about children and social media. She was unequivocal: children of any age have no place in social media. It’s too dangerous, they’re …

Read more

Up All Night

  You know when people joke about how, when you have a baby, you’re not going to get much sleep? You’ll be up all night, they say, and you laugh. Then your newborn arrives, and you realise it’s true. You never knew you could survive on so little sleep. You’re amazing. Up All Night After a couple of weeks though, the excitement settles, the adrenalin wears off, and you’re tired to your bones. You ache all over, you eat badly, propping yourself up with sugar, caffeine and stimulants. You don’t know how you will carry on. You do though, because …

Read more

Teen Fiction: Possessed

Teen fiction - Possessed

Teen Fiction Rising out of bed, as if in a trance, Poppy slowly staggered over to the door; slowly, but purposefully. Reaching out for the doorknob, she turned it and proceeded down the stairs. Not acknowledging the frantic shouts from her parents’ bedroom, she unlocked the front door and stepped outside into the frosty night. The darkness wrapped around her while she trudged down the icy pavement. Suddenly, her soot black eyes focused on a curved dagger resting against a wall. With her eyes sparkling with danger, she stretched out an arm to retrieve it, while the bitter winds swirled …

Read more

Fennel and Bean Soup recipe with an added something!

This fennel and bean soup recipe will give you two of your five-a-day with an added extra special treat

I’m not always the healthiest eater. As a busy mum, who works, and whose nights are frequently interrupted, I’m prone to reaching for coffee and muffins in the mornings, followed up by a lunch of crumpets and cheese. And who doesn’t like that stuff? It’s a quick fix, it acts as comfort after an exhausting night, and an even longer day. And we all know what calls at five o’clock. But there comes a point when the body craves more than just comfort; it needs vitamins, fibre, good protein, and a little bit less of the quick fixes. I may …

Read more

Bronchiolitis: When it’s more than just a cold

Bronchiolitis is more than a cold

“No, it can’t wait. Did you drive here? Is there someone who can go home and pack a bag for you? Ideally you’d go straight there.” Have you ever taken your baby to a routine GP appointment, and left with an instruction to take him straight to hospital? It’s scary. It was the day after my daughter’s christening that she developed a cold. It had been a lovely day, warm and full of smiles and sunshine. Everything was perfect, we were all well, and the day went beautifully. So I was surprised when she started with a snotty nose and a …

Read more