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.

My kids made a computer! Kano review

Kano on screen

My children scare me. They are only ten and seven years old, and yet they baffle me on a daily basis. And I’m not just talking about their command of the French language, or their impressive grasp of binary arithmetic (who ever uses that beyond primary school anyway?)! No, these kids know how to code a computer. They tell me weekly about some new game they’ve made in their lessons, using Scratch, or a trick they learned to floor their opponents on a game they created. I confess it makes no sense to me, so I nod vacantly and pray that the …

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4 Reasons to Love Barbados

   The Sea: it is blue, not steely grey; it’s coolness is a delicious relief from the heat of the sun, not an exercise in endurance. The children are happy there, playing, laughing, bonding. The Rain: yes, even the rain in Barbados is lovely. Soft and warm, feeding the lush green of the island. A book and umbrella are all you need for a rainy day. The Light: stunning colours everywhere, and it’s all down to the vast expanse of blue skies. We haven’t had a holiday with this much sun and warmth in years. We needed it. The Food: …

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7 Easter Gift Ideas for Kids without the sugar fix

Genius backpack - the perfect alternative Easter gift

Hold the chocolate! I swear I saw a Creme Egg on sale at our local garage on New Year’s Day. Although I love chocolate as much as the next person, I hate how there is so much of it in my face every time I walk through a shop door. It creates a desire that wasn’t there to begin with, and when you have kids in tow, the compulsion to stuff themselves with sugar is a never-ending battle. Which is why, every Easter, alongside a small token from the Easter Bunny, my kids look forward to a different kind of …

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Time for a change…

Honey? Knock, knock, knock… Do you wanna clean your bedroom? Or pick your clothes up from the floor? I wish you’d put your books away, I’m turning grey, becoming such a bore. You really should be sleeping. Please don’t paint your nails on your pillowcase! Do you wanna clean your bedroom? Please stop using so much perfume. Time for change… A bedroom makeover from Bespoke Room When we moved into this house six years ago, it was mostly brown. Whilst The Bug and Actually Daddy settled in quickly, GG and I missed our old home. She was four, and craved her …

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Diabetes: Being a better mother

A letter to my children on being a better mother. Dear kids, I’ve been your mother for over ten years. I’ve been your mother in the sense that I became pregnant (eventually), gave birth (hastily), and navigated you (anxiously) through your early years. I’ve read, and cooked quite well; I’ve fixed grazes, temperatures, and broken buttons passably; I’ve tolerated craft activities and role-play, barely. But it’s only recently that I can really say I am a good mother. Of course, I’ve always loved you. I would do anything to protect you, though I’ve always made sure that you rely on yourselves. A drop down the behaviour …

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Tesco Mum of the Year Awards 2015 – the big day

The very special women who are the Tesco Mum of the Year Awards winners for 2015

On Sunday, 1 March, 2015 I attended a very special event indeed. Appropriately dated to fall close to Mother’s Day, the Tesco Mum of the Year awards pays tribute to an exceptional group of mums; mums who have worked hard to support others, after much personal sacrifice of their own. I was lucky enough to meet these women in the ‘green room’ (I know!), and was humbled by how normal these extraordinary women are. Incredibly nervous, worried about tripping up the steps, and coming face-to-face with celebrity presenters, these are just everyday people. Except they’re not. Tesco Mum of the …

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Kate Middleton’s necklace from Merci Maman

The duchess necklace, inspired by Kate Middleton - a beautiful gift for Mother's Day

A beautiful necklace for mothers When the world started asking where Kate Middleton found the lovely necklace she was spotted wearing a year ago, Merci Maman were proud to realise that it was one of their own pieces, purchased by Pippa for her sister after the birth of Prince George. Sweet and simple in design, it was classic enough for a royal mum, but personal enough that any mum would love to have her own version. So they created the Duchess necklace, which retails at £79.  What I love about this necklace is the mix: the simple inscription of a …

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Modz Angry Birds blood glucose meter review

The Modz Angry Birds blood glucose meter has clear and colourful graphics

  Type 1 diabetes is not a cheerful subject. It’s even less fun when you’re a child; and certainly no fun at all when you’re a 10 year old who has to prick her finger before she can eat. Nor is it nice waiting for the result of that finger-prick blood test. GG has been known to cover the screen of her meter as she tests, slow-revealing the result so as to lessen the blow. So anything that makes the whole daily slog of managing diabetes as a child will always get a massive tick in our house. Modz Angry …

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10 Tips for getting kids more active

10 tips for getting kids active

We’re not an outdoorsy kind of family. The Bug loves his Saturday football, and I pound the pavements (intermittently) for the sake of fitness, or the occasional charity challenge. But a bike ride has to end at the park or the pub before enough enthusiasm is be mustered to leave the house; utter the words “shall we go for a walk” and you’re likely to get looks of horror and a request for a pound in the swear box. That said, I’ve always been the kind of mum who likes her children to get fresh air (it comes from my own …

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A compassionate Mum: Tesco Mum of the Year Awards 2015

Compassionate Mum winner Tesco Mum of the Year 2015

It’s no secret that we’ve had a tough few months here. My daughter’s diagnois of Type 1 diabetes at the end of the summer has really wiped the floor with us, again and again, in ways we could not have imagined when we first heard those words in the GP’s surgery. I lost a ton of weight, and not in a good way; I just couldn’t eat. Or drink wine – imagine! Over time – although acceptance is still a long way off – that initial shock has become less acute. I found myself tweeting this over the weekend, after noticing that …

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Dear Coleen Nolan, diabetes is not my fault

Stupid questions your mum will ask about diabetes

Having to take insulin injections is not the worst thing about having diabetes. Having to prick your fingers before you can eat or exercise is probably worse than needing to inject a synthetic hormone into your body, but it’s not the worst thing about having diabetes. Working full time (and it is full-time) to keep blood sugars under control, and the sense of deflation when all that hard work doesn’t pay off, is one of the worst things about having diabetes. But it’s not the worst. Public misperception around diabetes is the worst thing about having the condition. I struggle with …

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I can’t dance (Red Nose Day Danceathon with Team Honk)

Wedding dance

As a child, I took dancing lessons. Latin, mostly, and I excelled at the Samba in particular. Let’s start that again, shall we? What I actually mean is that me and my block-heeled silver sandals made it through a few certificates before I hung up my sequins in favour of a ra-ra skirt and drainpipe jeans. The Human League didn’t do ballroom, so neither did I.  Of course, now that my daughter likes to watch Strictly, I pretend to her that I’ve been there and done that. In reality I did a bit of cha-cha-cha, stiffly partnered by some poor boy drafted in for the exams, …

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Travel: Food Inspired by our Travels

Crayfish starter #TasteofTravel

  Restaurant in Honfleur, France What’s the best part of a holiday for you? Lounging by the pool with a cocktail? Swimming in a perfect sea, on champagne sand? The spectacular view at the top of a canyon, or the rush of adrenalin as you ski down snow-capped peaks? I’ve been lucky enough to experience all of these, and more, and still have a bucket list I could never hope to complete. But you know what all of those pleasures have in common? Food. Whether it’s a thickly-buttered warm baguette, oozing strawberry jam, after a long hard day on the …

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What Santa said to the Tooth Fairy

What Santa said to the Tooth Fairy

I know we’re well into January now, and by rights I should be posting recipies involving brown rice, or decluttering tips. Heck, it’s even too late for New Year resolutions now! Which it just as well, because I didn’t make any… I’m terrifically tardy, but I’m going to bend your ear about Christmas, because really, this is one conversation I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share. What Santa said to the Tooth Fairy Prologue A week before Christmas, the wobbly tooth began to feature. Apples and carrots were requested, not to store up for the reindeer, but to force …

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Merry Christmas from London

London Gingerbread House

It’s lovely having a birthday at Christmas. I’ve always considered myself lucky that the whole world is set to party, twinkly lights and tinsel everywhere I look, all ready for me to throw myself into another year older. And so I work hard to get Christmas totally sorted in time for my day, so that I can relax and enjoy my family and friends. So today I headed off into London with the kids, to meet Actually Daddy for lunch. Steak and chips and red wine at Sophies in Covent Garden – such a treat and it wasn’t even the …

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A Christmas Wot so Funee?

"lyrics to Last Christmas"

Found hiding amongst a pile of papers at the bottom of a cupboard. GG was having a tidy up, an event that only happens once every couple of years. I swear one day she will no longer fit in her room, she’s such a hoarder. It had to be a Christmas Wot so Funee?

9 Brilliant Books for Tween Girls to Expand Their Reading Level

Books for 10 year old girls The Twistrose Key (by Tone Almhjell) Full of mystery, it slowly leads you up to the main event, until you’re so into it that you’re guessing what might happen next! (GG) Have you ever wondered where your pets go when they die? In your wildest imagination you couldn’t imagine this scenario for them, but when Lin finds her way to the land of Sylver, imagination becomes her reality, and an eternal winter plays host to racing adventure.  It started out as an advent calendar of one-page chapters for the author’s sister and became a …

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Whittlebury Hall Hotel and Spa Review

Spa at Whittlebury Hall hotel and spa review

Christmas coffee, gingerbread muffins, and champagne! I am well and truly ready for Christmas. Last week I had finally stopped ignoring the fact that my cupboards were empty of potential giftware, with two expectant children and their eager faces goading me into entering the festive fray. I threw myself headlong into the frenzy of preparation, and bought all (well, most) of my presents for family and friends online. I thought I was doing well, until the to-do list began to resemble my old school homework diary in the run-up to GCSE’s. I was frazzled. But this week I returned from …

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