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.

Tesco Mum of the Year Awards 2014: do you know an incredible Mum?

Image by Stephanie Belton “Muuuuum, how come I love you so much?” I asked Mummy as we left the supermarket. “Because I’m the most awesome person in the world ever?” She replied, with irony. “Yessss! That’s exactly why!” And I gave her a massive squeeze as we walked, just to prove it. The truth is, although I think she’s pretty epic, there are mums out there who beat her hands down in terms of what they do, what they’ve been through, or what they’ve inspired. The Tesco Mum of the Year awards honours these “women who have inspired a generation,” …

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National Geographic Kids magazine: Wot so Funee?

For about a year now we’ve been subscribers to National Geographic Kids magazine. It costs us about £30 a year, and I can honestly tell you it’s the best thirty quid we spend in terms of value for money for the kids. GG especially reads it cover to cover, fills in everything she’s asked to, attempts every craft, and enters every single competition! Ok so it actually costs us a bit more, by the time you factor in the cost of stamps and envelopes for all the comps 😉 With features on topical news (they covered the Olympics) as well …

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A bit different: inspiration for more interesting BBQ recipes

By British standards, we’ve had an amazing summer. Our BBQ has seen a lot of action, and long lazy afternoons with friends as the kids dodge water guns on the lawn have been, if I’m honest, the main delight of the summer holidays. But for the first time ever I’ve become bored by BBQ food. I soon started to tire of even the Taste The Difference burgers (you know, with the added cheese, caramelised onions, or redcurrant jelly). Nice as they are, I craved more interesting BBQ recipes. Add to this that fact that I’m trying to be a bit …

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Saturday is Caption Day

I haven’t joined in with #SatCap for a while, but I couldn’t not this week after Mummy snapped me having a chillout in the bath. SatCap is hosted at Mummy Never Sleeps this week – do your worst 😉

Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival the only family-friendly festival you need (review).

Highs for the kids at Big Feastival 2013

Call me Victor Meldrew if you will, but most of the time I enjoy staying at home. I like my own company, my family (though if you tell my sister I said that I will shoot you with my best stick), and just hanging out with my toys. Going out is – well, it’s hard work to be honest: getting dressed, putting shoes on, walking, all of those things are just an irritation, and I prefer to be getting on with life. But on Sunday I was actually keen to leave the house. I surprised everyone, including myself by looking …

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How to Make Macarons: Easy Banoffee Macarons Recipe

Decadent Banoffee Macarons recipe that's easy to make

  Great British Bake Off – the Macarons Challenge Inspired by the Great British Bake Off, my friends Jenny and Helen – pudding and cake bloggers extraordinaires – have set a challenge to bloggers who enjoy #GBBO. Each week we will commit to creating an item on the theme of that week’s Great British Bake Off. This week the theme is Trifle, and Petits Fours. So as I sit here watching the contestants mess up their Iles Flottantes, and steal each other’s custard, my caramel ganache and banoffee caramel are cooling in my kitchen, destined for these babies. Read on …

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When I grow up: Wot So Funee?

  When I grow up When I’m 30 years old I will live 1 kilometre from my current home. I will live in a mountain, on a house. Hmmm. You need to have a rethink darling. We live in Hertfordshire; there are no mountains here, and all you will find within one kilometre is a 1950’s housing estate and 5 Tesco metros. Unless of course your mountain is metaphorical, which it would have to be, were you to actually build it on top of a house. I do hope the house in question is not our current abode – I think …

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Brioche French Toast with Blueberries and Maple Syrup – Breadmaker Recipe

How to make brioche in a breadmaker

The Great British Bake Off is  well underway and Tuesday evenings see Twitter alive with #GBBO once again. For bloggers this is all well and good, but #GBBO means something different to them this year. For awesome cake bakers Mummy Mishaps and The Crazy Kitchen have launched their own campaign to find the best baking blogger, in the Great Bloggers Bake Off. Now Mummy doesn’t bake a lot, and isn’t a huge cake fan (I know, I keep telling you, I must be adopted!), but this week’s theme was bread, and she’s pretty nifty with the yeast, albeit via the medium of …

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A Just So Festival Review – Not your average camping trip…

The Just So Festival feels funky and colourful

This year we attended our first festival as a family. Prior to my arrival, M&D spent a fair bit of time at festivals, by all accounts being carefree and jolly, though how that’s possible without the presence of a fun-loving child, I have no idea. Anyway, they’ve been in enforced festival-hibernation for 8 years, and this was the summer they intended to go back to their grass roots – literally. We started with Magic Summer Live – a music festival, breaking ourselves in gently with just one day. That ticked, could we manage a whole weekend? We donned our wellies …

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Pets with human names

Over the bank holiday weekend we were camping. We had the best time, kids that got on well, with the natural friendship that comes from seeing each other week in, week out since birth. Friends that know us so well that we can bicker with our partners, yell at children who’ve disappeared to a new friend’s tent without telling us, and eat their Cheerios when ours are all gone. And with whom we laugh. First night there, and we were all woken at 2am by a male voice shouting for Amber. It started in the distance, and over the next …

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10 tips for kids to help with times tables: Wot so Funee?

Image credit I’m doing ok with my times tables. Mummy comes in to test my class on their progress, so she knows that compared to the rest of my class I’m doing well. I know my 2/3/4/5/9/10/11 tables by rote, by random question, and by division question, so it’s all good. However, my best friend has completed every single one of her times tables challenges, and received 25 house points to boot. I find this unacceptable, and so I’m adamant that my goal on return to school in a week’s time is to nail those pesky stragglers 6/7/8 and 12. …

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Pocket money

She was probably about 9. Those were the days when 9 year olds were allowed to go to the shops on their own, with just an instruction not to speak to the strange man from round the corner if they happened across him. (Out of interest she found out via Friends Reunited many years later that he had in fact been convicted of one of those offences, the question being “Was it any safer then than it is now?”). But that is not the point of this story. She was off to spend her pocket money, just as she did every Saturday …

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Kids comic strips: Wot so Funee?

A couple of years ago, on holiday in western France, in an attempt to keep the kids still on the beach for slightly longer than the five minutes we were used to expecting, Actually Daddy inadvertently invented a kids comic strips character. That day we had eaten ham baguette for our picnic lunch… The kids comic strips that endure The story of Ham Baguette Man was an instant hit, and as Mummy curled up with a Jodi Picoult and pretended to doze, the Bug and I begged Daddy daily for the next instalment. He didn’t really mind, he is rather …

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What floats my boat – a Center Parcs family post

This year we are a Center Parcs family. What that means is that me and the Bug bang on and on and on about “when are we going back to Center Parcs, Mummy?” while Mummy daydreams about the 3 blissful hours she spent in the Aqua Sana spa there, not having to listen to such stuff. It also means that we get to feature Center Parcs on our blog, whilst having a go at the fun challenges that they set us. All good so far. However, several of the challenges this year for the Center Parcs family team have revolved …

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Stitched up by a Mermaid Letter! Wot So Funee?

Ha! Something tells me GG has sussed the provenance of the mermaid letter that arrives with decreasing frequency at our house. At last! I can stop adding that to my to do list! And what’s more, she’s totally stitched herself up for several months to come. You see, we found this on the mat, on the Bug’s birthday: So wrapped up is she in the illusion, she’s given herself extra work too: *Sniggers*  Now, if you have your own post to link this week, grab the badge code from the sidebar, and click the link below to enter your post …

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Telling Tales

Are your children fond of telling tales to get themselves out of trouble? Do you love it, or does it wind you up? I myself am perfect, and never do anything wrong in my opinion, but if your children are forever telling tales, I have some really good news for you today. What is Telling Tales? We’re working with M&S uniform today to bring you the outrageous excuses children come up with for getting their clothes dirty. All day long on Twitter, you can tweet their excuses using the #TellingTales tag. Why would you do this? Well, apart from the …

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Tips for dealing with mean girls

Are you a bully? Some types of bullying are less obvious than others

  My darling girl, the time has come for me to tell you about girls. Girls are complicated creatures – I know you’ve got that nailed, you are complicated yourself! Girls can be wonderful, loyal, warm, supportive, nurturing, caring, and funny. They can share everything with you and make you feel like the best person in the world. But they can bring you down with a word – no, a look – and they can destroy your confidence. If you let them. Mean girls: they can be total bitches. I want you to be better than that. You are already better than …

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