Parenting

Whose responsibility is it to keep your child safe online?

Whose responsibility is it to keep your children safe online?

 The internet is very dangerous. Children should be banned from computers until they’re 18. I have no idea what I clicked, but the damned computer just took me away from what I was viewing, and onto some totally random site! Snapchat isn’t dangerous – the images are gone in an instant. Don’t worry about Facebook. As long as they’re not on Grinder you’re fine. All things that have been said to me recently. As a parent who knows a fair bit about social media, I thought we would have it sorted when the time comes for our children to begin their …

Read more

Expressions #11: Too much too young?

Happy My children are lucky. Whilst we’re not well-off, we are able to afford occasional extravagances. My children are also blessed with an over-excited Dad, who spent one morning back in October refreshing his screen, determined to secure tickets for One Direction at Wembley stadium. The date rolled around last Sunday, and together with 79,996 girls and their Mums we made our way to Wembley stadium. I was never allowed to go to gigs and concerts when I was young. The Manchester Apollo was a hive of criminal activity and any young girl going within a 5 mile radius was …

Read more

Badly behaved…

Rudeness and bad behaviour just isn't necessary

Recently we visited a restaurant on our holidays. It was about 7pm, and after a long drive, we were looking for some great pub food, as recommended by our hotel. As we walked through the bar area en route to the restaurant, we got a glare from the barman. Odd, but not unusual – sometimes pubs don’t allow children in the bar, and that’s fine. But what happened next left us speechless. “Oh, we can’t have children in the restaurant. Or the bar. We do have this table in the lobby, but unfortunately it’s taken at the moment.” The Rising …

Read more

Expressions #10: Lemme take a selfie

Every year since my second child was born, I’ve spent a day with my daughter, just us girls, in London. We do as much as a family as we can, and we love our time together. Beneath the general bickering that goes on between siblings, it’s plain to see how much my son and daughter love each other, but the chores and mini-hurdles of everyday life see me spending much of my time in arbitration, not truly focusing on either one of my children. When the Bug was a newborn, I went to lunch with my girl, more to reassure …

Read more

Wot so Funee? Bogies and contact lenses

Wot So Funee

Welcome back to another Wot so Funee? We’ve loved reading the antics at Nikki, Emma, and Donna‘s blogs, but now it’s time for us to entertain you. And boy, have we clocked up some gaffs – all at the expense of the Bug. I’m sure he’ll get me back for this, but for now, he has the floor. Mums and Dads bicker. I know you know how it goes. Dads make a mess, Mums sigh a lot and do tidying, until they get tired, and then they start to grumble. I’m rather good at heading all that off and telling …

Read more

Expressions #08: my football fan

Six months ago he wasn’t happy about football. Year 2 boys suddenly seem to ‘get’ football, picking teams and chasing the ball on a concrete playground, until injuries and arguments see the game banned. Not for long though. Year 2 boys will always find a way. Not so the Bug, who didn’t see the point. Nor could he fathom why his best friends were consumed with the need to play, every breaktime, at the expense of time spent with him. He felt discarded, lonely, on the outside of a game he didn’t understand, or have any inclination to join in …

Read more

Asthma – the cold fear inside

I lay next to her as she slept in my bed, and listened to her breathing. The rash was up again; her beautiful face was covered in puffy, red patches, that were spreading down her neck and shoulders as I watched under the torchlight. It hadn’t been there at bedtime, and yet when I checked on her at 11pm she was covered. I had dragged her from sleep to administer anti-histamine, brought her to my bed so I would know if she worsened. She has asthma, you see, my baby girl. What if this sudden – and very dramatic – …

Read more

Expressions portrait photo #07: Freeze movement

My stubborn boy. He is typical of his age: not given to narcissism for the sake of the camera; he will make a fabulous photo-bomber when he’s old enough to be strategic about his ludicrous facial expressions and goofy grins. But give him a project and he will apply himself. “I want to try and make fairies. Will you help me?” And so he stood, in a shady corner of the garden, blowing dandelion clocks. Imagination held hostage for a few moments as he checked the camera to see if we had caught them. My patient boy. To freeze movement and capture so …

Read more

Wot so Funee? Our first wedding.

Last weekend we went to a wedding. It was the first time I have been an actual wedding, where the people involved weren’t married already. M&D’s renewal of vows was awesome fun, but this was an all day long event, full of sunshine, flowers, humour, and love. I adored it!   This was my cousin’s wedding; him being 28 and me being 9 made my Mum feel old. She talked about how it felt like only yesterday (why do grown-ups say that?) that she held him in her arms as a tiny baby, but then she’ll openly admit that she was a …

Read more

Girls are amazing

Hi this is once again actually GG and I am going to be very serious and talk to you about why girls are amazing. I asked my lovely deputy headteacher to photocopy a survey that I had created last night for my fellow students to complete. I am very surprised about some of the results and hope that it helps you to understand why girls are amazing. Why girls are amazing: My results show that more girls like football than boys, and football is not really considered a feminine sport. It also shows that some boys spend time on their …

Read more

Wot so Funee? Signs my children are getting older

Mother’s Day, as always, was bliss. I saw some tweets bemoaning the fact that children make for a less than perfect (ie. relaxing) day, but that is not so for me. My children, at 9 and 6, are incredibly good company, well-behaved (mostly), thoughtful, and capable of helping their Dad in the kitchen. Happily, despite his usual tendency to chaos, and his penchant for chilling out, Actually Daddy pulls out all the stops on Mother’s Day. I know, I’m lucky. I am very partial  to the children’s usual shopping list – what’s not to like about pic ‘n’ mix? But …

Read more

Mum of the year: Why turning into your mother is a good thing.

Before my mother was a mum, she had a job. Not (as an elderly aunt once asked) “a little part-time job,” but (as my mum corrected, emphatically) “a very big full-time job.” Her title was Operations Director. Not a lot of people know this, but my mother was once in charge of 185 London pubs. It was a BIG job. Needless to say, Grandma and Grandad were very proud. And when she gave up working to be a stay-at-home-mum, that was all to the good. Nowadays Mummy earns money through writing – some of it comes via this blog, other …

Read more

What does it take to be Tesco Celebrity Mum of the Year?

On 23 March I will be attending the Tesco Mum of the Year Awards. It’s been a thorough process of nominations, and I have read about all of the finalists open-mouthed in awe. These are not just special women, tireless women, hard-working women; these are slam-dunk incredible women whose energy and motivation I cannot begin to comprehend. Here and there I read heartbreaking stories of women who have been through unimaginable personal tragedy, and gone on to establish astounding support networks for others facing similar situations. I get where that might come from – the grief and anger that fuels …

Read more

An inspiring woman. Well a girl actually. 365 #09

The fundraising force that is Team Honk has issued a blogging prompt in honour of International Women’s Day next Saturday 8th March. An inspiring woman; someone you admire, who changes your outlook, who you would work hard to be more like. I struggled, to be honest. In life I am influenced by many friends, they inspire me to try new things: better photography, running, dancing, writing. In blogging there are multiple women who support me, prompt me, and give me new ideas. But one woman who makes me want to be a better person? For whom I am prepared to …

Read more

What to get a nine year old for her birthday!

By Helen and GG… Helen: We’re back, and this week’s Ask GG is on the issue that is closest to my daughter’s heart. Stuff. More precisely, stuff for her – stuff she has, stuff she wants, stuff she thinks she wants, and stuff that no self-respecting parent would ever let their child be without. In the opinion of a 9 year old. Which is, after all, the point of the post.  GG: This post is based on what Donna from little Lilypad Co and PinkOddy (who needs ideas for a ten year old) said in their comments. Once again this is …

Read more

Ask GG: Recommended reading list for 9 year olds

Last week we introduced a new feature, Ask GG, where readers get to ask anything they like, and I will give you the definitive answer – according to me. We were inundated with questions, so thank you. I will pick a few each week and post my answers on a Wednesday. This week I have chosen to answer the questions of Anna, from In the Playroom, and Kate, at Crafts on Sea, who both wanted recommendations for a reading list for 9 year olds who are good readers. Remember that I had been chastised for hiding a book under my maths coursework when I …

Read more

Change the Story Mother!

My mum went somewhere really important this week. I could tell it was important because she disappeared into the back of the wardrobe and emerged in a smart shirt and crisply ironed trousers. She used to wear them when she worked near Westminster, before I was born. As it happens, she was back to her old stomping ground, but this time she was visiting the House of Lords, and this time it was reeeeeeally important.   What is Change the Story? Considering we live in a sophisticated society, it might surprise you to know that last year 1 in 4 …

Read more

Are my Skylanders making me grumpy? Screen time limits for children.

By The Bug I have a problem with my mother. She accuses me of being grumpy, hankers after this boy I apparently used to be – always up for any suggestion, cheerful, happy, ‘sunny’ whatever that means. Now she calls me Victor Meldrew and tells me off for the look on my face. The problem is, I’m not grumpy at all, and once I get to the park/supermarket/bike trail/book shop, I’m full-on into it, asking questions, enjoying the sights, laughing at a game. It’s just that I like to put on a teenager face whenever I’m asked to leave the …

Read more

GG’s New Year’s Resolutions

Hi. This is actually GG not my bossy mum. Before we start I would just like to let you know about a new feature on the blog. It’s called…… Ask GG! You just leave your question in your comment and I’ll get back to you! Simple as that. Now on with the resolutions! I should have no new years resolutions but my mum says I have to. I’m going to post some and you lot can see if I keep them. OK? Lets go! My New Year’s Resolutions Try and eat less sugary foods. Lots of people try to do …

Read more

Project 365 #01: Love Bombing

By The Bug (mostly) We started joining in with Project 365 – taking and publishing a photo a day – at The Boy and Me in 2011. We tried, but failed to keep going, consistency not always a guarantee with us. Sensibly, we didn’t even sign up in 2012, but as this blog has become more successful, we have increased our brand-related posts, at the expense of some of the anecdotal stories of our family life. That is a shame. And so 2014 sees us joining in again. Just one photo each week. Sometimes with a story behind it, sometimes …

Read more