Reviews

How to prepare for a ski trip with children

By the Bug… This winter I’m going skiing. I’ve been pretty nervous, but I’m ready for my first ski trip. In fact I’d go so far as to say that I’m exceeding expectations, and my plan is to ski faster than Mrs Kamikaze my sister before the holiday is over. How have I made this transition from cautious to courageous? It’s simple really – it’s all in the preparation. How to prepare for a family ski trip Get ski fit: some in our family have been training for long runs recently. This is good as you’ll need cardiovascular fitness on the …

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Can we get Mum running for Sport Relief 2014?

She was not a runner. She hated this winter term, when tennis was long-forgotten, and the hockey pitch too wet to play on. Cross-country running: the words struck nausea into her belly, her ribs and shoulder twitching with the learned weekly stitch she knew would develop the minute trainers hit pavement. She wasn’t a rule-breaker though. She couldn’t follow the short-cut girls through the housing estate; besides the PE teachers varied their lookout points so you’d never know whether you’d been spotted until you returned, red-faced and heaving, to the smelly changing rooms and the sting of hot water on …

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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 …

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World Book Day: 7 tips to get your child reading. #loveliteracy

For World Book Day I’m thrilled to be co-hosting a blog hop all about a love of reading – #loveliteracy. Myself and 7 other bloggers are immersed in children’s literacy in a variety of ways, and on a daily basis. For me, I’m in the most exciting phase so far, as my 9 year old daughter begins to appreciate books that I also love to read, and I’m enjoying discovering and discussing stories with her. But it wasn’t always this way. I remember very clearly the daily struggle to get her to read her school book, and the frustration and …

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Book review The Giants and the Joneses by Julia Donaldson

It’s not often that a book inspires us to write a review, but twice recently The Bug has enjoyed a book enough that he has insisted on writing a blog post. He wrote recently about the latest graphic novel, Robotslayer, and as soon as we’d finished reading The Giants and the Joneses it was the first thing he wanted to do. Review – The Giants and The Joneses In a reversal of the standard Jack and the Beanstalk tale, Julia Donaldson describes how a land of giants live in fear of the small people (iggly plops). Until one day a …

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World Book Day ideas from Miles Kelly

As you know, I am a compulsive reader. Those pages full of black and white adventure are like a drug I cannot give up. I read everywhere and all the time – I have even been known to get into trouble at school for catching up on my latest chapter when I should be doing maths. Ahem. So the opportunity to receive a book as a gift is never something I would pass up. To promote World Book Day on 6 March, the lovely people at Miles Kelly asked a secret blogger to send us a book they thought we’d …

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Book review: Middle School by James Patterson

Middle School, by James Patterson. Hi this is actually GG once again and I have to do a book review on a Sunday! I know that in some religions Sunday is a day of rest. Well, in our house that rule doesn’t apply. So, I’m going to write a book review about Middle school: My brother is a big fat liar!  Summary: Georgia Khatchadorian, Rafe’s little sister has started sixth grade and everyone is avoiding her because when Rafe was in that school  he was very naughty and he got told off a lot. But Georgia desperately needs some friends. …

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Graphic novels for kids: Robotslayer, by Vincent Kamp

I’ve always been a fan of sleep, but since discovering that reading is not only easy, but fun, I appear to have contracted my sister’s virus. It manifests as an inability to keep my head on the pillow at night unless said pillow is also home to a book. I have been discovered several times recently in the middle of the night, with lights blazing and a pile of books littering my duvet. One such book is Robotslayer. I read it. Mummy read it to me. And then I read it again. I’m not the biggest fan of handwriting, but …

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Buzz Lightyear and the Rocket Scooter #TeamHonkRelay

*Updated: for pictures of the event scroll down. By GG… I am embarrassed. As I sit in maths today, my mother will be gearing up for her part in #TeamHonkRelay. Which means she will be clothing herself in this Buzz Lightyear costume and scooting into the centre of St Albans on a Rocket Micro Scooter. She has practiced on the scooter. But only in our kitchen. So she will be rubbish. But that is not what’s embarrassing me. It is well known that people go silent when in the presence of a lone adult in fancy dress. Fear and uncertainty …

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Gorgeous bespoke girls tutu party dress from Dainty Dizzy

A little while back I was browsing the internet for a bridesmaid’s dress. And before you ask, I am allowed to do that when my parents are in the room. Browsing the internet is not a sensible activity for a young girl, but on this occasion there was never going to be much surfing once I’d discovered this girls tutu party dress by Dainty Dizzy. These gorgeous creations are hand-stitched in Cornwall, and are fully lined. A quick flick through the website will tell you that they are in grand company. With the likes of the Royal Opera House stocking …

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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 …

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Project 365 #04: Recommended reading

I love to read. I read anywhere and all the time; I frequently generate grumbles from my parents by asking them to carry a bag load of my books on train journeys and trips to the supermarket. You just never know when you might get some down-time, and a book fills it like nothing else. This amount of reading has rendered me practiced at quickly decoding words, and so I’m always looking for the next challenge. But at the age of 9, many of the books I’m capable of reading are deemed unsuitable my my mother, or too complex by …

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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 …

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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 …

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Beautiful Congham Hall Hotel in Norfolk (review)

Arriving at Congham Hall Hotel felt like going home for Christmas (if your family happen to have a beautiful old house in lovely grounds, in peaceful countryside). Quiet, and twinkly with Christmas lights, it was far removed from our usual chaotic life, despite being only a 2 hour drive from our home in Hertfordshire. The peace dazed us for a moment, before we crunched up the gravel driveway into the bright and festive – yet still strangely calm – reception hall. We were soon installed in our comfy room which had everything I personally need – superkingsize bed (Actually Daddy …

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Actually rather good: companies of the year 2013

by Helen I used to work in a customer-facing industry. I learned quickly the very simple art of pleasing a customer or a potential client. I also learned how easy it is to deal with a disgruntled customer, how little it costs in real terms, and how crucial to your business it is to turn a problem around. I wrote about customer service last year. This is a parenting blog, so I don’t write often about business issues, but as a parent I experience a lot of services and products. Most of them are fine, some are terrible; a few …

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Gifts for girls

This year for Christmas the Bug and I wanted to go shopping together to buy our own gifts for our family. Normally we just add our names to the gift cards our parents write, but at my school Christmas fair I had the option to make small purchases, and so I came home with gifts for M&D and my brother. Of course the Bug wanted to do similar, so yesterday Mummy took us to our local pound shop, with £1 each for each member of our family. Leaving her at the end of an aisle so she couldn’t see our …

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Hilarious childrens’ book: The Weasel Puffin Unicorn Baboon Pig Lobster Race! (review)

The Weasel Puffin Unicorn Baboon Pig Lobster Race Yes it really is as mad as it sounds. But then that’s the great thing about a book for kids, especially a book which appeals to boys. And girls, as it turns out. Seriously, when you’re 6 (or 9, as it turns out) what could be better than a pig using a chocolate submarine to cheat his way through a race? In fact, all the animals in this delightfully-illustrated children’s book find the most absurd ways to cheat their way to the finish. All except one. The Weasel Puffin Unicorn Baboon Pig …

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Lucky Voice karaoke: perfect gift for girls, and a great little stocking filler

You may have seen our review of Lucky Voice online back in the summer. There are people in that video who will never be able to look us in the eye again after we put them online – but a truly epic performance is what it was! Well now, Lucky Voice have launched their karaoke app. You know when you’re at a friends house, or out for the evening (in your case it’s probably at the pub, but for me it would probably be Wagamama or the local roller-rink, obviously!) and the urge suddenly hits to start singing? But you …

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Why any book is a good book when you’re 6 – even one by a footballer

I heard a muffled protest this morning evanescing from Mummy’s room. Apparently the Bug had finished his new book, got up, dressed for school, and was itching to do a book review. Go figure. I snuck out to get my confiscated Kindle, and left them to it. Frankie’s Magic Football, by Frank Lampard Being honest, I’d heard Mummy say that she wasn’t going to bother writing about Frankie’s Magic Football. I could even tell you what she was thinking: it’s written by a footballer, how is that going to be any good? Plus the Bug is not really a fan of his …

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