growing-up

Should I Worry About My Child’s Height?

How to monitor your child's growth

When I was pregnant with my son all his scans showed him to be an average sized baby. When he was born he was placed on the 50th percentile. By his 6-week check-up he was down to 2.5%. That’s when I started to panic – was I failing to nurture my baby properly? In this blog post I’m going to look at child growth and development from the experts’ point of view, and help parents figure out what is normal growth rate for your child. As new parents we all focus hard on every tiny development in our children. The …

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Parenting: Why Teenage isn’t a number

Where to see bluebells in Hertfordshire

“She’s SUCH a Teenager!!” I’m betting every parent knows where that came from, even if their oldest child is only three. There’s even a term for it – threenager. Every exasperated mother who’s ever manhandled an obstinate toddler into a pushchair, or been struck speechless by her seven-year-old’s ability to hit a raw nerve understands the fear of what might come next. If she’s like this now, how bad is it going to be when she’s a teenager..? What exactly is a teenager? The thing is, teenaged isn’t really an age – it’s a process. Parenting society has come to use the word …

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The Best Summer Ever

Two years ago my then 9-year-old bounced out of school on the last day of the year, full of excitement for the holidays, and pronounced that it was going to be the best summer ever. For various reasons, it wasn’t, and the memory of that hopeful, thwarted statement has haunted me ever since. I’ve waited quietly for the best summer ever to tip up and lay that ghost to rest, biding my time, and watching my children as they unwind after a long school year. This summer was the one. This holiday has been the best summer ever. As we …

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Never too old to swing!

Where do the birthdays go? They seem to come round much more frequently than once a year, and my children are growing up far too fast for my liking! My girl, especially, is turning into a young lady (or a grumpy teenager – ask me on a good or bad day and you’ll get a different answer!) almost as I watch, and as she hit double figures recently I was struggling to know what to get her for the big day. Until I asked her. What she most wanted, in all the world, was a swing. The best wooden swing …

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Growing up gently with Teen Parcel

It may not have escaped your notice that we have a tween girl living with us. I say tween, as that seems to be the descriptor most used for a child who has not yet hit the teen years, but is most definitely moving on from childhood – if inconsistently! It’s a wonderful age. She is amazing company, really funny, developing – with the odd raised eyebrow from us to keep it in check – a sarcastic dryness to her judgements, yet still young enough to be helpful, to declare her love for us, and to accept that there have to …

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I Want a Bra

I want a bra I recently turned 7. Daddy says he can’t believe how old I am; Mummy doesn’t know where the time has gone. I think I am old enough to wear a bra. I know exactly what I want; I’ve tried on enough of Mummy’s to know what I like: I want lace. I want a bra. Don’t get me wrong, I do know that some things are not appropriate for a girl my age. Mummy recently acquired a set of matching bra and knickers from the gorgeous Freya Lingerie, and whilst I coveted them for their lace and …

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