Imagine that you’ve been planning the most amazing surprise party for months and months – the kind where you get to go home with an awesome party bag, the best present in the world and a happy glow that can only come from the most joyous of moments…the only caveat being that you probably wont know exactly when this ‘surprise’ is going to be sprung upon you so you have to be ready! Goodness you’re ready. You’ve got it all mapped out, written down, decisions made. You know exactly how you’re going to behave during and after the event. It’s going to be PERFECT!!

This ^^ is your life as a mum-to-be.

The day of the party arrives, and despite there being no alcohol on the premises, you find yourself shouting and slurring like a teenager in a park after a litre of white lighting. The music is SO much louder than you’d planned it to be and you spend most of the time feeling like you need the loo. The event goes really quickly, and before you know it, you’re back home in bed with a hangover, a boob job, the worst period in the world and an inability to remember your own name because you’re JUST SO TIRED. Oh, and tears. Lots of crying tears*

*Not always yours.

This is your life as a first-time mum.

It’s hard. It’s wonderful. It’s exhausting. It’s happy and sad rolled into one. Its feeling like you’re doing everything and nothing every second of every day. It’s the highest rollercoaster with the lowest drops. You smile for the cameras and then feel physically sick waiting for the next twist and turn. You get to the end of the ride and feel so goddam proud of yourself, sometimes you queue up and give it another go!

Dear First-Time Mum, here’s what you need to know:

Cuthbert the Crab and his Shoelace Shenanigans | How to tie your laces | Review

[Disclosure: We were sent this book in return for an honest review. We know the wonderful author of this book, Sally Beattie, personally - she has a wealth of experience of working with young children as well as being a fabulous mum to her own children.]

Do you remember how you learnt to tie your shoelaces? I found it really tricky until someone taught me the 'bunny ears' method and I remember the school Nurse watching me in fascination as if I was some strange breed because I couldn't do it the 'normal way'. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realised that LOTS of you learnt the same way and it is, in fact, an easier way for most children to tie their laces...

This book, Cuthbert the Crab and his Shoelace Shenanigans, not only makes me feel reassuringly normal (it demonstrates how to tie your laces using the bunny ears method) it is a wonderful introduction into the tricky task of learning to tie your shoelaces...

Honey Bees tuff tray activities - learning through play

Spring is (almost) in the air, we've seen our first buzzy little friend roaming the emerging flower beds and bees still really need our help to thrive - so what better way to teach the next generation all about the importance of bees than a Bees Tuff Tray Activity!

 

It started out with the purchase of a pack of 'bee pollen' from a local supermarket - I was intrigued to learn more about it and I wanted Arthur and Charlotte to join in with a real hands on 'learning through play' approach. I sourced a number of resources which you can find over in the 'bees activity' section of my Amazon store here  (USA followers click here for my US list) and got to work planning some activities:

Parenting Outdoors - Jacamo Menswear Review

Discosure: We were sent the menswear items from Jacamo in return for an honest review.

Jacamo deals in clothing from sizes S - 5XL and aims to provide nothing but legendary style choices to today’s modern man - whether that be a smart look, casual or everyday style. They are part of the Ethical Trading Initiative, and have a range of brands available so that you should be able to find everything you need online for a complete outfit. With next day delivery available, and a range of return options - it makes clothes shopping easy for busy parents!

With his love of fashionable attire, Mr Arthurwears, aka, the Husband/Daddy was tasked with the job of choosing himself a few select pieces for an outfit review from Jacamo. I am lucky enough to have married a man who loves shopping and clothes more than I do ( I know - rare breed!) and I have no doubt that this request to pick something out came as a refreshing change from my usual requests for him to stop buying more shirts, shoes, ties, jackets etc etc...

I had the equally as difficult task of having to take photos of my husband (see my instagram feed for a behind the scenes photo) for the purpose of this review, and even better - I didn't even have to write it myself! I shall now hand you over to the man himself....

Helping Children to be Safe around Dogs | HEY DOG | Book Review

We were recently sent a copy of the book Hey Dog! Let's Talk! by Wendy Keefer - an illustrated guide for children to help them understand dogs and learn to communicate with them in order to keep them safe.

I developed an intense fear of dogs as a child after my own dog passed away when I was 4, and I am very keen to make sure my own children don't pick up on this and react in a similar way. Likewise, it is important to be able to explain what IS appropriate and okay to avoid potentially dangerous situations without making them feel that every dog encounter is either dangerous or completely safe. It does, of course, depend on the dog and the situation - but I felt completely clueless as to how to go about teaching this! 

Within the past year, Arthur has started to become frightened of dogs himself - something that Charlotte is picking up on. This book has come along at the perfect time, enabling me to help Arthur to learn more about how to understand dogs and also giving me the tools to try and do the same as an adult....

Products for Men that Women Swear by...

Disclosure: This post includes some gifted items (marked with *) including those sent for the giveaway. 

Clearly, it’s no surprise to most of us that women can and should be able to use products which are aimed specifically towards men. There aren’t many things in the world that aren’t truly unisex when it comes down to the bare bones of it...unless, of course, you are talking about something like - I don’t know - the male condom....although studies have shown that more women actually buy them compared to men.

  

We try to avoid gender stereotypes as much as possible in our household, so it will come as no surprise to you that there are a few products I now buy and use for myself which were originally for my husband. I also asked some of my fellow bloggers if there are any male marketed products which they swear by (and vice versa in some cases) .... Plus, I have a nice little giveaway for you which you can enter at the end of this post...

Should year 1 children still have continuous provision and Learning Through Play in KS1?

“The dilemma still exists as to whether play can provide any kind of ‘excellence’ in relation to ‘real’ learning for children as current and future citizens” (Moyles 2005, p. 3)

  

As you perhaps know, Learning Through Play is a huge passion of mine - the benefits of which I feel are far reaching and long lasting. This blog post focuses on a research investigation I undertook whilst training to be a Teacher: "Should year 1 children still have continuous provision?" - it is a watered down version of the original, but I hope will encourage you to make time and space for planning in play based learning for both younger and older children (year 1, year 2 / KS1 and even beyond) whether you are a professional or a parent, based on research fact alongside personal opinion....

Project Playroom Extension - Laminate Flooring and Underfloor Heating

Last year, I wrote about our extension building work - Project Playroom Extension - Planning and Building. Once the build itself was complete - we had to wait for quite a long time for the concrete floor to dry out enough to continue with our plans and lay the laminate flooring.

This wasn't something I had planned for when thinking about our 'timeline'. Naively, I assumed that once the building was finished we would just lay the floor and everything would be finished, but it took just over 3 months to dry enough for the next step...

Teenage suicide - what are the warning signs and how can you help?

Last month, the lives of some of my closest family were changed forever as one of the younger members, Quinn, took her own life a few short weeks before Christmas. Quinn was just 17.

The passing of anyone you know and care about feels like a huge loss, but when they leave this life by choice, the “what ifs” feel louder, the responsibility feels heavier and the ability to make sense of it all feels so out of reach. We know we aren’t to blame, and yet we still can’t help but wonder if we could have done more...

Miele Complete C3 Pure Red Bagged Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner - Review

We were recently sent a Miele Complete C3 Pure Red Bagged Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner to review from AO, here is how we got on...

It's been a while since we've had a bagged vacuum cleaner, we've been using a hand held vacuum  for a few years now, but we always said that if we were to switch back to a corded vacuum then a Miele vacuum would be one of our top choices. My Parents in law have a Miele vacuum and rave about the quality of their products so we were really keen to see if this lived up to the hype! Plus, we haven't been able to use the storage vacuum bags for clothes since switching to a handheld vacuum because you need a 'straight' edge to get the suction! As it happens, we've also been doing a lot of clothes sorting lately so this product review was perfect timing for us...

You Can Keep Me A Secret - POEM

A little creative poetry post for a Friday - something I wrote in the middle of the night a few weeks ago and had no recollection of until I found it on my phone the next day...

EYFS activities using rainbow test tubes and pipette droppers

A few EYFS child development activity ideas using plastic rainbow test tubes in a stand and pipette droppers...

If you follow my social channels then you’ll know that I regularly post quick activity updates and ideas of things to do with young children which don’t often make it into a full blow blog post on here. After sharing my link to my Amazon store (USA store here)which show cases some of my favourite tried and tested activity products, one of my followers asked me how I use the pipettes from the store. Below I have pulled together and embedded some of my past Facebook activity posts using the resources. Facebook is notorious for not showing all posts to all followers unless you check my page regularly so you may have missed some of these along the way...

Struggling with heavy periods? You need to read this... #WearWhiteAgain

I was going to start this blog post by stating that if you are my Father-in-law, ‘look away now!’....and then I realised - THIS is exactly the problem we are trying to solve here. The taboo around discussing women’s health issues openly. The feeling that there are only certain people within our inner circle we can openly talk to (and even then in hushed tones) so, I did the complete opposite. Never one to shy away from the gory details, I went and spoke to him first, in person, and told him all about this campaign for Wear White Again – because I am a part of the more than 1 in 5 women who suffer from heavy periods… 

 

There are lots of things in this post that can help you, but first, let me tell you a bit about my story...it’s been a long old road, and I implore you to please read on - ESPECIALLY if you are feeling uncomfortable...

When blogging is hard to do...

After writing that title ^ I sat here for a good ten minutes unsure of what to say next. I'll probably sit here for another ten after finishing this sentence and do the same thing. I have numerous half written posts in my draft folder and I can't seem to finish any of them, because at the moment - blogging is hard to do.

It's not just a case of writer's block, although that does play a part and I'm sure this is something that we can ALL relate to - whether we write for a living or not. Sometimes its just hard to find a way. Good old Motivation has taken a long walk in a vast desert and lost its bearings. Ever elusive miss Energy has done her usual disappearing act and Colonel Clarity has clearly trod on his own specs. I don't know if I've lost my 'why', my 'who for', or if I'm just finding it too tedious setting up my laptop in order to write, only to get interrupted after 20 mins that I just can't fully immerse myself into the task at hand ... just in case I forget to feed my child lunch, or leave the house in time for preschool pick up. Clearly Mrs Multi-tasker has taken a long walk off a short pier as well. Farewell my marbles - you shall be next!

Enhancing imaginative play with personalised books - Librio - The Tree, The Key and Me

 For this activity post, we will be using Librio’s beautiful, personalised book - The Tree, The Key and Me. The book tells the story of a little girl or boy who finds a key in their garden leading them on an awesome adventure. You can find out more about Librio and their personalised books here: Facebook​ | ​Instagram​ | ​Twitter​ | ​YouTube​ | ​Librio Blog​



If you follow me on social media, then you will know just how much Arthur loves imaginative play. Whether he is playing alone with his toys, or alongside others, he will usually be taking on the role of a character he has read about or seen on TV and encouraging others to join in his role play ideas.

Books are a great way to help children to build up ‘story language’ when taking on a role, and what better way to encourage this level of imaginative play than with a personalised book where your child is the main character?!

To make this story especially engaging, I put together some story props to use while reading and retelling the story, alongside some activities to really make the story come to life....

Charlotte's 12-13 month Toddler Update

Charlotte has just turned 13 months, so I thought it was about time I did a blog update for her as I did a 12-13 month toddler update for Arthur! (Complete Mum guilt if I don't, let's be honest!) It was lovely to look back at his and see the similarities, plus read about a lot of things I had forgotten...but thought I never would!

How to make a Quilted Princess Birthday Cake - step by step

This summer we saw Charlotte turn one, and as is the tradition in my family - I make the cakes myself. I don't come at this from a professional angle (ha!) I am very much an amateur and this 'how to' guide is really aimed at other parents who just want to give it a go themselves but need a little visual guidance! 

Arthur's 1st birthday was a star themed birthday cake based on his first word and obsession! His 2nd was a Fireman Sam cake (made whilst suffering badly from morning sickness!) and earlier on this year I made him a Bin Lorry Birthday Cake for his 3rd birthday. For Charlotte, I didn't really have a set idea in mind except that I wanted a quilted cake, so I set up a Pinterest birthday cake ideas board and decided to just get started and let it evolve as I went along! 

How to set up an EYFS Thinking and Feelings Talking Station Provision Area

It might sound like a bit of a mouthful, and of course you could change the name, as long as the intention stays the same - but a 'thinking and feelings talking station' was a KEY area in my Reception classroom and the name allowed for me to make sure it was accessible for all whatever the emotional need....

Have you made a sad choice and you need to have a think about how we can make it better? Go to the thinking station. Are you feeling upset about something and would like some help and support? Go to the feelings station. Fallen out with a friend and need to come to an agreement? Go to the talking station. All of these scenarios are linked to a child’s Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) - but the idea of doing something about these big feelings that you can’t see can feel so abstract to a child, it can be impossible to control. Giving children a designated area where they can go to for support, advice, resources or even just to feel heard is crucial in order to help them learn how to manage their personal, social and emotional development independently...

Wicked Uncle Big Kidz Review

This isn't the first time you will have read about Wicked Uncle on this blog - a few years ago I wrote a post about whether children's toys should be based on age, ability or interest and we had a look at some of the fab items available on the website, grouped by age, which Arthur still plays with to this day!

Wicked Uncle have now launched a new section on their site which is aimed at 'Big Kidz', for ages 13-33 ... which is lucky, because that last number just so happens to me my age!

The idea of the Big Kidz area is that children shouldn't be the ones to have all the fun, and there are plenty of ideas for older ages too. I couldn't agree more with this, fun and games are important at any age - but it was lovely to see such a wide range of items available which in my opinion could also work well for a large age range....

End of Term Gift Guide for Teachers

It's that time of year again folks - the one where you show your appreciation to the person or people who have put their heart and soul into helping your child to develop and grow within a school or nursery setting....

Now, before you jump on the high horse with cries of "but it's their job! Why should they be rewarded for it??" (Yes I have heard this many times, which is why I'm addressing it straight away), let me remind you of a few things: