Month: June 2013

Winners and Losers of BritMums Live blog conference 2013

I posted this on Facebook this morning: Turns out everyone knew how I felt. There are so many things I want to write about BritMums Live that I just couldn’t begin to know how to get them out of my head and onto the keyboard. Where to start? Other bloggers claimed the same; the weekend blog conference had left them exhilarated, inspired, but overwhelmed. But I cannot write my normal musings until I package my thoughts on this huge event into neat boxes, labelled and filed in the labyrinth of my brain, where I can find them easily when I …

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Can you really go to a music festival with kids?

I am told that my Dad was once quite cool. I am led to believe that he introduced Mummy to indie music. Prior to their meeting she was all a bit Take That and Celine Dion (I know!!) but he soon sorted her out with a trip to the V Festival in Leeds. There they had an enormous row about a baked potato, and she fell in love with Gene and the Supernaturals. Daddy, on the other hand, was a huge fan of Dodgy (which I presume is where he gets his fashion sense from), and was fond of something …

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Observational drawing: Wot so Funee?

Is it just me who finds this funny? I’ve been away to BritMums Live this weekend, and when I came home with the irascible Mammasaurus, who was staying the night at ours, this “observational drawing” was awaiting me, courtesy of my daughter. Normally I would find it nothing short of charming, an example of the work she is currently immersed in at school. But it appears to be a blogging congratulations 😕 I am further confused by the fact that I am only the second named recipient of this award, Annie herself looking like the more important winner. I think …

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Our dream holiday in Orlando: what makes a good theme park?

Yesterday I recounted our excitement at travelling to Orlando. We were off on the trip of a lifetime, and despite a few hiccups we made it! So, 11 theme parks later, I’m back to tell you what I’ve learned on my epic rollercoaster tour. What makes a good theme park? a. You have to get the queue experience right This (ficticious) Jabba’s Palace attraction has the queue system completely wrong. First, it opens well after the park opening time, so immediately falling short of customer expectations. You will find this at Sea World: we turned up early to beat the queues, only …

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Our dream holiday in Orlando: we’re off on an epic trip!

A while back we showed you this video reveal of the plan for our dream holiday in Orlando. Bearing in mind that by the day of our trip we clearly knew we were off to Florida’s Disney World resort, so we considered Daddy’s attempt to wind us up nothing short of brutal: We quickly put him straight and dragged him away from the Easyjet desks: Panic over, we set about getting excited. Here are some basic tips on how to make the most of a long plane journey with kids: Arrive at the airport super-early. Yes early! The grown-ups will …

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Athlete’s Foot: Wot so Funee?

Image credit  Very short, but very snort-worthy this week. A quick story about athlete’s foot, from a friend of mine. Finishing off her bath-time routine, E notices the tin of athlete’s foot spray perched on the corner of the bath: E “Oh, by the way Mum, that stuff doesn’t work.” Mum: “What do you mean?” E: *shrugs* “Just that it doesn’t work, I sprayed some on my feet and it made no difference.” Mum: “What? Why did you spray it on your feet?” E: *huffs* “Well, obviously, I wanted to run faster. Like I said, it doesn’t work…” Wot? Wot so Funee? …

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Gifts for Dad. Review of the new Soda Stream, and a Retro Sweets Hamper

We often celebrate Father’s Day early in our house. For various reasons, Sunday isn’t usually the best day of the week for dishing out lavish treatment to our Dad. So we held our Father’s Day festivities today. In reality, what this really means is that Daddy gets his one and only lie-in of the year (he’s a morning person – Mummy is a lazy bulldozer-type person), after which Mummy spends the day clearing up mess without complaining. Much. This is how it goes: Daddy gets his orders to stay in bed in the morning and await his treats. We get …

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Giving a speech – tips from a drama queen

In 9 days time, my Mum will be giving a speech at BritMums Live. I know this because of the incessant chuntering that forms the backdrop to my teatime and bathtime routine. I have also been asked to listen to excerpts from the post she will be reading and provide my critique. I have obliged her with my best advice: Tips on giving a speech from an expert in drama The Bug and I attend Stagecoach classes every weekend. Being centre-stage is something we strive for daily, so we thought it best to get some formal training. So when Mummy …

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How to make your parents work less and play more with you: Wot so Funee?

If your parents are anything like mine, they spend far too much time working, and not enough time paying attention to their children. If that sounds familiar, I have a top tip for ensuring you get a full afternoon of decent engagement out of them. Just follow these step-by-step instructions. Getting them to work less and play more Insist on being taken to a grown-up’s party the day before you hatch your plan. Bear with me here, there is very good reason for this. Endure the 2 hour journey with a minimum of whining. On arrival, politely thank your hosts …

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Blogging rules (or the guide to being crap)

Blogging rules This is a guest post from Distressed Housewife. Today she is mostly feeling distressed because, in her eyes, she hasn’t followed the blogging rules. I am mostly feeling bad for her, because all she did was miss a deadline – a deadline which I also missed. Here she tells you her version of the blogging rules, including the things she thinks she has done wrong. OK, so there are a number of bloggers out there who write fantastic posts giving advice on how to create and maintain a successful blog.  These wonderfully insightful people who have technical knowledge, common sense and …

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Rainy day fun for kids: Yes, you can still have fun outdoors when it’s raining…

For most of our half term holidays it rained. Which was a shame, because we were visiting Grandma, and she lives by the beach. Nevertheless going outside is mandatory at some point if Mummy wants her ear-drums in one piece, and her temper neat and tidily packaged. So we went to the park. (Apologies – I was in a procoptious mood). Rainy day fun for kids There are also certain obligatory activities to carry out during a visit to Grandma. We MUST visit the beach and lob stones at the sea, even if our hands freeze. And we MUST eat …

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Retro sweets hamper Father’s Day

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!! What? I’m excited! We get some very cool stuff to review, but I’ve never had a retro sweets hamper before. I’ve been told many times to calm down, but seriously, with names like Best Ever Retro Sweets MEGA Box + Marshmallows (!!! Hello!) it’s going to take me until at least November to quell the excitement enough to start thinking about Christmas. I’m afraid I actually became speechless as I gazed at the contents of the Marshmallow hamper. It has 44 different retro sweets, including: Black Jacks Chews Fruit Salad Chews Refreshers Original Chews Anglo Bubbly Chocolate Footballs Love Heart Mini …

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A Tooth Fairy letter: Wot so Funee?

My brother has a wobbly tooth. I am livid. Do you know how long it’s been since I had a visit from the tooth fairy? I exchanged a fair few letters with her a couple of years back, but that fair-weather friend has done a flit of late. I knew I should have made more effort with the mermaid. Tooth Fairy letter Anyhow, riffling through my correspondence the other day I stumbled across this. She never replied, the ungrateful pixie, and she never came back for that dress/skert I promised her. Just as well really as it’s currently draped, tramp-like, over …

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It’s more fun outdoors

Last week I took delivery of this: Almost instantly it began to rain. Undeterred, we made it our mission to let the roof down, as often as possible, irrespective of temperature. The sole purpose of the day, for the whole family, was getting out in the Mini Cooper. Instead of whiling away half the day wondering what to do, we went out and found it. When I say “it,” I actually mean nothing at all. We didn’t do stuff, we just went places. And we surprised ourselves with the results. We saw bluebells (really late this year!): I always love …

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