Month: January 2016

Bronchiolitis: When it’s more than just a cold

Bronchiolitis is more than a cold

“No, it can’t wait. Did you drive here? Is there someone who can go home and pack a bag for you? Ideally you’d go straight there.” Have you ever taken your baby to a routine GP appointment, and left with an instruction to take him straight to hospital? It’s scary. It was the day after my daughter’s christening that she developed a cold. It had been a lovely day, warm and full of smiles and sunshine. Everything was perfect, we were all well, and the day went beautifully. So I was surprised when she started with a snotty nose and a …

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Guess the cost, and win my exclusive craft shopping haul with E.ON

GIVEAWAY NOW ENDED It’s easy to lose track of how much you’re spending when out shopping for things you love. Whether it’s a jacket you’ve been staring at in a shop window for the past few weeks or that impulse purchase on the way to the checkout, your tightly controlled budget can quickly be forgotten – and this doesn’t just happen on the high street. With months of darker, colder evenings ahead, it can become all too easy for energy bills to rise far beyond the expected – especially as there’s no price tag to keep you in check. So, I …

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Gaming: Keeping your child safe online

What did you get for Christmas? More to the point, what did your child find under the tree on Christmas day? And whilst they’ve been playing with it, are you sure they’re safe? With Wi-Fi connected toys topping the list of Christmas gifts for children, AVG’s Tony Anscombe explains why parents need to consider the security implications and how connected they want their child to be. Consider Online Gaming Safety Many parents will have noticed the invasion of talking (and listening), ‘artificially intelligent’ (AI) toys hitting the shelves this holiday season. Once inanimate, mute objects on which we had to project …

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Theatre: A Curiouser Alice in Wonderland for teenagers

A new kind of Alice In Wonderland in London examines teen issues in the digital world - Wonder.land review

  “I totally, utterly hate being me!” Not something we’ve heard yet here, but at 11, I’m aware that this statement is a possible assertion for my daughter at some point in the next few years. Just before Christmas we went together to see Wonder.land at the National Theatre, to discover what might be lurking round the corner of her teenage years. The first thing to say about Damon Albarn’s musical adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic, is that it’s not suitable for children under the age of 10. It says so on the website, and it’s true, not just …

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Why diabetes is like a toddler

What would you say is the worst thing about having a toddler? The obsession with the word no, and a refusal to comply with any request? The sleepless nights, as your child won’t sleep, or will sleep, but not in his own bed, and only for intermittent bursts? His unpredictability, and tendency to tantrums out of nowhere? His uncanny knack of figuring out a way round all your best laid plans? Or his lack of common sense and logic, which frequently puts him in dangerous situations, as you hurtle in to save him? It’s the same with diabetes. Toddlers and Diabetes at …

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