Month: October 2017

Home: a Review of the iRobot Roomba Robot Vacuum Cleaner

The iRobot Roomba is the most effective vacuum cleaner I've ever had, and I don't even need to do the cleaning!

My kids have been on at me for months now about getting a dog. They will walk it; they will pick up its poo; they will feed it; and they will get up in the night when it cries/vomits/poos/needs a wee. Yeah, right. I have just about managed to come through the fog and exhaustion of early parenthood. Why would I want to go back to the chaos of broken nights, and cleaning up of bodily fluids? With the added bonus of no big holidays, and no spontaneous weekends away, because what would we do with the dog? No. There really is no point in a dog. Besides, …

Read more

Family Travel: 10 Sights you must see in Cambodia

Cambodia family holiday - loaded bikes are everywhere

This summer we took a family holiday to Cambodia. I’ll write about our experiences soon, but as an appetiser (a crispy fried spring roll, if you like), I’m going to tell you about some of the weirdest things we saw. The incongruities of life in Southeast Asia, compared to life as we know it in the UK were quite honestly mindblowing, and I want to remember those moments when we stood open-mouthed and stared, or simply got fits of the giggles together. Because those are the stand out moments you remember about your holidays, right? 10 Weird but Wonderful Cambodia …

Read more

The Real Life of an Insta-Mum

There’s been a furore lately over the Insta-Mum phenomenon. Most of us are on there, even if it’s only to stalk our children’s accounts. We laugh and nod at someone else’s crappy day, and get shopping envy over their new pink boots. The phony Insta-Mum claim Apparently some of us are letting the side down, making motherhood look way too easy and glamorous. We’re posting too many perfect lattes and sparkly manicures, and not enough eyebags and carrot splats. Our houses look too tidy, our children too angelic, and our beaches too pristine. It’s not the truth, some claim, and …

Read more

Why I Used a Sleep Positioner for my Baby

  The news today tells me that baby sleep positioners have been declared unsafe by the FDA, and have consequently been withdrawn from sale by most trusted retailers, John Lewis being one. It’s no longer relevant to me, as a mother of two older children, but I’m going to tell you why I think it’s not a simple decision to make for so many parents. My baby was three weeks old when she nearly died. She was asleep in her rocker, one of those which lie flat – we’d taken all the advice about keeping a newborn safe, to the …

Read more

Thorpe Park Fright Night – Do You Dare?

Thorpe Park Fright Nights Halloween Walking dead mazes - what it's really like - review

    Thorpe Park Halloween review As Thorpe Park ambassadors this year we get to go to some special events, as well as having annual passes to the park. It’s been fun over the summer visiting with the kids and their friends. But when we were invited to do a Fright Night review of Thorpe Park’s Halloween events I knew my kids wouldn’t be up for it. Not because it’s not good, but because it’s probably too good. You’ll see what I mean, if you read on. Not surprisingly, when I asked around, there were plenty of offers to take …

Read more