Category / Feature

by jo

Rainbows!

Back around 1977 my journey into the world of Girl Guides started. I was a Brownie and then a Guide and did it for quite a while. I’m not sure why I loved both groups, but I had lots of friends and I think it gave me skills I probably still use to this day. In addition, I remember being the first Brownie in York to do the Friendship badge – I had to go to a Guide group to be tested and it was my first glimpse into the older Guiding world.

rainbows logo

So H recently turned 5. A lot has changed in the Brownies since I was young – there are Rainbows now. In actual fact, Rainbows have been going since 1987 – and are for younger girls, aged 5-7. The groups tend to meet at the earliest time of day (we meet just after 4pm) and the meetings last for an hour, where you work towards your Roundabout badge – one the group does as a whole rather than individually (like in Brownies).

H isn’t a games person. She doesn’t take to playing competitive games very well at all – however, I’ve noticed a change in her since Rainbows started. She doesn’t mind losing – as it’s done so nicely and everything is fun!

I know it’s something she’s going to benefit from, helping her confidence (which does need a bit of help) – as well as making new friends. The majority of the girls in our group are from the same school, though fortunately we know a few of them already.

H rainbows

Oh yes, I say ‘we’ as I’m helping out there too. That’s been interesting – H isn’t allowed to call me ‘mummy’ (my rules) and can only refer to me with my animal name. Which she chose. Which is kangaroo. Sigh.

I’m really enjoying it, I just need to learn the songs and the actions. The only way to do this is by me typing them up, so here goes…

Look at the world around
Learn everything you can
Laugh as you go along
Love this world of ours.

Look, Learn, Laugh, Love
Rainbows has begun
We’re all here now
Come and join the fun

phew.

If you’re interested in signing your child up for Rainbows, bear in mind it’s popular – we were on the waiting list for a year – so sign up your child around their fourth birthday. You can do this via the Girl Guiding Website.

by jo

Storytime Magazine

I recently popped into WH Smiths near work to pick up Storytime Magazine. It comes from Luma Creative, the people behind Magic Belles and it’s a lovely, back to basics traditional storytelling magazine. Read on to find out more!

Storytime Magazine

Storytime Magazine is fabulous. In an age of children’s magazines being bright colours, free toys, adverts and an entire aisle of plastic and lots of “BUY ME ME ME” I didn’t know where to start looking for Storytime. Fortunately it was around the corner – away from all those kids magazines. I know there are campaigns to remove magazines with boobs away from children’s eyes, but I’d like the majority of children’s magazines toned down too.

The first thing I noticed were the lack of adverts inside. This is a great thing – Storytime is a magazine we will love alongside H’s Okido subscription which also has no ads and no free gifts – just fun things to do and plenty of facts.

Then there’s the stories – we have a lot of story books; indeed quite a lot which are covered in here; but as H progresses as a reader I’m a firm believer in her reading the same story in as many different ways as possible. The length of stories in Storytime are the kind she would read on her own with no trouble.

Storytime Magazine Owl

Issue 1 has The Hare and the Tortoise, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Alice in Wonderland, The Owl and the Pussy-cat, Aladdin, The Fairy Bride and Perseus & Medusa. There are also puzzles and activities.

You can subscribe to the magazine and will save 25% on the cover price – as well as getting delivery direct to your door.

If I was to compare it to any other magazine, remember the Story Teller ones back in the 1980’s which included a free cassette, and featured classic stories? It’s like that without the cassette. That’s more than okay with me.

If you’ve been missing a magazine which is one you’ll keep going back to with plenty of stories, then please consider Storytime Magazine. We love it, and I’m going to subscribe to it – in fact, I believe this kind of magazine should exist so I’m going to buy one for H’s school as well to help spread the word.

Storytime Magazine is available now in WH Smiths and all good supermarkets. All libraries have been sent a copy of Issue 1, and they offer subscriptions for schools and libraries too. As well as this, you can subscribe digitally via the App Store.

Their official website is here with extra printables and activities based on the stories in the current issue. Issue 1 has 50 pages and sells for £3.99.

by jo

Wemb-er-lyyyyyyy!

The England Women’s Football Team play Germany at Wembley on Sunday 23rd November – I’ve just bought us tickets. £10 for adults and £1 for under 16’s – AND only £2.50 postage on top – no fees.

If only all events were like this!

I’m so excited to take H to Wembley – she kind of has been, but she was in my tummy at the time (when York City made the playoffs back in 2009)

We’re excited, anyway!

The Early Bird offer is on for the whole of September, or until tickets sell out.

by jo

Monkey Music Beats Fundraising Target!

Monkey Music, the UK’s favourite music classes for babies and young children, is 21 years old this year. To mark the anniversary, Monkey Music classes across the UK have been raising funds for national charity partner, Nordoff Robbins music therapy, together with a selection of local charitable causes. Although Monkey Music set an original 21st birthday fundraising target of £21,000, to date a remarkable £30,000 has been received!

Nordoff Robbins

Among many activities, Monkey Music raised funds through a Birthday Card Colouring Competition that offered prizes from Monkey Music’s national corporate partners – including an iPad, a holiday and more. Then, when the coloured in cards were handed in at Monkey Music classes, parents were encouraged to put a donation in with their children’s artwork. In this way, funds were raised, both for Nordoff Robbins nationally and for a range of charities operating near individual Monkey Music classes – these included Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, the Haven Children’s Hospice and the Neonatal Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Monkey Music’s national charity partner, Nordoff Robbins, is a music charity dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and adults across the UK through music therapy.

Receiving a cheque for £27, 359.14 from Monkey Music Founder, Angie Coates, Nordoff Robbins CEO, Dr. Marcus Stephan, said;

“We’re so very grateful for this generous donation from Monkey Music and from all the many Monkey Music classes and families all over the country. It really will make a difference to our work.

“Nordoff Robbins and Monkey Music both understand the power of music to transform lives. It’s great to be working together and we look forward to a long relationship. Happy Birthday Monkey Music and thank you!”

Monkey Music Founder, Angie Coates, said; “The success of Monkey Music’s 21st Birthday fundraising has been a fantastic demonstration of the family spirit that exists at Monkey Music, not just between our teachers and franchisees, but with our children and their parents, our corporate partners and, or course, our local and national charities partners too.

“We’re so proud of what we have achieved and the fact that it’s all been done by children, adults and organisations all sharing their love of music.”

Donations are still being received for Monkey Music’s 21st Birthday and, with record results predicted for the organization’s franchisees, Monkey Music’s 21st year looks like an amazing ‘coming of age’ for the business.

If you’d like to know more about working with Monkey Music, visit the Business Opportunity website at; www.monkeymusicfranchise.co.uk

Or, you can find the public Monkey Music website at: www.monkeymusic.co.uk

Monkey Music: Nurturing a Lifetime of Music.

by jo

Summer Is Ready When You Are

42 days of Summer, to be precise. That’s forty-two-whole-days!

So what do you do? Most of the clubs have finished for the term and you’re left with a bit of time – so here’s our top family Summer tips.

1. Don’t wear a watch.
Why keep an eye on the time? If you’ve spent the day at work and have time afterwards, why not have a walk to the park and have some fun. Go with how tired you feel rather than having to head home because it’s tea time. Enjoy the outdoors while the weather is good like this.

2. Buy a paddling pool.
It has been so warm here – one night on Facebook I commented about how I’d have loved a paddling pool, just for Shaun to reply he had actually gone and bought one. Argos had a 50% sale, and he bought a Chad Valley giant great big thing (I believe they’re called something like Family Swim Centres). There is room for all three of us in there, although it’s a devil to empty! Sitting in the paddling pool relaxing has been great – it isn’t just for kids, it’s for everyone! (although I wouldn’t want to scare anyone while dressed in my swimming cossie)

3. Make ice lollies.
When we went to Legoland back in April I bought some ice lolly moulds, so we’re eating and making them again daily – they’re currently our yoghurt ones, but anything works. The only downside is having to wait overnight for them to set, but all good things come to those who wait, apparently.

4. Make ice cream.
Home made ice cream is a winner – our drum lives in the freezer so we can make it whenever we need to (as it needs to be frozen for 24 hours beforehand) – handy as we’re not very good at planning, but much better at doing things when the fancy takes us.

5. Holiday clubs.

We’re working for a lot of the summer holidays, so H has to go to Holiday Club. We’re lucky though as she gets to go on trips to the cinema, park, our local Ecology Centre, as well as two visits to Build A Bear – she has been to Holiday Club for most of the breaks from school this year; it has been great for having a play and just chilling out a bit. This does mean I can work shorter days all week, so we have a couple of hours to do fun stuff – just because you’re working doesn’t mean you get to miss the fun (even if you do get envious of everyone’s seaside pictures!). Our holiday club costs less than £20 a day and is paid for with Childcare Vouchers – a really good price.

6. Picnics!
A trip isn’t complete without a picnic – and we’re well stocked up with fun things to take out. We’ve always got Bear Yo Yo snacks and Soreen at the ready, and being sent some BN biscuits from BritMums is a welcome addition – at H’s last day of term we sat in the park and shared them with her classmates who all enjoyed them. I hid the chocolate ones, saving them for when we all fancy a biscuit – H just loves having a smily face! We’ve been sent the Raspberry and Chocolate varieties. We weren’t able to take them to Australia with us, so had to eat the lot.

7. Soft Play!
This one is actually a lot easier if you were to be in Australia right now, as all the kids are back at school, while H is on holiday. So I went shopping with my mother-in-law and H went to Soft Play with Shaun (and had the whole place to herself). She managed to tire herself out and we managed to get some birthday shopping done. Added bonus – no screaming kids at Soft Play, and they had a vintage Pacman table!

8. A bit of Family Time.
It has been hard this year to send H to holiday clubs, but having three weeks of time together is fantastic. H’s behaviour has been great, no angry shouting and just enjoying quality family time. Add to that she’s meeting her Australian relatives and it is a wonderful summer, with a whole side of the family she’s getting to know.

This post is an entry for 42 Days of Summer Linky Challenge sponsored by McVitie’s BN. Learn more at http://bit.ly/1mRpMCL

by jo

SQ321 to SQ215

If, like us you’ve booked flights to Perth from Heathrow, and you’ve used Singapore Airlines, then it’s possible you’ve gone for SQ321 to SQ215.

SQ321 to SQ215 has 50 minutes between flights. The Changi Airport website says to allow an hour between flights – so you can understand why we’d feel a bit nervous. I’ve missed a connection once before and it’s when you arrive at your destination and the unknown which makes it stressful – that and knowing you’re running late.

Our incoming SQ321 flight was running 20 minutes late – so I’d calculated less than half an hour to get to our second plane. I knew it was do-able but with a well-behaved four year old? Who could say.

As it was, we got to the gate and disembarked – and we started to run like crazy, to find our connecting plane was the one next to us! We did it – we changed from SQ321 to SQ215 in ten minutes! Amazing – the gate was easy to get through and all the x-raying was straightforward. The relief? We couldn’t believe it.

In fact our Perth-bound flight was slightly delayed for the baggage change and left 20 minutes late, but still landed in Perth at the correct time.

So if you happen to find this and find yourself on these flights, if you’re running a bit late you’ll be fine. I’m not sure about when you’re an hour late, but SQ215 might still wait. Don’t quote me on this.

We were on foot in Singapore for five minutes, so you get the idea!

Oh the relief! Fortunately on the way back we have three hours between flights, so things will be much simpler.

Our review of Singapore Airlines will appear on my Airline Hell blog once we return.

by jo

Rio 2 on DVD and Blu-Ray

This Monday, August 4th ‘Rio 2’ is released on Blu Ray and DVD. We missed it at the cinema, though have a review copy coming in the post, so will post our thoughts as soon as we can.

However, there are some super cool activity sheets available – which I’m sharing with you now – what do you fancy? Colouring in, or just some facts about the characters? Make your choice – H has chosen her favourite from both – just right click on the image to save on your computer.

Firstly, we have Meet The Gang – an essential, as while H has been really keen to see the film, we don’t know enough about it (other than having some Rio 2 shampoo with Gabi on it upstairs!) – that was enough to make H desperate to see the movie!

Rio 2 - Meet the Gang

and secondly we have a lovely colour in sheet with a Jungle Party featuring Nico, Pedro and Raphael.

Rio 2 - Jungle Party

Rio 2 is available from Monday – you can preorder it from Amazon right now! We’re looking forward to a Movie Night this weekend so we can watch it – in fact, H is extremely excited and can’t wait!

this post contains an affiliate link. 

by jo

The Last Minute Holidaymaker

Or what not to forget when you’re going away. Here’s some top tips:

1. If, like us, you’re going to Australia you can get your vistors visa for FREE now. You used to have to pay. Mine came through 30 minutes after applying from here. Don’t fall for the trap of paying for one when they cost nothing. Places like STA Travel charge you £20!

2. We collected two Travelex Prepay visa cards today from the branch near Shaun’s work. This will make things much easier. We can also change our PIN numbers at any Visa ATM which is handy as I don’t want to remember something new this late in the day.

3. We also realised our Nationwide Flex Account could be upgraded to a Flex Account Plus which gives us Worldwide Holiday Insurance as well as free ATM withdrawals throughout the world. We don’t have our new cards just yet so Travelex will cover things if our cards stop working while we’re away and the new ones haven’t arrived. The Flex Account Plus costs £10 a month, but also includes things like Breakdown Cover and phone insurance which we can amend our existing policies to reduce costs. Not allowing enough time for your new cards to arrive MAY be a problem….

4. Online check-in. Up to 48 hours before our flight we can check-in online. This is a big bonus – we’ve confirmed ourselves and chosen our seats, as closely as possible to the exits (thanks to our 50 minute stop in Singapore), meals are ordered so we just have check-in left. Some flights we’ve taken don’t offer it.

Purple Parking logo

5. Purple Parking. We’re lucky enough to be reviewing Purple Parking’s Meet and Greet service, so will report back once we’re home. I like that we can drop the car at the terminal, and that it is there to be picked up when we return – it feels nice and simple with no shuttle buses involved.

6. Keeping H entertained. We’ve put party bag sticker books into her YUUbag so we’re ready – this is the one thing we’ve been really organised with.

7. Overseas phone tariffs. Our networks suck! I’m with EE and Shaun is with Vodafone and both have rubbish tariffs in Australia. Only 3 seem to be any good, where you can use your own allowance overseas. I’m considering unlocking my phone and buying a SIM while I’m out there as it will be less hassle. 100MB of data for 7 days for £20. I think I’ll be looking for free Wifi! (or 500MB for 7 days for £40 – shocking).

8. Wifi on the plane. Of course I’m going to try it – if it doesn’t cost much. Also, we can connect our iPods/iPads to our in-flight entertainment system – that might be essential for H!

9.  Top tip from my friend Louise – if for some reason one of our suitcases should go astray, we should pack a few of each others clothes in each case. This would never have occurred to me had she not said – makes perfect sense anyway!

10. Make sure your suitcases still close….!

by jo

Dear Parents of Summer Babies,

I’m sending you a little letter on here to reassure you about school, especially since H started in Reception last September.

I’m pretty sure she’s the youngest in Reception, a late August baby.

From the moment she was born, we were told things like “oh, she’ll struggle at school but at least she’ll get weighting” and “oh dear, a young one” – like her future was already set out. (btw, weighting doesn’t exist any more)

Fortunately, her future is decided entirely by her; with guidance and support along the way from Shaun and I as parents, plus her teachers at school.

Yesterday we had her first report, and happily she’s ahead of most targets and is doing well. So parents of summer babies, don’t fret. Go with your child’s lead. H loves reading – she always has. The minute words stopped becoming individual phonics sounds and she was able to decode them, there was no turning back.

When we found out that her numeracy could do with some work we signed up to Eggy Numbers, the Reading Eggs numeracy app to support her learning through simple games. Actually, in reception the most they’re expected to do is recognise numbers up to 20 so this is ideal. I can highly recommend all the Eggy Numbers games anyway, as well as the Eggy Alphabet ones.

Let your child find their way. H loves creating things and doing pictures, arty things as well as music, yet that was her lowest score. Score. Sounds wrong when you’ve Reception-age children. But that’s how it is. Her work isn’t bad, it’s the expected level, but that gives us something to work on for next year – she’s already said she’d like to learn the recorder and the violin.

She might not be the best at everything, but I don’t want her to be the best. I want her to do HER best, and that’s all I can ask of her. She’s done me proud this year, and I know Year 1 will be a challenge as it’s getting into proper school work, but she’ll manage. If not, we’ll deal with it.

My main point though, it’s not a braggy “oo look my daughter has done well” post – it’s a “don’t listen to people who tell you your child won’t do well because of when they are born” – I spent almost three terms fretting she wouldn’t keep up thanks to the way I’d been programmed to think, and actually she’s done marvellously.

So yes, that’s all really. You’ll panic, we all do. Your child will get there, it isn’t too bad. Honestly. This time next year hopefully you’ll be breathing normally again too.

luv,
me x

by jo

Our Top Travel Budgeting Tips

Caxton FX are asking for Parent Bloggers top budgeting tips when travelling, and given we’re about to have a huge journey across the other side of the world soon (and have done it before with H) I think we may have a few – so here goes…

1. Book a hotel if you’re travelling in wintertime and snow is forecast. When we went to Australia in 2010, South London saw a huge amount of snow – our train to Gatwick was delayed and ultimately the flight took off without us. We missed check-in and even though we got to Gatwick eventually, we were too late – even though our plane was delayed. It was an evening flight (8pm) and had I booked a day room in a hotel and headed up there earlier in the morning we would have been fine. Worth bearing in mind if you’re flying long-haul and bad weather is forecast. We couldn’t get a hotel room once we were there, or get a cab home so fortunately stayed with friends for two days until flights resumed.

2. Take the bus if you can! We live in Carshalton where the X26 bus stops – going from Croydon to Heathrow in an hour and a half. Sure, you have to lug your cases to the bus stop and from there, but when your travel costs can be paid on your Oyster cards (as London buses no longer accept cash), it’s a very cheap option. The X26 runs every 30 minutes as well and covers all the terminals. The downside, you’re on the bus with lots of suitcases and bags.

3. Freecycle is good for buggies or strollers. We didn’t want to take our Maclaren with us in case it got damaged, as we knew it would be kept in the hold. We were able to get a stroller (minus a footrest) so it didn’t matter if it broke in transit – most Airports provide strollers for little legs that can’t keep up. It didn’t break in transit anyway, so it meant we had a buggy with us the whole time.

free stroller dubai

4. Try to book things in advance. This time in Australia we’re planning on a trip to Sydney. If we book flights enough in advance from Perth we should get a good deal. This means we need to be organised and know what we’re doing, which of course is another matter altogether..!

5. Car Seats. Check the law in the country you’re travelling to. Most UK car seats are no longer legal in Australia, so see if you can rent a car seat when you arrive. This law can vary from country to country, but don’t get caught out!

6. When you have a mother in law who is crafty and pays for everything when you’re not looking, you try to find ways to spend your money. Get a prepaid Currency Card and load it up with cash, and distract her at the appropriate moment… 😉

7. Check the exchange rate when you’re buying in-store – I’ve been caught out before now and bought them overseas, to find that they’re cheaper in the UK. Download a good currency converter for your phone so you can check what you’re spending on the go – I spent £35 in Pumpkin Patch on a bag, for it to go on sale in the UK for £20. (sob!) If you’re anything like me, keeping on top of exchange rate calculation is quite a task – so find a reliable app. Mainly for the point when your husband says “can’t you work it out?” as he’s had enough of being asked!

8. Overseas phone tariffs. This is a tricky one. Often we just change networks and know we’ll be charged, relying instead on Wifi connections for our iPods. We’ve then had £80 phone bills for calls and texts, so make sure you overestimate what you’re going to use when you’re there. BUT! Even if you buy for overseas, don’t get caught out like we did – one call from Singapore cost us a lot as we’d only planned for Australia. Overestimate your data usage too so you don’t get hit with hefty fines. Shaun gets charged £5 for each chunk of data he goes over in the UK, so imagine that overseas – ouch!

9. Take an address book. Pen and paper rarely fail you, unlike a digital gadget which could get damaged in transit, or just wiped! Needing contact information from people you’re visiting, and having to wait for them to reply could be the difference between a cheap flight and a much more expensive one! Make a note of email addresses and mobile phone numbers too.

10. When booking your flights, find a site which will search across a range of dates. We found a site which gave us the best prices on the dates we want to fly, saving us a lot of money – £500 in fact.

This is our entry for the CaxtonFX giveaway to win a prepaid Currency Card