Master C is a five year old boy. It's therefore to be expected that he has an obsession with poo at the moment. It's one of his favourite things to shout out at inappropriate moments, and for about six months now he seems to have an obsession with calling me "Professor Poo Poo Pants". I'm trying to follow the parenting course advice of not reacting to the name calling in the hope that he will finally get bored and move on to something else. I'm not sure he ever really will though! I'm therefore not at all sure if agreeing to review the game Poopyhead with the kids was such a good idea. ... read more
David Williams The Boy In The Dress Jigsaw Puzzle – Review and Giveaway
As I sit here writing this blog post now St Albans is bathed in sunlight and there is a very, very light sprinkling of overnight snow on the ground. More snow is forecast for later on today, but as a northerner I'm not totally convinced that this isn't just the media getting their knickers in a twist about something and actually it's the kind of weather that all Southerners go to pot about, but Northerners just put on their big coat and get on as usual. The one thing that people do seem to be worried about (or looking forward to, depending on whether you're a child or an adult) is the ... read more
Birdy & Bou: The Floating Library – Mandy Stanley & David Bedford
These last nine months have seen me living literally next door to a library. Anyone who has read this blog before will know how much I love books and am a huge supporter of libraries, yet for the first few months of living here we hardly visited. I'm not totally sure why, but I've put this right recently though and the kids and I have become library regulars, even remembering to return books before they become overdue! Both kids have really discovered the joys of audio books and our local library actually has a huge collection of them which they can borrow for free. I just daren't tell the ... read more
Brio Central Train Station and Bus and Train Station
Master C's love of all things rail just continues to grow and grown. Whilst it was originally limited to the trains themselves and pushing them around simple track layouts he seems to have been inspired by all the model train shows that B and I keep taking him to (and the railway modelling magazines that I find him reading in bed by torchlight!) and at the moment he is fascinated by railway infrastructure. Whether that be stations, points, sidings or "end of the line bits" as he likes to call them. He's started thinking much more about the whole passenger journey. How they get to a station, ... read more
The Lost Penguin – Claire Freedman and Kate Hindley
It's a little while now since Master C and I met Oliver and Patch in their first adventure. Back in that book Oliver had just moved to a big city and was lonely until he met Patch. They came together and started having some lovely adventures together whilst they looked for Patch's real owner. In The Lost Penguin, Oliver and Patch (and Ruby, Patch's real owner) are back, but this time they're visiting the zoo together. They growl at the tigers, smile at the meerkats and laugh at the funny penguins. But one little penguin catches their eye. Peep is new to the zoo. He's lonely and misses his ... read more
Words and Your Heart – Kate Jane Neal
“Sticks and Stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” As a child this is the mantra that we were always taught to respond with if anyone every said anything nasty to us at school or in the playground. But the truth is that words can hurt. A lot. Words and Your Heart tries to turn that around and make children see that the words they use, especially when talking to others, can have an effect. Words can affect your heart, and that’s the “bit inside of you that makes you, you!” Words and Your Heart looks at words and the power they have. It’s aim is to make children stop and ... read more
Ravensburger Big Ben with Clock 3D Puzzle
Who doesn't love a puzzle? Well, after the success of the 3D Minions Sneaker puzzle that we reviewed last year for Ravensburger, this time we are going to try our hand at something on a bigger scale. Big Ben, in the form of this Ravensburger Big Ben with Clock 3D puzzle. Big Ben has obviously been in the news a bit lately as it's been silenced during a refurbishment. There's no scaffolding on this version of the London landmark though. This Big Ben with Clock 3D puzzle consists of 216 puzzle pieces and stands 41cm (that's 16 inches) high when complete. As the name suggests it also ... read more
Taking to the road again with Young Driver
It’s a while since Little Miss C got behind the wheel for the first time thanks to Young Driver, but it’s something that she still keeps talking about avidly. 2017 was very much a year of change for me when it came to family circumstances, so when I next bumped into the Young Driver team at Blog On I was able to talk to them about the next stage of driving for my step daughter L. At 13 years old she is old enough for the next driving stage from what LMC tried - a proper car! When we told her about what we had planned it’s fair to say that she was in a stage of shock about what she was ... read more
Sanitary Owl’s First Period Box from DAME
As women, do we talk enough to our men or daughters about periods? I'm not talking about trying to totally freak them out, but more about explaining the practicalities of them and what is available to use each month. I recently came across an interview with comedian Gary Meikle in which he talked about life as a single dad to his daughter. In it he mentioned how, when she started her periods, he realised that he knew nothing, and as a result he ended up asking the local shopkeeper for advice as to whether he should be buying tampons or towels for her. For girls, getting their period is an ... read more
The 12 Sleighs of Christmas – Sherri Duskey Rinker and Jake Parker
Everyone knows that it's the Elves who keep Santa in check and make sure that everything is in place so that Christmas Eve and present deliveries go without a hitch. The source or build the presents, wrap them all and make sure they're all delivered to the right addresses. Whole films have been set about the lengths that they'll go to make sure that no child goes without on Christmas morning. But, what about Santa's sleigh itself? Who makes sure that it's all ready for the mammoth journey that it has to do that night? Fear not - just like a well tuned Formula One pit crew the elves also ... read more