This week we had my oldest child's 26th birthday, and the very first place I went to buy him anything was Mothercare. His paternal Grandparents gave us the money to get his pram, and I chose a beautiful blue and grey patterned system, which was the poshest thing I owned at the time by far. It would look ridiculously dated now, so I'm almost glad I don't have a photo.

I was a superstitious pregnant lady and I never bought any of my children anything until I was past 28 weeks, but when my pregnancy was making me tired, sore, sick or just down in the dumps, I'd go and browse Mothercare to get my happy hormones back on track and become excited about my new arrival.


When we bought our car seats, Mothercare employees showed us how to fit them correctly, and when my boobs inflated to twice their non-pregnant size, I had my first ever fitting at a Mothercare store.

That might have been over 26 years ago, but my earliest memories of Mothercare are a long way before then. I was the eldest of 3 children, and my parents were foster carers for babies when I was growing up. A trip to Mothercare meant we were about to get a new arrival, and my mother would carefully choose everything she would need ready for when she brought them home from the hospital.

Matador Publishing work with self-published authors. Four of the recently released paperback children's books that they've sent me for review have a common theme looking at, and celebrating, difference, so I've put them all together in one post.

These are all nicely illustrated picture books suitable for reading together with children from a very young age, or for independent readers aged around 5-6+ to tackle alone.

One Dear World are a company I approached because I love their ethos. They create dolls that genuinely represent a diverse range of children - boys and girls from different backgrounds, with different skin tones and hair colours, and One Dear World are also crowd-funding to extend the range to include dolls with disabilities.

We've been sent a doll for review and one of the Fair Trade handmade outfits, which I'll be passing on to a little girl who I know will really appreciate it...


Our doll is Hearty Hope, and her backstory is that she was born in Accra, Ghana and moved to London with her parents. The packaging is mostly unbleached card and she comes with her own little passport. She's 32cm tall and not heavy to hold.


She has beautiful curly hair and dark skin, and when she arrived was wearing a really pretty embroidered white sundress - with bloomers underneath to protect her modesty! The clothes are removable and it was really easy to change Hope.

We love Just So Festival and my 9 and 10 year old boys were delighted when we were asked back again this year to review. We are big supporters of the team behind Just So, Wild Rumpus, who bring together nature and the arts to give families unique experiences they'll remember forever.


Just So Festival's 10th Anniversary took place in the usual Cheshire woodland location of Rode Hall and created a real festival to remember forever, and one for your CV if you work in events management!!


I've been to many, many festivals over the years and for the last 25 I've had children with me. It's really easy for it all to go wrong when the rain hits, and it hit Just So really hard. One month's rain in one day, as 5000 people arrive and attempt to start their festival weekend. It's the stuff of nightmares for any event organiser. They did fantastically.

The staff and volunteers gave everyone just enough leeway, and the festival attendees had enough common sense, to make it work safely for as many people as possible. I'm truly sorry to anyone who didn't make it in the end. For most of us at least, the festival went ahead virtually as planned.

It was a festival of the arts and the outdoors, and nature was determined to reassert the fact she is bigger than all of us.

Hubelino is a brand new product in the UK which combines with your own blocks and bricks to create a marble run track. The design and size is all up to your own imagination and it's a fantastic STEM supporting toy to bring out the designer and engineer in all of us.


We've been sent the Marble Run Elements Set, which contains 55 pieces, including 4 balls. Packaging is awesome. It's all in a big cardboard box, with 2 resealable plastic bags to keep everything tidy. No extra or unnecessary packaging and perfect for storage when you aren't playing.


The Hubelino is Elements Set is an 'add-on' and although it's possible to create a marble run with these elements alone, it is designed to work with what you already have and is compatible with standard blocks.

The latest book we've been sent to review is really a picture book and is suitable for reading together from 18 months to around 7 years or older. Philly & Friends: Who Do I See In The Mirror? is the debut book by author and Mum Vese Aghoghovbia Aladewolu and is beautifully illustrated by Irene Omiunu.

I don't usually review books which are a bit young for my children, but on this occasion I've made an exception because not only am I friends with the PR, but as soon as I heard the content, I thought it sounded like exactly what youngsters in today's world need...


Who Do I See In The Mirror? follows a young girl doing everyday activities. As she goes through her day, she notices parts of herself and comments on them. Everything is positive, "I love my full lips", " I love my curly hair". She knows that she is also amazing inside her heart and mind, and she can see just how beautiful she really is.

Cyril and Pat is maybe a little young for my family, but Emily Gravett's work is so beautiful and the story is such a fabulous message that sometimes an exception should be made. This large format hardback book is written in rhyme and very cleverly leads you to the final word of each page... and then surprises you by saying something completely different.


I read together with my 8 and 9 year old boys - because reading together is still nice sometimes, even when you can read yourself.

Little Budgie is the star of the first children's book by journalist and ex-teacher Simon Harris. While going through the joys of potty training with his son, he created the Budgie family and found it really helped encourage his little boy, so he turned his tale into a book.


Little Budgie's Done A Fudgie is colour 30 page story book with a soft wipe-clean cover. It does give away the ending in it's own title, but that doesn't spoil the tale, or the message of the book. Written in simple rhyme and with full page illustrations throughout, the storyline is not War And Peace, but it has the same level of anticipation and a little more success.


Little Budgie wants to throw away the nappies and move on to pants - he has a setback or two, but nothing too major and by the end of the book he's ready for the toilet itself. It'll be very familiar to anyone with children over the age of 3. I have never in my life previously referred to a poo as a 'fudgie', but I admit I laughed at the title. The more I thought about this book, the more I realised it actually captures the real spirit of toilet training and the advice I would always give any parent - keep it light-hearted.

Winter Wonderland is back in Manchester until 1st January and it's gorgeous. We were invited over to review on Monday. The Wintery weather had us all in the mood already and when we went through the entrance there was snow indoors! And it was substantially warmer...and so Christmassy!!


There are shows and a circus, so it's worth checking out the times at the start of your 4 hour visit, otherwise you could miss your favourites. We caught Rainbow on the Main Stage. Winter Wonderland has a few seating areas, mainly towards the centre of the hall. You can always get a chair, even if you just want to rest your legs.

We recently reviewed the Lumie Bedbug and it's absolutely excellent. Sleep optimised lighting for children, soothing them while they go through the bedtime routine and making it easier for them to drift into a high quality sleep.


My 7 year old loves his Lumie Bedbug because when he wakes during the night, one button click will turn on the nightlight and once he's ready to go back to sleep, he can turn down the light, set the timer and drift off before his room descends completely into darkness.


You can read my full Lumie Bedbug review here - we are still just as happy with it as we were when we opened the box. Although the recommended use is for babies and younger children, it's incredibly useful for anyone who is likely to wake during the night, or who has trouble settling off to sleep.

October half term looks to be another cold and wet one, but there is still plenty to do and there are loads of places to go with family of all ages. Here are some of the events and activities on offer this year...

Ora and Puffin Books (part of Penguin Random House) have teamed up for Space Week, and asked if I'd like to join in. Ora Kitchen Towel naturally lends itself to rocket-building, it's the perfect accompaniment, so along with my 7 and 9 year old boys, we've come up with some Space Week activities that won't break the bank!


1. Make A Space Station
Every Spaceman, Cosmonaut or Astronaut wants to go to the Space Station like Tim Peake. You can have your Space Station behind the sofa, or practically anywhere, but on this occasion we decided ours was going to be under the kitchen table. I prepared some construction materials and my 9 year old took on the role of designer.

Lumie make lighting products that are far more than 'just a light'. Well-known for their excellent Bodyclock which slowly increases in brightness to wake you gently and naturally, they have recently released a brand new product for children with the opposite aim, the Lumie Bedbug.


Just like the Lumie Bodyclock, the Bedbug makes best use of coloured lighting, but in the case of the Bedbug it is to help ease your child to sleep and it can also be left on as a gentle nightlight. Absolutely ideal for parents of babies or children who wake in the night or may need changing or attending to, this is an excellent way to have enough light to see without disturbing the whole house.

Having been home from France a mere 76 hours, just about enough time to wash everything, we set off again for the Just So Festival. This is our 3rd year as visitors and it was probably my favourite of them all. We were already pretty relaxed and settled into the pace as soon as we collected our wristbands and went in through the Just So archway...


Just So Festival takes everything that we remember from childhood and gives it back to us, usually large scale and over-the-top. Fairies in the woods and pirates on the high seas are real here, as are pillow fights, woodland dens and midnight feasts. Sit at a campfire and sing your heart out, or dance the night away to live music or disco. Make a building from jelly beans, picnic anytime and roll down a great big hill. You can even run away to train with the circus...


The staff and volunteers are what really make Just So Festival special. Everyone has a smile and can't do enough to help you. It's no wonder that they recently received another award for accessibility. The entire time you are there, you feel like a valued guest amongst new friends.


One of the first areas you reach when you enter is the huge green, this year half dedicated to the Peekaboo area, for children aged 0-4. This area is sponsored by one of my favourite companies, Weleda, and includes massage, baby baths, yoga, musical and messy play - as well as samples and advice. Our camping neighbours included the gorgeous StyleBySquidge instagrammer - he especially enjoyed the painting.


The site is spread over several areas, but they're all close by each other and each has plenty to do when you get there, so you can have a sit down and are never worn out from walking.


The woods are very special at Just So, and you are never quite sure what or who you'll bump into. The 'Barefoot Walk' was not something my boys wanted to take part in - despite me spending half the weekend asking them to put something on their feet! We had a lot of fun with the solar-powered instruments by the High Seas though.


And we discovered what the cast of Tales Of Animalia do when it rains between shows! It's amazing how many people you can fit under one gazebo. It actually barely rained and we had some gorgeous weather on Sunday to make up for it.


The Actual Reality Arcade was a huge highlight and we could have spent hours in there. Giant versions of arcade games with humans in every role. We laughed until we cried - and so did several bystanders...





There was awesome food! The vendors are chosen for quality and everything we ate was utterly delicious. It was pricey though on average. Single person pizzas at £8-£10 each is out of our league, although they would give you a free pizza if you had a cheesy joke they hadn't heard. I scored a real bargain on Sunday with the gorgeous Amrutha vegetable pakoras - they didn't have any small trays left so gave me a huge portion for £4 - cheers guys!


If you had the stomach for it, you could of course tempt your palate with the Insect Eating in the Social Barn. Once again, thankful I'm vegetarian...


There was no coffee down by the Silver Screen and High Seas areas this year - boo! There was however a bar at the campfire and it did work exceedingly well for a nice evening tipple before stories, singsong and bed. Lovely beers, cider or lager for under a fiver a pint. Better than in Manchester.


You can't mention the campfire and stories without mentioning long-standing North West Storyteller Ian Douglas, who married his wife Jo on the Friday. The woodland was decked out and it was especially beautiful. We were lucky enough to witness his proposal at Just So Festival last year, so we wouldn't have ever missed it. I've never seen so many people around the campfire as there were that evening and the atmosphere was awesome. Congratulations to them both.


The campfire was only beaten for us by one activity, and that was the Pillow Fight. You'd never believe it if you didn't witness it. This is the first time it's been dry weather and everyone was out to celebrate - it was epic.


Even those who didn't want to fight with the pack got plenty of opportunity to join in... Thanks to Jane Hodgepodgedays for the beautiful photos of my 7 year old...


A highlight for everyone is the results of the Tribal Tournament. This goes on all weekend and as you take part in activities, smile at strangers or 'walk to the car the most times', you can collect golden pebbles for your chosen team. It was very exciting watching the Baghdaddies do sound check for their set and knowing the entire field would be full of around 2000 people in 10 minutes time as the parades of teams arrived...


We've always been a bit disorganised regarding teams and this year was no different, with two of us supporting Stags, me Bees and my youngest Foxes. We all collected pebbles and did very well. Foxes won, Bees were second overall and Stags retained a regal air of dignity throughout.


The Just So Festival is awesome. We spent 2 1/2 days there and it was like having a whole extra holiday. There is no better way of letting kids be kids and adults be kids too...

Special thanks to all of the staff - including the lovely and incredibly helpful lady who directed us in, and the security who found and returned Lancashire Lass and our missing 7 year olds within 5 minutes (they didn't know they were lost).

9 Shows, 18 Days, 26 Venues. The Z-arts Big Imaginations Festival launch was at Just So Festival last weekend and I was lucky enough to be there to watch Joseph Coelho, producer of one of the shows, kick start the launch with readings from a couple of his poems. We'll be reviewing another show, Children Of The Divide, with our 7 and 8 year old boys.

Here is a rundown of what will be on offer over 2 weeks full of the highest quality affordable theatre for children and families. No single venue offers all shows, so check with the festival website to find what's on near you.







The Shows are:

Flip Out Blackburn opens to the public TODAY! We were among the lucky people to get a preview visit yesterday evening. We spent a good 2 hours there, plus around 20 minutes for the safety briefing and to get sorted beforehand - you have special Flip Out socks...

STABILO make great stationery for all members of the family, so when I said we'd be getting a handful of new products to look at, 4 different people here immediately got excited. We've been sent the new STABILO BOSS Original Pastel Highlighters, a beYou! Ballpoint Pen and EASYstart Colouring Pencils.


The STABILO BOSS Original Pastel Highlighters are that very familiar shape and style which we've all used, but now available in pastels! Reliable and long-lasting, they really haven't needed to change since before I was a student.

The Magic Of My Name is a story book for children aged around 0-8 which is personalised for your child. You choose boy or girl, hair colour and then add their own name, which becomes focal to the entire story...


The book arrives wrapped in card and plastic to protect it from the elements during shipping, and I was impressed with the quality and weight. Each page is thick glossy paper. Our book is a hardbacked copy and it's nicely bound and will wipe clean from small spills.

Tinyme are an Australian based company making incredibly beautiful and practical personalised products for children aged mainly around 3-10. My children are sadly getting towards the top of the Tinyme age bracket, and it is a loss. Their newest release is a personalised book with a free app - The Amazing Alphabet.


My delivery was within a week despite having to be personally printed, I was incredibly impressed. Minimally but safely packed in a cardboard envelope and double sealed plastic, it survived Hurricane Doris unscathed.

The Geronimo Festival will take place at Arley Hall in Northwich, Cheshire from 27-29 May this year. The children's festival is designed especially for families with children aged under 13, and promises to have far more than you can pack into a day for everyone...


This year for the first time, camping is available, and the event runs for 3 days over the entire 3 day Bank Holiday weekend. We'll be at Geronimo as ambassadors - and hopefully we'll get the boys on the zipline this year - glad it's not this weekend, Hurricane Doris would have put paid to that!

I told you about some of the 130 activities on offer in my previous introductory post, but it gets even better for those of you who are fans of children's TV especially. New announcements include children's telly celebs and You Tube stars, including some real crowd pleasers.