I have far too much understanding of children's mental health. I wish I didn't. I wish it was all something that happened to someone else. Instead, all of our children also have far too much understanding about children's mental health.


On August 15th 2014 my step-daughter Elspeth took her own life. I wrote about it, you can read my Dear Elspeth post here, but it will make you sad, so maybe don't read it if you are at work. I also wrote about how our children seemed to cope over the first 9 months, and what helped them.

It's now 2 1/2 years later, and Elspeth is still dead. Her siblings don't see her or speak to her every single day. Her step-sister doesn't have another teenage girl at home to talk about make up and clothes. Her step-brother has gone to university alone, just as he went to college alone, after spending 8 years as her classmate.

Her little brother won't belt out Les Miserables songs beautifully at full volume any more. He won't sing at all. He says it's rubbish. Neither of her little brothers will enter or stay in an empty room.

One of her siblings has spent a large part of the last 18 months ill in hospital.

The S+ from ResMed is the world's first non-contact sleep tracker. It studies you while you sleep, monitoring the air temperature, and ambient light and noise levels, as well as recording when you are in dream sleep, light sleep or deep sleep. It'll even soothe you to sleep with background white noise that attunes to your own breathing, and wake you up slowly (from light sleep when possible) if you set a smart alarm time window to get up.


My sleep has always been pretty bad, and even a 'good night's sleep' is often much shorter than average. Although I can survive on less sleep than most, I'd like to sleep more, and sleep better. The S+ can help, and after 8 weeks of use, I'm genuinely finding that I can make some simple small changes that really do improve the quality of my sleep - and I'm feeling better for it.

On Saturday we went to all the way to London to go to the cinema. It was a very early start, and a long way to go for a movie, but when you consider that we'd been invited by Warner Bros to a preview screening of the LEGO Batman movie in Leicester Square, it was well worth the effort...


We were up at 4.45am - and out of the house by 5.20am to catch our train...it wasn't the best part of the day, they lied.

The latest release from Entertainment One is Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes. A two-part animated movie based on the classic collection of stories by Roald Dahl, and a huge hit at Christmas on TV, Revolting Rhymes comes to DVD on 6th February, and is available now on Digital Download.


The film has a warm and familiar style, as the animation is by Magic Light Pictures, the team behind award-winning films The Gruffalo and Stick Man. There is the usual light-hearted humour, and fantastic expression on the faces of the characters.

The British cast is great (everyone loves Roald Dahl) and includes my 8 year old son's favourite current children's author David Walliams, as well as Tamsin Grieg, Rob Brydon, Dominic West and others.

Last week my partner and I didn't only drive down Altrincham once, we actually went twice. The first visit was a rare evening without any of our children, to review the newly opened Bistrot Pierre French Restaurant, right in the town centre.


From the outside very modern, but inside completely different, with warm, dimmed lighting and wooden fixtures, tables and chairs. It has a cosy feel, and a gorgeous grand staircase right in the centre. The passageway leading to the toilets only adds to the illusion that you are in a big old house somewhere.

Ayuda House B&B, in Bowden near Altrincham, Cheshire is the winner of the Hidden Gem North West award from eviivo - and as soon as you arrive at this huge family home tucked away on a quiet cul-de-sac corner, you know that description is perfect.


Ayuda means 'Helpful', and I honestly believe that is the owner Melinda's raison d'etre. Before we even set off, we'd been warned via text message where roadworks were so that we could avoid a 20 minute detour, and offered a sandwich when we arrived. It wasn't far for us, so not necessary. Ayuda house is incredibly easy to find, 4 miles from Manchester Airport and 10 miles from Manchester city centre.


Melinda and her partner Derek were ready to greet us, and spoke to the children as well as the adults - something I'm always impressed with. The boys were anxious to investigate, so we were shown the downstairs shared areas.

Yesterday I went over to The Arndale Centre in Manchester - not to shop, but instead to have my brain waves read by some of the latest technology. It's not the sort of thing that usually happens to me on any given Tuesday, but it was fascinating and I highly recommend it.


Explore, the Small Group Adventure Holiday company, had set up their unique #explorethemoment experiment – the first of its kind ever to take place in the UK - to give some holiday inspiration to members of the public. I felt I had only one place in the world on my bucket list, so inspiration could only be a good thing..

Danny Dingle's Fantastic Finds: The Metal-Mobile is the first in a series of books written by Angie Lake and illustrated by Suruchi Sati and Shanith MM, and published by Sweet Cherry Publishing. Aimed at independent readers aged around 7-8+, it is very quirky, and a great read for any child who is just becoming confident reading alone.


Our hero Danny (aka Experimental Face) intends to be the super secret spy assistant to the world's best superhero, Metal Face, when he grows up. Metal Face doesn't yet exist, so Danny and his mate Percy spend their time preparing by conducting scientific experiments... like seeing how loud a fart is if you are sitting on concrete, or how to save an egg from smashing when it's launched into the air.

Write Size are a range of differently sized children's pencils designed especially to help with handwriting. There are 3 sizes, each with specific design features to help younger children learn to write neatly without the frustrations standard pencils can pose.


I first saw Write Size Pencils at Blog On September, and I was really interested. Having watched and helped all of our children learn to write, we've had many struggles with grip, or pencils with lead that snaps every 15 seconds. I was really intrigued to see how Write Size were different, and how that works in reality.

The kids have been back at school for 1 week and already one of mine has brought home some visitors. Not the kind of guests who eat all your food and don't put the loo seat down, these are the kind who turn up uninvited and make you itch...


Head lice and nits are a constant battle for parents in most parts of the UK, it's only in remote areas you are likely to escape. Before you feel disgusted, just bear in mind that a child has to have friends in order to catch head lice. They pretty much need to have head to head contact, so the little blighters can walk from one person to another. Your child is spending time playing with other children, so it isn't all bad.