This Christmas dinner, like the 5 before it, we will have an empty chair at our table. It's a chair that shouldn't be empty. A chair where there should be laughter, and smiles.

The empty chair is more important than anything else in the room. It represents the space in our lives, the hole we all navigate around every day. It can't be ignored, and as we go through our Christmas preparations, we plan and we buy, decorate and bake, the empty chair becomes more important.

At first it is quiet, sitting, watching. You catch it out of the corner of your eye, and you remember everything you try so hard to put to one side.

The chair gets bigger and more unavoidable as December progresses, until that innocuous piece of furniture is the loudest thing in the house. It becomes the only thing you can see when you look into the room.

illooms are the world's first LED latex balloons and I think we've been buying them since their launch in 2008. Each balloon has a fixed LED light inside which illuminates the whole balloon, and the effect is brilliant.

I'm delighted to be working with illooms, and one of my readers can win 5 x gold and 5 x silver illoom balloons - perfect for any celebration or party.


illooms balloons are very easy to use - simply pull out the tab before inflating and tie off as normal. You can fill them with helium, stick them to the wall or string them in rows like any other balloons. You can even play that most popular party game with no name, keepie-uppy.

The last month has been a bit of a rollercoaster for everyone in the UK. The most divisive election I'll probably ever see in my lifetime took place, and also the most deceitful and untruthful. It's a hard place to be when pretty much all of the people you have to trust to look after you have been guilty of lying and spin. 2019 was the year we saw the end of political integrity.

I don't hide the fact I'm left wing. I've always been a person who feels if you live on an island with 10 people and 10 coconuts, everyone should get 1 each. That's just who I am. The election result has made 43% of those who voted feeling like winners, but it has also left a lot of people deflated, including me and my older children.


The benefit of age is that I've been in that position before, when mortgage interest rates were 15% and I had a small baby to care for. We were broke back then and I had no family to rely on for childcare or to rescue me, and I couldn't see how we could survive, but we did. It wasn't easy, just as it isn't easy for a lot of people now, and it taught me a lot.

I learnt the joy and pride of being able to bake, sew, fix my own van and do my own brickwork. I learnt that if you are prepared to give it a go, there's often someone who is happy to come and help, and you can find lifelong friends. I learnt that the poorer people are, the more likely they are to split what they have with you, and your heart will melt at their offer. I learnt that fair exchange is better than cash, and low paid or unpaid skills are often the most valuable. Most of all I realised that some people are so poor, all they have is money.

Hannah The Spanner And The Polar Bears is a Christmas story book set on Christmas Eve, and it's the 7th in the Hannah The Spanner series written and illustrated by Stuart Simmonds and Bill Greenhead.

Hannah has some zany adventures and this tale features one of them, and it's definitely not the sort of thing that usually happens on Christmas Eve...


The Hannah The Spanner books are big, bold and colourful, which is kind of like Hannah herself. This is a longer 64 page story, which starts with a boring trip to the superstore and a surprise wink from a polar bear soft toy. We see him again, and he's even more animated.


As with all of the best Christmas stories, someone needs help, and it's up to Hannah to provide it. The reindeer are out of action after eating some dodgy pork pies over Kent, and the polar bears are needed to save Christmas! Will they manage?

We thought it was bad the year the oven broke on Christmas Eve, but then the universe said "Hold my pint" and we had Christmas 2018.

Last year was our best Christmas yet since losing Elspeth. We were doing Christmas. We'd decided to do an 'Advent' with the LEGO and built an amazing LEGO Christmas Village sprawling across 3 tables. It was ready for 1st December and it even had lights. It looked great unveiling a little more each day on Instagram.


We had an awesome real tree and for the first time in years we had put up a second tree by the window. With the 1970's ultra-flammable decorations on the ceiling and bookcases covered in tinsel it was epic. My partner even had 3 extra days off before the kids broke up from school, so we had tons of time for preparations for the big day.

We had bought or collected loads of stockingfillers, but only a couple of main presents. This will be important later. It would all be wrapped at our leisure, with Christmas tunes on the TV and warm mince pies.

I'm not shy about talking to my kids about personal body stuff. I have the benefit of experience with my older kids and I used to work with the NHS on sexual health, so I got over any embarrassment long ago. It's far easier to talk to your children when they are young, and when they ask, but that doesn't always make it simple.

What's Down There? and That's My Willy are newly released books from author Alex Waldron which are very honest, very clear and very blunt, and the messages they pass on are all positive and essential messages that I have told my own children at some point.


Both books follow a similar light-hearted rhyming format, first introducing the main character, and then their genitals. It is made clear that these are your own. They're your private parts and it's fine to touch them and explore your own body. It's also fine to say "No" to other people if you don't want them to see or touch you.

Last night we were guests of Octagon Theatre, Bolton, to review this year's Christmas production - Treasure Island. With a big cast, lots of pirates, mutiny and treasure, this is a big show and they pulled it off beautifully.

The Octagon Theatre building is in the final stages of it's redevelopment, so the performance is at their temporary venue, Bolton Wanderers Football Ground at University Of Bolton Stadium. They've been there a while, but it's the first time we'd visited them there.


The venue is massive, and there is lots of free parking in Car Park A. It's a couple of minutes walk over to the main door, and when we arrived was lashing it down, so wear your big coat.

Inside is also not the warmest place as it's a huge open space with curtains to separate the bar/lobby area from the audience. It does warm up quite quickly once everyone is inside and seated, but dress warm for comfort.


The stage is MASSIVE! It is incredibly impressive and Bolton Octagon have made excellent use of all of that space, with a huge set. It leaves you under no doubt that what you are about to watch is a proper professional performance.

Blinded By The Light is a UK movie brought to us by writer/director/producer Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham). Released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, based on the book Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll, and inspired by the real life of author Javed Manzoor.

There is a superb cast, with credits including Bend It Like Beckham, Game Of Thrones and Gavin And Stacey, and a soundtrack featuring a host of late 1980's hits, as well as Bruce Springsteen's back catalogue.


The movie starts in 1980, with young Javed talking about his life and setting the scene. This is when he decides to start keeping a journal, and his story begins.

We skip to 1987 and Javed's now a young adult (played by Viveik Kalra), living in industrialised Luton, going to college and dreaming of something more exciting. His friend Matt has also grown up, but he goes on fancy holidays abroad and is in a politically active band. Javed needs more.

The soundtrack is brilliant. Cutting Crew, Pet Shop Boys and a host of others play along as the 1980's kids jiggle, lip synch and push a car to get it started in the morning, in a much more realistic version of 1987 than most.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold will be arriving on Blu-ray and DVD today from Paramount Home Entertainment and we've been sent a copy to review. I also have two copies on DVD to give away to my readers, and I've included some activity sheets which you can print out and enjoy.

Starring Isabela Moner,Eugenio Derbez, Michael Peña, Eva Longoria, and Danny Trejo, it has an all-star cast and everyone has grown up since the animated series...


When the movie starts you think you'll be watching a live action version of the animated TV show for young children. We are introduced to Dora and her family, including cousin Diego, and their unusual animal-filled life in the jungle.

After meeting Dora's talking backpack, suddenly everything changes, and you are 10 years into the future. Dora's behaviour is the only thing that hasn't changed, and it's causing a bit of an issue (and plenty of laughter).

Don't Upset The Llama is a family party game that is as crazy as it sounds. Tactic Games have sent us a copy for review and it's a lot of fun.

Suitable for 2 to 4 players aged 6+, you may well get wet, but not too wet. All you have to do is spot spitting llamas or trumpets on the cards before the other players, and you'll stay dry! Easy!


Inside the box is everything you need. 64 cards, a special die, the very brief and simple rules, and the all-important star of the game, the Llama Spray Gun. I know what you are thinking, but trust me, it's just a little splash. It might look a big Llama pistol, but it's more of a kitten.