Cambridge Giraffe

We went on a little day out to Cambridge today - I'm saying this in my posh voice in my head as I type, if only you could hear me you'd be mightily impressed, ooo I'm still doing it, make that - frightfully impressed! Anyway, we thought it'd be a good idea to show the children where they will be living and studying in years to come - I'm kidding - I'm not one of those pushy types! No; Oxford or Cambridge would be perfectly fine with me, it's good to give them options.


No seriously, whilst we did show them the Uni, the river and the shops - lots of shops folks, LOTS OF SHOPS, we were there primarily to eat. We were to review Giraffe the family friendly restaurant.

Now, if you get too close to me at the average cafe/restaurant kinda place you'll here this whiney drone that goes like this; "I mean how difficult is it??? Don't they know that if the kids are happy the parents are??? Kids are easy to please, right??? Why don't they? Can't they???" Yes, I'm pretty much best avoided.


 Giraffe though, they know how to make kids happy; the formula for family-friendly dining is thus:


Have a good range of meals on the kids menu, proper food like good quality chicken burgers and shepherds pie, but always, always include pasta with garlic bread. There has never been a child that snubs pasta and garlic bread. Giraffe gets a tick.

As our children had eaten a famished giant's portion of pasta and garlic bread just last night - they went for fish, chips and peas.

Have something the kids know they can take home. This doesn't have to be good, it can in fact be crap. Kids love crap. How else do you think Claire's Accessories stays open? Sorry Claire but your accessories stink, yet my kids would happily exchange at least one parent for a single item you sell. In Giraffe each child is issued with a colouring-in / activity sheet thing - remarkably un-crap - which they can complete on waiting for their food.

Be nice. It's nice to be nice. The service was excellent. They were ridiculously busy for a Wednesday lunch, with a long line of wannabe diners stretching out the door, but the staff were un-flustered and clearly used to dealing with kids (there was a 'sharing issue' with my 2 and the crayons - an extra pot of crayons were swept in as an emergency).

Don't sacrifice on quality - you can't get away with it just because you're 'child-friendly'. Adults don't suddenly loose all sense of taste the second they procreate. At Giraffe the food is tempting, scrumptious, and not always all that basic. Here are the prawns we had for starters...

So, when it comes to eating out, Giraffe gets a definite thumbs-up from the kids and a huge "thank you" from me.

Be My Guest: James Collis-Pritchard from Poddely (Play Equipment)

Perhaps you should just let children play with the packaging?

How many times have you heard parents say how they could have saved themselves time and money at Christmas by simply buying their child a cardboard box or a roll of wrapping paper? That they’ve spent £50 on the latest doll that cries, walks and can even grow its own teeth and yet their child spends more of Christmas afternoon pretending that the box the doll came in is a rocket ship taking them to the moon!  Frustrating though it may be for parents this kind of imaginative play is essential for a child’s development.

Children use their natural creativity and imagination as tools for developing wider skills, like understanding how to interact with society. Furthermore, according to many experts, a lack of creative play can also lead to children struggling with subjects such as maths and science at school, as they lose their ability to think laterally.  According to David Elkind Ph.D, author of The Power of Play, “Creativity and imagination are like muscles; if you don’t use them, you lose them.” If children are only given toys which force their play in a certain direction, such as computer games or television based action figures, then they begin to lose the ability to think for themselves and use their own imagination.

Providing children with play equipment that offers a wide choice of activities gives them the freedom to explore this much needed creative skill. Rather than giving them a ready-made toy kitchen, with all the necessary accompaniments, how about only providing some pots and pans? Why not encourage them to create their own kitchen from cardboard boxes or perhaps even use the pans as helmets to protect them in their role as super heroes saving the world from a man-eating sea monster!

The benefits to children of imaginative play go beyond the home. More and more nurseries are investing in free-flow play equipment that’s safe and durable. This type of equipment, such as Poddely, can include ever changing modular components with colourful cubes and prisms, interlocking tiles, coloured filters and chutes to encourage creativity and imagination on a large scale. This means that children can devise their own play activities and effectively take responsibility for their own learning and most importantly have lots of fun!

In a group setting this type of play encourages children to develop their communication skills by sharing their ideas and contributing to the task at hand; be it creating a space station to protect them from approaching aliens or building a jeep to take them on a safari in remotest Africa. We all know, if encouraged, the boundless scope of a child’s imagination. Perhaps the time has come to consider resisting ‘this year’s must-have request’ and encouraging our children to take creative play into their own hands?

Find out more here: www.poddely.com.

Back to School; but whose class are they really in?

I was interested to read Polly Toynbee's article in The Guardian yesterday on class. She writes of how class matters more now than it ever did before; the idea that 'class is dead' is false, she says, and she's pretty well backed up with observations and stats.

I take no persuading on this Polly, from the constant talk of the "underclass" to the claims of the "stretched middle" we're all obsessed with where we are, where that person is - him, her over there; what their parents do - or more profoundly - what they don't.

Apparently most of us describe ourselves as 'middle'. Even those with children at pricey private schools and who are what we'd describe as "priviladged" rarely label themselves "upper". Perhaps because they've no concept of how most people live, no capacity to reality-check their wealth and fortune - everyone knows someone richer, with more land, a more pricey mansion, and with a bigger, newer truck of a car to take their small children to school in. Or perhaps the denial of "upper" is just part of our Brittishness, our innate bashfulness and (false?) modesty.

My husband is from Dublin and with his accent  staying purposefully thick (or "tick" I should say) his class is determindly out of view to those who meet him here. People usually know he's from the Republic rather than the North but other than that, he could be from the hills of the Gaeltacht or fresh from an inner-city slum. What freedom! Of course, back in Ireland, people immediatly calculate as we would here (with the unique flatness of the Dublin accent over the rest of the country), which side - North/South, whether he's "well spoken", "posh" or an "ole' jackeen"!

For myself there's no escape. So here it is - you make your mind up...

1. I went to a comp. A proper one, not a grammer, not an all-singing all-dancing academy. No, a comprehensive with a bike shed and as many Lambert and Butler being smoked behind it as any other in the 90s. There were fights, teachers having break-downs, it was cool to be thick - that kind of thing.

2. My Mum is a teacher (a Head now) and my father an architect. Oooo that's changed your mind now, hasn't it?

3. I went to University in Sussex. It was what was called in the post-polly-90s a 'Proper University'. The fags had changed - Marlboro Lights.

4. I have 2 degrees.

5. My children go to state school.

6. I don't have much money. But boy if I did....

So go on then, as it's so important "what am I?"

Silent Bank Holiday Monday

Be My Guest: Paul Thompson, co-founder of Water Babies

Tell us a little about yourself and Water Babies?

I am a water loving Dad to two children, Imani and Jai. I co-founded Water Babies with my wife Jess in 2002 while on holiday in Australia; we were inspired by how much we loved taking Imani to baby swimming lessons and thought we could bring this, along with our passion and enthusiasm, back with us to the UK.

Water Babies is the world’s largest baby swimming company; as a UK franchise based company we teach in excess of 24,000 young children each week. We specialise in teaching parents how to teach their children to swim, be confident in the water and to save themselves from drowning.

Why baby swimming?

The benefits of baby swimming are huge, both physically and mentally. And not just for your baby but for you too. Here are just a few:

For Baby:

o    Baby swimming gives increased confidence in the water – which often then transfers into other life skills

o    Learning to respond to simple instructions from birth is fantastic for helping to develop their brain

o    Being in water means they can exercise all four quarters of their bodies, including some muscles they’d never even find being physically active on land

o    Eating and sleeping patterns are often improved by swimming as it’s such good exercise

For Parent:

o    Helps to enhance the bonding process – skin to skin contact in warm water is particularly good for this

o    Confidence in handling your baby in water then often transfers into daily life

o    Meeting other parents in a sociable activity and enjoying the support and friendship within the class

o    The pride you’ll feel when seeing what your baby can achieve – from remarkably early on

What is your favourite part about your job?

The passion and enthusiasm we see from each and every one of our franchise owners is incredible, most of the owners decided to buy a franchise having experienced baby swimming first hand with their own children and so have a genuine belief and love for what they do.

Baby swimming is not only important for children’s safety; by introducing children to exercise from birth, they will be more in tune with the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. It feels good to know we are creating this mindset for future generations.

And what’s the hardest part?

We are approached by many people who are really keen to buy a Water Babies franchise; the hardest part is being firm and turning down those that we don’t think are 100 per cent committed. We want our franchise owners to love what they do; there needs to be enough drive to get through all of the hard work. In essence, we need to be sure that our franchisees are primarily motivated by the desire to teach babies life saving skills and the joy of being in the water.

Can you share a tip with us for other people thinking about starting up their own business?

Find something you love, that you’re passionate about and follow it through. There have been times when people have questioned the way we do certain things but we are all about passion and trying new things; if it doesn’t work out then at least you can say you’ve tried it. If you are inspired by a certain company or philosophy look into becoming a franchise owner, this can be a profitable way of following a dream while being supported by headquarters.

The Huffington

click here for my post on The Huffington Post on the trials of working on this 'everything machine'

Don't leave me this way...

So the summer holidays are drawing to an end, and once again I'm wondering what I'm going to do without my tallest of sidekicks, my girl, my Head of Reading Whilst Charles is on Potty. My pal, my chatterbox, my inquisitive little eagle-eyed investigator. Don't leave me Rosie, school spool, stay home baking wonky cookies, laughing at your brother's dancing, dressing up in Mama Mia costumes and practising your jazz hands.


Oh I know I'll get back in the swing of it. I know there will be times when I'm working and I think "is that the time? I could do with another half hour" but now I'm just a lump of sulk, aware that when she goes back it also means I'll have to work more, Charles will start back at playgroup and it's all - well, it's all back to normal. Normal - yuk.


Course Rosie's all "I'm going to be in Year 1" and "I've got a new teacher" and I'm all "how marvellous, how exciting, how fantastic". I'm probably over doing it a tad.


So normal here it comes; school runs, ballet runs - all of it, they're coming ready or not, and I'm not.

Be My Guest: Wayne Cornish Hope and Homes

WHAT’S the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words ‘children’s institution’? For those of us of a certain age, I’m sure it’s the television images from Romania which shot around the world in 1990 in the aftermath of the country’s short revolution and President Ceausescu’s bloody fall from power.

Those pictures of Dickensian-style ‘orphanages’ and the emaciated, shaven-headed children locked away inside them shocked the Western world.  As the Iron Curtain gradually fell in neighbouring countries throughout Eastern Europe, though, it soon became apparent that the warehousing of vulnerable children wasn’t a problem exclusive to Romania. Indeed, it was a common, but cruel, legacy of harsh Soviet rule across the former Eastern Bloc.

The media spotlight that revealed these guilty secrets, led to droves of charities and well meaning people flocking to Eastern Europe. They wanted to help in anyway they could. Some with truck loads of food, toys and clothing; others with hearts set on adopting or rescuing an orphan. More than twenty years on and you’d be forgiven for thinking these children’s institutions were a thing of the past. Well, you’d be wrong.

In Central and Eastern Europe today, the number of children living in institutions is the highest in the world. More than 1.3 million are separated from their parents and 626,000 live in institutional care. It’s actually inaccurate to call these buildings ‘orphanages’, because four out of five of their young inhabitants are not orphans. Nearly all have at least one living parent - unable to cope through poverty, disease and prejudice.

 

While most of these institutions bear little relation to the satanic mills of the Communist era, many still offer a bleak future for the children locked away inside them. Often they are children who cannot cry because they have given up hope of being comforted. Children whose only stimulation comes from rocking incessantly, or injuring themselves. In the worst cases, children whose bones have grown round the bars of their cot because they've never been picked up.

The physical, psychological and social consequences are devastating. Every 2.6 months spent in an institution before the age of three stunts a child’s growth by one month and significantly lowers their IQ levels - according to the Bucharest Early Intervention study. For those lucky enough to leave an institution in early adulthood, life chances are limited. After years following a structured routine, many struggle to deal with the simplest of situations - from handling money to holding a conversation. In fact, studies have shown that one in three children become homeless; one in five end up with a criminal record; and one in ten commit suicide.

During the past 17 years, the Salisbury-based charity Hope and Homes for Children has closed 54 institutions in seven countries. Along the way it has transformed the lives of thousands of vulnerable children. Wherever possible, it re-unites them with their birth-families, or places them with new loving foster or adoptive families in their own country. When this isn't possible, it gives them a new life in a purpose-built Small Family Home.  

 

It’s a world leader in the field of Deinstitutionalisation (DI) and its success comes from working with willing Governments. This year alone Hope and Homes for Children has helped to broker a groundbreaking agreement in Romania to close all its remaining children’s institutions by 2020. In Moldova it closed its third institution and in Bulgaria the Government is set to shut eight baby institutions following a successful pilot project - heralding the beginning of the end for the remaining 32 baby institutions in the country.

Relatively small, but bold: Hope and Homes for Children is changing entire cultures of harmful childcare throughout the continent – helping thousands of vulnerable children feel the love of a family along the way.

To find out more, visit www.hopeandhomes.org

In the garden, because it's still summer, honest!

  

Child's Gardening Broom GLTC £9.00







Order garden furniture from Hayes Garden World Child's Bench now £67.50

 

Trampoline from eToyzone, choose from an 8ft Trampoline, a 10ft Trampoline, a 12ft Trampoline or a 14ft Trampoline this one now £117.98

The Mini Mirco from John Lewis £54.95

The Maxi Micro from John Lewis £94.95

Be My Guest: Jai Breitnauer; Free Range Kids

Until I had my son Isaac (now aged 2), I didn’t think any kids lived on our street. It was so quiet.  The only time we saw our neighbours was when they got home from work or washed their car.

But when I brought home my bundle of joy in November 2008 half the street came out of the woodwork and admitted to having children under eight. So where were they?

Growing up in a new town in Essex in the 1980’s, I was rarely in the house. Our road was always jam-packed with children as young as three and as old as 16, cycling or playing tag.

We all knew each other, and our parents all talked to each other. As I grew older my boundaries grew wider; the end of the street, the main road.  By the time I was 10 the whole town was my oyster; my bike – my chariot - opening up the fields and river round the edge to me.

Skip forward 25 years, and unless you happen to be out in the street between 3.10pm and 4.45pm, you’d think we were living in the apocalyptic world of Children Of Men.

So when a friend invited me, Isaac, and his new little brother, Eli, to a ‘playing out’ day last week, I was quite excited. Walking down a street packed with laughing children and gossiping parents I felt elated – there was a real sense of fun and of community. Then I saw them... the cordons, the road signs, the high-visibility vests. It wasn’t the spontaneous outdoor play I remembered from my own childhood, it was an event organised by nostalgic adults.

Don’t get me wrong, the move by Bristol City Council to allow residents to apply more frequently for road closures for ‘playing events’ is a step in the right direction. But it is another stark reminder of how we ‘police’ childhood in the 21^st century. I believe we create 'safe' spaces for kids at their peril. We kettle them into fenced in parks and soft play, lulling ourselves and the public into a false sense of security.

When I drive into my road, it's not at five-miles-an-hour because I'm worried the lads on the corner might be playing jacks. I drive at the full 20mph, safe in the knowledge the only thing on the tarmac will be an agile cat. Yet when I was a kid, come 5pm, you'd hear a chorus of 'car' called up the street as the neighbours filtered home, driving slowly because they knew we'd be there. After all, we always were.

Over two decades we've become our own worst enemy, using safety as an excuse to erode the freedoms that made our own childhoods so special. Only by getting our kids back outside - without traffic diversions and marshals - will we change this cotton wool culture we've created. That’s what the new Free Range Kids campaign, launched by charity Sustrans is all about; giving the streets back to children so it becomes the norm again to play outside and ride a bike. I'd like my kids to play in a concrete jungle they own, creating games with their imagination from the limited resources available. By giving them everything, we've spoiled our kids into being subjective. These days, childhood is something that happens to you, when really, it should be something you create.

Jai Breitnauer is a freelance Journalist from Bristol and a resident blogger for Sustrans’ Free Range Kids campaign. Check out her blog www.twowheelsandatoddler.co.uk and visit www.sustrans.org.uk/freerangekids to support the campaign, download fun outdoor activities for kids and lots more.

Silent Sunday

Happy Weekend!

Last Minute Back To School



Go online at M&S for the best uniform



John Lewis Draw String bag £6.00



Animal Backpacks from GLTC from £17.00



Boden Girls Leather Boots £63



Boden Boys Chelsea Boots £48.00



Feel Good Kids juices from ASDA, Waitrose and other supermarkets £1.99 per pack of 4

For the teens...

North Face bag from John Lewis £40.00

Y3 Trainers from VanMildert £126.00

 

Custom trainers and shoes from MesFootWork. MesFootWork have an online shoe builder which lets you make and design your own trainers and shoes. These ones; £45.00

Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts from Repertoire Fashion £46.90

Make sure you stock up on ink cartridges. Viking Direct have a wide range of toner cartridges and HP, Epson, Lexmark and Canon ink cartridges. The Printer Box also sell Epson ink cartridges.

Do you think the school holidays are too long?

This debate has always been rumbling away; in staffrooms when, come September the children have 'fallen back' somewhat, some children considerably more than others, splaying the roomy gaps. Recently Michael Gove and co. have suggested 51 week years with 9 to 5 days. So what do we think?

Columnist Barbara Ellen expressed she thinks there might be something to be said for a slay on summer breaks, she wrote; "My child, I would fight a lion for you, but if you ask me to play another game of Connect 4, I may have to suffocate myself with Moon Sand." And on a more serious note she argues that long holidays can only serve to make the attainment of the poor fall, whereas those with parents with the time, money and ability to support them academically will suffer no such plunge.

Does she have a point? My gut reaction when it comes to any recommendation that our children should be apart from us even more is a firm and un-friendly "no". I won't go on about this for fear of comments remarking on "smugness" or even "wait until they're older and telling you to “f off”",  both valid of course, but for now I want to hold them tight, wrapped them up close - just us, our unit.

It's not about me though is it? It's about society at large and what would be best for it, or even, in  light of recent happenings, how to repair it. We can't say for those that want their children at home to paint with, walk with, care for, can and those who are raising future looters can't. But the summer holidays are part of our childhood - a beloved part that represents freedom, autonomy, exploration and importantly a rest from academia and the targets and pressures this increasingly inherently includes.

What of the 9 to 5 bit? Surprisingly, and never one to agree with Gove unless utterly necessary, I find myself more in agreement with this one. Not, of course, for my young darlings, not yet. Not until they’ve told me to “f off” at least once! But for secondary children, with oodles of homework, which some try to do in their own study area complete with reference books, a laptop and a parent at home with a PHD or two, willing to help once they’ve finished cooking the Omega-3 enhanced stir-fry. Others are sharing bedrooms with siblings and have parents who may be unable, uninterested or both. So perhaps for these children staying at school, having 3-5 for homework time could arguably prove beneficial.

What do you think?

Be My Guest; Kate Carre from B-eat

In today’s society messages about the ideal body shape are everywhere.  From magazines urging us to drop a dress size in time for the Summer, to healthy eating campaigns aiming to reduce childhood obesity, the messages are impossible to escape, for adults and children alike.  Research has shown that younger and younger children are being affected by body image issues.

In 2007, the leading Eating Disorders charity Beat (www.b-eat.co.uk) teamed up with GirlguidingUK to research the attitudes and beliefs of children under ten regarding their bodies.  The research showed how children as young as  five, when shown pictures of body outlines of various shapes and sizes and asked questions about the images, consistently said that the chubbier children were unhappy, had fewer friends, and ascribed negative personality traits to these children, as opposed to the thinner pictures.  They strongly associated slimmer bodies with happiness and popularity.  The full report can be seen at http://www.girlguiding.org.uk/pdf/GSO_Self.Esteem.pdf

Another experiment, conducted as part of Robert Winston’s popular television series, Child of Our Time, showed that when shown outlines of various body shapes, children most frequently identified themselves with a body larger than their actual size, showing a distorted body image to be prevalent even in this age group.  Interestingly, the more distorted the children’s perception of their size, the lower their self esteem as measured using psychological screening tools.

A recent US study found that over 80% of ten year olds had been on at least one diet.  At a more severe end of the scale, the average age of onset for a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa is now lower than ever (DoH, 2010).  Reports of children as young as five being admitted to specialist units for re-feeding have made the newspapers recently.  Levels of childhood obesity are now also at their highest ever.

So, how as parents do we ensure our children grow up with a healthy attitude towards food and their bodies?

1.       Be a good role model – avoid talking negatively about our bodies in front of our children. Avoid labelling food as good / bad, healthy / unhealthy.  Avoid talk such as “I’m so naughty for having that biscuit”. 

2.       Be aware of the messages our children receive from those around them, from the media and even from children’s stories (note how the fairy godmother is always beautiful and the wicked stepmother ugly).  Try to balance this with positive messages in stories and toys.

3.       Be aware of your own body image and the impact it can have on your children.  Studies have shown that parental (particularly maternal) body image is the most important predictor of body image satisfaction levels in their offspring (Social Issues Research Centre, 2008).  Be aware of how we teach our children to look at themselves – with a critical eye, or with a healthy perspective.

4.       Avoid focusing on children’s appearance when giving praise.  Instead of telling them how beautiful they are, praise their friendly nature, their kindness, their effort.  Likewise, avoid commenting on other people’s appearance, focus on their character instead.  Research has shown that being told how beautiful they are does not raise a child’s self esteem.  Rather, it gives them something unattainable to live up to, and leads them to believe they are valued for their appearance rather than for themselves.

5.       As children grow up, encourage open discussion about what we see in the media, how images are airbrushed, photographs doctored.  Encourage children to be critical about what they see and hear.  A great resource is Dove’s campaign for Real Beauty .

6.       Point out that bodies come in all shapes and sizes, just as we have different colour hair and skin, there is no one ideal that everyone should aim for.   Point out that concepts of beauty vary between cultures, over time, and between individuals.

The research conducted by B-eat and Girlguiding UK, however, did indicate that whilst a high proportion of children did report self consciousness around food and body shape, others hardly gave it a second thought.  The most important factor was shown to be positive reinforcement from family and friends, that they are valued as people independently of their appearance.  Specifically, the children who showed little concern about their appearance came from families who did not comment on their appearance, either positively or negatively.

So, as parents, it is clear that body image concerns are a prevalent problem and one that we need to be aware of – but the over-riding positive message is that we can help our children to see themselves positively and that we have an important role in mitigating social pressures.

www.b-eat.co.uk

More Poverty Can't Be The Answer

Silly little lefty liberal that I am, I was a little on the concerned side for these folk being made homeless, and I repeat HOMELESS, following the cut of certain benefits in the aftermath of the riots. It turns out I'd not thought of it like Mr Cameron had, he's made it all clear. Mr Cameron has said that they'll just have to find private housing; they'll have to buy or rent a house.

Why didn't I think of that? I mean, perhaps they could tap into those fit-to-burst ISA's of theirs. Perchance they will dip into the yacht-come-retirement fund or if all else fails sell that little gem of a Cotswold property they bought in the late nineties.

Is Mr Cameron really SO rich that he simply cannot imagine what poor might entail? That people on benefits might actually need them to live. He may certainly mix with those from both new and old money, but how accustomed is he with people with no money.

I have no sympathy for the rioters. I feel nauseous watching the images on the news of children and youths stealing and terrorising with smiles on their faces, destroying their communities without a respect for livelihoods or, more profoundly, life. Is making them homeless going to help? Will this mend our broken society having more people on the streets?

Be My Guest: Sue Ransom, author

I’m a working Mum, and I’ve found that my guilt about being absent from some of the daily routines has got worse as my kids have got older. They are now both teenagers and the support and guidance they need today is far harder to administer than the comfort I was able to offer when dealing with the more immediate problems of toddlers. With my daughter I’ve tried hard to keep the channels of communication open as she has got older, and as she approached her teens I started to read some of the novels which were clearly becoming her favourites so that I could appreciate what she liked. They were mostly vampire romance books, and although I was pleased that some of the language and concepts were going to challenge her, I was really disappointed that everything was set in the States and therefore many of the cultural references were completely alien. The more I read, the more I wanted her to have something that was all her own, and I realised that it was something that I could do for her in the limited free time I had. Instead of reading on the train every day as I commuted into London, I could write. I could write a book which was just for her, with her friends as characters, her school, her home, and it could re-enforce (in a subtle way) the values which we’ve been working, as parents, to instil in both our kids.

I started to plan a novel, checking with her on little details like her favourite boys’ names, and then tried to find a solution to the tricky business of providing a love interest who was utterly unobtainable.  I decided to write in the first person so that she could relate fully with the story, and I made the central character, Alex, the sort of girl who I expect my daughter could be when she reaches seventeen. The boy in the story had to be dangerous but I wasn’t keen on the usual bad guys of werewolves, vampires and zombies: I wanted something new and specific to our location, London, so I invented the Dirges.

I had never written any fiction before so was blissfully unaware of the all the potential pitfalls – I just wrote something which I felt would entertain her. The actual writing took me about six months; I found that I could manage about 600 to 1000 words a day writing on my BlackBerry during my commute and when it was finished I got two copies printed and bound as a birthday present for her. She was absolutely thrilled, and soon the copies were circulating around her class at school. They all loved the fact that it was set locally and featured places like Kew Gardens where they had actually been. Before long I was persuaded to seek advice about getting it published and a chance conversation led me to Kate Wilson, who had just left Headline (where she had been CEO). She so loved the book that she asked me to continue the story and commissioned the trilogy for her brand new company, Nosy Crow. Just fifteen months after I gave my daughter her birthday present the first copies of Small Blue Thing appeared in the shops.

My daughter has continued to be thrilled, even though the timelines for the second and third books have made family time even more precious. I am thrilled that the hobby I took up almost out of guilt has been so successful that one day I may be able to give up commuting into London and spend the time at home writing instead.

Be My Guest: Justina Perry – founder of MamaBabyBliss

Motherhood changed my life. I know plenty of women can say that, but for me it has touched so many aspects of my life,  not only in terms of who I am,  but what I do.

I gave birth fifteen years ago. After glowing and blooming through pregnancy, I gave birth and it felt like I had been hit by a truck, from the inside. Honestly, I had read the books, I’d been to the classes, yet nothing had prepared me for the exhaustion and pain that I felt in childbirth. Okay, it didn’t help that there wasn’t a midwife available and I only had my then-husband on hand, who was about as useful as a lumberjack giving a manicure. But that’s another story.

When I held my little Natasha in my arms, I wish I could say that everything changed but it didn’t. Breastfeeding was a struggle so I surrendered to the bottle after a few weeks (guilt number one), she cried A LOT (guilt number two), ricocheting hormones, sleep deprivation and post-natal depression meant that I cried A LOT as well (guilt number three). In short, I felt pretty rubbish and like the worst mother in the world.

Although I swore I wouldn’t have another baby, I did nine years later, with my second husband who also blessed me with two gorgeous young step-children. The birth, although not ideal, was better and the early months certainly were, as I didn’t have the same fear that my baby wasn’t going to survive the first few months in my incompetent hands.

But strange as it may sound, I am profoundly grateful for those first months of new motherhood because it has led me to where I am today.

After being made a redundant in 2006 after the birth of Alana, I decided that instead of returning to another high-flying executive job in advertising, it was time to fulfil my dream of setting up my own business.

I had never forgotten those early days of motherhood and wanted to do something to help mothers and babies. I re-trained in baby massage and baby yoga and began teaching my own classes. After working and chatting with many mums, I realised that actually my own experiences of early motherhood, were not that unique. Most women faced the same struggles and insecurities that I had. It was then that I decided to set up MamaBabyBliss, a company dedicated to nurturing and pampering mothers, babies and of course because motherhood begins in the womb, mothers-to-be. I began offering pregnancy and postnatal massage and trained in pregnancy yoga, all of which instantly took off.

But I still couldn’t be everywhere, so in the quest to nurture as many women as possible, which is still MamaBabyBliss mission today, our own luxury pampering skincare range was born. Made from only natural ingredients, the range was an instant hit and within months of launching, the range was stocked in over 30 retailers nationwide. With the recession, the retail sector began to suffer, so we decided to also focus on selling online - a decision we certainly have not regretted.

The company has gone from strength to strength. The products have won many awards, I have been featured in magazines and books, and after the success of my classes in North Hertfordshire, we launched the MamaBabyBliss Integrated Diploma in Baby Massage & Baby Yoga. Although the programme only launched in November last year, we already have 10 new teachers on board nationwide and are steadily growing.

But the accolades I am most proud of come from the hundreds of pregnant women and mothers who provide constant feedback that having that nurturing and support has made such a difference to their own experience of birth and motherhood. Throw in the giggles that I get from watching the babies flourish and I often feel like a multi-millionaire!

It’s an exciting time for us and we have lots of exciting developments over the coming few months including re-launching our products in their new packaging (looking for lots of mummy, baby and mummy-to-be testers to help!), exhibiting at the Baby Show at Earls Court and plenty of other activities that we can’t shout about yet but watch this space!

Like motherhood, I can’t pretend that running my own business doesn’t have its ups and downs but like motherhood the joy and laughter certainly outweigh the moments of anxiety. Hand on heart, I can also honestly say that I consider myself truly blessed that I do something that I truly love and knowing that we genuinely make a difference to a woman’s experience of birth and motherhood makes it more rewarding than I could have ever dreamt.

Breast-fed doll. So what?

There's been some fairly predictable 'outrage', 'shock' and 'uproar' propelled around the recent launch in America of Bebé Glotón, the doll that children can 'breastfeed'. Bebé comes with a special bib for the child to wear, two flowers that are to be the pretend nipples, and when the sensors in the doll's mouth come close to those in the bib, it makes suckling sounds and motions, mimicking those of a breast-fed babe.

The criticism seems to surround the issue of whether it sexualises children. Well that can be knocked on the head for a start because, of course, it doesn't. There is nothing sexy about breast-feeding. Whilst breasts being on the one hand objects of desire and the other for feeding offspring may cause confusion in the mind of a confused, over-charged adult - children hold no such perplexity.

Children learn through mimicking what they see. Acting it out, experimenting with it, repeating everything. As a teacher I'd spend ages turning the 'home-corner' into something else for a change; a Santa's grotto or a hairdressers. The following day the children would bound in and be ironing on the 'counter' - playing house no matter what you'd planned for.

All this obsession with reality has led the toy industry to design and develop dolls with all manner of functions. I deemed the Tiny Tears of my childhood pretty darn magic, but they had nothing on the poo-ing, whispering creatures you'll find today.

My only argument with this doll is that it's probably not needed. Children will mirror what they see whether they have the specific equipment to do so or not. How many parents have vowed their children won't have guns yet had children building extraordinarily complex weapons out of Lego or junk materials in their place?

Indeed my first thought was Charles. He's shown at least as much interest in dolls as Rosie has - how can he breastfeed? I thought, he's a boy. How silly, as if that matters! A child's imaginative play doesn't need to be backed by the vaguest truth never mind biological facts, their imagination doesn't hold constraints of dull reality. So, if there are dolls that come with bottles, which there are in abundance, sure there should be ones to be breastfed. But kids outsmart all the toy makers and do their own thing in the end anyway.

Be My Guest: Rob Lott from Calvert Trust

Tell us about your charity?

Calvert Trust Exmoor is an Outdoor Activity Centre, dedicated to enabling people with disabilities, and their families & friends, to achieve their potential through the challenge of outdoor adventure.

At Calvert Trust Exmoor, it's what you CAN do that counts. We make a huge difference to the lives of the disabled people that come here, They go forward with increased self esteem and more self confidence, determined to do what we all want to do - realise the full potential of our lives.

How and why did you get involved?

I had wanted a job doing ‘something worthwhile’ for a long time, at least 8 years, but had never really found the right one. Shortly after moving to North Devon 2 ½ years ago I heard about Calvert Trust Exmoor & got interested in what they do, then it was just a question of keeping an eye on the website (www.calvert-trust.org.uk/exmoor) until a suitable vacancy came up!

I am now Business Representative for Calvert Trust Exmoor, having joined in early march 2011, and in a nutshell it’s my job to tell people about us in any way I can think of!

What's the most important work you do?

I think that the most important thing Calvert Trust Exmoor does is changes people’s thinking, both that of the person with a disability, and also the family /friends /carers that they visit us with. People tend to leave here with a ‘can do’ approach that they didn’t have before, more willing to tackle the challenges that life throws at them.

Probably the most important thing that I do personally for Calvert Trust Exmoor is run our facebook page. A lot of disabled people can become quite isolated, especially if their disability makes it difficult to leave the house easily.

We are trying to use our facebook page to build an ‘online community’, with a shared interest in & experience of Calvert Trust Exmoor, doing our part in trying to reduce this isolation by linking our visitors together.

How can we help?

Well sending money is always good! But apart from that, supporting us by telling people about us, and sharing our website (www.calvert-trust.org.uk/exmoor), facebook page (www.facebook.com/ctexmoor) & twitter feed (www.twitter.com/calvertexmoor) would be great.