Parenting and family news, picked by parents

Parents blogging about their children have become a force to be reckoned with in global marketing More...

www.twobecomefour.com: Does anyone else have a thing for weird cuddly toys? More...

To show what a melt down is and how it differs from a tantrum More...

Despite much of my complaining, there are definite advantages to working out of the home all week. I change a pooey nappy on average once every two to three weeks, I’m not often the one deliberating over what to feed the kids and having to clean up afterwards, I don’t have to deal with many of the nap time battles. More...

How much television should you allow your child to watch? Is too little also a bad thing? More...

Do you swear in front of your children? Would you let them swear in front of you? More...

Having had a rather unsuccessful relationship with my first midwife, I went in search of another and, in the process, confirmed my wish for a home birth... More...

Cut pom pom lovebugs for Valentines Day More...

If you haven't come across Mila's Daydreams yet, then you're missing the cutest photographs. More...

Why do you display your childrens artwork? More...

My name’s Vic and I have a confession to make: I’m a bad blogger. More...

A list of the must-have items to survive the first year with twins. Also relevant for singleton newborns! More...

I’ve heard all concept of time is lost in the first few months of motherhood and am therefore relinquishing all pretence of chronology and succumbing to the pleasures of a malleable calendar. Time will be like Plasticine; join me as I twist my glance backwards and forwards, reflecting on how my own childhood will influence that of my newborn. More...

Don’t tell me what I can and what I can’t do! That is one of the things you need to learn about me… I can be as stubborn as can be… and as obstinate… I could just start this blog post from here and go ahead… it would bring me to my point anyway, but I fee you need to understand a bit of what I’ve been through to understand why I took the decisions I today, and WHY I took the first line of this post as a personal challenge. I supposed it all started early Sunday morning. More...

Help.... A week to organise a party after the party we planned has been ruined!!! More...

Whats in the box.... More...

Show us where your memories have been made.. More...

Gossip from the MADs Awards ceremony More...

Where did my cookbook obsession start.... More...

I am not a morning person. No, wait, I'll rephrase that. I am so not a morning person! I am a night owl. This is by virtue of the fact that, since the age of thirteen or so, I have been a chronic insomniac. Being up most of the night (I am typing this sitting in my pajamas, wide awake when I should be sweetly dreaming) doesn't really allow for a bright and happy morning!... More...

Most of you have heard of The MADs and if you haven't.. what rock have you been sitting under for the last few months? The MADs is the brainchild of Sally Whittle who blogs over at Who's The Mummy & Blogger.Ed. The MADs stands for Mummy & Daddy Bloggers and a awards ceremony was held last Monday evening at Butlins in Bognor Regis to celebrate the best in parent blogging. Unfortunately I wasn't there to pick up a award (next year will be my year!) but was invited along as a guest.... More...

Most of you have heard of The MADs and if you haven't.. what rock have you been sitting under for the last few months? The MADs is the brainchild of Sally Whittle who blogs over at Who's The Mummy & Blogger.Ed. The MADs stands for Mummy & Daddy Bloggers and a awards ceremony was held last Monday evening at Butlins in Bognor Regis to celebrate the best in parent blogging. Unfortunately I wasn't there to pick up a award (next year will be my year!) but was invited along as a guest... More...

Do you need to limit children;s screen time and how do you do it? More...

Yay! I've been selected to become a QuinnyCaster , I was so surprised to hear I had been chosen especially when I saw that they had been 3000 applications. What is a QuinnyCaster? Quinny came up with the great idea of selecting mums and dads involved in social media networking to become 'Quinny Casters' aka road testers with a twist. More...

Instead of blogging this weekend I thought I would use any spare time I had to read some blogs instead. My google reader has gone crazy from neglection and the thought of trying to sieve through it made me feel a little crazy. More...

Things that I am greatful for this week More...

It is not often I let Mini loose with the face paints, he turned me in to a witch! More...

I thought this was already the norm having tweets from Women in labour , I know I've seen a fair few tweets from my pregnant twitter friends from when there waters have gone right up to the moment they have to do the business and again tweeted when baby was born. More...

KiddieBase co-owner/director, Karen, recently took managing her work/life balance to a new level by delivering her baby literally hours after she and her business partner, Antonia, delivered their new shopping site www.kiddiebase.co.uk KiddieBase brings together the best of shopping for babies and children on the Internet. More...

Do you give your kids chores to do? I've just found a great site that do free downloadable chore charts and now I just need some ideas.... More...

A puppy? At 34 weeks pregnant? Really!? Are we totally bonkers... share your views. More...

Moving day however was one of the easiest parts of the whole house-buying process, which is surprising, given that I have a 15 month old. Here is how I got through it! More...

Would you buy presents for your children from Ebay.... How do you feel about used presents for your children.... More...

Visit Glowstars Reviews before midnight Saturday to find out how you can win a Playskool Explore N Grow Chase Me Critter More...

So what will this week bring? It seems to be that the word of the month has been fairness, although I fail to see what is fair about taking child benefit from families where one parent is in the higher tax bracket, especially is like us, I am not working. More...

The loss of my father never dulls and I still miss him even now More...

How do you handle the pressure of all the toy adverts on childrens TV? More...

Some great Halloween Craft ideas More...

I like a good fairytale story , you know the one where something bad happens to someone and then the hero comes to rescue them... More...

How do you encourage outdoor play when it's cold and rainy? Top tips and a plea for more ideas. More...

Fairy cakes, halloween and one small boy. More...

I'm not sure who was more excited about the Fisher Price play party that we were invited too, I was excited about seeing some blogging friends and finding out all about Fisher Price , Daddy was excited about meeting Tamzin Outhwaite and Oli was naturally excited about the toys. We went along to The Baby Show in Earls Court, London which Fisher Price sponsor and run the creche. More...

This is most definitely not the sponsored post you think it is. More...

It’s getting to that time of year where my colleagues start to talk about their winter holidays. Some are heading off for winter sun and I don’t blame them. Others are off in search of snow. There’s something about a snowy winter scene that, despite the cold, is strangely enticing. More...

Earlier in the week I wrote about the Next Baby Boutique Model Competition. I’d been in touch with Next’s PR company a few weeks previously about the possibility of writing a post promoting the competition. I hadn’t gotten around to writing the post, however one rep had seen the post I wrote earlier this week. They’ve kindly sent me an update on issues arising from the competition which I would like to share with you. More...

In those first few weeks after Li'l Mister was born I was so impatient. I'd spent nine months nurturing, growing him, and now I'd gone past the point of staring at him in amazement for hours on end I wanted him to do something. All he did back then was eat, sleep and poo. More...

who knew that decorating a little girl's room could be so much fun? More...

Child benefit cuts, capping housing benefit. I'm talking about both here. More...

A life no less ordinary. What a stay at home mom really does! More...

Dear So and So... is back and man have I got some things to get off of my chest! More...

I have two twitter accounts. My private one and my @simply_Hayley one. My @simply_hayley account has been going for 1 year, 3 months, 3 weeks, 11 hours, 56 minutes, 43 seconds. More...

You know you're a Mother when... You find kids DVDS amongst your sex in the city and other chick flicks..... More...

I have a confession to make: I’m not giving TB some of the review toys that have been sent for him. More specifically, I’m not giving him the Lego ones. More...

(Or why I won’t be ‘buying’ a poppy) Go on, shoot me now. I won’t be ‘buying’ a poppy this year. But wait! Before you pull the trigger, let me explain why. More...

Why are childrens toys so gender specific? And am I wrong in trying to ensure my daughter is not stereotyped into playing with dolls? More...

You may have seen the news the past few days about a certain book retailing at Amazon. I've blogged my thoughts on the situation. More...

Blog from the Madhouse! More...

Interview with leading parent blogger, Erica Douglas, and her journey from mummy blogger to mumpreneur! More...

Was it becoming a Mother that put me in touch of my sensitive side? Or was it those estranged pregnancy hormones that came and stayed and have never gone? More...

Last night as we were just drifting off to sleep we heard this noise, my first thoughts were that it was just someone walking past the house and talking rather loudly. Then the sound started to sound like a cat being strangled... More...

I've found a sponsor for Cybermummy. For a little bit of fun try and guess who it is. More...

Another review as part of the Toyologist programme. More...

It's what it says on the tin. I'm giving away a set of girls' snazaroo face paints. More...

Last week I went on a first aid course with St John’s Ambulance. If you were around that far back, you may remember I’ve done one before. This was technically supposed to be a refresher but as my current employer uses a different training provider to the one who put me through the course first time around, I had to go for the longer version. Still, it meant three days of only having to commute as far as Guildford and so leaving home later and getting home earlier. Win-win! More...

Ice cream made from Snow! More...

Make a free Santa video for your children. More...

Free Santa letters for your kids More...

All my organised mum tips in one post... More...

I think I've been a very good girl this year so it only feels right to send you my Christmas list with what I like this year. I've never really been one for presents, I'm all for the whole Christmas spirit and the excitement that this time of the year brings more then anything. More...

That's the golden question which is being chucked around like brandy on a Christmas pudding. Are you ready for Christmas? Are you actually ready for the 25th? The BIG day? More...

I have the perfect Christmas feast for you which contains four courses which consist of some fantastic Christmas themed blog posts from lots of other bloggers. Go grab a mince pie, glass of brandy (or whatever your poison may be) and have a read! :) More...

Why not make home made snow globes.... More...

Christmas Eve isn't Christmas Eve if you don't have Reindeer Dust.... It's easy, cheap and fun to make your own. More...

Snowman soup is fantastic - Just what you need to put you in the festive spirit. It's great to give as gifts aswell.... More...

Make a stained glass window with quality street wrappers More...

Catch up with what we got up to over Christmas.... More...

It started when I saw a post from Sally over on the Blogger.Ed Forum asking if any Mummy Bloggers were interested in running the London Marathon. It's always been a kinda dream of mine to run this marathon ever since I won my first race at primary school and this dream carried on when I ran and held the school record at secondary school for both the 800m and 1500m, which was still in place when my younger brother entered secondary school. More...

Lots of Twitter Tips.... More...

Come on a tour of my house before my New Year Makeover starts.... More...

Funny Conversations.... More...

Flying Start Parenting magazine for pregnancy, birth, parenting, early years learning & development More...

What are your thoughts on allowing kids to play with toy weapons? More...

A review of the Morphy Richards Comfigrip Eco Steam Iron. More...

An update following my progress on the Thinking Slimmer 'Drop Two Dress Sizes or More' plan. More...

It's been a year since Li'l Mister was born... More...

Another embarrassing moment in the Frugal Family More...

Most of you have probably never seen me in a skirt, let alone a dress. You might have seen the photos but they’re vague proof and certainly only show that it happens on special occasions. And that was the case. More...

I’m not really one for gushy posts about C. I’m proud of her milestones as every parent is but I (hopefully) don’t really go on about it. I’m going to make a bit of an exception today though, it’s my blog after all. More...

Find out what made me shed a tear ;-) More...

Do you ever just sit and think about how the world must look through their eyes? What the world must seem like to them? I sat and watched Oli this morning as he played and interacted with not only his toys but the world around him... More...

This guest post is a real mixed bag! Despite the title it is a heartwarming, sympathy-invoking, and giggle-starting post! Diane tells of the antics of her daughter in a candid yet refreshing way. Please leave Diane a comment if you get the chance to have a read through. More...

This guest post is a real mixed bag! Despite the title it is a heartwarming, sympathy-invoking, and giggle-starting post! Diane tells of the antics of her daughter in a candid yet refreshing way. Please leave Diane a comment if you get the chance to have a read through. More...

I've finally found my first shabby chic makeover project and I love it - Come and have a look.... More...

Everyone has lots of special things in their house, come and see mine.... More...

How do you teach your kids about the value of money? More...

How do you use your local library? Do you think we'll start to see them disappear? More...

How do you balance twitter and tweeting with looking after your kids? More...

Embarassing.... but very funny More...

Top Tips More...

How to opt out of Facebook's facial recognition technology More...

Domestic chaos.... More...

When cleaning a bike goes wrong..... More...

Advice needed.... More...

Some advice needed her I think ;-) More...

Celebrating Gingerness ;-D More...

Cheap and easy gifts to make with the kids More...

Why is it that the start of a new year can bring about motivation for just about anything. The thought of the year changing making new years resolutions or just the hope that 2012 will bring more than 2011 did. More...

Let’s set the scene: Your husband has invited you to a work do and you will be meeting his clients and some of his new work colleagues, so you slip on some hold-you-in undies, dust the cobwebs off your most flattering ‘going out’ ensemble, add a touch of lippie and mascara and you’re set. More...

Great booked jam packed with 150 pages of fun and frugal activities to make these Summer Holidays the most fun yet! More...