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Having a baby requires months of planning, from buying new clothes, choosing the nursery furniture and not least of all, choosing a name. Check out this infographic charting the most popular boys’ and girls’ names in England and Wales, compared to the most popular Windsor family names.
When we are on long journeys I do let my boys take their Nintendo 3DS and we take IPads, but they are often kept until we have exhausted all my other games and ideas.
So how do you keep your children entertained and occupied on car journeys? I would love to know your ideas and what your favorite in car games are. Please do leave me a comment and let me know.
10 Ways to keep children entertained on long car journeys Read More »
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Once you have thought about which childhood holiday was most memorable to you, all you need to do is write and post on your blog a short description and conclude the entry with the end line “Competition sponsored by Butlins Holiday Parks, helping your family make memories.” Then email us at blogcomp@butlins.com with link to your blog entry to let them know!
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Postcard from Butlins Bognor: Day One of Our Family Holiday Read More »
This holiday has been booked since just after my Mum died and we have been looking forward to the trip for a long time. My Brother and family are self employed and that is why we are travelling at this particular time of the year and I am aware that it could have an impact on my seven and eight year olds school work, but…………
For the last two weeks they have not really done any significant learning at school, in fact for this week they have watched more DVD’s at school that they have at home in about a year. I am not going to justify me taking them out of school by saying they will learn as much with me as at school, however, I will say that it should be my choice as a parent to make this decision.
We are sensible enough to make our own decision and I am disappointed that this is being taken away from me. There has been a lot of noise made about the Lunch box issues this week, but no one has shouted about the fact that the law has changed and that from September Headteacher will not be able to grant time off for holidays.
Currently headteachers are allowed to grant leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday during term time in “special circumstances” of up to ten school days leave per year. Headteachers can also grant extended leave for more than ten school days in exceptional circumstances. However, Amendments to the 2006 regulations remove references to family holiday and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days come into force in September.
Not only are the government taking this out of our hands, but also out of the hands of the school. Yet another example of the government invading my home and my choices.
I wonder if this applies to private schools too? or maybe that would be a bit like a bear pooing in its own backyard.
I am going to moan about schools and term time holidays Read More »
Las Vegas is a place that we usually associate with gambling and casinos, but there is far more to the place than that. Casinos are very important but you can also enjoy a family holiday there which doesn’t involve Mum staying with the kids while dad plays slots in Caesars Palace. Here are a few things for families to do.
Hire a car and take a trip to Death Valley. In many ways it is one of the most exciting places on the planet and the kids will just love it. Just driving across the Mojave Desert is a thrill of a lifetime, and visiting the valley is an unforgettable experience. Badwater Basin is 86 meters below sea level and Furnace Creek has the record for being the hottest place on earth. You will see some amazing sites and make sure that you visit Zabriskie Point and view the Badland Formations; truly amazing.
Keep that car and take another trip, this time to the Grand Canyon. This is one of the world’s natural wonders and another very remarkable and unforgettable destination. The canyon is 277 miles long and up to a mile deep and 18 miles wide. This beautiful and unique place is home to many Native Americans whose tribes have lived there for thousands of years. You can take an aeroplane or helicopter trip into the depths of the canyon too for some unparalleled views.
Another fascinating place to visit is the Hoover dam, but the kids might appreciate its reservoir Lake Mead a little more. Boating on Lake Mead is very popular ad are swimming, water skiing and fishing. The lake is huge, up to 112 miles long, and there are numerous beaches, marinas and resorts.
Secondly, children this age DO NOT NEED mobile phones. Both my boys play outside, however, initially we used walkie talkies to keep in contact. Now they can both tell the time they have a watch and come back at a specific time. It is their responsibility to do as I tell them too. If they go to play at anyone’s house or or activity such as cubs or football I make sure I have the contact numbers of a responsible adult. I am their parent, so I make sure I look after them the best I can. I do not put that responsibility on them at four or even at nine. I do not feel that at four my children would have known when to call 999 and feel that it is unreasonable to give them access to the emergency services.
This is without bringing in to the debate concerns about the long term health effects of mobile phones or the fact that a first phone introduces them to technology far too early and that there are studies out there that prove that screens have an impact on our ability to sleep.
Children are bombarded with technology from such a young age and I want my children to stay children for as long as possible. I want them to feel as though they can go play on their bike without worrying that they are carrying a phone with them that could make them a target for mugging. What if they lose it. This particular phone costs a minimum of £50, yes £50. It is a lot of money to make them responsible for. I also feel that it is just another way to make money out of children and their parents.
I survived as a child and a teenager without a mobile phone. I appreciate things change and I am not against phones for teenager, but I do not want to expose my children to them at this age.
If you are worried about losing your children in places such as LEGOLAND or on days out I was sent some fantastic temporary tattoos with our mobile phone number on for the boys. I have taught them to look out for a person in a uniform or a mum with children and to tell them that they have lost us and could they call us on the number on the boys tattoos. Much cheaper than the £50 for the phone and it also meant that we had the stranger danger conversation too.
All of the above is enough for me without bring the following shocking statistics in to things:
According to the Cyberbullying Research Center (CRC), 25 percent of kids have been harassed or bullied with mobile calls or texts.
Only about half of the students who are cyberbullied tell their parents, also according to the CRC.
15 percent of kids have received a sexting message from someone they know.
60 percent of kids have sent texts during classroom hours.
I do not want to normalise or introduce my children to mobile phones at an early age. Where do you draw the line. I do not want my children to start taking a mobile phone to school or even preschool as that is the age this phone is targeted at. In fact I feel that giving a nine year old child a phone like this would actually make him a target for bullying. When I showed it to Maxi, who had seen it on CBBC Newsround, he said that his friends would laugh at him.
