minimads | Mum In The Madhouse

2026 Colouring Calendar!

Subscribe and receive our 2026 Kids Colouring Calendar for Free
Get the 13 Page Calendar by subscribing below.

Subscribe Now

minimads

Dealing with Eczema in the Winter

23 Comments / health, Winter, Winter / By

Both of my boys have eczema, different types and in different parts of their bodies, but it is something that breaks my heart. Baby’s are supposed to have smooth, delectable, heavenly soft skin and Maxi certainly didn’t and often doesn’t. He suffers the most out of the two boys and when he is having a flare up we have to wrap his body oin cling film to help the medication and to also help prevent him ripping his skin to shreds.

Over the years I have tried everything and anything on his skin and after six years are finally settling on a routine and products that work for us. Intially we were pushed down the oilatum and Diprobase route by our GP, but I have issues with SLS and SLA’s they make my skin red raw and the palms of my hands when using these products with him were red, sore and itchy. So we moved on to products with no parabens and no SLA’s in, which has made a vast difference.

Dealing with Eczema in the Winter Read More »

Noise with Muck on…coping with cleaning boys clothes and eczema

4 Comments / mini mads / By

I have commented that Mini is known in this house as “noise with muck on”. He stays clean for all of 5 minutes and his clothes take the brunt of his lifestyle. I expected this as a mum of boys, however, I also have to contend with Eczema which for me rules out using harsh chemicals when cleaning the boys clothes.

Maxi is my main suffer but both boys have periods of really sore and itchy skin, so I was delighted to be able to try out the new Ecover Zero products.

Noise with Muck on…coping with cleaning boys clothes and eczema Read More »

Our Experience on the Polar Express | Magical Train Ride Adventure

3 Comments / Christmas / By

We are working with PayPal this Christmas on their Magical Christmas Moment #PayPalMoments campaign.  It is an ace competition where they are giving people the chance to win some great prizes (find out more on the PayPal Facebook Page). They challenged me to shop for Christmas using PayPal and then share with you our Magical Moments that

Our Experience on the Polar Express | Magical Train Ride Adventure Read More »

Half term week

4 Comments / mini mads / By

Teaching the boys hangman
The log flume at Thorpe Park
Making the most of the sun – Maxi
Sunshine means water – Mini
The men in my life in the Crash Pad at Thorpe Park
Cakes by the minimads
Washing machine flooded our kitchen (insurance assessor coming on Thursday)
An adventure playground to ourselves on inset day
My monkey
What you don’t see is that it was Maxi’s first week at Cub camp, he learned to canoe, BBQ, make a wooden catapult gun, planted seeds, made a cresshead, walked a lot and went to a theme park. He had the best time ever. Mini and I missed him a lot, but we made the most of our time with reading, playing, football, baking and one to one time. Oh and not being woken by Maxi the early riser at 5.30 am!

Half term week Read More »

Team Skylanders Review: A Deep Dive into the World of Skylanders

2 Comments / mini mads / By

The good points:

The boys do not fight when playing Skylanders together. Although there is a lot of “battling” in the game, this does not creep out in to real life like it can in some games with the boys.
It is a pretty social game. They can share their figures with friends that also have Skylanders, even if they use a different games platform as the figures are universal.
Maxi loves the Mini games.
Even if you do not have extra figures you can still play a lot of the game.
No more worries about what birthday present to buy as it seems all the children play Skylanders, so a character is a great present.
The not so good points:

It can be hard for an adult to get their head around. I initially thought that we had to but the other 48 figures to be able to play all the game.
It is complicated getting to know which element each figure belongs too (for adults)
It could get expensive if you gave in to pester power

Team Skylanders Review: A Deep Dive into the World of Skylanders Read More »