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The Most Fun You Can Have at Home

their own space, with the whole family helping.
How about all those daily or weekly chores that just have to get done? Involve the family in the weekly shop so that the drudgery turns into fun. Play “guess the price” as you’re drawing up a shopping list, and when you’re at the supermarket, delegate finding particular products to individuals.
For some reason, dads and kids love the visit to the local tip! So get them sorting all the rubbish that needs to go, with prizes for the fastest bagger-up, or for the cleanest and tidiest bedroom once the rubbish has been taken out!
Design a treasure hunt around the house and in the garden – even older kids love this, once they’ve had their chance to register a cynical sneer at the idea. You could also suggest turning the tables – so that they get to design the treasure hunt for their parents. Creates great hilarity and many crows of delight from the kids as you and their dad miss the obvious clues.
And once the family reverts to their usual individual activities of playing computer games, chatting to their friends on Facebook, or watching the big match on television, and you are free to relax…. How about indulging yourself with a spot of bingo with UK best online bingo site Jackpotjoy? It’s a great way to wind down and have fun, with the added plus of a chance to win cash prizes, and to connect with new friends in the chat rooms. After organising all that family fun you deserve to give yourself a treat

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Spring Clean your Children’s Wardrobe

taking place.

I have a list of items that the boys need for next season or even in the next size in the back of my diary and I keep an eye out in Charity shops or any other shops that are having a sale. I work on making sure that each boy has at least 10 pairs of underpants and 14 pairs of socks (school socks, boot socks, trainer socks and regular socks!).

Now the boys are both at school they need much less clothes that what they did as preschoolers. They have at least five of each of their school uniform (trouser, shirts, jumpers and three pairs shorts for the summer.

The only time that they really need lots of extra clothes are during the holidays. I only wash twice a week and Mini is certainly a muck monster. So he needs more clothes that Maxi.

Now is also the perfect time to keep an eye out for thermals for next year. Both the boys wear thermals during the winter and they wear under layers when playing football in the winter.

Also why not keep an eye on the charity shop for winter coats for later in the year, as many people will be doing a spring clean and sending their children’s outgrown clothes to the charity shop, making it the ideal time for you to stock up.

Ella at Purple Mum has recently done a great post on how many clothes a child needs. I have top admit that I am guilty of over buying for both the boys and this is something that I am going to tackle this year.

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What age is the right age to go to your first live concert?

MadDad and I are avid music fans. Both of us love live music and have been to countless concerts and festivals. All of these have been BC (before children) and we have been thinking about when is the best time to take a child to their first live concert. I am not talking about talking a baby or toddler to a festival, but going and sitting though a live music concert.

Both the boys have seen The Wiggles live, but I am not sure that compares to a live concert. For a start the volume is a lot lower, designed to protect children’s vulnerable ears when a show is specifically designed for them and also the concert venue is filled with other children, so you know that attendees will not mind other children possibly screaming or crying.

The boys were 5 and 6 when we took them to their first proper concert we took the boys to was Glee Live at the O2. However, we were lucky enough to be able to watch the show from a private box with food and refreshments, so they boys did not need to stay in their seats. This was a brilliant introduction to live music, as we had the CD’s so they knew all of the songs and happily sung and danced along. Concerts also tend to happen after the boys bedtime and Glee was no exception, but being in a private box they had room to fall asleep and we could carry them.

Considerations to make

How long is the concert? Can your child sit though that length of time
Remember to factoring the travel time either side of the concert. My friend Cass at Frugal Family went to an Olly Murs concert this week and they didn’t get out of the car park till 10ish and Master Frugal actually fell asleep during the concert.
Does the artist have a matinee. One Direction often so, as there target market is tweens and teens.
Is the band Child friendly – remember lyrics are not censored when live! Use your common sense.I know that Rihanna would not be appropriate for the boys, not only language wise, but mannerism and dress wise, Although you can click here for Rihanna tickets, as I know that she is great live!
Talk values. Explain that you love the music, but do wish that the band wouldn’t swear and that often the flamboyance is put on for the stage. Your child needs to be mature enough to understand the difference.
When you do go

Make sure you agree a meet up point in case you lose each other
Protect your child’s ears. You can not reverse hearing damage
Talk about what they can expect to see at a concert and how busy it will be.
Be prepared for obscenities and have a response ready for if your child questions the use of swear words.
Have fun and relax.

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Holidays are coming……

Did you realise that half term will be upon us in just over a week? Yes, it starts here next Friday and me and Maxi are hopefully going to be going on a trip together, but this means that Mini and MadDad are looking for last minute deals so they can make the most of their time together too.
We also have plans to take a couple of holidays over this coming year, as our holidays have been few and far between over the last couple of years.

We are going to be going on a short break over the Easter period and we have promised that Maxi can go and see a football Match at his beloved Reading. Which reminds me I need to arrange staying with Northern Mum and her brood for a couple of days so that we can arrange this.

The in November we are going on our main family holiday with my brother and his family to Florida – Eek!

Before we had children we often would go away for the weekend on the spur of the moment and that is where companies like Latedeals come in. They make it so easy to make a decision on where you want to go and when.

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How to encourage teeth brushing in children

The video comes on the back of research that Aquafresh conducted of 1,500 mums of children aged 2-12 that reveals that more than one million under-fives in the UK have at least two fillings, as mums struggle to get kids to brush their teeth. Other findings from the research are:

• One in six (17 per cent) mums say their child has at least 3 fillings

• 13 per cent of mums have children who have at least one filling by the time they start school (aged 3)

• Almost one in four (24 per cent) mums say their children only brush their teeth once a day and one in fifty say they don’t brush at all

• The research showed that almost half (47 per cent) of kids under 12 have been told they have dental decay, one of the most preventable diseases in the UK

• Over half of mothers (53 per cent) admit to finding getting their kids to brush their teeth stressful – potentially leading to arguments in over 2.5 million families

• One in fifty mums even admitted that their kids never brush their teeth.

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Autumn Clothing Inspiration and Care

I adore Autumn. I love bringing out my thick tights to wear under my skirts and dresses and long sleeved t-shirts to add as an extra layer under them.

Just because the weather has changed doesn’t mean that you need to put your childrens summer clothes away either, especially as most children will have grown out of them by the time the weather changes for them to be able to wear them again. It is all about layers. So I thought I would supply you with some hints and tips for making those clothes last over the colder seasons.

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Removing Red Wine Stains

OK So the irony isn’t lost on me. Posting a sponsored post about removing red wine stains the day after a fab Tots100 twitter chat on Children and Alcohol. but I can assure you it wasn’t me drinking the stuff. No MadDad was having a very rare glass after nearly getting stuck on Newcastle during the apocalyptic #toonfloods!
Now we have hard floors downstairs and I have never had to remove a red wine stain before, but I walked past him and spilled it on our rug. So it was time to hit google and get stain removal tips more specifically how to remove red wine stains

Initially it is important to mop it up and blot the carpet or rug with a paper towel or towel.

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sponsored video – Avivia want to see what you have done to make your home extraordinary ….

Aviva are currently running a competition to win £5000. They want to know what you have done to make your home extraordinary. Now I could never live up to the two old chaps in the video below (please do watch it as it melted my heart a little and will hopefully make you smile too

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