Toilet Breaks won't Break a Child

Some UK schools are restricting the use of toilets both in lesson and break time.

When I was at school you raised your hand and asked to go, the teacher said yes, you went, you came back. End of story. And there were breaks between classes too, so you could nip in then. I never saw any problem with this. It all worked fine.

I assume schools in their ongoing battle to subdue teach children have decided some children are abusing the privilege right to go to the toilet when they need to. As we all know, children are terrible at knowing when they need to go, and hopeless at planning, even as teenagers; and of course when children start menstruating that can strike at any time! Nothing worse than feeling that sudden trickle of blood and knowing you need the loo trip NOW!

My opinion, and what's the point of being an old woman online if you can't have opinions! Is that children should be allowed to go to the toilet when they damn well please. Will the entire class rush out to the loo at once? maybe; and here I shrug, because teachers...this is on you. It's your job to keep the class entertained and engaged enough to learn. 

Children should want to be in your class, they should excitedly hope you are going to do that fun thing you do, tell a joke like you do, have a pop test with prizes, ask a class member to stand up and teach for five minutes, whatever your class loves you should be using to entrance them. Children should be hoping they don't need the loo in your class because your class is great! And headteachers should be supporting you in that, with time, with resources, and with faith in your teaching. And the government should be supporting all of that too!

Stop worrying about toilets. Start thinking about teaching so no one wants to miss it.

School Uniforms - Love them or hate them?

You must have been living in a dream if you have failed to notice that a) it's the start of a new school year and b) school uniforms (and the inability of parents to stick to it) have been in the news.

DD is now 16 and has left school. After years too numerous to count in which she just got up, put on school uniform and went to school, she is starting college. No uniform, and as far as we are aware not even a dress code! I blogged earlier in the year about how we went out to buy some clothes. And it may surprise you to know (or it may not) that I spent as much on 'some new clothes for college' as I ever did on school uniform at the start of term, in fact due to the uniform remaining the same, I was only ever replacing worn out or outgrown clothes, not 'this old thing that is no longer fashionable and any way I've worn it loads and everyone has seen it and I'm bored of it' so I suspect I'll be spending more from now on (actually not as DD is taking responsibility for her finances from now - but that's another post!)

So here is my list of reasons why I love school uniform. 

And before we meander down the 'but freedom of expression!' 'Personality!' 'Individuality!' my daughter is only at school (now college)  7 hours a day, and all the rest of the day, and at weekends, she can wear what she likes, be as individual as she likes, have a unique personality...

So I love school uniform because:

• It's easy. You know what to buy. They know what to wear. No arguments. It just is.
• Cost. You have to buy something, I've found uniform no more expensive than 'normal' clothes, and while you still need 'weekend clothes', you don't need as much as you do when you are wearing 'weekend clothes' all week!
• Speed of getting ready. Maybe it's a girl thing (!) but as DD got older, what to wear became a huge deal, for school it's nice to have no debate, no "I've worn this already" or "oh Jane hates me in that" or " but I said I'd wear the blue! Everyone is wearing blue today!" (see also Mean Girls, on Wednesday we wear pink)
• Differentiation of work and play. Some people may argue that school shouldn't feel like work but the reality is that it is and it does. Personally I don't mind that - I work and I'd rather not, it's life. It's nice to feel like you've left work behind and it's your time when you get home and take off a uniform.
• Durability - school uniform is practical, it's rarely built for trendy fashion, it's tough, hard wearing and stain resistant. Minimal ironing (I say minimal - I mean 'no') easy wash, quick dry.
• Every one looks the same. Rich or poor you are there in the same kit. Yes I know there is shabby uniform and posher branded blouses but on the whole you all look the same as everyone else. No bullying based on clothing (obviously there is bullying based on something else, but fashion isn't in the list)
• Responsibility - It's never too young to learn some responsibility to yourself. Knowing where your uniform is, looking after it, making sure to get it washed and ready for Monday. No 'oh I'll just wear this then' , you need to be responsible.
• Learning to obey rules - now I know loads of people will rail against this but the world doesn't work without rules. Where to drive, tax to pay, bin days, recycling, plenty of jobs have a dress code, or even a uniform, health workers must dress a certain way and be clean, police dress to be identified, as do other civil servants etc. Some rules are worth following and if you feel your school uniform is really terrible, form a pupil group at school and try and change it! 
• Identification. Uniform can be a simple way to see who is a child at your school. As a teacher supervising a day out uniform can be a simple way to keep an eye on everyone (I used to love the Brownie uniform on days out when I was a helper there for this reason) in a sea of T shirts and jeans, (and other school uniforms form other schools) your school uniform can identify you.

And no, school uniform doesn't help you learn better, but it doesn't stop you learning either, and denim shorts don't help you learn better either.

Feel free to disagree (or agree!) with me on Twitter or Facebook

For the record, DD liked wearing her school uniform. (Look at that lovely hat!!)

Your school uniform opinion #poll

— Tattooed Mummy (@tattooed_mummy) September 7, 2016

SATs and why I (almost) like them

A blog post today as a follow on from something my daughter said on the morning of the SATs and the subsequent twitter chat on the subject.

SATs are compulsory national tests for primary school pupils. Children in England are required to take Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) at the age of 11 (school year 6). SATs were first introduced in 1991 for Key Stage 1 (KS1)
SATs are given at the end of year 2, year 6 and year 9. They are used to show your child's progress compared with other children born in the same month.

It won't have escaped your attention that some parents kept their children away from school for the day (risking fines) as a protest.

My daughter is 16 and currently revising for her GCSEs. She was surprised at the kerfuffle, and stated that while she didn't love tests or exams, starting them early, including 'big' tests' has helped to prepare her for the ones she now faces and she thinks that starting testing early is good as it starts to make tests common place and takes away the fear often associated with them.
She went on to say, that in her opinion, it is the adults making a fuss about the tests (and she included teachers, parents, and I suspect, the media, in this 'adult' group) that is the real problem, not the tests themselves, which she said she didn't really even notice when she had the first ones at age 6 and was OK with at age 11 as the teachers didn't make a big deal about it.

I've always held by the belief that tests are a useful gauge of how teaching is going, and can pick up on children that are falling behind, or leaping ahead of their peers, it can help to stream classes and that can be a good thing. But I also don't think that testing children more and more will improve teaching.

Improving teaching is based on lots of things, mainly the teachers themselves, and the curriculum they are given. I think a wider curriculum is better as it is more likely to capture childrens' imaginations. (currently I think teachers feel compelled to teach to do well at exams)

So, I was interested that a child that has recently done the tests was in favour of them, though many adults are telling me they have changed since she took them. And that opens up a whole new can of worms about changing the ways schools, teaching and exams happen; I firmly believe that constant change is a bad thing. Changing in education has become a thing that politicians seem to do now for the sake of it. We really need to look at why we are schooling children. To make good workers? To improve their minds? To help them think? And then look at the best way to achieve that goal and stick to it (sorry I have rambled off of the point)

My own view is that testing is needed. It should start early with the emphasis being that it is the teaching being tested and the children should not even be told it's happening to begin with. (am I the only parent that remembers the 'school inspectors' of the 70s visiting the school and sitting in the back of class making notes, and on the day before the visit the teachers begging us to behave?) But constant testing won't improve teaching or learning, so let's let teachers get on with that too.

If you fancy telling me what YOU think, pop over to Facebook where I have a page that would love your thoughts, or tweet me.
Thanks for reading.


"Mummy is a Gadget Geek" also wrote on this subject here

and you can try your luck at a mini SATs here (I scored 6/10)

School Uniform Rules

As usual when a new academic year starts the news picks up on the children that have been sent home due to school uniform infringement.

For my American (and other foreign land) readers, it should be noted that almost all British schools whether government run or private (and we call some of these private schools ‘public schools’ because they are not government run, but run by the public see here for more info) have uniforms. School uniforms in Britain range from the simple “grey skirt or trousers, white blouse, grey jumper or cardigan” type uniform, to the extremely strict style where each item is described in detail, styles of skirt and trouser are defined, jumpers or blazers may need embroidering with the school logo, blouses may even have sleeve length and collar types regulated, this strict type of school will probably also demand a certain colour and type of shoe (most schools state no trainers) and will have rules on other aspects of appearance such as makeup, jewellery and hairstyle.

when DD was smaller, at middle school

Parents seem to fall into several camps, the “they are the rules, lets either change them if we dislike them or stick to them” type (that’s me) , the “children should be allowed self expression, uniform is ok but hair and piercings are their own business” type, the “if I can afford it fine, if not you’ll just have to lump it, it’s mostly uniform and that’s fine by me” type, and the “you’re lucky I get them to school frankly, so shut up about looks and just teach” type.

DDs school is especially strict, even to the shop it has to be bought in (fairly sure that’s actually illegal but they ensure that the description of the uniform is so tight it can’t be bought elsewhere). The uniform however is really nice. The girls all seem to like it and I’ve not seem many infringements over the years, just the occasional rebellious wearing of the incorrect colour socks!

When I read some comments online about the news stories, and even personal stories, of children sent home, excluded from lessons or sent to detention for wearing incorrect uniform or flouting a hair colour rule I was not going to bother to get involved, after all it happens every year and every year it sorts itself by mid term. Then I read a piece by Quirky Kook about skirt length and commented, and realised I did need to shoot my mouth off blog about uniforms ..

As I have a teen I was mostly interested in that age group, after all, before then, you are very reliant on what your parents buy and choose, as you get older you tend to be able to take more responsibility for your own looks. Today I discussed it with DD. Surprisingly (or maybe not, she is a mini me) despite being a teen she likes the uniform and the rules. She has little patience with rule breakers. (they apparently once had a girl that had to wear a brunette wig to school to cover her blue and green hair; an interesting compromise) and DD likes the fact that at her school the rules relax as you get older, the upper years are allowed makeup and nail varnish. When I asked what she thought about kids being sent home she agreed it was silly but thinks it’s better if done now, early in the term, to make the point. But she also told me that at her school the office has pre-loved (haha) school uniforms, washed and repaired by the PTA, ready and waiting for girls that claim “I don’t have the right jumper/blouse/skirt” etc – they have new pairs of cheap correctly coloured socks too! What an eminently sensible idea, not least because for the average rebel the thought of wearing second hand kit is worse than conforming to begin with! As far as DD is concerned there is plenty of time out of school to wear her new “School Sucks” logo T shirt!

DD models her school uniform...yes they have a hat

I think if you are going to send your child to a school with a uniform policy (and no law says you must send your child to school of course) then you should be prepared to follow the rules (or maybe join the PTA or governors and try to change them if you really hate them). To me uniforms help to create cohesion in the school, can prevent some forms of bullying, make it simpler each morning for parents to get children ready, look smart and prepare children for a world that (whether you like it or not) has rules that need to be followed, including many jobs where a dress code is enforced.

How do you feel about school uniform rules? If you don’t like them have you tried to change them? Do you stick to the rules or does your child bend them?

Fifty Shades of terrible judgement - a world book day post

It’s world book day so you send your 11 year old off to school as Christian Grey from the 50 Shades saga.

Is this inappropriate? Yes.
Is this offensive? again, to many people, Yes.
Is it sensible? No.
Is it funny? Maybe to some.
Is it a publicity stunt? Maybe
Was the school right to send him home? Absolutely

I was horrified to see a child dressed as the lead in a soft porn book which deals with all aspects of sexual control and some pretty extreme sexual activity. The mother’s arguments in favour seemed to mainly consist of:

1) It’s a book,
2) It was his idea
3) It’s just a bit of fun
4) It wasn’t meant to be offensive and there are worse characters
And lastly 5).Everyone has heard of the book.

Hmmm I think that at the very least your child should have read, or have had read to them, the book in which their character appears. Of course this young boy has not read this book or had it read to him,nor has he seen the film, of course he hasn’t it is a book for adults. So on this point alone I think the idea was wrong.

As to ‘it was his idea’ I’m not sure I can argue as I wasn’t there – but I suspect that either it wasn’t or that he was egged on after suggesting it, if my own child suggests something inappropriate we discuss why it is not a good idea, we talk about it and I, as the adult have the veto.

Just a bit of fun? For whom I wonder. For him? Hardly as he was excluded form school and mocked online. For his mother? Maybe, she is an internet celebrity for the next few days, though notorious rather than famous. Probably not a ‘bit of fun’ for any girls at his school if he had any inkling at all of how to act out his character…what did he imagine the cable ties where for? Tidying the space at the back of her PC ? This might have been funny at a family party, but at school? (actually I'm struggling to see it as funny anywhere)

Copyright: / 123RF Stock Photo

It wasn’t meant to be offensive, maybe not – but unless his mother lives under a rock she would know that a great many people found the books and film extremely offensive, or at the very least controversial.
Dressing as a character that sparks debate is great if you fully know the book and the character, that is after all what world book day is about! Sparking debate and allowing children to share their favourite books and their knowledge of characters with their friends. But dressing as a controversial character for the sake of ‘a laugh’ I’m not sure I see the point.
Worse characters? Well yes I suppose there are, the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood eating up a grandmother, the villainous thief and murderer Jack in Jack and the beanstalk,  even the ugly sisters in Cinderella who bully and abuse their stepsister could count, but these are children’s stories for children. Stories that children can read and discuss, they can make up their own minds as to the worth of the character and learn because of them. In the case of Mr Grey, in a book the boy has not read he is merely a person..nothing more nothing less and as such is at worst offensive and at best pointless.

And everyone had heard of the book. Of course we have, due to the movie and massive media attention. Most of us are fed up to the back teeth with it if we are honest – surely even those people that actually liked the books are bored of them by now. But of course here I am along with all the news outlets talking about it, again. So maybe that’s the real reason her son went to school as a sexual control freak. To be in the news. My opinion is that the costume was tasteless, pointless, inappropriate and attention seeking.

What do you think? Was the costume funny or offensive? And was the school right to send him home?

Well would you look at this!

Ladles and JellySpoons,

I come before you, to stand behind you, to tell you something I know nothing about... (I blogged about silly rhymes here)

This silly introduction seemed apt. I am about to alert you to a product that I have not tried! Have not seen in the flesh and haven't tested!

BUT details of it were emailed to me and I'll be honest I think it looks good!  It's not cheap, but it's on offer at the moment.

'What is this awesome thing?' I hear you mutter - well it is a lunch carrier. Not a box and yet not really a bag. Insulated and also doubles as a place mat when opened up and once empty squashes up into a small flat space in your bag. All of those things appealed to me! Oh and it's machine washable! Hooray - not more trying to wipe out crumbs, or rinsing stuff in the sink.

DD being a teen doesn't want some 'naff' lunch box all plastic and character themed, and while for some time she had a solid box, its lack of insulation was a problem. We bought a plain squishy insulated 'bag' type but it has a 'wipe clean' interior, the corners get full of crumbs and it's just a pain to clean. I really like the look of these neoprene lunch carriers. They come in lots of funky colours too.

What do you think? Am I sucked in by clever advertising? Or do they look good to you too? At just under £20 (currently) are they too expensive?

Love to hear your thoughts.

I haven't been paid, I haven't got a free lunch box, I haven't even been sent a kiss from The Nicest Stuff - though they have followed me on twitter :-)

Only getting it twice a week

Copyright: claudioratti973 / 123RF Stock Photo

Obviously I'm talking about the most recent idea from our interfering overlords, about schools meals. And I'm referring to fried foods and pies.

My daughter is 14 and I'm fairly sure that if these rules are brought in at her school canteen then the children will just use the chip shop along the road on the three days that no chips are served. 

But even if the "fried food" twice a week maximum is applied at other schools, it's ridiculous. Why is fried food seen as unhealthy but macaroni cheese is not? I'm guessing a cheese dish has plenty of saturated fat, while chips can be fried in vegetable oils. (oh, hang on ... "we have introduced a new restriction on how often cheese can be served as the vegetarian option." from 'The Rules')  And a restriction on pastry? pastry?! Really? So quiche is out along with vegetable pies, fruits pies...(DD cried out "No strudel!" in horror)

I'm starting to wonder what will be left that children can eat, as a mum of a teen girl who is underweight and like many children worried about 'getting fat' I am concerned that this is going to adversely affect her.

Drinks with too much sugar are in the firing line too including fruit juice, but presumably diet drinks with aspartame will sneak through this unhealthily cordon? Water will be pushed as the best drink...good luck with that, if you have a fussy drinker prepare yourself for the inevitable cystitis when they go all day without drinking. Milk will also be promoted.

Bread crumbed food is classed as fried too apparently? Honestly it's the usual stupid interfering that in the long run won't change anything all it will do is anger parents and children, make it difficult for schools and cause bloggers to rage! (DD had confirmed they have oven cooked potato wedges often...) Crisps are also banned, as are all sweets, chocolate and cereal bars.

If the all powerful government want to really make a difference they will have to do better than banning things, they will have to actually look at what is healthy, create recipes and stick to them. (and take away some choice, like in the 'olden days' where the choice was take it or go hungry)

My daughter will continue to take a packed lunch, a habit we got into as local schools all had their kitchens removed in the 90s to save money (!) and no doubt many children will do the same, lunch box police not withstanding.

I don't have a problem with children eating healthily, when I was on the primary school PTA I actively campaigned for more fruit for the children and it was implemented very successfully, but I think it's about choice, making healthy the attractive option, not banning things. From experience forbidden fruit (or in this case forbidden junk) will become the preferred option for most children.

Banning things never works. Encouraging an interest in eating and new and interesting menus might (Jamie Oliver tried this technique but the government are now saying it's too complicated)

oh and tuck shops are out too. 

Do not get me started on the lack of playing fields, teachers car parks in play grounds and the banning of many 'active' kids games....

Rosetta Stone - Learning French at home

Back in March DD and I were lucky to be invited to review Rosetta Stone's language course for a few months. As DD is learning French for GCSE we opted for that but they have a vast language selection! (24 languages - I just checked)

I was impressed from the start. I had no idea what it would be like, and my own experience of learning another language was limited to French at school, and Spanish on holiday. I had found the informal setting of a holiday much more conducive to learning! (the beer probably helped, they don't allow beer at school)

Right from the beginning Rosetta teaches you in the language you are learning. There is no translation. The teaching follows the way a child learns; first we are shown pictures of 'things' and the word is clearly spoken, after a few repetitions and when you can quickly recognise and click the correct picture then verbs are added, so we see a cup, a dog, a house, then we see people drinking from a cup, after a while we see the people are not all the same, the sentence is building, a boy is drinking from a cup, a girl is drinking from a cup and so on. So you feel like you are playing a game, matching spoken phrases to pictures and the complexity is building but slowly ..well at your speed because of course Rosetta can measure your score, and time your reactions.

I enjoyed it and after a few moans and teen style grumbles so did DD. Amazing how quickly you find yourself reacting to the pictures, not really translating the words into English, just instinctively knowing what they mean.

And then there is the speaking aspect. You can speak into the microphone and the software listens and corrects your pronunciation. This was ideal for us! We are both way too shy to speak to a real person! (which is a shame as the online version has the option to speak to native speakers of your language! Proper French people to chat to if only we were brave enough) So DD could listen, learn, repeat and then start to actually say what she saw.

The learning isn't super fast but what you learn does seem to stay put, because you are really learning not just remembering or translating in your head.

I'm so impressed I think we will be buying the CD version for the family.

Because there are two options to buy Rosetta Stone depending on what you need. See here for details, but one is online for a year and includes the opportunity to speak to people and other extras like apps and games, the CD is a set price, but you miss some of the extras.

The full online version also includes apps for the ipad, which are slick and easy to use and of course as it's online it collates all the scores etc, so you can switch back and forth and keep your place. And fun games, though the actual learning is such fun it's all like a game. I think it would be suitable for the whole family!

At the moment there is a special offer on - buy the CD for £199 (saving £100 on the usual price) maybe a family treat for the summer holidays? Or a father's day gift? It is certainly worth the investment in my opinion. And you can add up to 5 people, so most families could share a course (you need separate accounts as the course tracks your progress and you set the voice recognition for specific people). Much more tailored to you than a group lesson and with the option to speak to people if you wish or just learn on your own until you are more confident. And it's actually fun!

You can try a demo on the site to see what I mean.

I'll leave the last word to DD, who says  "I like it because it's just easy to learn and use."

Disclaimer - I was able to use Rosetta Stone for 3 months for free for the purpose of reviewing it. The thoughts in the blog post (especially the bit about beer) are my own

The one where DD loses her coat and I stamp! but not my feet!

So, before we had the exciting holiday in California (you didn't think I was going to stop talking about it yet did you?) I had the fun parenting moment of


"Mum, where's my coat?"


Of course like a million mothers before me I replied "where ever you left it!"


But alas like a million children she had no clue where that was. We searched the house, we tidied her room (steady on! she's a teen this was a whole blog post on its own!) But no coat was found. We searched bags, cars, car boots (trunks for the American readers) and still nothing.


"Could it be at school?" I enquired?


So next day she promised to look but came home ominously coat-less. "No luck then?" I asked. "Did you check lost property?" and here she looked straight at me and said

"Well there was a coat like mine hung in the classroom, it was the same size as mine, it was on my peg, it had sweets in the pocket like mine, I just wasn't sure it was mine"

So after I banged my head against the wall for a while I politely suggested maybe it was hers! But it wasn't labelled, so she didn't want to take it in case it was someone elses! "Take it!" I yelled, "If it's still there tomorrow, take it!"

Of course it was her coat and as amazing serendipitous luck would have it that VERY DAY I was asked to review Stamptastic, a naming system involving no writing, no sewing, no ironing! How fortuitous.

The premise is pretty simple, Stamptastic create a personalised stamp on a rather nice transparent acrylic block, and send that along with special indelible ink on a pad and you stamp the name into the clothes!

I gave it a go, it's quick, clear, easy and actually pretty fun! Pretty soon I was stamping all her stuff, shoes, pants (you never know - she is a teen!) shirts, the lot. I nearly had to give up with her school jumper as it's navy and the only white space to stamp was the tiny label but I even managed to squeeze it onto that.

That's the only downside (and it's not really a big one) that you need a white (or pale) space to stamp. But it's so quick and such fun I imagine that you'll find yourself squabbling over who does it, I bet your kids would want a go!

Because it's not only good for clothes, you can stamp pens, pencils, rulers, pencil cases, lunch boxes...well even your child I guess! It's .. well it's Stamptastic!

 Photo credits - Stamptastic

Stamptastic sent me a stamp and ink set for the purpose of this review but the post is all my own!

Dressing up for World Book Day

I love dressing up. Yeah I hear your filthy giggles and see your smirks, well I don't even care! I like dressing up, any excuse and I'll try and find a costume to suit. Sadly I'm old and when you are old the chances to dress us recede (unless you just go the whole 'crazy old lady' route and wear a ballgown and tiara to do the weekly shop) 

but when you are young... oh the opportunities are endless and schools even encourage it with the rather fabulous World Book Day - encouraging young readers to choose their favourite book and dress in character for a day - I don't mind admitting I wish I was at school and if I was I'd be dressed as Sir Samuel Vimes' good lady, Sybil  (and only then as I'd look silly as Sam Vimes himself) ..but alas, I am not.

But dear readers, I know many of you (like me) have adorably cute offspring that are probably already trying to convince you to get them the perfect costume for WBD. And that's where this handy blog post comes in, because, via the medium of Twitter I discovered a rather awesome online fancy dress shop called Simply Fancy Dress! 

They kindly sent me a costume for the lovely DD to review but I need to tell you all about the site anyway because it's ace! Go on CLICK this link and take a look, I'll wait, no actually I won't - click it in a minute, because if you go there now you'll be ages and ages as it's such fun to hunt and browse around! They have the usual daft hen and stag fancy dress of course (much of it pretty tasteless, but there's hen and stag dos for you) but they also have some rather super child costumes, they even handily divide them into sections to make the search simpler (hang on SIMPLY Fancy Dress - the clue was in the name all the time!)

Horrid Henry Costume

So you can look at the likes of Horrid Henry costumes to simple Red Riding Hood and anything else that takes your fancy and childrens book day costumes start from £3.95 with £3.99 delivery! Honestly I was impressed - I wish I'd known about them for Tudor day!

Musketeer Costume

Look at this Brave Musketeer for only £17.99 I can't help wishing I knew some boys to dress up as the Three Musketeers!

Or maybe you have a girl who simply adores "How to Train Your Dragon" , (Viking Girl £16.99)

or a fan of Harry Potter,  I was roaming the site for ages. They have all sorts of great accessories too so if your costume is 'almost perfect' they probably have that last little finishing touch you need, like a pair of glasses or make up (including some zombie and vampire stuff to turn your stomach!)

Of course you are all dying to see DD in her glorious costume - so here she is looking rather glam in this Teen outfit which we were impressed to find included the tights, mask, dress and wings for my little butterfly daughter. The outfit is really nicely made too and was all packaged nicely. I always think that costumes, especially for small kids (but also for those like me that just LOVE to dress up) are a great fun present too - opening a whole world of imaginative fun.

 

 

 And if you don't have kids but have a dog...actually if you don't have a dog, buy a dog, just so you can dress it in this!

Raptor Dog Costume(sadly now no longer available)

Disclosure: I was sent a free costume in return for my review but the post contains only my own thoughts on the Simply Fancy Dress website!

I leave the last word on the fun of fancy dress to DD  

It's NOT big, and it's NOT clever,

When I was about 15 or 16 I smoked.
Only a bit, maybe one or two a week if I was lucky (should that be unlucky?) I was strictly ‘other peoples’ in what brand I smoked.
Once I was 18 and living outside of home I occasionally bought my own cigarettes. I still rarely smoked more than one or two a week, mostly I smoked when friends did on a Friday or a Saturday night. Peer pressure, yep, it was both big and clever. But it was also ‘cool’.

I usually smoked exotic and enticing brands like Black Russians, More Menthol or Multicoloured cocktail cigarettes with gold coloured filters ...it was all about the glamour. Packaging and presentation had a direct effect on whether I would buy a brand, I was beyond excited to discover a brand called DEATH that was sold in Brighton that came in a suave black coffin shaped box, too naïve, and too stupid to care about the irony it was quickly my favourite.
I never became addicted to cigarettes, I never smoked more than a couple a week and after the age of 24 rarely smoked at all. I haven’t smoked now in over 20 years.

 I wish smoking wasn’t cool. A smoking ban in public venues has done a lot to stop smokers, it is not so chic to huddle out in the rain to catch a quick puff. Lack of advertising has also helped to stop children and young adults starting the habit and of course you now need to be 18 to even begin. But I think another great preventative would be plain boring non-trendy packaging (think the classic TESCO VALUE campaign!) which is why I’d be happy to see all cigarettes sold in plain white cartons.
 I know all the arguments about cigarette taxes helping the country. I’ve heard things in favour of an outright ban (I’m not in favour mainly as it would only serve to make it cooler!) I think the best way to ensure that less people risk their health is to make smoking a real decision, based on proper information and not ‘oooh look – how cool is that packet!’ or ‘how handsome is that cowboy smoking!’

Nitty Nora returns! (in the guise of......me!)

A year ago I wrote about Nits and my nostalgia of Nitty Nora the school nit nurse (read the posts here)

Now I have a new post on the same itchy subject, (timely too as David Tennant was dealing with the same crisis last night on the BBC in Episode 4 of Single Father) so are you scratching yet?

Imagine little creatures with sharp clingy feet crawling on your head and neck to lay a sticky egg at the base of each hair, imagine the little babies hatching and nibbling on your scalp.....now are you scratching?

I was contacted by Vosene about some new products they are promoting. They have a repellent shampoo and detangle spray, also a hair gel (not repellent to humans! to lice! obviously) they also have a new website for parents and carers to share information on where the wee beasties are lurking! Nitwatch!

All sounds like a plan! forewarned is forearmed and all that.....

So then I was asked to try the product.....

We received a sample of the shampoo and the detangle spray (great as DD has very long fine hair) and we used them both for the first time last week. 

Now obviously it's a 'repellant' so I can't tell you if it works or not unless I know she's exposed to nits, and as far as I know at her age (10)  it's getting less likely (why do they like little kids? can it really be the cuddle factor? the fact they play close? I don't believe that as DD is just as 'head-to-head' with her friends now, maybe even more so than she was when she was small) but I can tell you it smells quite 'medicinal' is easy to use and leaves her long hair very shiny. The ingredients include many of the usual things you associate with repelling head lice, Eucalyptus Oil, Tea Tree Oil and lemon grass for example, it also has soothing camomile. The detangling spray is great between washes, having the same smell and (presumably) repellent affect with the added bonus of helping get rid of tangles.

So what's with nits? Do your kids still get lice? have you had them? Do they still sweep through a school? Do you suspect some parents just 'give up' as it's too hard to get rid of the little beasts (the lice not the kids!)? Do you give up?

Maybe this shampoo and spray could help the busy and the lazy as well as the obsessive parent! We shall see, and if you'd like to try the shampoo, just leave a comment with your worst/most gruesome/funniest lice/nit story and I'll see you get to try it*, because I've been promised samples will be sent out to the best 20 tales of woe left here  :-)

*UK only, comments to be left by 15th November 2010

The Moon in a Shoebox

Are you a parent of a school age child? if so you will know the enormous amount of 'projects' that have to be completed at home, and will understand that depending on your child's age and how keen on the project they are the amount of help they need from you can vary from 0 - 100%

at the weekend my 10 year old and I finally finished a long planned 'moon' project. The brief was that it had to be 'something about the moon or space or the stars, with facts.' Previous entries had included papier mache moons, model space craft, plans of stars etc.

Well I can take credit for the idea and minimal assistance with the sticking. Daughter was in charge of planning, picture choice, cutting and placement. Also the facts were all researched, selected and printed etc by her.

The results are below. It is the first project where we both learned stuff, we both had fun, and we are both proud of the finished product!

The shoe box has a tracing paper panel in the lid to allow light in....should you wish to make your own! ;-)