Day 182 of The 366 Project

Ever since we read about the  National History Museum in the London Unlocked Guide Book we knew it would be the perfect place to bring Ben and we definitely weren't disappointed when we paid a visit today.

From the second we arrived and Ben saw the giant dinosaur skeleton he was in his element. The highlights included the life-like moving dinosaurs models, the volcano section and the giant blue whale. Ben also enjoyed a trip to the dinosaur shop where he found a new friend, Tyrannosaurus Red. 

Saturday is Caption Day

Can you think of a caption for this photo?

You can then check out some more fab entries for Saturday is Caption Day which is on gone on holidays this week to the fantastic Mummy Mishaps's blog as Mammasaurus is on a well earned holiday - just click on the badge below to get there. Happy Saturday!

Day 181 of The 366 Project

Ben on the lookout at the park today. Apparently we had to watch out for the monsters and dragons..

An Insight into Midwifery in the 17th Century

After reading an article in the Guardian yesterday entitled Rare book of midwifery horror up for auction I have to say, I am very glad that things have moved on so much in the field of midwifery. The manuscript, which is one of only two remaining copies left in existence, sounds fascinating albeit a little like a horror tale. It is based on a seventeenth century obstetrician, Percival Willughby's manuscript Observations on Midwifery, which he wrote at the time, hoping to help educate midwives and go someway to put a stop to their brutal ways.

Some of the practices mentioned in this article which are detailed in the manuscript, made me feel rather ill. How scary is it to think that a midwife's "main tool was a crotchet, a hooked stick" and practices such as an "obstetric manoeuvre in which the neck of the womb is cut on both sides with a knife. It "proved gristly in cutting", but "the passage being thus opened – the woman was happily delivered of a living child"." were the norm and acceptable at the time. It makes my skin crawl just reading these extracts in the article.

I know all medical practices back in the seventeenth century were most likely a tad more barbaric in nature than we would deem necessary or, acceptable now, but still, if people such as the Percival Willughby could recognise this, why were they such common practice? I am seriously thankful for medical advances, childbirth must have been so scary back then and amazingly, wasn't it an era when people had large families? I read in one article Raising Children in the Early 17th Century: Demographics by PlymouthAncestors.org, "The typical English woman would give birth six or seven times". You would think the experience of giving birth under those conditions would be enough to put you off for life.

Percival Willughby's  manuscript was never published in the author's lifetime which is a shame as it looks like he really did want to help improve things by imparting his knowledge and observations. It will be part of an auction at the Birmingham Medical Institute's antiquarian library on 26 July with a guide price of £20,000 to £30,000. I will be interested to see what becomes of these writings, I am sure there are a lot of people with an interest in this field of medicine who would love to get hold of it, not to mention what a great horror movie it would make.

This image of childbirth is an engraving by Abraham Bosse (ca. 1602-1676).

Day 180 of The 366 Project

I got a massive migraine earlier today while walking into town. That horrible type of headache that makes your sight go all fuzzy so Ben and I nipped into Costa and had some lunch while I tried to recover. We were playing with the camera on my iPhone while there and took this picture.

Nice Bear Naughty Bear iPhone / iPad App Review

Nice Bear Naughty Bear  app is a digital reward chart which is full of cute bears to encourage good behaviour and manners in kids. The great thing about the app is that it is fully customisable and can be tailored to suit your child's stages such as potty training, or to encourage or stop specific behaviour. Rewards can be added and the amount of points required to earn rewards set. Kids will love all the different bears with their cute catchy rhymes of encouragement.

Nice Bear Naughty Bear: Options

When you load the app the first thing I recommend doing is setting up a profile for your child by selecting Manage in the bottom right hand corner and then Add Child where you will need to enter in your child's name, picture (optional), date of birth (optional) and favourite colour. Once your child's profile has been added click on Bear points next on their profile and you now have the option to Manage Rewards and Manage Bear Behaviours. Click Manage Rewards to Add Rewards and set the points required to claim them. Click Manage Bear Behaviours to switch on/off bears and to Add Bear. Click Home in the bottom left corner to return to all options which includes Award, Reward, Meet the Bears and How to use.

Nice Bear Naughty Bear: Add Reward

Click Award to give your child points for good or bad behaviour, good behaviour is easily recognisable by a 'ding' sound, whereas bad gets a 'buzz'. As your child earns / loses points the counter increases or decreases appropriately. When enough bear points are earned you can claim a reward by clicking Reward along the bottom. You can select from set rewards or the ones you have added yourself. When a reward is given you have the option to email a certificate which can be printed or share it on Twitter or Facebook.

Nice Bear Naughty Bear: Awards

Ben loves the Meet the Bears option on the home screen. Each of the bears have an associated picture and rhyme which can be played. I think this is a great idea as it helps to reinforce the particular behaviour that the bears represent and helps young children to learn and understand what the difference between types of behaviour are. If there is any confusion when explaining why your child has done something wrong, you can play the specific bear to help them understand which I have found useful. I love the following description of the bears:

There are nice Bears and naughty Bears,
Shy Bears and haughty Bears,

Messy Bears, oh what a sight,
And bears that always think they’re right.

Bully Bears that have no friends
And Kind Bears that make amends.

Pushing, shoving, grumpy Bears,
Not bothering to see who cares.

But you and I know Bears that say,
Please and thank you every day.
And soon all Bears are bound to find,
Life is nicer when you are kind.

We have had a lot of success so far using this app. Ben knows if he does something good that we can pick a bear to add point to, whereas he knows if he does something naughty a 'buzz' noise is on the way which he definitely doesn't like. I think this type of reward system is good as it goes beyond a sticker chart which only teaches good behaviour and also helps a child to understand the consequences of doing something bad or naughty. As it is an app, it is easily accessible if you are out and about too so good or bad behaviour can be recognised instantly rather than waiting until you go home to update a physical chart. It should also be noted that you have the option to print out reward charts if you wish which are suitable for printing on A4 sized pages.

Nice Bear Naughty Bear: Reward

Nice Bear Naughty Bear is available to download from the App Store and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and priced at £1.99 but there is also a free Lite version available if you want to give it a go and see if it will work for you and your child first.

*Disclaimer: I received a promo code to download Nice Bear Naughty Bear but this has in no way biased my opinion - I think it is a fantastic idea and really works well to encourage good behaviour in kids.

Day 179 of The 366 Project

Ben and "best friend Coco". For once he is being nice and gentle with her while telling me "Coco is the best dog".

iLuv Drawing Monsters iPad App Review

iLuv Drawing Monsters iPad app is such a fantastic idea for an app and a great way to help kids how to learn to draw monsters. It is the fourth app in the 'iLuv Drawing' series by MyVijan LLC which teach children how to draw various things from monsters, dinosaurs and people using an easy to follow step-by-step approach which is similar to Get Squiggling on cBeebies. There are twenty different monsters to choose from which vary in complexity and type from alien monsers godzilla and those of the three headed variety so it is sure to appeal to any kids like mine who love monsters.

Three options to choose from

When you load the app you can select from Learn to Draw, a step-by-step guide on how to draw monsters; Instructions, which explains how to use the app and My Drawing Book where your completed pictures can be stored. If you select Learn to Draw you are presented with a selection of monsters to choose from. Once selected, an outline appears which you trace over. When you are happy with your tracing you select the arrow in the top right hand corner to move to the next step until your monster is completed. You have the option to undo, redo or erase your lines at any stage by selecting the eraser which is at the bottom of the screen. You also have the option to select different colours by selecting the crayon where you can set both the colour and thickness of the lines required or use autofill. When the outline is complete additional options appear along the bottom which include the ability to change background and add various stickers such as hats, bows, lightening bolts and a variety of messages from "Happy Birthday" to "I Love You" so you could turn it into an e-card. Once your drawing is completed you can Save to Drawing Book, Save to Photo, Email or Print your masterpiece.

Lots of monsters to choose from

Ben's first attempt

Ben, two and three quarter years, did better than I thought when it came to tracing the lines once I showed him what to do. He added a few extra lines which we were able to undo really easily and together we had a lot of fun creating our monster. The app is not just great for teaching how to draw monsters but is also fantastic for developing fine motor skills in young children. I like the building block approach to drawing that this app takes and I can definitely see the value in following this approach as it transfers across to physical drawing with crayons on paper too. It is also good for teaching children how to follow instructions, the instructions are given in a clear manner and are narrated in a pleasant friendly voice.

Select different backgrounds & stickers

iLuv Drawing Monsters is available to download from the AppStore costing £1.49 and is compatible with the iPad. I can highly recommend the iLuv Drawing series of apps, they are great for boosting creativity and confidence in young kids learning to draw.

Ben busy drawing his monster masterpiece

Guest Post: Finding the Right Kitchen Appliances to Suit Your Family

When it comes to choosing kitchen appliances, it isn’t the case that one size fits all.  What is the perfect oven for one household could be completely inappropriate for another.  Unfortunately, many people don’t realise that they have chosen the wrong product until they get it home and use it for a few weeks.  Here we take a look at some of factors you should consider when choosing the four main kitchen appliances.

Washing machine
Of all the kitchen appliances to get right, the washing machine is perhaps the one that you will feel the most benefit from.  We all need to do plenty of washing – especially those of us with children in the home.  If you have quite a large family then it is a good idea to opt for a washing machine with a larger load capacity.  Where a typical load capacity tends to be between 5 and 8kg, larger models range from 9 to 12kg.  If you go beyond 12kg then you are likely to be straying into commercial washing machine territory.  Do you have room to fit one of these beasts in?

Opting for a larger washer will save you time by reducing the number of times you have to load and unload machine and then haul the laundry out to the line.  Running a larger capacity washer through one cycle will also use less water and electricity than running two cycles on a smaller model.  This will of course save you money, whilst having a positive impact on the environment.  However, if you live alone or as a couple with no children in the house, then a smaller model makes more sense both financially and environmentally. 

The quality of the product you are able to secure will usually be dictated by your budget.  Many cheaper washing machines are designed to be disposable and cannot be easily repaired if anything goes wrong with them.  These models are best suited when your budget is tight or if you are looking to rent a property for a short time, before buying your own house.  Where your budget is less restrictive and you require a reliable washer to cope with family life; it is worth paying that little bit extra.  Not only will the washing machine last longer, but it will be easier to repair should something go wrong with it – which can actually work out cheaper and better for the environment than having to replace the appliance.  Washer Help is a great site to visit if you are looking for information on which washers can be repaired without too much hassle. 

Tumble dryer

When it comes to picking out a tumble dryer, you should usually to be guided by your choice of washing machine.  After all, the UK weather means that most of your loads will be going straight from the washer to the dryer - having the same or similar capacity laundry appliances will make things easier. 

You should also pay attention to the kinds of materials you are likely to place within the tumble dryer.  Whilst it is preferable to place more delicate items on the washing line to dry, some households will not have the luxury of a garden area.  Therefore it may be that you require a dryer that has programmes and features designed to deal with delicate fabrics.  These options will of course come at a premium; if most of your drying will focus on more robust clothing items then a cheaper model might be better suited.

As with all kitchen appliances, you should take some time to check out the EU Energy Label on any dryers that you are considering, which will be rated A to E.  Be aware that there are some products on the market that deliver a performance that is way beyond the levels needed to achieve an A rating.  For example, the Bosch Eco Logixx 7 tumble dryer consumes more than 40% less electricity than a regular A-rated model.

Fridge-Freezer

Again, the size of your fridge freezer will be guided by the size of your family.  How the two separate compartments are split in terms of percentage will depend on whether you need plenty of freezer space so that you can prepare meals on the run, or prefer to cook the majority of your meals from fresh.  Bear in mind that fridge freezers are constantly switched on and that running a half empty larger model is a waste of money, when a smaller option would be sufficient.

Moving beyond the issue of capacity, there are several fridge freezer features that may or may not be of use to you, dependant on circumstances.  For instance, models that incorporate frost free technology will prevent ice from forming if the door is accidently left open – great if you are a bit forgetful or have one of the many children that seem to be obsessed with opening, but not always shutting doors.  Alternatively, it may be that you regularly have friends and family round for dinner or love host parties; in which case a fridge freezer with an icemaker is ideal for keeping those cocktails nice and cold!  So do take some time to consider which features best suit your specific needs when narrowing down your search.

Oven

Your first decision when it comes to choosing an oven is whether to opt for gas or electric.  Some prefer electric ovens due to the fact they can be programmed to turn on at certain times.  They are also safer when you have children in the house, who could turn on the knobs on the oven; allowing gas to escape into the property.  Others prefer the fact that gas ovens and hobs offer the ability to quickly adjust heat and provide moist cooking conditions for the juiciest meat joints.   Do you love a traditional roast dinner, or are safety and convenience more important to you?

The types of foods you like to cook, in addition to the size of your family, should also influence the size of the oven you go for.  Preparing a complicated roast dinner is of course easier if you have two ovens, which can be set at different temperatures to ensure that each food item is cooked to perfection.  If pastas, stir fry and fajitas are more you thing, then you could be happy enough to opt for a single oven, which will of course save a little cash.  

When it comes to running your oven and hob, gas does work out cheaper over the course of the year.  However, gas appliances do cost more in terms of initial outlay compared to electric alternatives. 

We hope that this article has gone some way to helping you decide which kitchen appliances are best suited to the needs of your family.  If you would like any further information or advice on finding the right model washing machine, dryer, fridge freezer or oven, then feel free to visit us at Electrical Discount UK. 

~ A guest post by Electrical Discount UK

*Disclaimer: I received a payment for publishing this guest post.

The Gallery: Hands

This week's theme for The Gallery is Hands. It still amazes me when I look back at photographs and see how tiny Ben's hands once were. I found it impossible to pick just one photo this week so here is my selection.

Tiny Hands, just a day old, wrapped tightly around my finger on the trip home from the hospital.

In Safe Hands, I love how Ben is holding his Daddy's chin. 

 Messy Hands, they joys of Baby Led Weaning.

 Old and Young Hands, Ben sharing his chocolate buttons with my Grandad, his Great Grandfather.

Happy Hands, most likely reaching to grab my camera.

 Holding Hands, a quiet moment at the end of the day.

Day 178 of The 366 Project

Today Ben has been doing some ninja training in the garden.

BritMums Live! - My Experience

Last weekend along with hundreds of other bloggers I attended BritMums Live! which was held in The Brewery near Moorgate in London. As it was my first bloggers conference I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I was excited about going and meeting all the people I interact with regularly on Twitter, Facebook and various forums and networks. I was full of anticipation about what I would learn and I was looking forward to telling people about Magic Town, my sponsors but if I'm honest I was also rather nervous and dreading leaving my son for so long for the very first time.

Waiting to go in to BritMums Live!

Not long after I arrived at the venue I met some familiar faces including Sophie from Super Amazing Mum, Jenny from Mummy Mishaps, Sarah from Ramblings of a Sussex Mummy and Lucinda from Bakes, Books and My Boys to name but a few, which really helped to dispel my nerves. Once inside I finally got a chance to say hello in person to the lovely Karin from Cafe Bebe, her blog is one of the very first I ever read and inspired me to start my own way back in 2009. After coffee and some mingling in the hub it was time for BritMums Live! to officially kick off with an introduction from BritMums founders Jennifer Howze and Susanna Scott and then the first speaker Ruby Wax took the stage. Ruby was such a great choice of speakers she had everyone in fits of laughter within seconds, she was inspiring and passionate about Black Dog Tribe, the mental illness charity she helped to set up but most of all endearing and real.

The fabulous Ruby Wax

Over the course of the rest of the conference I listened to other amazing speakers such as Sarah Brown, founder of Piggy Bank Kids whose words, "How ever the world treats you, don't let it change how you treat the world" has really stuck in my mind and television personality, Cherry Healey who gave some great advice on things from "when dying your armpit hair choose blue or green.. NOT red" to how best to use social media by picking the platform that works for you and not simply trying to do them all.

During the sessions some great tips were shared on SEO and legal essentials which I now just need to start applying, starting with adding Google Adwords and using keywords more effectively. I finally know what I need to do to sort out my tax and accounting thanks to Dawn Brown who was informative and did a great job making a boring subject interesting. Antonia Chitty gave us the lowdown on creating and marketing an eBook, her session has given me food for thought on creating an eBook at some stage, I just need to figure out a niche I want to concentrate on. Erica Douglas shared her experiences of blogging and how to start earning an income from blogging which was very interesting and has definitely highlighted some potential opportunities worth investigating. Finally Claire Burdett of The Media Marketing Co shed light on how to build a social media plan that works, one very intersting fact she shared with us was that a post on Twitter only has a lifespan of three hours whereas a post stays on StumbleUpon for nine months hence I have started looking into using StumbleUpon. The day wrapped up with a series of keynote speeches from bloggers who read their posts, some of which made us laugh thanks Ministry of Mum and The Secret Diary... of a Secret Diary and others which had us in tears and in awe such as All for Aleyna, Down Side Up and Cafe Bebe - all such talented bloggers, strong and inspiring, I want to thank thank them for being so brave and sharing.

In the hub I was blown away by the number of sponsors and the amount of goody bags being given to us. I finally got to meet the delightful Kerry Jean Lister from DOCO who I have been working with on the LEGO DUPLO panel. Other sponsors included Disney, Bananagrams, Visit Orlando and Radcliffe's Wines (who always seemed at have a willing group hovering nearby, more than happy to sample their delicious wines and bubbly). At the Crocs stand I was amazed by the vast amount of different styles available and in particular how light the wellies are. Lunch was sponsored by Skylanders Spyro Adventure which is one brand I am particularly interested in learning more about, their video game certainly sounds interesting and as soon as Ben and his Daddy saw the figures there was much excitement over them.

Skylander Spyro's - a massive hit with my boys!

The two lounge areas, one which was showcasing Warner Bros latest  and the other run by TK Maxx were definitely welcome chill out zones with comfy sofas and interesting information to be gleaned while doing soon whether it be on UltraViolet in the Warner Bros room or great fashion advice on what kind of clothes you should wear depending on your figure from the style consultants in TK Maxx where I also learned I am a "rhubarb" which my husband found hilarious when I told him.

So there you have it, a busy couple of days was had, my brain is still on overload with so many ideas buzzing about inside. I want to do so many things now to improve my blog based on what I learned at BritMums Live that I am feeling slightly impatient, frustrated yet inspired. I can tell you a blog re-design is on the way as a result so watch this space. Ben has told me many times since I got back on Saturday that I "am not going away again" but I know that he coped fine while I was not there, and both Ben and his Daddy had lots of fun inventing new games and eating ice cream which has given me the confidence to go and do more things like this, for me, on my own.

One of the many pictures my boys sent me while I was at BritMums Live!

Finally I want to say a massive thank you to Jennifer Howze, Susanna Scott and all those involved in bringing us BritMums Live, it was awesome!

Start-rite Kids Shoes Summer Sale

As a blog ambassador for Kids One Stop Shop I get to share some fantastic deals and information with you including this one for Start-rite Shoes which now have 50% off on selected lines in their Summer Sale.

Start-rite shoes have a long history in making shoes dating back to 1792 when James Smith, based in a small shop in Norwich, became the first shoemaker in the country to offer ready-made, off-the-peg footwear which was a welcome alternative to bespoke footwear that few could afford at the time. Start-rite shoes have come along way from then and are now the preferred brand of many parents when it comes to choosing shoes for their precious little ones.

Below are some of my favourite shoes on offer which you will find if you go to the Start-rite site.

Arena boys - Now £14

Bumble Prewalker - £12

Ella girls - £22

Outer Space first Walker - £10

*Disclamer: I am a Blog Ambassador for Kids One Stop Shop.

Day 177 of The 366 Project

Ben was delighted to discover lots of deck chairs when we went to meet his Daddy at lunchtime today. He quickly made himself comfortable in one of them and I think he would have happily stayed there all day if he was allowed. 

Guest Post: Taking advantage of education technology for your little(and big) children

iPad apps for little ones

Technology and the internet are revolutionising the way children learn and the way we as parents help our children to learn. Compared to just 20 years ago, the access we all (not just children) have to information is frightening. For parents this presents both a degree of risk and a huge opportunity.
Yes, there are more distractions and potentially waning attention spans; at the same time though, if we can right ways to channel this information then we give children a real head start in developing their minds. Here are a couple of ways you can use technology to keep the stimulating the minds of both your little (and big) children.

For the little ones…
Reports that children as young as one year old can use and enjoy the iPad may still furrow brows among some technology sceptics. However, the ease of which the very young ‘get’ iPhones, iPads and the rest make it hard to deny the tablet’s growing ubiquity in all age and lifestyle demographics. 
The intuitive nature of Apple’s interface means that children, as well as adults, take to them like ducks to water. The phenomenal growth in iPad and iPhone use by children has seen the increase of multimedia specifically targeted at parents, who want to harness their child’s fascination with the devices. Check out TechRadar’s 10 best iPad apps for kids or the Telegraph’s best iOS apps for children.

When you realise what great (and productive) pacifier the iPad can be for children, you’ll wonder how you used to keep them occupied before. Letting your child get their mitts all over your iPad is most parents’ worst nightmare, as opposed to something you would do willingly. If you are going to let your toddler loose on your iPad, it’s worth investing in a durable case first, just in case there are any accidents. The only thing you’ll have to worry about is wrestling your iPad back off your little one next time you want to check the latest news headlines (or, rather, fancy a game of Angry Birds…)

For the older ones…
A lot of parents like to supplement their child’s day-to-day education with tuition outside of the normal lesson time. They’ll either want to strengthen up the difficult maths and science subjects that they tend to be weakest in, or to help them excel in subjects where they have already shown promise.
The internet has allowed some companies to put a modern twist on the more traditional forms of tutoring, by delivering classes and lessons online.

Online tuition can go some way to levelling the education playing field for a lot of families. It’s inexpensive compared to face-to-face, private lessons and a lot more accessible. You can settle your child down in the study or another quiet room with a laptop and let the online tutor get on with the lesson, as opposed to organising meetings at tutor’s house at inconvenient times. There are a couple of online tuition options to choose from should you go down this route. You can either choose a set up that reflects the traditional tutoring set-up (a one-on-one lesson) or one where they enter a virtual classroom. Here, they may also be paired with other students and asked to work through problems together.

No matter what age your children are then, there is no reason why you can’t make the amount of time they spend online more productive. We’ve only tipped the iceberg in this post with what options are available to parents. It would be great to hear other people’s tips and advice.

~ A guest post by Michael Smith from iTutorMaths.

*Disclaimer: I received a payment for publishing this guest post.  

Day 176 of The 366 Project

While I was at BritMums Live Ben and Daddy invented a new game called "Pillow Volcano" which involves lots of throwing pillows and kicking about not to mention squeals of delight and laughter.

Silent Sunday

Day 175 of The 366 Project

I love this picture of Ben that his Daddy sent me this morning while I was at BritMums Live.

Day 174 of The 366 Project

I had a fantastic time at BritMums Live today but I was very glad to get home to my little man.

Day 173 of The 366 Project

We decided to embrace the bad weather today and make the most of it by doing some puddle splashing. Ben was happy splish splashing about and even more pleased because he got to wear his "spider boots" (his name for his wellies as they have pictures of bugs all over them) which he loves.