Blog List

So it looks like the discussion surrounding body image is never going to go away, especially not when schools are allowing their students' ID photos to be photoshopped without their express permission. That’s right; a school in the US has come under fire after a student realised her photo had been digitally altered, so that her face appeared slimmed down, her eyebrows darkened and her lips...

A story emerged recently from the States which has me questioning just how much shorter childhoods can become. Will we get to the point where we're giving infants briefcases, mobile phones and pension plans for their first birthday? A four-year-old girl from Ohio, known as Mayhem, has been recruited by fashion brand J Crew to design their latest children’s clothing range. That's right: a...

I always promised myself that when I became a mum, I would never put my kids through the same embarrassment myself and my sisters experienced at the hands of our mother. I wouldn’t dash to the local shop with no bra beneath my T-shirt, “blissfully unaware” of the ruckus I was causing. I wouldn’t ask a guest the same question four times in a row because I wasn’t listening the first time...

Recent research has emerged which suggests that a happy childhood will lead to a healthier cardiovascular system in adulthood. Yes, you read that right - mums now have something else to feel worry and feel guilty about. The study, which was carried out in Finland, basically suggests that if you grew up in a perfect home, experienced a perfect childhood and went to sleep on a satin pillow every...

Shopping used to be a pursuit of pleasure. I could have spent days meandering around clothes stores, content to wait until that one perfect piece jumped out at me - but then I got married and had children. Shopping is now an activity which must be carried out with military precision if myself and/or the kids want to make it out alive. Lists are employed, rules are implemented and good humour is...

They don’t call them the ‘January blues’ for nothing: saying goodbye to friends, dealing with empty pockets, opening and closing bare cupboards, a constant grey sky and absolutely nothing to do. But surely that’s not all there is; there has to be a few good things about this month, right? Well, last night, I was determined to find something positive about this time of the year, and I...

Some people are lactose, some people are gluten, but me, I’m cringe-intolerant. I can’t shake off an embarrassing or awkward moment like other people can. I wear the humiliation like a rash for weeks, which is why I’m still seething with my daughter for her latest stunt. There’s nothing I loathe more than being put on the spot by my pre-teen girl in front of her friends. I don’t know how...

Did anyone else balk when they heard about the party that US dad, Jeff Lake, threw his teen daughter? If you’re not familiar with this story then let me fill you in on how 'totally awesome' this particular man is. *sigh* Dad-Of-The-Year Jeff thought it would be a stellar idea to throw his daughter a Playboy-themed, alcohol-laden celebration for her 18 th birthday and unfortunately just...

Us mums are notorious for worrying, over-planning and fretting about the family when we deign to take a break away from work and domestic responsibilities. Endless lists are made and distributed, meals are cooked and frozen and demands that everything keeps ticking over followed by hurried promises to be back soon are uttered before we take a short break from our normal routine. And then, as we...

So there I was sitting on the loo (as you do) scrolling through Facebook (as you do) when it suddenly dawned on me - I was alone. Completely and utterly solo. For the first time I could recall in almost a decade, I had managed to do what a person normally does in a bathroom without a single interruption. There was no small person there demanding I intervene in a row, or pour a juice, or change the...