New Year’s Eve….everyone talks about it, the parties they will be attending, clothes they’ll be wearing and who they’ll be spending it with. 

What if you don’t have a babysitter and can’t go to the party……it’s not all bad.  

Most people actually look forward to their New Year Eve party but very rarely does it meet the expectations. The venues are always overprized and a taxi home is unlikely unless you booked it way back in October or willing to pay over the odds! 

So you’re a parent and have to spend New Year’s Eve at home, is it really such a disappointment? I don’t think it does, in fact I think it can be much more fun. 

• Why not invite your friends that have children over to your house and celebrate it together?

• Get everyone to bring some party food to avoid lots of hassle or you could get a take-away and experiment trying lots of different dishes.

• The children can play together, have bath time together and hopefully fall asleep together!

• Organise some party games, or some really interactive and funny board games.

• Try Karaoke, you can buy some really cheap karaoke equipment (or you could ask for some for Christmas!) The children will love singing and later when they are asleep you could have your very own X-Factor in your lounge( depending on how brave you are or how much alcohol you have consumed!)

• A big bowl of punch always goes down well and for anyone unable to drive home they could really take seeing in the New Year with you to a new level and stay the night!

A family New Year’s Eve rarely leaves you with an empty bank balance, a throbbing head ache, or cringing about your previous night’s antics, unless of course you took over the Karaoke and sang everyone to sleep!

Most of us look forward to the traditional Christmas dinner of turkey, roast potatoes and vegetables, with some of us making extra special effort of doing pigs on horse back, stuffing, cranberry sauce….the list is endless.  

Most children will find something they enjoy and even babies need meat and fish in their diet from around six months, so everyone can enjoy their Christmas roast. 

It can be a stressful time of year especially if you have children plus the added pressure of cooking for all the family. Remember that frozen vegetables often contains more nutrients than fresh as they are frozen within hours of being picked. So don’t try too hard by getting all fresh produce. Remember it is your Christmas too and you don’t want to spoil it by being tied to the kitchen. If you have lots of family coming over ask them all to bring something….it doesn’t mean you are not capable, it will just give you more time to socialise and spend some time with your children. 

Remember if you do have a baby and will be pureeing their dinner, use a baby food grinder for the potatoes as pureeing them in a blender breaks down the starch and will produce a sticky pulp! 

If you have slightly older children try to involve them, maybe they could help you make some Christmas biscuits or cakes. Use a basic recipe and buy some festive shape cutters, they will have fun cutting them out and when they are cooked they will love decorating them. There is some great tubes of coloured icing, get some sugar baubles and let their imagination go with chopped up fruit, the family will love them.

Christmas is a fun, exciting and stressful time of year, with food to organise, keeping your family happy and so many presents to buy!  No Christmas would be complete without the presents placed under the Christmas tree, but shopping for toys is tricky, if you don’t have a clue what to buy. Searching the shops for the ultimate gift is hard especially if you have left it to last minute! Why is it that everyone else seems to have their basket full and they know exactly what they are looking for!   Need some last minute ideas and inspiration? Here are the ‘Top Ten’ Best-selling Predicted toys for Christmas 2007 

1. Are you smarter than a 10 year old? – Board Game £19.95

2. Baby Annabell version 4-  £39.99

3. Barbie Roller girl,

   Madison-  £12.99

4. Doctor Who-Dalek Sec Hybrid Voice Mask-  £28.99

5. Flytech Dragonfly- £37.99

6. Golden Balls- Board Game £19.99

7. GR8 art Bindeez Super Deluxe Studio Centre- £19.95

8. In The

   Night
   Garden Blanket Time Igglepiggle -£54.99

9. Puppy Grows and Knows Your Name-£ 44.99

10. Roary the Racing Car -£14.99

11. Say What? –Board Game £24.99

12. Transformers Movie Leader: Optimus Prime -£39.99

Good luck, happy shopping and Merry Christmas!

Christmas shopping can be a real headache for us mums, especially if we’ve put it off until last minute and don’t have anyone to look after our baby or toddler while we hit the shops. 

The last thing you may be thinking of is trying to look glamorous when you’re a mum. Caring for your child or children usually comes first, closely followed by working, cooking, cleaning, the list is endless! 

However, around Christmas time there are normally occasions when you’ll be expected to get out of your mummy clothes and dress up, even if it’s just for the family Christmas dinner. If you’re carrying a few extra pounds and not had time to spend on yourself for a while, you may not be looking forward to deciding what to wear.  

To get in the mood 

• See if a family member can look after your children while you have a long soak in the bath.

• Make use of your baby oil and pop some in the bath for silky baby soft skin

• Exfoliate all your body to leave fresh smooth skin ready for some spray tan (a slight tan will have you looking healthy and vibrant even if you don’t feel it!)

• Paint your toes a racy red colour or bubble gum pink. Apply a top coat which will keep them looking great throughout whole festive season.

• Experiment with make-up, go to one of the many beauty counters in shops or department stores and let them give you a free make-over. Great for getting a new look and picking up new tips!

• Get your hair cut or have some highlights or low lights put through it, remember to explain clearly what you want and don’t be too radical unless you know you’ll be able to recreate the look at home everyday!

• Take a friend and get her to pick an outfit for you to try on and you do the same for her. You never know, she may choose you something you would never have tried on and it could look great!

• Experiment with different looks, your body changes after having a baby so what suited you before, may not now!

Don’t feel guilty for spending some time on yourself, it’ll do you good and your children will benefit from having a happy mum.

Years ago most of the children’s presents were hand-made but now in modern times we don’t seem to find the time to sit down and make things with our children. We’re much busier now, with plenty of working mums and dads working long hours. 

The thought of an afternoon spent armed with glitter, glue, scissors, coloured paper and an excited 4 year old might fill you with dread but what better way to enjoy some Christmas fun with your little one. It’s cheap and just how much mess can they make?! 

Grand-parents and relatives everywhere love something home-made and it’ll make a nice change and less expense than the obligatory socks, hankies and smellies! 

Handmade Christmas cards are great, especially if you can make the extra effort to get a photo of your little one dressed up in something festive. Once you have the photos, they can glue them onto some card, add the glitter and Christmas sprinkles and everyone receives a personal card which they can keep forever. 

Decorations for the Christmas tree are fun and something which you can keep year after year. Handmade bows, an Angel or Star for the top or even simple paper chains which they can colour, glue glitter onto or add Christmas pictures. Remember to keep all your old Christmas cards, they can cut out the pictures and use them next year for sticking and gluing.  

Name placements for the Christmas dinner can be fun. If you have the time you could find a funny picture of each relative to pop on them, if not let your children go to town with plenty of glitter and sparkles. The bonus of these is you get to decide where everyone will sit around the table! 

If you’re out and about get your children to look out for cones, leaves and twigs. This will keep them busy on their walk and back at home you can decorate them, paint them and use them as a Christmas collage or as a table centre piece!  

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed your baby, but modern Western cultures and clever marketing tactics has seen an increase in mothers turning to formula milk as a replacement for natural breast milk. 

Why Should I Breastfeed? 

It’s important to understand why breastfeeding is recommended for your baby. The World Health Organisation recommends that babies are given breast milk exclusively for the first six months, and that a mother should continue to breastfeed up to the age of two years. 

Babies Health     

• Breast milk is completely free and requires no sterilizing, heating or expensive bottles and formula

• Breastfeeding  provides comfort for your baby and is said to reduce colic

• Breast milk contains all a baby’s development needs for the first six months

• Breastfeeding provides essential antibodies from Mother to baby

• Breast milk’s components are easily digested

• Breastfed infants are sick less often than infants who receive formula milk

  Mum’s health 

  Not only is Breast best for baby, the purse and so convenient but it also has some major advantages for mums too! 

•  With breast cancer on the increase it is now known that breastfeeding can now dramatically reduce your chances of both breast and ovarian cancer

• Breastfeeding uses up excess fat and loads of calories without even breaking into a sweat!

Party time treats! 

Parties are great! Children love the excitement of having a party with all their friends. The games, the presents and the party food……It’s a great time to get children to experience different types of foods and REMEMBER a party doesn’t have to be full of additives and hyper children having a sugar rush! 

A few party treats mixed with some familiar everyday food will satisfy most party revellers. It’s stressful enough playing the games and keeping them entertained, so keep the food simple and fun and I’m sure it’ll be a success for everyone, grown-ups included. 

A few ideas to tempt their taste buds, 

·         Fill tiny sandwiches with the usual popular fillings, such as ham, cheese spreads and jam. You can then cut them into funky shapes. There are loads of great shape cutters you can buy, stars, hearts, animal shapes etc. It’s a fun way to get them to eat sandwiches as well as the treats on offer!

·         Individual reduced sugar jellies are fun if you pop a little jelly sweet inside so they can see it. It is loads more fun eating a jelly that has a gelatine wiggly worm inside!

·         Lots of little bowls of plain popcorn, grapes (cut in half), tomatoes and raisins for them to pick up with their fingers.

·         Little mini pizzas are easy, you can buy the bases and make your own topping into funny faces. A good way to get them to eat vegetables and ring pineapple is perfect to make a mouth for your pizza faces.

·         Mini sausages, chicken nuggets and other nibbles are always popular at parties and will fill them up until it’s time for……… The Birthday Cake.…yummy! 

Lots of children will enjoy helping you prepare the food, even if it’s a simple job like cutting the sandwiches into fun shapes or popping the gelatine worms into the jellies. Just make sure that they don’t all get eaten before the party has started!

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