Granny boots

Posted by on November 20, 2011 No comments

I love this piece by Deborah Ross in The Independent about the problems of fashion and teenage girls. 

If you ask me, you know life’s come to a pretty pass when you proudly show your new winter boots to your teenage niece who then describes them as “grannyish”. Grannyish, you query. Grannyish? What do you mean, grannyish? These are not grannyish. I am not grannyish.

Last week, for example, I didn’t go to John Lewis for nearly a whole morning. How ungrannyish is that? Take back what you said about my boots being grannyish and, by implication, that I might be grannyish. Take it back right now.

“But they are grannyish,” she said. “A bit.” A bit grannyish? A bit grannyish? How much of “a bit” grannyish? Can you be more specific? This is important. Are they 17 per cent grannyish, for instance, or 89 per cent grannyish? Are you saying they are a little bit grannyish, or quite a lot of a “bit” grannyish, if they are grannyish at all, which they are not.

“Where are they from?” she asked. Clarks, I told her. “Clarks is grannyish,” she said. Clarks? Grannyish? What planet are you from? Clarks is not grannyish. Barratts? I’ll give you Barratts. But Clarks?

Alexa Chung has been photographed wearing Clarks. Clarks was grannyish once but now it is not grannyish any more. Clarks is where it is happening. Clarks is for edgy go-getters. Clarks is for cool style-setters, such as myself. If you ever got your head out of Topshop or H&M you would know this. Plus, these boots are waterproof and have a thermal lining.

“That is very grannyish,” she said. Very grannyish? Very grannyish? We’ve gone from “a bit” grannyish to “very grannyish” in a single stroke? How does that work? Can anyone have a go? What’s next? Spectacularly grannyish. Ginormously grannyish? Are we up to 99.9 per cent grannyish? The most grannyish boots that ever existed?

And one other thing: they were reduced from £120 to £70. “That’s because they are grannyish, and they ran out of grannies to sell them to,” she said. No, that’s because I am smart and can spot a bargain, I said. “A grannyish bargain,” she said. I am not a granny, I said, and there is nothing grannyish about these boots.

Readers, I tell you what, why don’t you settle this business? Will you Google “Clarks” and “Un Gabi”, which is the name of the boots, and pass on your thoughts either by email (d.ross@independent.co.uk) or twitter (@deborahross)?

I am sure you will come out on my side because these boots are not grannyish, just as I am not grannyish, and also are elasticated at the back for fit and comfort, which is heavenly, and not grannyish at all. I’m even thinking these boots may be very Cheryl Cole.

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Dads doing it Badly – Fathers Parenting Fail

Posted by on November 19, 2011 5 comments

I thought i had a lot to learn as a parent but at least i am not as bad as this lot.

  

  

 

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Insurance for young drivers (Sponsored Post)

Posted by on November 16, 2011 No comments

Insurance for young drivers

Young drivers have it a little more difficult when it comes to getting a low car insurance rate. Car Insurance companies simply do not believe that young drivers are the greatest investment when it comes to protection, and so there will always be a certain stigma premium attached to the young driver until the age of 25.

However, there are a few things that young drivers can do in order to decrease their car insurance monthly premiums.

- Make sure to drive as safely as possible

Of course the number one criteria when it comes to the car insurance company calculating a premium is the company assessment of your past driving record. There are no shortcuts here: Keep it clean to get the lowest monthly premium that you possibly can as a young driver.

– Pick the safe zip code

Although most people will not be able to use this trick, there are some people who are on the borderline of two zip codes. As the safety records of your zip codes matter a great deal when it comes to calculating your monthly premium, if you have the ability and the opportunity to pick either one of two zip codes, pick the one that your research shows is safer in terms of crime and theft. This will serve to your car insurance company as a lowering of risk, which will translate into a much lower automobile insurance monthly premium for the young driver.

– Keep the mileage low

One of the best things that any owner of a car can do for a young driver is to monitor their mileage until they have enough experience to drive unsupervised. However, this can also save on a monthly car premium as well for a young driver. The less miles that a young driver drives, the less that the monthly premium will be.

– Keep your grades up

Young drivers can often get discounts if they show some measure of responsibility to the insurance company. Insurance companies are much more likely to provide lower insurance premiums to young drivers without a driving history if they have shown a manner of responsibility in their everyday life. For most young drivers, what this means is high scholarship or athletic accomplishment. Think of this as a sort of scholarship that car insurance companies give to students that prove that they are more responsible than the normal young driver.

 

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Daddy goes dancing

Posted by on November 10, 2011 8 comments
dad_dancing

My body aches from all the dancing. The tunes are still rattling around my brain. My ears are ringing. My body is full of nasty chemicals. But despite that I have a big smile on my face.

I have been out. I have been partying.
Partying at a children’s party organised by the lovely Perform Party people.

The theme was Under The Sea. It was led by pretty smiling twenty something Rochelle, who in her in a blue and green silk mermaid style dress wouldn’t have looked out of place in an Ibiza nightclub. With patience and a real joi de vivre she took us parents and kids on a musical journey.

We played with a coloured parachute (the last time I did that I was at The Big Chill at Shoreditch Town Hall in 1995). And we did a fish dance which wifey and I managed to turn into a nostalgic “big fish, little fish cardboard box” rave dance of yesteryear. It was great fun. Me and the missus dancing round the gym. Her banging a tambourine and me twisting my melons man as I shook maracas like an insane Bez.

I even think baby enjoyed it although most of the time she was looking at herself in the full length mirror or hiding behind a curtain or watching mum and dad dancing insanely with a “are these really my parents?” quizzical look on her face.

Afterwards me and the wife ate too much cake & crisps and drank fizzy drinks as baby, who we don’t allow to eat sugary things, tucked into her organic lasagne.

It was a lovely way to spend Sunday morning. We really must go clubbing more often.

Perform put on parties for kids ranging from 1 to 12 they also do performance based classes. For more info visit their website.

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Best Happy Feet clips

Posted by on October 30, 2011 No comments

My toddler loves watching dancing penguins on you tube. Here are hers (and mine) favourite Happy Feet dance clips.

Music: Big Al – Walk And Talk

Billie jean – Michael Jackson

Shake That – Eminem

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Baby Bouquet

Posted by on October 27, 2011 2 comments
bouquet baby clothes

Look at this lovely bouquet of flowers given to us by some friends.

If you look closely you will see that the flowers are not in fact flowers but rolled up baby vests. Cool uh?

Wifey particularly loved it. She normally doesn’t see the point of flowers. “Why give someone things that die within a week?” she says.

To her flowers are useless. They are impractical, temporary, and they are not an investment.

But that’s precisely their power. You buy them for no reason other than because your wife likes them. You do it just for her.

This is the very definition of romance—doing something pointless, just to express love. Nobody needs flowers, they won’t be around forever, but someone you love likes them, so you buy them.

She says “If you love me tidy up the house a bit more often. Or get me gold jewellery.”

But she is in the minority, Whether they are hand delivered or are delivered from a florists in Newcastle  giving flowers is big business and this made me ponder on why do we give people flowers? Where did the tradition come from?

A bit of googling suggests that it is routed in Victorian times and the secret language of flower bouquets. Back in the 19th century, people often had entire conversations without speaking a word through flowers. A married woman for instance, might have left an arrangement of begonia and monkshood on her entryway table to warn a lover that her husband was home. Begonia signifies the need for caution and Monkshood warns of a deadly foe.

A young man might have caressed the petals of a viscaria while making  eye contact with a young woman. If she in turn touched a striped carnation, his hopes of a dance were dashed on the red and white petals of a lovely flower.

While young lovers living under the eagle eye of disapproving guardians might have worn a spray of spider flower to show the desire to elope. Conversely, one may have worn the spider flower while the other wore a yellow carnation.

I reckon florists in Bath back then must have made a fortune with all that repressed sexual tension.

Today we give flowers for their beauty and their scent. We don’t need them to speak for us anymore. Thanks to modern technology you can call or e mail a florists in Brighton and have them deliver a bouquet even if you are Manchester.

Brought to you by Interflora

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Father’s influence on a daughter’s sexual behaviour

Posted by on October 24, 2011 1 comment
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I have just discovered that a father’s parenting skills can have a huge influence on a daughter’s sexual behaviour. According to a study by researchers in America daughters of fathers with good parenting skills are less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour. This is great news as I’m not allowing my daughter to have sex ever!

“When it comes to girls and their decisions about sex, it turns out a father’s influence really does matter,” says lead author Bruce J. Ellis, of the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Arizona.

Ellis and colleagues looked at 59 pairs of sisters in families in which the parents had divorced and the father moved out, and 42 pairs of sisters from intact families. For girls with divorced parents, older sisters spent an average of 7 more years living with their fathers than their younger sisters did, the study authors noted.

“It turned out that it didn’t matter that much how long each daughter lived with her father, but rather what he did when he was there,” Ellis said in the news release.

While living for a longer amount of time with a father who provided high-quality parenting reduced the likelihood of risky sexual behavior by daughters, spending more time with a father with poor parenting skills actually increased risky sexual behavior, the investigators found.

Risky sexual behaviors include having sex without a condom, having multiple sexual partners, having sex while intoxicated, and becoming pregnant before age 19.


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Advice for new dads

Posted by on October 21, 2011 3 comments

A new baby can put a huge strain on any relationship. There’s the stress of doing lots of things for the first time, the lack of sleep, not to mention your partner’s haywire hormone levels changing. And while you’re at it you can put that away and forget about sex for a while too. So here is some advice for all new dads out there.

Family life
You went into hospital a couple and have come home a family. There’s a third person in your relationship now, and that can be hard to get used to. You’re going to have to get used to not being her number one priority. Make sure you tell her you understand.
Help, I’m being shut out!
While there’s plenty for you to do with your baby, in the first few weeks, she’s going to be the main one looking after it. She’s not trying to exclude you, she’s just doing what needs to be done. Look at it another way – if she’s looking after the baby, who’s looking after her? Yes, you.
Give her some time
Do you have to go to every home AND away game? Or play golf on Saturday AND Sunday. Or go to the pub every night after work for a few before coming home? Skip a few invitations and be at home to give her some time to do something other than look after Baby – whether that’s going out, having a bath or just sleeping. It’s OK, the pub’s not going anywhere. It’ll still be there next time.
Sex
She’s just had a baby. And you’re so tired you can barely stand. Let’s leave that for a while, shall we? Seriously, she won’t be having sex for six weeks – at least and quite possible much much longer. But going off sex doesn’t mean she has fallen out of love with you, but the mixture of tiredness, hormonal changes in her body after the birth and constant caring for a baby often cause women to lose their sex drive. Tell her you love her. And sometimes give her a cuddle that doesn’t have to lead to something more.
Say yes to help
It’ll help you both if you accept any and all offers of assistance in the first few weeks. You don’t have to do everything yourself. Get help with cleaning, cooking, shopping and the rest of the domestic stuff while you take on the much more important job of looking after your loved ones.

Advice courtesy of Bounty. I don’t do many recommendations on here but I would like to recommend Bounty. It’s a great website packed full of information to make being a parent easier.

It starts almost from the moment of conception with information on how to identify signs of pregnancy and goes right through birth right up to raising toddlers.
And if you are a dad and still struggling with baby names it has thousands of ideas to help you choose a name. Even a baby name generator, where you can search by name meaning or origin, or discover the detailed meaning of baby names you like. There’s a host of tools to help you decide, including middle names, sibling names, popular names by region and even celebrity baby names to avoid. And they also a baby names forum where you can share your list of names with other parents.

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A baby and an ipad

Posted by on October 19, 2011 3 comments

The recent death of Apple founder Steve Jobs made me realise what a profound impact he had on the way we live. And now I have stumbled across a fantastic video that shows just how much Apple codes our minds and changes the way we think.

Watch this baby get frustrated when old fashioned magazines don’t move like her ipad.

 

This post is sponsored by Candis Magazine

Candis

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Baby scribbles

Posted by on October 18, 2011 2 comments
toddler scribbles

Today I discovered that baby has managed to scribble pen over every page of a children’s library book so i thought it would be relevant to post a guest post from Sarah Morris about other, more structured ways, to encourage writing skills in your toddler.

Recognizing the Beginnings of Writing Skills in Your Toddler

Children love to emulate the actions of adults, and that includes writing. Encourage your child’s interest. When you sit down to write a grocery list or pay bills, make sure to give pencil and paper to your little helper. The scribbles that early writers produce may not look much like writing, but they are actually helping your child develop the fine motor skills that they will eventually use to form letters.

When teaching emergent writers, don’t confuse writing with penmanship. Penmanship simply denotes the shape of the letters on the page. Writing is a way to express complex ideas. Putting too much emphasis on the look of your child’s writing can lead to feelings of inadequacy. Encourage children to doodle in shapes such as circles, triangles, ovals and straight lines, as these shapes are helpful for letter formation. Don’t worry about the primitive nature of children’s early attempts. Continue to praise their efforts and proficiency will come with time.

It’s easy to encourage a love of writing in your preschooler. Here a few simple tips to help you get started:

· Supply children with plenty of coloring books and fat crayons from a very early age. The scribbling they do in these books is preparing little fingers to hold pencils and pens.
· Keep notebooks, scratch pads and scrap paper around the house along with a cup filled with washable markers and colored pencils. Give children the opportunity to write whenever you do.
· Read to your children daily. As they get older, point out letters, trace their shapes and spell simple words in your child’s books, so that he or she will begin to see the relation between words and objects.
· Sing the alphabet song. Wooden blocks with raised letters or puzzles in the shape of the alphabet can help children learn their letters through muscle memory.
· If you see an old typewriter at a yard sale, pick it up. Encourage your child to bang on the keys. Teach children simple skills like how to type out the letters of their name on the computer. Some research has shown that children who learn to write by physically striking the keyboard become more confident and prolific writers.
· Become your child’s personal assistant. Write captions for their drawings or encourage them to tell you a story and write it down while they talk. It won’t be long before he wants to do it “all by myself.”
· Be patient. Children can become frustrated when learning to write because their brains are more developed than their motor skills. Don’t let that frustration become contagious. Know when enough is enough and it’s time to wait to try again another day.

Thanks to Sarah Morris for Primrose Schools- a favorite of parents for their comprehensive approach to preschool education.

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Brazilian samba dancing baby

Posted by on September 13, 2011 13 comments

I have joined the party late on this one, as 4 million people have already watched him on you tube, but this dancing baby is incredible.

 

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London Riots – A Dad’s View

Posted by on August 10, 2011 17 comments
riots-london_i-predict-a-riot-2011

It’s easy to condemn. It’s harder to try and understand. It’s easy, when we have money and jobs and people who love us, to label others as scum. But it’s more complicated than that.

I made a documentary series on riots a few years ago with James Brown called I Predict A Riot. We spoke to many people who had been in riots and they all spoke of the exhilaration of the mob. How exciting it was to be part of something bigger.

If you are lost and unloved, the mob and rioting can be a beautiful thing. It can give you power. People notice you. They cower in your wake. You are no longer alone, you belong. We spoke to a lot of football hooligans and many started out like this. Looking for a family. Where you all had a common aim and looked out for each other.

Imagine if your heart has never experienced love; If you have never been hugged by your mother; If you have no father and no father figures or male role models in your life; If your overriding emotion is anger, an anger and frustration so powerful that you can’t articulate it; A life so devoid of education that you don’t possess the words. We don’t like to admit it but there are kids like that all over London, some growing up in council estates just yards from our nice middle class houses.

I feel part of society. I feel I have an investment in it. I don’t want to smash up my local shops. I don’t want my neighbourhood to be destroyed. These people don’t think like that. They don’t have that concept. They have never been taught the rules of society. My baby drops things on the floor and laughs. Breaking things is fun. You need someone to tell you that it’s wrong. You need to learn it.

I haven’t spoken personally to any of the rioters of this week but I bet there are some who come from broken lives and would describe the last few days as they best they have ever had.

Of course there will also be professional criminals who are taking advantage of the chaos. And there will also be little fuckers who do know the difference between right and wrong, do have a loving mum and dad, and just are enjoying the thrill of the riot and smashing windows and looting. But if we are honest, wouldn’t many of us, when we were kids, been tempted to join in? I know I would. It would have only been the disappointment in my mother’s eyes and the fear of what my dad would do to me that would have held me back.

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Single Parenting Dating

Posted by on July 26, 2011 No comments

One of my female friends has recently become single after a messy divorce and a recent chat with her made me realise how tricky dating as a single parent can be.

“I think one of the main problems is women tend to get pickier because they have a child, and because they have a child men rule them out. “ says my friend, a single mother with a daughter under 5.

Singles dating can be fun, the freedom of no strings and the excitement of meeting new people but it can also be stressful and soul destroying. And when you are a single parent with children it is just made all the more difficult.

You love your children but a potential partner may not be quite so keen on them.

“It’s difficult to find a woman who can handle a single dad. “ says Rob, a work colleague, bringing up a 3 year old son on his own.  “I am worried my close relationship with my children will always leave the woman feeling a little “alone” and, if she’s not an introspective person, her own self esteem will be injured. Most women that I know, seem to think that, in the dating world, they are the queens…so its not easy when the man is focused on other things than just you.”

One of the biggest dilemmas of single parent dating is when to reveal that you are a parent. Do you tell people you have kids straight away or do you wait? Do you conceal their domestic situation until a little way down the line. “It’s not like I am lying, it is just that I am not going to be too specific” says one female friend.

With a family to look after you have less time, so you don’t want to waste it on unsuitable liaisons. Speed dating is one option because it allows you to meet a lot of single people in one go. Or you could try dating online. There are a number of online dating sites that are specifically for single parents.

Just Single Parents for instance is a dating site set up specifically to connect single mums and single dads that want to date. With thousands of members you can find parents to meet, date or simply chat to. They have thousands of single parent members, who are looking for fun, friendship, romance and that special long term relationship.

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BBQ Challenge (Sponsored Post)

Posted by on July 25, 2011 1 comment

Those nice people at Tesco have sent me a portable BBQ and asked me to promote their BBQ Challenge. Which they have set up to decide which of the sexes is best on the BBQ and presumably flog a few BBQ products as well.

Yesterday I finally unpacked it and challenged wifey to a BBQ cooking contest. But she wasn’t that interested in it.
“Why do you want to burn nice food?
“You are not meant to burn it. There’s a skill involved.”
“Whatever darling. You win.”

Then it started raining. So we put a frozen fish pie in the oven instead. I have to say it tasted very nice and it wasn’t burnt at all.

If you are interested, Tesco’s are looking for recipes that add a creative twist to tried and tested BBQ classics. Just visit the Tesco Real Food site, and enter your great BBQ suggestion. There’ll be a different category each week for 3 weeks (eg kebabs, salads, fish and meat), and they’re looking for the best ideas on how to do something different and tasty on the BBQ.
Enter your recipe name, a description and a photo if you have one. The winners will receive a great gas hamper from Tesco Direct and have their ideas featured on the Real Food site.

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The secrets of parenting #101

Posted by on July 15, 2011 4 comments

All my life I have watched parents pick up crying children and put their child’s head on their shoulders . Before I became a father I always used to think that this was something you read about in a baby manual something that said this is comforting for the child. Now I realise there is another reason.

Sticking your child’s head over your shoulder makes the ear piercing screams goes behind you, over your shoulder, and not right into your ear. It’s the only way to hold them and not have your eardrums in pain.

Whether its actually comforting for the child I am not sure but its certainly more comforting for the parent.

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