Find Me Face Down on the Floor Behind the Sofa. A Narcoleptic’s Tale.

Our 'hidden illness' series continues with an amazingly insightful and frank post from my fabulous friend Rebecca on Narcolepsy.

If you ask somebody who is ill what the worst thing is about an illness, you will find pain is probably at the top. Followed closely by lethargy or exhaustion. So we know tiredness is awful yet we fail to recognise as a disability. This blog article for The Parent Game is to help you understand the rather odd life cycle of a narcoleptic. Please try and stay awake!

Living with Asthma from a Young Age - How to Help

This guest post is written by my daughter Jade, who would like to tell you about her experiences as an Asthma sufferer. She was first diagnosed at the age of 2 and has lots of advice to help young people cope with asthma, based on her own experience. If you know a young asthma sufferer, you might find this post helpful, because no one knows this illness better than someone who has battled it for 20 years. Asthma is dangerous and prolific and it costs lives. Many people are affected by it and the charity Asthma UK is campaigning for Change to improve the lives of the millions of sufferers in this country. Please click the links to find out how you can help. Over to Jade, who I'd like to thank for writing such a lovely post!

Living with MS, Lorna's Story

I have a lovely friend called Lorna, who I have known for a number of years. I am constantly in awe of her, since she is the sort of mum other mums are jealous of. She bakes amazing cakes, she is super-organised, holds down a demanding job and even finds time to be a fantastic Beaver Scout leader! She is amazing. However, one thing you may not notice about Lorna is that she has a Multiple Sclerosis, a serious medical condition that can effect all kinds of areas of function within the body. She has kindly agreed to spend a little time telling you more about it. Her words a truly inspirational and I may just love her a little bit more after reading them! 

Time for Tea with Teatulia

We love tea parties in our house. It might be old fashioned and a little bit daft, but it's actually really fun, and doesn't have to cost much. You can make your own cakes or pastries, which is a fun activity for children, and then have a proper teapot and cups and saucers, a la Downton Abbey. We even have a cake stand. Oh yes. In the summer this becomes an outdoor activity, like a tiny garden party with just a few select guests. My daughter is a big tea fan and a bit of a connoisseur, so I thought it only right that she contributed to this review of a selection of teas from Teatulia. 

Remembering Jack: The Final Chapter

For those of you with a really good memory, you may remember how myself and my friend Lisa had a great deal of support from a lot of amazing people in order to raise £2,000 for Addenbrookes Hospital. We started the fundraising to honour the memory of Lisa's beautiful son who lived just two days. If you would like to, you can read the original story here. Lisa recently travelled to Cambridge to hand over the cheque and meet some of the wonderful staff who do such a brilliant job looking after some of the most vulnerable of the hospital's patients. There follows a short post from Lisa, who wanted an opportunity to thank everyone who made this possible, so I will leave the final word to her.

Wing Walking Super Mum for Parkinson's UK!

With Mother's Day on our minds, I thought I would share with you an amazing story about a wonderful mum and her crazy fundraising efforts, guest posted by her daughter, Eleanor. It would be really lovely if you could share this post on your own Social Media platforms, in order to spread the word and raise as much money as possible for an amazing cause. Thank you. 

Never Kick a Gift Horse: Buying the Perfect Present

The Art of Buying a Gift - A Guest Post by Jade 

The simple exchange of gifts between one person and another… oh, if only this were true! Everyone struggles to buy gifts for a variety of reasons. I have sorted the most common reasons into five categories below, along with some advice on how to use these reasons not to buy someone a gift to your advantage when choosing the gift.

My Favourite Movie Soundtrack, with CurrysPCWorld

I recently heard about a competition from CurrysPCWorld, the suppliers of all things swanky in the world of sound, including the competition prize, from Bose. The competition really captured my attention, because it was on one of my husband's favourite subjects; movie soundtracks. So, there follows a guest post by said husband, on the subject of Singin' in the Rain. Best of luck, dear!

Note to Self...

A Guest Post by Jade...

A new year for most people will begin in January with a list of resolutions, written in good faith, to improve yourself. Everyone looks to improve in the same areas. Resulting, in special offers at gyms and magazines promoting the New Year’s sale in every clothes shop to help you to find the ‘New You'.

Family Life with Sensory Processing Disorder (Guest Post)

There follows a guest post from my lovely friend Emma, who has kindly agreed to write, in her own words, about her experience of a condition that affects up to one in twenty children, to varying degrees. I think she's amazing and I hope her story will encourage other families facing similar challenges. 

A Day at the Etihad!

You may remember my lovely friend Lisa from the previous post Remembering Jack. She and her family have had a difficult year or so and have shown enormous strength and solidarity throughout. Not least, young Jesse, who, at just ten tears old, has had to endure more trauma and heart ache in his young life, than you would wish on anyone, big or small. So, when Lisa told me about a competition to win Jesse his dream prize, I was very, very glad to assist. ‘Help!’ she said. ‘I have to write about why Jesse is their biggest fan, but I’m HOPELESS with words!’ She’s really not, as you will see below, but anyway…

A Day as a Penguin Keeper at Birdland Park and Gardens

I am proud to introduce my daughter Jade, with her first guest post for you. She is here to tell you all about a lovely place to visit with children. Birdland Park and Gardens in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire is a lovely, family friendly environment with lots to offer, including an assortment of over 130 bird species. The prices are very reasonable, and there are extra activities that can be prebooked at fantastic prices. Click on the link to visit their website for more information, or join them on Facebook here. For Jade, the best part of our visit to Birdland, for a life-long penguin fan, was the keeper experience, which included feeding the penguins, amongst many other duties. Here is an account of the day, in her own words.