What is the Best Age to Start a Family

Having children is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make and many thoughts will cross your mind as you consider your options for starting a family. Maybe you've always known how many children you would like and what age you hope to be, or perhaps life has made that decision for you. Either way, there is always a lot of debate and advice about the best age to have children, with really no right or wrong answers. I have got together with some brilliant parent bloggers to give you the low down on the best bits of parenthood, at different ages and life stages to help you get some perspective on what to expect when the time comes.

5 Tips to Keep Your Family Healthy on Holiday

A guest post in collaboration with Insurancewith 

Regular rules get thrown out of the window when you’re on holiday. You’re in a new place, discovering new things, and every day is different. As a consequence, the little steps you normally make to take care of you and your family’s health tend to be at the back of your mind. Fortunately, there’s a way you can balance your well-being and all the fun you’ll be having while you’re away — follow these five tips to keep your family healthy on holiday and you’re all bound to reap the benefits.

The Truth about Fortnite - A Parents Guide

There has been an awful lot of noise in the press recently about a free multi-platform video game that children have gone absolutely crazy about. The press have not been kind, and many parents are concerned about potential harmful effects from this gun-toting war game on their enthusiastic offspring. I'm talking about Fortnite - Battle Royale and this Parents Guide is here to bring you the facts behind the headlines. What it's all about, what I've learned from watching it and how you can help your children play it safely, or not, if that's your choice after reading these facts about the game.

Free Printable Fun Bathroom Reminder Signs

We all know that potty training can be a tricky time, with some children taking to it straight away and others needing a lot more encouragement. However long it takes, there is definitely a sense of euphoria that this potentially messy milestone has been nailed successfully. However, often it doesn't end there and phase two is encouraging children to use the toilet correctly, and hygienically. These fun, printable bathroom signs, offer a timely reminder to everyone, with simple rules we all need to follow, presented in a light-hearted way. As we all know, it's not only children who need an occasional nudge in this department!

Top Tips for First Time Flying with Children

I recently flew with my son abroad for the first time and I was really nervous about how he would take to it and if we would encounter problems. I needn't have worried, he was absolutely fine and it all went pretty smoothly, leaving me wishing I'd done it years ago. I was never brave enough to take mine abroad when they were small, but I really wish I had, as it's such an amazing experience for them. If you're thinking of taking a foreign holiday with your little one, I have got together with some brilliant parent bloggers to create the ultimate guide for first time flying with children. It's everything you didn't know you needed to know!

Win a Monster High Ari Hauntington Figure

Giving Up Smoking - One Year Later

There follows a guest post update on my husband's new smoke-free life, after successfully giving up a year ago. Due, in no small part, to the amazing book Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking, it took an enormous amount of determination and self-belief to give up completely and the effect on the family has been quite profound. Not especially dramatic, but lots of little improvements in every aspect of our lives. I no longer sit alone in restaurants, I don't have to avoid hanging the washing near where he smokes, we are better off financially and our son doesn't have a feeling of dread every time those awful anti-smoking ads come on the TV, to name a few. That's enough from me, though, this is his story, in his own words.