10 Ways To Survive Christmas without Gaining Weight

Anyone who struggles with their weight will know how hard it is to stay on track over Christmas. Temptation is everywhere; special offers in the shops, gifts from well-meaning friends, offerings at the school fete, the list is endless! Christmas these days seems to centre predominantly around food and there are no end of tempting treats that we feel compelled to buy in the shops, because it's traditional. No one wants to undo all their hard work in just a couple of weeks, though, so I've put together a list, with some ideas to keep us all motivated. If something has worked for you, feel free to comment below!

Christmas Packaging - What can you Recycle?

Over Christmas, the UK population generates 25% more waste than normal. With waste collections becoming less frequent and rubbish bins getting smaller (in our county, anyway!), this can pose a real problem for households. Add to that, the strain on the environment, and this means it is even more important than ever to up our recycling and upcycling game to try to keep landfill to a minimum. This post aims to sort out the facts when it comes to recycling your Christmas packaging, as well as what you can do to ensure you don't end up with a lot more landfill waste this Christmas and some alternatives to traditional wrapping.

Snow White at the Bristol Hippodrome Review

 This week we were lucky enough to be invited to the free press night showing of a classic tale: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We did a little dance when the invitation came our way because while we were all sat indoors, twiddling our thumbs, eagerly awaiting the day we can look at this pandemic and say - “It’s behind you!” getting an invitation to escape it for a few hours was the next best thing. The pantomime is showing until January 2nd and you can get your tickets via this link www.atgtickets.com. It was a magical experience to see the Bristol Hippodrome eagerly throw its safety curtain up and doors wide open after this year of turmoil for the theatre industry. 

Would you Encourage a Career in Engineering for Your School Leaver?

I attended an online presentation last week with my son on the career options in a manufacturing firm near us. We are surrounded by big-name manufacturers where we live and I was really taken with the idea of an apprenticeship. I'd never really thought about it before, I didn't even realise they were still a thing, but I thought it was important we got some insight into potential careers since we won't be going to any events any time soon and I really learned a lot. Things have changed since I was at school and young people are required to stay in education even longer, which is great, but I'm glad there are options available for those who may not be that academically minded and would prefer something a bit more hands-on. 

How to Declutter and Still Be Sentimental

 I've never considered myself to be a hoarder, but I do like to hang onto things. Not necessarily out of sentimentality, although that is often the case, sometimes because there is no real reason not to keep something. I look after things and keep them in good condition, so why not just let it all stay? Like most people, though, my house is not huge, and recently I've found myself dreaming of a bigger place even more than usual. Something had to give and it was time to either buy an awful lot of lottery tickets or get tough. I started with my dressing table, which I talked about in Creating my Small Space Home Office and I've carried on from there. Here's how I decluttered my whole house successfully, without losing my mind, or anything I didn't want to. 

The Ultimate Independent Small Business Gift Guide

This gift guide is entirely unsponsored and features a combination of small, independent businesses that I have used myself and small independent businesses that have been recommended to me. I hope it provides a useful resource for anyone wanting to support small businesses and #BuyLocal. There are a number of reasons to choose independent businesses, including supporting the economy and helping to create a more diverse marketplace. It's also nice to buy from someone who is really going to get a warm feeling from someone using their service. There are no pictures, to keep it fair to all the businesses and because this took forever to produce and I really wanted to get it out before Christmas! 

Mindscreen Experience Raising Self Confidence in Children - Part 3

 We've come to the end of our Mindscreen Experience and we wanted to share one last update with our progress and thoughts on how it went. In case you haven't caught up with Looking After Children's Mental Health with Mindscreen and Review of the Mindscreen Experience Part 2, I've been taking part in a review of the Mindscreen Experience program with my teenage son. Mindscreen provides a toolkit of resources to enable you to measure and improve your child's self-confidence, by helping you work together to find out how they feel now and guiding you through lesson plans and worksheets to improve their self-esteem and self-confidence.