In honour of National Adoption Week we wanted to feature a real adoption story as our blog of the week. This post by Sally Donovan is featured on the blog Life with Katie: Our adoption story, which will be publishing a guest story each day this week to highlight National Adoption Week. This post tells the story of how Sally and her husband came to adopt a little boy and girl and the joy and challenges it brought.

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When Rob and I arrived at adoption I remember not being all that surprised.  It had always been in the back of my mind somewhere and on a simplistic level, wanting a child, when lots of children are in need of a family presented a ‘no-brainer’.  We had been trying to conceive for five years and experienced the dashing of hopes and layering of disappointments that many others do.  But I am fortunate that parenting my own genetic offspring was never that high up the list of priorities, what mattered was being a parent.  When we were finally declared ‘infertile’ it meant we felt able to travel straight to ‘GO’ on the adoption Monopoly board and not via IVF.  This may sound insane, particularly to those who are suffering with infertility but when I look back now, I’m glad we couldn’t conceive children.

The adoption process itself was neither difficult nor lengthy.  The training was robust and

Image:Netmums

sufficiently opened our eyes to the realities of modern day adoption.  We were interviewed over several months by an excellent Social Worker who guided us then and still does today.  From our initial contact with Social Services to our approval as adopters took nine months and our two children were placed with us three months after this.  There was so much to learn and process during this time we would have struggled had it happened any quicker.

The day we were told there were two children, a boy and a girl that could be a possible match with us, I danced uncontrollably around our kitchen, screamed, shouted and cheered.  It was a great day.  The joy was tempered as we learnt about the children’s early lives.  In common with the majority of adopted children they had endured neglect and abuse during those early months and years when good, reliable care is so crucial to development.

Jamie, then 4 years old and Rose, then 12 months came into our lives almost nine years ago.  Caring for two pre-school aged children, with whom you share no history, was a big shock.  But we quickly got to know each other, built up a small bank of shared experiences and bonded.  I started loving them very quickly.

Image:Netmums

The past nine years has been a time of extremes.  The damage done, particularly to our eldest child has been quite profound and long-lasting. Both children require a level of parenting over and above the average and much of it differs from traditional styles.  Both Rob and I have had to try and unpick the ways we were parented and learn new methods and approaches.  There have been dramatic struggles with schooling, friendships, anger, aggression and anxiety.  But we have shared the most brilliant times, laughs, closeness and affection too.  Our struggles have deepened our connections and solidified our bonds.  And every day is a new day, every hour a new hour.

Although some adoption experiences are smooth and untroubled, generally adoption is not for those who seek an averagely easy and dependable life. Adoptive parents have to be prepared to go the extra mile, to continue to learn, to advocate, to challenge, to educate and to accept support now and again.  I have been stretched and challenged in ways I never would have thought possible, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.  I am a better, more tolerant person than I once was and when I sit amongst my often noisy and chaotic family, I am proud of what we have all achieved.

My advice to anyone considering adoption is to go into it with your eyes wide open.  Go to as many courses and training sessions as you can, read all the books, talk to adopters and think about whether you have space in your life for a child who is going to need all the time, energy and love that you have, and some.  If you have then you may just find yourself on the most extraordinary, exhausting, life-enhancing and rewarding ride of your life.

You can read more about the life and times of Sally and her family at http://www.sallydonovan.net/

Today’s guest blog is from Otilia – a mum who writes honestly about her experience of antenatal depression. Otilia Stocks blogs at Romanian Mum In London. She moved to London  6 years ago when she fell in love and got married to a Yorkshireman called Adrian. They now have a 3 year old daughter called Kara and a baby girl due to arrive on the 1st of December.

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The Royal College of Midwifes and Netmums released a survey on Sunday which shows that antenatal depression is a very common illness that can develop into postnatal depression after birth. I am very happy that such a survey was done to raise awareness. It is important that a sensitive illness such as depression is approached fast as the consequences can be devastating.

Here is my story:

I think that more or less I was affected by depression my whole life. I was always a sad soul that needed down moments to recover and that sometimes cried for no apparent reason for the rest of the world.

Thinking back to the time when I was pregnant the first time, I think that even then I had signs of depression. But I kept myself busy with work commitments, until I was about 38 weeks pregnant, so I didn’t allow myself to acknowledge it that much.

It all hit me when I was diagnosed with postnatal depression a couple of months after I gave birth. I knew something was wrong with me but was afraid to admit it to the world. Because the doctor prescribed them, I took antidepressants. They helped but the biggest help was to talk about my depression on my blog. The depression got better with time. It was a very hard time for me and my family. Sometimes the relationship with my husband was strained because of it, but bit by bit we got over it.

Image: Netmums

Now I am pregnant again and because I had a history of depression on record at my local hospital my darling midwife recommended me to see a specialist mental health midwife. My discussion was so heartwarming and I found myself crying really early into the appointment. I opened my heart and it was the best thing I have ever done.

I didn’t know before but you can actually develop depression during pregnancy too – “antenatal depression”. When she mentioned that I might suffer with it, I knew that it all made sense. It is expected for pregnancy to bring sentiments of joy and happiness into a women’s life. However with so many hormones and expectations influencing a women’s mind, sometimes pregnancy can bring negative thoughts. This is what happened to me. I’m happy and excited but the majority of time I’m sad and scared. There are moments when I need to stop and have a good cry. There are moments when I’m angry because I feel the way I feel. Worries of the future are darkening my mind.

Now because I was made aware of the problem by my mental health midwife and diagnosed by the prenatal team with antenatal mediocre depression I know that there is someone there looking after me. I know that if I feel low and sad I can always call my mental health midwife for a chat. I choose not to take antidepressants before birth because I have a 3 year old daughter that needs attention and support – medication can make me feel so tired. Talking about my feelings is so much better. I feel that I have all the support that every women should have during pregnancy. I wish I had the same support during my first pregnancy and maybe that would’ve meant that my postnatal depression wouldn’t have been so bad.

Now with the support of the midwife and the prenatal team I know that my depression can be managed even though it might mean that I will have to start taking antidepressants straight after the birth.

I hope if you are there and pregnant and feel like me you speak out and talk to your midwife about it. It is best for you and your baby that you are healthy and strong and that applies to your mental health as well.

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On her blog Otilia writes about her life experience as a foreign mum in London and she shares recipes from her home country.

Blog address: http://www.romanianmum.com/

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/romanianmum

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Romanian-Mum-In-London/108988345843352?ref=tn_tnmn

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Read more about the new survey findings and find advice and support for antenatal depression here. If you  are feeling down or think you may be suffering from antenatal depression then we have trained Parent Supporters on hand to provide you with support and advice.

This beautiful post and pictures by Josie from Sleep is for the Weak really made us smile.

She has captured exactly what it is that kids love to do – and proves that when we take the time out to do these kind of activities we can thoroughly enjoy them too!

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Wellies on, folks. Fetch clipboards and pens. Pack a bag with chocolate buttons to bribe them with half way round when they lose interest. Plan a route and make up your list of things you’re likely to see in your little space of the world (it’s a good feeling to get home with all the boxes ticked) and have a big pile of cake or the equivalent waiting back home to reward your grubby, small adventurers with.

Kai knows our neighbourhood pretty well so drew us a map of where he thought we should go. Getting him to draw his own version of our ‘treasure list’ helped to give him a mental map of the things we were looking for so he stood a better chance of remembering them on our way round (it also killed some time while I had a shower. Ha.)

We decided on a BONUS sheet too – good to add to if you reach a bit of the walk where you treasure items are a little unforthcoming. Ours was leaves of different colours, with spaces to stick down leaves of each colour as we spotted them (pack sellotape).

Next time I want to do a sounds list. Get them to listen for bird song, dogs barking, a car horn, the wind whooshing, wet branches dripping. I’d have liked to have had a list of a few more wildcards too – writing down the most interesting thing we saw that had been thrown away, writing down an unexpected sound we heard, or a word we saw written down. (*steers Kai past our urban graffitti*).

It was a beautiful morning for us. I hope you have as much fun as we did.

One hour, and one VERY illusive bug later (turns out bugs do NOT like damp November days) … RESULT.

Happy treasure hunting.

(NB. Not Hitler’s dog. FOUR DOGS. Four ticks. Yikes)

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Find a whole host of ideas to get you and your family out and about enjoying the last days of autumn over on Netmums.

At the very start of the year we ran a series of blog posts and prompts to run alongside Channel 4′s hugely successful One Born Every Minute series. Heather Francesca, one of the women featured on the show wrote a great post for us and now that she’s back in the follow up programme ‘One Born Every Minute – What happened next?’ she’s been kind enough to come back and tell us what the past year has been like. It’s been a year of highs and lows for Heather as she’ll tell you now.

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It’s been a crazy year so far! it’s was just over a year since I gave birth to my beautiful daughter Eivissa and as some of you may have seen I did this on national tv on the show ‘one born every minute.’ It was such a great experience getting to share my birth with 6 million people and when the producers called to say they would love film us for a follow up show we jumped at the chance.

So, next thing we knew the cameras were following our every move, they wanted to capture our lives and how we have adjusted to becoming parents. One of the things they wanted to document was the pregnancy of our second child.

As our 12 week scan approached, we met with the series producer, Grace and decided it would be a great idea for them to film it, so on the morning of the scan we met for a quick briefing and off we went to the Leeds General Infirmary.

The sonographer called us into the room and the cameras started rolling, as I lay there with Danny beside me holding my hand, I began to feel how lucky I was and how truly thankful I am that I get to be in this position again.
The gel went on and as she began the ultrasound I could tell by the look on the nurses face that something was wrong, at first I dismissed it but then I saw the look on Danny’s face, that’s when I knew something was really wrong, the news every mother fears and dreads was spoken to me for the first time, we had sadly lost our little baby, devastated doesn’t come close to the pain we felt in that moment, our whole life felt completely dull and numb, all our planning and excitement of our family growing was now shattered and there was nothing we could do to change that, the only thing we could do was change our attitude in that situation.
To us, it wasn’t a cell, it wasn’t just a thing in my tummy, it was a baby, a son or daughter, a future husband or wife, who would have known what he or she would have gone on to do in life, I felt robbed, broken and hurt that this happened, why me i asked? What have I done to deserve this? Thankfully Danny was there as my rock, he really showed me that bad things happen to good people and that this experience should not be something that we can take and turn around for something good. He was right, what happened was heart wrenching but i had to deal with it the best way I knew how, to get some good out of this bad experience, to use what I had been through to help others dealing with the loss of an unborn child.

As always I’m not going to let past hurts determine my future and hopefully this can strike a chord with others, I know what happened to me happens to women up and down the country every single day and the fact is, its ok to grieve, it’s ok to be sad but don’t let that stop you from been positive and remain happy in all circumstances.

I had to take all my emotion and channel it into something good and that’s when we came up with the idea for a clothing collection dedicated to our child and to name it Baby Friday as this was the day when we found out.

So the work began, designing, sampling, photo shoots and websites have been keeping us ultra busy and it’s been great to have all this on camera, in fact the camera crew became like extended family and when  we took a trip to ibiza they decided to come along and film it!
So to sum up the last year I can say it’s been memorable for some of the best highs but also some of the worst lows but all in all I’m just thankful that we get to do our version of life as a happy family. We’re very blessed to have a great marriage and happy home that our daughter gets to grow up in, its these simple things that make life so precious and our hurts have taught us to enjoy every single moment. 

I hope you have enjoyed following our lives and seeing what were up to, I’m really glad we get to share it with you and perhaps give a different perspective of parenthood.

Heather Francesca
Www.heatherfrancesca.wordpress.com
Twitter; heatherfrancesc
Www.babyfriday.co.uk

Heather and Danny’s episode airs on Weds 28th Nov at 10pm on More4

Today’s guest blog is from Charlotte who writes about parenting her teenage son Fred who has Aspergers and the trails and tribulations this throws up. Charlotte lives in Bath and has two children of her own and four ( yes four) stepsons, all for sale on eBay. She is a psychotherapist and coach and writes on family matters from her extensive and bitter experience.’

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Sooo… Just another average week at Dysfunctional Towers. An annual review for Fred ( my Aspergic 15 year old) who was beyond furious that school had commented on his personal hygiene issues. Not an easy subject to bring up, especially with a lad who
interprets ‘ how are you?’ as an invasive question…

The blunt fact is though, he smells.

And not, like most teenage boys, of Lynx, which (although revolting) at least implies a
passing acquaintance with the bathroom. Fred, on the other hand, believes washing to
be an occupation for the sub autistics, whereas he has his mind on Far More Important
Things. These currently include ancient Peruvian civilisations and the mating habits of rats. (You really want Fred on your side in a pub quiz).

It’s not that he doesn’t bath, it’s just that his definition of a bath involves squatting in warm
water unsullied by soap, talking to himself. Then he gets out and puts on the clothes he has just taken off and gets back to those rats. His Aspergic nose is offended by chemical perfumes but seemingly immune to the sort of eye watering smell of teenage sweat that makes most of us edge away from him on public transport.

We have tried Subtle Approaches (Me: ‘ Fred we thought you might like some of your own toiletries’. Fred: ‘ why? Why would I want to smell like a chemical factory?’). We have tried Blunt Approaches (Me: ‘ Wash with soap because otherwise you smell and people won’t want to be near you. ‘ Fred: ‘ That’s OK with me. I don’t like people. Can I breed rats in my bedroom?’)

Parenting an Aspergic child does not follow any normal rules. He is immune to the
disciplinary sanctions we use on his siblings ( whom Fred refers to lovingly as ‘the moronic
imbeciles’ or ‘MIs’ for short). Removal of pocket money is met with a shrug and a lecture
on how the love of money is the route to the destruction of western civilisation. Sending
to his room is seen as a privilege not a punishment, as it’s a place refreshingly free of the
MIs. Bribery is met with suspicion, as are attention and affection.

It’s not that he deliberately tries to irritate us; far from it. He doesn’t have a malicious bone
in his skinny body. It’s just that there is very little overlap between what matters to us
and what matters to him. Washing, cleaning teeth, using deodorant and putting on clean
clothes just don’t register with him as important. One of the many problems of parenting
an Aspergic child is that he can often appear normally functioning; he is bright, articulate
and witty, but he is also breathtakingly stubborn.

So the only way forward is for us to stand at the bathroom door barking instructions and prompts and hoping ( usually in vain) that at the end of the mutually loathed bathing ritual, he passes the dreaded armpit sniff test. And while he is in the bath, we confiscate all dirty clothes from his bedroom floor. And plug in an air freshener. And open the bedroom window. And pour two very large gin and tonics.

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Do you have a child with Aspergers? What parenting challenges does this throw up? We would love to hear your stories too

Image: Netmums

Friday is usually the day for a Team Netmums blog but as things have been a bit topsy turvy over Christmas and we posted on Monday today we bring you a guest blog. Today’s guest blog comes from writer Zoe Armstrong who lives in Brighton with her young daughter. Together they bumble around, hoping not to make a hash of things. And mostly they enjoy it. Zoe blogs about the terrors and triumphs (and frankly the entertainment value) of raising a toddler by oneself at http://forthegirlblog.blogspot.co.uk . Her blog is a reminder that, despite rumours to the contrary, solo parenting is often happy, funny and really rather ordinary actually.

Zoe can also be found on Twitter @MsZoeArmstrong

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Late so soon

The faster one travels, the slower time moves. We know this from Einstein’s theory of relativity.

So if something is moving incredibly slowly – a toddler putting on her coat, say – time must surely zoom along at quite a pace. FINALLY an answer to the vexing question of why it is that a person in sole charge of a young child cannot leave the house before noon. IT’S PHYSICS.

No, really. I theorized the hell out of it while watching my daughter complete a jigsaw puzzle. She worked carefully. It was a slow process. So slow I was forced to lash myself to the table to keep from diving in, wailing: “Seriously, it only has FOUR pieces.” Time, on the other hand, although seeming to stand still, rushed past so quickly that lunchtime was suddenly upon us. And I had achieved NOTHING. (Apart from further developing Einstein’s seminal work, of course. Oh hello Nobel Prize.)*

It occurs to me at this point that one of the most difficult things about the early years of parenthood is what a desperate dawdle the whole business can be. When I say dawdle, I don’t mean that life is not busy, just that it manages to be busy very, very slowly. Of course, I’m temperamentally completely unsuited to this new pace. I really must adjust.

But there is something about the natural tendency of a toddler to faff that can be maddening when hurrying. Worse still for my poor old baby, though, who must endure a mother who palpably vibrates with restless energy as we go through our daily getting-ready-to-go-out routine.**

I won’t bore you with the detail (perhaps you have a similar routine yourself) but it does involve: last minute changes of footwear, coat refusal, the exuberant upturning of toy baskets, spontaneous games of ‘shopping’, urgent requests for plaaaaaaaaaydooooooh and, as we finally close the front door behind us, a nappy (diaper) that can only be described as a dirty protest. At which point the whole saga starts again ad infinitum.

The truth is a deadline (even a self-imposed one) is no friend of the toddler. Without a deadline life with the very young takes on its own much looser shape. Without a deadline there is MUCH more laughing. Without a deadline you get a non-vibrating woman and a delighted toddler. And this of course is a very good thing. I feel a New Year’s resolution coming on.

Happy 2013!

*Oh yes, and raising a dear child too.

** Yes, a vibrating mother. Is that not a normal thing?

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How did or do you cope with the pace of life dictated by toddlers and babies? Do you get frustrated with the pace or try to relax into it? Find tips, advice and ideas for things to do with your toddler in the Netmums Toddler Guide.

Our Blog of the Week this week comes from Older Single Mum who offers us an insight into her daily Mum monologue.

The post is called ‘Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit’ and it sounds very, very familiar to us….

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‘No bouncing on the bed!  How many times do I have to tell you?’ 

‘Again, it’s time to get dressed.  Now, come on.’

‘Get yourselves dressed.’

‘If you don’t get dressed now, I’ll take you to the shops/ school/ out in your pyjamas.’

‘No, you can’t have chocolate before breakfast.  You know that.’

‘Now sit straight at the table.  No, don’t sit sideways.  It twists your stomach.’

‘It’s what you asked for.  Eat your breakfast nicely.’

‘No.  Don’t hit your brother.  Stop fighting.  Be kind to each other.  I’ve had enough already.  Please. Stop winding each other up.’

‘Crikey.  No, you can’t watch television, it’s time to leave.’

‘Hello?  You’ve had all morning to play with your toys / train track / each other.  Why choose now when we’re trying to get out of the house?’

‘Get your shoes on for the millionth time.’

‘Why is it such a struggle to ever leave?’

‘Which bit of ‘get your coat on’ didn’t you understand?’

‘No.  I want Radio 2 on.  I’m the driver, I’m in charge.’

‘No.  All they play is that James Arthur.’
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‘That’s enough fighting with your brother.  He loves you.  No, I know it doesn’t look like it, but that’s his way of showing affection.  He wants your attention.’

‘Stop annoying one another.  ’Because you’re really annoying me.’

‘That’s it.  I’ve had enough.  For goddness sake why can’t you just play nicely?  Loads of children would love half the toys you’ve got. Shall we give them away?’

‘What’s with all the noise?’

‘No you can’t watch television.’

‘There’s no need to shout.  Why do you have to be so loud?  STOP SHOUTING!’

‘OK.  Put the television on and leave each other alone.  Leave me alone.  I’m having a glass of wine cooking dinner.’

‘That’s it.  Sit to the table properly.  No don’t kneel.  Legs forward.  Why do you have to sit like that?  I don’t care how they let you eat at school.  You’re not eating like that here.’

‘Be polite.  Eat nicely. Yes, you do like it.  You always like it.  Yes, you can have pudding when you’ve eaten all your dinner.  No, it’s not a race.  Yes, fruit first, then pudding.  You know the rules.’

‘Yes, you do have to do your homework.  Yes, I know it’s a pain but it’s got to be done.  No I won’t do it for you, but yes, of course, I’ll help you.  We love problem solving / maths / Literature / English, don’t we?’  No, you can’t watch more television afterwards, you’ll get square eyes.  No,you can’t do it while you eat your dinner.  I don’t care that no-one else does it, you’ll get mummy into trouble if you don’t do it.  We’ve spent longer arguing over you not doing it than it takes to actually do it.’

‘No, we can’t watch a film.  It’s time for a  bath.  No, you can’t play with your toys / the computer / your brother now.  You’ve had all evening to do that.’

‘OK. One of you out of the bath NOW.  I don’t care which one.  Whichever one of you hurt the other one first. Out.’

‘No bouncing on the bed!’

‘Night, night.’

Repeat ad infinitum, right?  Roll on next week!

Brassic, strapped, skint, impecunious (we looked that one up!)…just a few words to describe the financial state of so many of us this January.

It’s a really bleak month as far as money goes. Many families received their last pay check early in December (and then promptly spent most of it on Christmas) and the weeks stretch gloomily ahead before any more wages come in. We all spent more than we meant to on presents, food and festivities over Christmas and then there is also benefit and tax cuts for many too, which means we are really feeling the squeeze.

One of the most popular threads over on Netmums right now is one where members are supporting each other through a ‘No Spend January’ and swapping money saving tips and ideas along the way.

Thinking about money and budgeting is not the most exciting of things to do – often it is all too easy to make like an ostrich and bury your head in the sand instead. The only problem is that by shoving bills and bank statements in the drawer (or virtual drawer online) might hide them from sight but the worry of money can then snake its way back into your mind and start niggling away. If you need to start budgeting and saving money it’s difficult to not only get your head out of the sand but to know where (and how) to start. And that’s why we decided to make January a frugal one on Netmums.

Netmums is bringing you Frugal Weekends throughout January. Each Friday on our homepage we will be featuring 5 top money saving tips and articles. We will be bringing you some easy ways to start budgeting, to cut costs and to make ends meet. We’ll even be featuring ways to make a bit of extra cash too to get you through the month. You will find top tips on budget meals and how to cut the costs of food shopping, ideas for cutting the cost of your household bills, ways to have free or inexpensive days in or out with your family, how to plan in and stick to No Spend Days and plenty of motivation to help you along the way.

So why not join us in our Frugal Weekends? To get started just go to our Netmums homepage and see what we have featured this week. You can find out more about Frugal Weekends here. 

Happy saving everyone. If you have any top money saving or budgeting tips to share then do let us know.

Today’s guest blog is written by Fi Case and Barbara Bishop  who are the founders of Zeamu music. They realised that whilst  pre-school and primary children loved listening to pop music there wasn’t any that really resonated and was relevant to them lyrically and set about plugging the gap. They have also kindly agreed to giveaway 10 copies of the Zeamu music CD. Scroll down to find out how to get your hands on a copy.

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Pop music for kids – is there a demand?

Music can be such a powerful way to connect with people. With most adult pop music, children are only getting half the experience i.e. they’re getting the music without necessarily understanding the words, as more often than not, they are not relevant to them. There isn’t any pop music that really connects lyrically with young children.

With children’s TV, they cater for different ages.  From CBeebies, kids then progress to CBBC and Nick Jnr. Children might watch Masterchef or Eastenders with their parents but they are more likely drawn to channels specifically for them as that is what resonates best with them and  what they enjoy most. The same applies with books. When kids are tiny they look at picture books. As they grow up and learn to read, books become available to them that suit not only their age group and ability to read, but also that are relevant and written specifically for them.

So with music, why is it that we have the Tweenies and The Wiggles for pre-schoolers and then we have mainstream pop? What about the Inbetweenies (4-10)? Those kids are discovering their own music taste and who may want to listen to music of their own.

We wondered if there was a demand for pop music written especially for younger kids; dealing with topics that affect them but with the mainstream pop sound they’re beginning to get into around the age of 4 or 5. So we set up Zeamu Music as an independent record company that produces music specifically for pre-school and primary children.

We worked with a group of amazing musicians and producers who were all really excited about this brief – to create some truly original, mainstream, style pop music that wasn’t patronising and covered topics that were relevant to younger kids. Our producers have also worked with a wide variety of mainstream artists so are used to creating very highly produced pop music.

The biggest challenge we now have is that when you say ‘kids pop music’ to adults they automatically assume it won’t be any good! The response once they have listened to the album has been fantastic! And as for the kids – we have tested it with hundreds of children and carried out workshops in schools. And they love it too!

Children will always listen to music and to try and stop them listening to mainstream pop would be both counterproductive and unrealistic. We created Zeamu Music to try to offer some more relevant music that can sit alongside what kids want to listen to today. The hope is that it hits the production values that kids have come to expect but provides content that enables them to truly engage with the music.

Together with the Zeamu characters that we have designed and made music videos for, the Zeamu world of music is one that kids can really enjoy, own and have fun with.

Find out more at www.zeamumusic.com The album is available to buy on the website or from iTunes.

You can also listen to previews of the tunes on the website and there are some lovely free print outs and colour-in activities there too.

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Win….win….win

Zeamu music are giving away 10 copies of their music CD to ten lucky winners. To enter this competition simply add your comment to this blog post and we will pick out ten lucky winners from all comments received by January 31st. Usual Netmums terms and conditions apply.

Little feet pitter patter speedily along the landing and your bedroom door bursts open and little voices cry….‘LOOK…It’s SNOWING!!!!!’.

It’s a brilliant way to be woken (well, as long as it’s not stupid O’clock). Even as you lie in bed before opening the curtains to see the snowflakes for yourself everything sounds different and feels different as snow wraps a blanket round the garden and the streets. It’s not hard to feel a bit of magical childish excitement inside when you see the snow.

Even if you hadn’t looked out of the window you can’t have missed the fact that it is snowing this week as there are a plethora of Facebook updates to tell you it is!.

Many of Team Netmums have been out enjoying the winter wonderland. One meeting was interrupted by our editor rushing out to make a snowman (for a photo for the site you understand – ahem!) only for her to traipse back in 5 minutes later in true Train-Excuse style claiming it was ‘the wrong kind of snow’.

Anyway we like to think if it HAD been the right kind of snow (white, freezing kind we presume!) we like to think she would have created this cheery SnowNetMum for you all to see.

Those of us who have had only the odd pathetic flake of the white stuff have been envious and feel like we are missing out on the party. We feverishly check weather forecasts hoping for news that the snow will come our way, sledges and snow shovels at the ready.

When it’s been too toe-nippingly chilly to go out we’ve been entertaining the mini Team Netmums  with indoor snowy activities such as Snow Paint and making glittery indoor snow to play with (thanks to a tweet from one of our bloggers Leyla from the blog ‘This Day I Love… for the idea) and making these fab snow sparkles to eat with steaming mugs of hot chocolate and even a microwave chocolate mug cake warm back up again.

It looks like there’s a whole load more snow on the way this weekend so you can scoop up the kids and get out there and have some fun sledging, making snow angels and enjoying the white stuff. Whilst you’re out take a few snaps as we’d love to see your snowy photos. Add them to your local Netmums gallery and you could win £100. We challenge you to make your own SnowNetMum or some other kind of funny/quirky/unusual snowman or an igloo. And if your school is closed due to the bad weather check our handy guide.

Today’s guest blog is from Latham Thomas, the founder of Mama Glow who shares her top ten tips to looking and feeling great during pregnancy to help mums get a glow. We have 10 copies of the book ‘Mama Glow’ to giveaway. To enter simply leave a comment at the end of the blog.

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Latham’s Top 10 Tips for The Healthy Mama GLOW!

1  Take 400 micrograms of Folic Acid before pregnancy and during the first 3 months to promote healthy development of the brain and spine of the foetus.

2  Practice Flexibility Exercises Joining an antenatal yoga class is a great way to stretch and tone the muscles that will be used in labour. Gentle stretches provide you with more flexibility in the muscles and joints, which will promote an easier labour.

3  Eat Your Greens for calcium and phytonutrients. Greens help stabilize the blood sugar levels and give you the bulk fibre needed to promote glowing skin and intestinal health. Try mesclun, kale, collards, chard, & arugula. Buy organic whenever possible.

4  Massage your growing belly daily from the beginning of your pregnancy with a quality massage oil like Mama Mio’s Omega Oil or Tummy Rub butter, or Sanctuary Spa’s stretch mark oil to prevent or reduce the appearance of stretch marks.

5  Pack a Mobile Pantry. Eating small meals throughout the day will keep you energized and feeling good. Pack snacks to take with you on the go, some healthy options: fresh seasonal fruit, nuts, seeds, yogurt, veggies & hummus, granola bar.

6  Engage in physical activity during pregnancy to improve sleep patterns, decreases water retention and the associated varicose veins and leg cramps. Exercise helps keep prenatal weight gain within a healthy range, and decreases likelihood of developing gestational diabetes. Try swimming, brisk walking, yoga, pilates, or dance.

7  Stay Hydrated. Dehydration can induce abdominal contractions, inducing preterm labor. During pregnancy the body requires more water to conduct metabolic functions. Grab your water bottle and drink away, be sure to drink eight tall glasses of water daily.

8  Just Say No. Set healthy boundaries around your personal space and only do what feels good. When you strain or force yourself to do something you don’t want to do- you end up feeling depleted. Start delegating tasks. You must preserve your energy and allow your body the adequate rest it needs to support you and your growing baby.

9  Get Support. Build a team of people to support you during pregnancy and labour. You want to feel comfortable with who is around you so do your research. Also make sure you designate a good friend or two for your sister circle- who can help with cooking, laundry, errands in those first weeks postpartum.

10 It’s GLOW Time! Make a regular practice of shutting off your phone, computer, and other distractions and carving out some time to bask in your glow. Relax and take care of yourself, try a nice soak in the bath with herbs and essential oils, light some candles, cuddle up with a good book, go see a film, take a hike, bake a dessert, whatever feels good. Just be present and enjoy the moment- doing what you love.

About Latham Thomas

I’m the founder of  Mama Glow - I use a holistic approach to pregnancy which I have used to educate, empower, and inspire my clients to look and feel their most radiant. I have touched the lives of hundreds of women and celebrities who want to experience a healthy, balanced, and fabulous pregnancy.

Mama Glow is a comprehensive wellness plan containing dietary and lifestyle advice that helps optimize your glow. Using plant-based nutrition (or “Glow Foods”), education, yoga, and other tools, Mama Glow offers a unique system to help you develop an authentic relationship with your changing body, boost energy levels and lift moods, combat common ailments like morning sickness, prepare for an easier delivery, and achieve radiant skin, nails, hair, and a vibrant overall aura. On your marks, Get Set, GLOW!

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Win….win…win

We have ten copies of Latham’s book ‘Mama Glow’ to giveaway. Simply leave a comment on this blog post to share your pregnancy top tip and we will pick ten lucky winners from all comments received by midnight on January 31st. Usual Netmums terms and conditions apply.

Find out more about your pregnancy on Netmums.

You can receive weekly emails, join in our online Pregnancy Course, join your Due Date Club and find tons of information on everything from pregnancy worries, staying healthy in pregnancy, choosing baby names, labour and childbirth and much much more.

You can even meet other mums in your area who are expecting in our new Meet a Bump section.

Netmums spoke to  Cat Williams, a mother of two, Army wife, relationship counsellor, and new author, to ask her about her book ‘Stay Calm and Content No Matter What Life Throws At You’. 

The book teaches strategies to find calmness even when life gets chaotic and stressful.

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Why did you write the book?

My clients suggested I write the book so that other people could be helped in the same way they had.  They were struggling with common but painful issues but they learned how to come through them as calmly and contentedly as possible.

What is it about?

Those people around us who seem to stay calm and content no matter what, have strategies in common which we can all learn. This book shows you how.  Topics covered include: stress, couple relationships, work problems, parenting, motherhood, extra-marital affairs, divorce, bullying, depression, self-harm, family relationships, Christmas, teenagers, arguments, communication, chronic pain, addiction, bereavement, abuse, suicide, the battle of the sexes… and more.

There are short stories throughout the book on many of these topics. The stories are fictional but the positive changes which occur in them are based on real-life changes.  Readers of the book will learn how to change or control how they feel about themselves, and how to positively influence their lives, and the lives of everyone around them.

January can be a difficult month, do you have any ideas for beating the January blues? 

The central theme of my book is self-esteem and how it can be affected by circumstances and relationships. In January we can feel low because the fun of Christmas is over, or because our festive period was not as pleasant as we might have wished.  We might have fallen out with family members, or might be feeling the financial pinch. 

In January we need to be gentle on ourselves, but also recognise that it is our responsibility to look for things which might help us to feel more positive, it might be a time to start a new hobby, or to reconnect with friends and family in a calmer environment that over the festive period.

You are giving 50% of your profits to charity, why is that?

I wrote the book hoping that it would be helpful to people, not for profit. A way that I can help as many people as possible is by supporting charities.  The sort of charities I hope to be able to benefit are those which offer support and counselling  to children or adults recovering from traumatic or difficult circumstances, such as abuse, neglect, violence, bereavement etc, and those which help them to find meaning in their lives again.  I am an Army wife so I would also like some of the charities to be ones which support military families, particularly if they have been bereaved.

Tell me about yourself

I originally trained as a Physiotherapist, qualifying in 2000 from Kings College London.  I met my husband just before graduating, and we married in 2004 and began our Army life together. Our first posting was to Germany, where I trained as a Relate counsellor and began working with Army couples and individuals. We then moved around several locations in the UK, including Wiltshire and Scotland, and we are now based in Canada.  I have two children aged 6 and 3 who keep me busy.  I love being a counsellor.  It is a pleasure and a privilege to be trusted with peoples deepest concerns and problems, and to try to help them come through them as calmly and contentedly as possible.

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The book is available to buy now.

If you are suffering from the January Blues then visit our Health and Happiness section on Netmums, where there are ideas to help lift your mood and help you feel more positive. We show you how to take time to think of life’s simple pleasures and we also have our Making Mums Happy course, which has helped hundreds of mums to raise their levels of happiness.

Our Blog of the Week this week is by Sonya at Ramblings of a Formerly Rock ‘n’ Roll Mum. Sonya describes her blog as being ‘about family, babies, children, sleep, music, weight loss, cake, chocolate, sci-fi, green day, punk rock, women, feminisim, nonsense.’  Which all sounds pretty good to us! This particular post is about the value of being a stay at home mum and made us feel very glad that we are not alone with our swirl of mothering emotions.

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Being a stay at home parent is both important and not. To Syd I am the most important person in the world. To the world I am an insignificant non-financially-contributing dullard. To me I am somewhere in between.

I love my toddler. But I have weeks where I find it hard to cope with the small-ness of my domain. I tire of it being my job to make sure there is bread in the bread bin, or clean pants in the drawer. I cannot always summon up enthusiasm for the daily ‘what to make for dinner’ trip to the shops.

I am not even always good at the Mum bit. I have days where we draw and go to the park, and do puzzles and play with stickers and everything is lovely. I have days where I do the above, but resent it as I did it all the day before too. I have days where I let the telly do too much of my job while I plod about on twitter, desperate for adult company. Overall I do OK, but I am not perfect at all.

Image: Netmums

I usually put my own needs last. I am happy for my other half to have lie-ins, nights out and time for hobbies as he works hard all week, and I do not resent it even a tiny bit, but I rarely take time out for myself. When I do – I feel guilty, like I don’t deserve it as I have been on the doing nothing all week anyway. But I haven’t been doing nothing, looking after a toddler is hard work, not to mention the jobs I do in the caring for the bigger two as well, and I do deserve some time to myself, so why am I so rubbish at taking it? I rarely get to watch a film, I am trying harder with reading books, I haven’t had a night out for almost 2 months. I wonder why it is that even taking half an hour for a bath can make me feel guilty?

Is it because deep down even I don’t value being a stay at home mum highly enough? I should, and certainly I rant about others not giving the role the respect it is due, but I clearly don’t place proper value on it  myself or I would see that I am entitled to a little time off- a tea break, a lunch break or a days holiday. I guess the fact that I live in a world where we so often are dismissed as ‘just a mum’, has resulted in part of my brain believing that it isn’t enough. I MUST stop feeling like that. It is among the MOST important things you can do with your time. It is NOT time off, it is NOT an easy option. It is a hard but rewarding job, with really long hours and really shit pay.

Image:Netmums

Being a Mum is a monotonous, joy-filled, exhausting, beautiful, busy, funny,  restrictive yet all-encompassing labour of love. I mostly love it, but labour it is, and slave labour at that, an unpaid skivvy to a tiny and remarkable tyrant! And I am worn out by it. This is both my favourite age, and my least favourite. I know from my older two that the actual physical job of parenting gets easier as they grow. They sleep, they don’t attempt to throw themselves off a furniture every 5 minutes, they eat their food by themselves, but they don’t fit in my lap the same way, they don’t snuggle up to me to sleep, they don’t talk cute toddler gibberish. They are just as precious but far more separate.

I look forward to re-gaining some freedom, but I will miss these baby/toddler days when they are gone. I must also remember that sometimes it takes a little distance to appreciate what you have, an afternoon away from Syd sees me missing him hugely and scurrying home for a squeeze. I mustn’t look on it as skiving, or feel guilty for needing a break, but look upon it as a chance to refuel myself ready to do some more enthusiastic parenting on my return. And most importantly I must respect the value of what I do.

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Do you think you are valuable? What price would you put on being a stay at home mother? 

We’d love to see your comments below, or why not pop over to the coffeehouse and see what other parenting issues people are talking about?

Today’s guest blog is by author (and mum) Sam Binnie whose new novel The Baby Diaries has just been published. We have 10 copies of this brilliant book to giveaway. Scroll down to find out how to get your hands on a copy. Here Sam writes about how mums and dads divvy up all the work and things to be done around the house and how she is in awe of all her own mother managed when she was a baby.

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My mother was over last night, for her weekly visit to look after the kids so both J and I can afford to go to work. Tucked up on the sofa and avoiding the usual political discussions, we ended up watching One Born Every Minute, and she started talking about her three labours.

She told me how, with her first, she had to stay in hospital for a week, the norm back then. The start of that week saw my dad go off on military manoeuvres, not returning until the day she was due to come home, leaving this young French bride far from her family, visited only by the other wives on the base who she barely knew. With her second, he was around enough to collect my eldest sister from the friends looking after her each day, and give her a bed for the night before dropping her off again in the morning; my mum said he’d done so little to prepare his daughter for the new baby that my sister started screaming when she saw it feeding, thinking the creature was eating her mother. Easy mistake to make. Between those births and mine, my ma then had to pack up their entire house (while my dad was on manoeuvres again), drive across Europe and set up house on the new base, single-handedly.

When I look at what J and I are doing to prepare for our third baby (signing me up for antenatal yoga, packing a hospital bag full of jelly babies in case something goes awry and I can’t just have it on the sofa while watching Spaced, having our parents redecorate our flat so we can hopefully sell it and find somewhere to fit all five of us) it’s embarrassing, and humbling, and I’m grateful to my mother all over again.

My dad did no less than most men of his generation and his situation (British military), so no one can particularly blame him (although it is fairly absurd that he has his eighth grandchild on the way and has only just changed his first ever nappy). But it was easy to blame my ma when we were cross, tiny children. When my dad would show up between trips with a tan and gifts and adventures from the countries he’d visited, my mum would have been the one dressing, feeding and disciplining us. Being with someone who does at least half of everything in the house, I can’t even begin to conceive what it must feel like to do everything for my children, and be the villain too.

Here’s what I don’t do around our house:

• 70% of the laundry
• 100% of the hoovering
• 95% of the washing up
• 98% of the tidying
• 60% of the shopping
• 99% of cleaning the kitchen
• 30% of cooking for and feeding the kids
• 75% of bathing and bedding them

My mum had to do all those things, and she taught herself to be awesome at DIY at the same time. (This morning, while we were at work and she was looking after our 2-year-old, she fixed the toilet that we’d left broken for almost three weeks.)

I can’t tell anyone to be kinder to their parents (except for our own children, when they’re jumping on our heads). But I can invite everyone to cut all parents some slack. Whether you have children or not, whether your parents are still around or not, stop thinking about what you can see – a frazzled mum or dad, snapping at their child; a parent, letting you down – and imagine for a moment what you can’t see: a lone adult trying to do everything on their own, with no back up; someone trying to keep a tiny human from running into the road, when they’ve only had two hours’ sleep in the last three days; a loving carer who had to drive across a continent while their ‘other half’ is nowhere to be seen, and certainly not when their joint children are behaving like Tasmanian Satans on horse burgers.

Just take a moment, and give them a smile, or a hand, or just restrain yourself from judging them because they can totally see it on your face.

And if you don’t? Then the child of that judged parent might just grow up to be another writer. And no one wants that.

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Win…win….win

We have 10 copies of The Baby Diaries to give away. To be in with a chance of getting your hands on a copy simply leave a comment and from all those comments received by midnight Feb 28th we will pick out ten lucky winners. Usual Netmums terms and conditions apply.

It’s Friday which means it’s time for another Team Netmums blog and this week we’ve been a bit broody as we reminisce over glimpsing our newborn babies for the first time.

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Nic from Team Netmums was snuggled up on Wednesday evening enjoying the latest episode of ‘One Born Every Minute’ when her hubby came in and started telling her a long and convoluted tale of something (possibly fascinating and possibly important) that had happened in his day. He was quickly (and rudely) ‘shhhh-ed’ as it had come to that magical moment when the woman on the screen was just about to  give birth and she (and we) would see her newborn for the very first time.

But it was THAT key moment – the moment we (and the programme) had all been building up towards and it brought back so many memories.

And it took Nic right back to memories of her first glance of her newborn babies. But the difference was the sheer joy and wonder of the arrival of new life (viewed through the TV screen) was different from her own first thoughts when she set eyes upon the baby girl that had just been delivered from her own body. She has a vivid memory of her first impression (and unspoken guilty thought) being ‘Oh – she has HUGE enormous ugly purple hands’.

We’re not denying that gush of love and wonder when new life is brought into the world – it’s just fascinating to think back to our very first thoughts and impressions on meeting our newborn babies we had carried for a whole nine months.

Whether it had been a planned or emergency C-section, a long arduous labour or a nice peaceful water birth  -  our first (and sometimes unexpected and off-key) thoughts are etched on our minds forever.

We asked Team Netmums and our members to tell us what they first noticed and thought when their newborn babies were born. Here’s what is etched on their memories:

• ‘He had a very strange cone-head and looked like an alien from an hour of pushing’
• ‘She had a weird flat boxers nose that filled up her whole face – where was the cute button nose I was expecting! (It took a few days to look in proportion and is cute now…)’
• ‘Urgggh he’s covered in cream cheese and blood and guts… can someone give him a wipe?’
• ‘He was rushed to SCBU and I was given a polaroid that made my baby look half-dead. I couldn’t look at it without crying. I was given another one the next day with him looking all pink thank goodness.’
• ‘Bloody hell  – you’re huge!’
• ‘God, this isn’t anything like Holby!’
• ‘He was grey, wet and looked like a seal’
• ‘Aghhhh’
• ‘I just remember the sound of the first cry’ and thinking ‘Wow’
• ‘She’s tiny…and blotchy’
• ‘I thought she had too many toes’
• ‘The dimples he had on his left cheek’
• ‘The smell – the newborn baby smell’
• ‘Massive violet eyes’
• ‘She was so pale, so white’
• ‘He looked like he was going to die’
• ‘That’s mine – what the hell do I do with it?’
• ‘Oh my god – he’s mine!’

We also have vivid memories of just how good the cup of tea and slices of toast tasted afterwards  – or in Jacqui’s case the ice cold can of Fizzy Orange Tango from the hospital vending machine. Just blissful – we had earned the after all!

Browse our Precious First Moments gallery on Netmums for some gorgeous new born photos as mums and dads meet their babies for the very first time.

What was your first thought on seeing your newborn baby?

You might remember last year we shared with you the wonderful drawings on a blog by Doodlemum (also known as Angie Stevens). Each day she posts up a new drawing of a moment from family life and they are just brilliant. Well – we have exciting news as we are just thrilled that Doodlemum’s drawings have now been published in her very first book, Doodlemum: A Year of Family Life which is due out this week. The book contains tender, funny warming drawings which capture a year in a family’s life in all it’s messy glory.

Angie kindly wrote the story of her journey for us and has also given us one of her drawings to give away to one lucky winner. Find out how to enter and win below.

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My Journey – By Angie Stevens.

If you’d have asked me ten years ago what I saw myself doing I’d had drawn a complete blank. I’d left university with an illustration degree and had gone into various forms of employment to make ends meet.  Living in London was OK but we were both quite homesick for Wales.

Shortly after moving back to Wales, my Mum fell ill with cancer and died a few months later, it was a real blow but in a way a turning point when I became more determined to get things done.

We married  in 2001 and in 2002 our first daughter was born and we decided that I was to stay at home with her and to try and bring in some money from selling my hand drawn greetings cards to local shops and friends. It felt good to be drawing again and I really felt I was finding my own style of drawing.
This took off rather well and I supplied a few outlets locally with my pictures and cards and I also started exhibiting my drawings too.

Evie our second daughter was born in 2007 and post natal depression knocked me right back, my self esteem went out the window and it took a good while to get drawing again. Feeling like you’re wading through mud emotionally and caring for children too left me with very little desire to do much else.

When Gruff was born in 2009, my time to myself dwindled even more and I found, along with another bout of post natal depression, I really didn’t want to draw any more. My husband, Myles, kept buying me really nice sketchbooks in a gentle hint that maybe some time to draw may help things but the grumpy bear in me just growled back at him.

We took a short holiday in 2010 and while on that holiday, I decided to take a sketchbook with me. One evening I pulled out a sketchbook and started drawing. I drew the kids, it made me laugh. I talked with Myles about setting up a blog and so the Doodlemum blog was born. I set myself a goal of a quick drawing a day, no matter how mundane or silly the drawing, I uploaded it and put it out there.

Not expecting much of a response nor caring who saw it, I kept going, my confidence grew and so did my following.

Last year I was contacted by a journalist who asked if I would mind if she wrote a piece about the blog and a few days later the story was popping up all over the world!

The book is due out this week, and features many of my favourite drawings plus lots of new ones, it really sums up a year in our house and I’m very proud of it, I hope you like it too.

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You can pre-order the book Doodlemum: A Year of Family Life from Amazon now.

Win an original signed drawing from Doodlemum

Angie has very kindly agreed to giveaway one of her drawings to one very lucky winner. To enter, simply leave a comment and we will pick a winner from all the comments received by midnight on March 31st. There are two gorgeous drawings to choose from (shown above) and the winner will receive an original signed drawing. It’s a unique prize and one to treasure – so good luck! Usual Netmums terms and conditions apply.

We have a treat for you today as our guest blogger is the unlikely heroine of a brilliant new book called Mums Like Us. Stella Smith is ‘an ordinary bedraggled mum’ who tells it like it is. She has kindly taken the time to blog for us, answering some parenting questions in her own unique style. If you want to hear more from Stella then the book Mums Like Us is a brilliant read. We have ten copies to giveaway – scroll down to find out how to get your hands on a copy.

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Welcome lardies!
My name is Stella Smith and I’m an ordinary bedraggled mum who, quite ridiculously, becomes an unlikely international heroine in Mums Like Us, a book written by a similarly useless mother called Laura Kemp.

An expert in 21^st century motherhood, I’ve been invited by the lovely people at Netmums to answer your parenting questions.
There are many professional big noses out there who will tell you what you should be doing but they clearly don’t have children otherwise they’d involuntarily break wind laughing at the prospect of limiting screen time, allocating 15 minutes every day to play with each child doing whatever they want and not dishing up nuggets and chips three nights in a row.

As chairwoman of Mums Like Us, a weekly mums’ group run from my kitchen, I am often asked my opinion on the burning issues of the day. So I am delighted to be able to dish out some straight-from-the-cottage-cheese-hip ranting, let’s call it the Common Sense Guide to Killing Time Not Your Kids.

First up, social networking. Should we allow our kids to get involved? From the very young going on Moshi Monsters to the tweens on Facebook, it is essential to be there with your child when they log on. This enables you to monitor their activity and help them come up with the best offensive comments possible when presented with nauseating status updates from their mates who ask for likes for looks. From a mother’s point of view, make sure you block them from following you on Twitter and do not click ‘friends’ with your kids so they can’t see a) how hungover you are and b) you slagging them off.

Second, how much notice should we take of anything labelled ‘the latest parenting advice’? In my mind, we should read them, panic a bit, have a glass of wine then realise they’re all out to get us and we can’t win so there’s no point getting worked up about it. First-time mums are particularly vulnerable to this because they will follow the rules to the letter because we are so terrified of failing but you’ll find your own way over time, ignoring weaning guidelines and forgetting to have your baby weighed by the health visitor.

Next, the question of how hands-on we should be as mothers. In the red corner are the Tiger Mums and Helicopter Parents, who structure every waking minute and supervise to ensure their offspring are achieving something. In the blue, there’s us lot who stumble from day to day, wondering if we can get away with just sticking the telly on instead of taking them swimming because it’s a bit cold outside. What I’m saying is, if you can get away with doing very little, do it. If not, hide.

Finally, because I’ve got to dash to Tesco because my idiot husband forgot to get milk and cheese because – get this – it wasn’t on the list (who needs to put that on the list?), is there any value in attachment parenting? This is like the breast v bottle debate. Everyone agrees if you can do the attachment/breast thing, then great. But if you can’t or don’t want to, then balls to what anyone else says. It’s your choice. Personally, I couldn’t think of anything worse than sharing my bed with my son until he decides to go into his room. This is because he is sharing my bed because he comes in every night.

Right, that’s me done. By the way, if you’d like to join Mums Like Us, me and the girls would love to see you.
We meet once a week and have a good gossip about how rubbish our other halves are and why is it when you’ve had a pig of a day and you’ve just sat down and you’re finally about to watch something from your Sky Plus list from two years ago, that one of the kids starts puking?
Just get in touch with @laurajanekemp on Twitter and she’ll give you the details if she can find them because she wrote them down somewhere and she swears it was just there a minute ago but she’s buggered if she can find it now.
Yours,
Stella
Mums Like Us, published by Arrow at £6.99, is out February 28. www.rbooks.co.uk/mumslikeus

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We have ten copies of this brilliant book to giveaway. Simply leave a comment on the blog to enter and from all comments received by midnight on the 31st March we will pick ten lucky winners. Usual Netmums terms and conditions apply.

Netmums are delighted to be the first stop in a Blog Tour for this fab new book. If you want to follow and read more here’s where the bog tour is stopping off next:

http://www.netmums.com/

http://blog.trotters.co.uk/

http://www.themummyblogger.co.uk/

http://bookclubmum.blogspot.co.uk/

http://chicklitreviewsandnews.com/

http://www.trashionista.com/

http://www.onemorepage.co.uk/

http://connect.chicklitclub.com/wp/

http://no1bookshelf.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/WomensFictionArrow

Keep up with Laura Kemp and her book at
Website: www.laura-kemp.com

Facebook -

Mums Like Us page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mums-Like-Us/374265565994740?fref=ts

Laura’s profile: http://www.facebook.com/laura.kemp.3386?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Laurajanekemp

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-maF7d8Xdg 

Buy Mums Like Us: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mums-Like-Us-Laura-Kemp/dp/0099574586/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362047297&sr=8-1

It’s Blog of the Week time on Netmums and with Mother’s Day fast approaching we thought we’d share this funny but oh-so-true post by ‘Just because I love’  which celebrates Top Ten great things about being a mum!

What would you add to the list?

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With Mother’s Day around the corner, I did consider a round-up of presents but when I can say ‘breakfast in bed, florist, Whistles and Sweaty Betty’, what’s the point?.

I wanted to keep on topic, so instead thought about what the best things about being a mum are. These are things that mean a lot, cost nothing but after nine months of morning sickness, stretch marks, the pain of labour, months of sleepless nights, trips to the wretched health visitor for weigh-ins (baby not you), weaning, potty training, cleaning up a lot of sick, pooh and snot and OFSTED report reading, they have been well and truly earnt.

These might not be quite what you thinking of but here we go:

The best things about being a mum

• You get to say ‘just because I said so’.
• You get chocolate covered kisses and cuddles on tap (that are leading nowhere).
• You have a valid reason for walking around Sainsbury’s with a wipe stuck to your bum, sick on your shoulder or snot on your sleeve – it was the children rather than the walk of shame on Sunday morning.
• If you are all in the car by 8.30, fully clothed and awake that’s five points, if you have remembered to do teeth and book bags are in said vehicle, that is an extra-large latte on the way home.
• You can pretend to be ‘the nanny’ when a really bad tantrum kicks off in Waitrose – I have done this.
• You can use the parent and baby spaces in the car park – even when they aren’t with you, can’t you?
• You get someone small and cute telling you that you are beautiful even when you know you look old and knackered and just want to go to bed.
• You appreciate everything your mum did for you.
• You can have fish fingers, chips and beans for tea as well as a grown up dinner.
• You can give yourself a bonus for being a nurse, PA, cook, cleaner, event organiser, Police woman in the playground, ironing lady, teacher, nursery nurse, chauffeur, personal shopper, personal trainer, potty trainer, football referee, holiday rep, super nanny and librarian as well as a mum.

Of course in all seriousness, the best part about being a mum is the unconditional love and that it doesn’t matter how you look or what you are wearing, you are still Mummy and they adore you.

Have I missed any?

Nat x

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We’ve got tons of ideas over on Netmums of ways you can spoil your own mum as well as a great gallery of top tips for dads to give mums a lie in and a day of rest that you might want to share with your partner! Find more ideas, recipes, pictures to colour and more in our Mother’s Day Sorted section.

We’ve also been blown away by the beautiful photos that are being submitted by Netmums members showing what Mother’s Love means to them. Have a look – they are just lovely. (Oh – and do add your own photo too)

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another Team Netmums blog and this one’s for and all about the mums

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It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday. And the commercialism seems to have cranked up a gear with adverts and shop displays touting a wealth of ‘Mum’ branded products. We were particularly taken with a TV advert for a mix of ‘Songs to Cook to’ (a seemingly random mix of tunes which are presumably meant to get us bopping as we cheerily chop onions and stir a hearty stew).  Errmmm…No thanks!

Quite honestly (after a very scientific straw poll amongst Team Netmums) we would happily swap shop bought gifts for a lie in, a homemade card and sticky kisses. The general consensus is that contrary to popular belief you can all quite honestly (Dads and little ones) ditch any ideas of breakfast in bed too. Cold tea and toast crumbs on the sheets..the kitchen left as if a bomb had hit it….We’ll happily choose extra snooze time whilst you all head to the park/cafe for your own posh brekkie (if it helps – we’ll even pay!).

But we can’t miss the opportunity to give a big shout out for mums (albeit we are also praising ourselves but hey – we’re happy to admit that as we fall into this category we are equally awesome*).

We handed over to the mini Team Netmums protegees to tell us how fab mums are. They spoke out about us (but for all mums too) and said: ‘I love my mummy because…’

• she gives the best cuddles
• she’s pretty
• she smells nice
• she helps me when I’m stuck
• she is always there for me
• she makes nice food

And when asked what our Supermum powers are (as obviously as mums we possess quite a few amongst us) they said:

• washing up
• she is super speedy but should have laser eyes so she can cook quicker with them
• flying – as she always flies around the house tidying it
• mind reading

And we then turned to the great and the good and fished out a few of our favourite quotes and sayings to cheer mums everywhere:

Mothers are all slightly insane. – J.D. Salinger

A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s. – Diana, Princess of Wales

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? -Milton Berle

She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn’t take them along.  - Margaret Culkin Banning

Mother is a verb, not a noun.  - Proverb

Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.  – Linda Wooten

“If at first you don’t succeed, do it like you mother told you.” – Unknown

“And remember that behind every successful woman……is a basket of dirty laundry.” – Unknown

Happy Mother’s Day!

* If you have tweens/ teens even using the word ‘awesome’ puts you back a few ‘cool points’ – we are probably ‘sick’ or ‘dench’ or something!

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We’ve been taken away by the beautiful photos sent in to show us what Mother’s Love means  to you over on Netmums. Please do add yours.

We’ve also put together a ‘Mother’s Day sorted’ guide – so a useful link to pass onto dads/partners….with top tips on how to spoil mum this Sunday.

This genius post from Letters from your Mum was a clear favourite for Netmums Blog of the Week.

We think you’ll find yourself smiling along in recognition as you read it – we  certainly did!

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My (faulty) invisibility cloak

No-one can hear me.

‘What do you want to drink?’

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DRINK? Will someone PLEASE ANSWER ME.’

‘Come on, get your coats on.’

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

‘Are you listening? Hello? Anyone? Will you PLEASE PUT YOUR COATS ON.’

It’s like they don’t see me. Someone slipped my invisibility cloak over me without my noticing.

Then there are the times when I grab my cloak, hold my breath and wait to disappear.

I go and sit on the toilet. I pick up my phone. I pour a coffee.

‘Muuuuuuuuum.’

Feckin’ thing.