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The latest baby competition to hit the scene has been causing controversy. You know those competitions where you submit your cutest photo of your little cherry blossom and then get every Tom, Dick & Harry that you know or even don't know to vote for them.

People who mainly the mothers of these Cherry Blossom's are outraged at the cheating that is going on. They are claiming that online groups that are being set up are unfair because strangers that don't know each other shouldn't be swapping votes. After all it's a competition of 'vote for the cutest baby' and not a free for all as some of the complaints are suggesting.

Comments about 'peedo' groups being set up online to look at the photos are being typed and disgusted Mothers are posting messages addressing the company asking them to take down the picture they submitted of there child. Why surely they should of thought about this before submitting a photo?? If you place a photo of your cherry blossom online then it's out there for EVERYONE to see.

Anyone that is worried about this, The company have said this on the subject - Safety is our primary concern and for this reason we moderate every image before it appears in our competition gallery and monitor the page 24 hours a day. The nature of modelling means that a child model's image appears in the public domain be that on TV, press or online.

But then the T & C's state that photos should be a colour photo and can not include any other person in the photo. Going through the photos I can see rather a few that are black and white and contain pictures of brothers and sisters. How about the baby with a birthmark that was rejected.

You only have to go over to there to see how this has all unfolded.

If they're entering the competition and are following the T & C's then surely they are doing nothing wrong??


I personally wouldn't enter my Son into it, I'm just not a fan of competitions where I need to get people to vote for my child. I don't need votes to tell me that my child is the cutest one around. I'm not a fan of the pressure and the herding of every Tom,Dick & Harry to go click/email/like to get me one step closer to winning. My town like most has a newspaper competition where you go have your baby's photo taken and then a few weeks later it appears in the paper where you then get everyone you know to vote for your child. I enter his but not for the actual competition, we got a good deal on the photos that get taken. I think I bought like several half decent photos of Oli last time for like £10. His image went into the paper, but I didn't give it another thought after that.

The town I used to live currently have there competition going on and by gosh don't I know about it, my facebook wall has been filled up with begs of votes, constantly getting invited to facebook groups and I'm even getting txt messages ask for to vote for there child who I've never even met and never even seen a photo of myself!


If you are that serious about having your child become a child super model then why not enter them directly yourself into a agency.


Would love to know what you think - Are these Mummy's being silly over nothing and would you enter your child? Do you think it's a fair competition?

Something I look forward to doing when Oli has completely left those baby years behind is looking into family ski holidays. As a family who like both adventures and getting away a ski holiday may be just the perfect kind of holiday for us.



Inghams are full of advice for anyone planning on going skiing as a family, they seem to have everything sussed right down to the FREE supervised creches which are provided for guest staying at there hotels. Guess that would be rather handy if we wanted to hit the slopes minus Oli.

Looking at all the different resorts available... I like the sounds of ski Switzerland which offers the perfect blend of skiing and snowboarding. So whilst the other half is going down the slopes on his ski's I can hit them with my snowboard which is more of my kind of thing.




I applaud them on the low prices, I know holidays with kids are not cheap but at Inghams they offer 50% for children (up to the age of 11) at selected hotels and and chalets across there resorts. Not only that but inmnay resortsthey also FREE ski pack items for Children. How about looking into what deals they offer like the Andorra Ski deals to save on those £££.


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As soon as Oli walked into the room, he went straight over to the toys where he made some new friends.

We chatted with the other Mummy's and I even got a cuddle from Second Time Mummy's gorgeous Little E. Mummy Matters was also with her adorable Beanie Boy, I left the party feeling rather broody!

Dr Deborah Weber who is head of product research for Fisher Price gave a presentation on the creation of the toys, we saw pictures of the Fisher Price play laboratory which was established in 1961. It's lucky they didn't hold the presentation there as I don't think we would of ever left!

It's fascinating learning how they come up with these ideas for the toys our children play with and how they develop from a idea and a sketch to a toy which is then sold on to us via the shops. In the play lab they observe thousands of children each year playing and trying out new toys. They also take the products out to homes for actual real home usage. There's also a mums panel, where they talk to Mothers just like us about what we want to see our children playing with.

We learnt that the ideas for new toys come from the designers own ingenuity and creativity, submissions from freelance design firms and unique combinations such as the Fisher Price bubbles & lawn mower. Ideas also come from trends & lifestyles, trades shows & conferences and retailers suggestions.

I remember just after Oli came out of the baby stage where we had used things such as playmats and swingers for the last 9 months , Fisher Price bought out a rainforest range which I simply fell in love with. They have a way of making baby products look welcoming, friendly and fun. Even if the range isn't around when the next baby comes along , I know Fisher Price will have replaced it with something I would love even more!

Looking around my living room I can see Fisher Price on most of Oli's toys, from day one we used Fisher Price as his first car seat. Come Christmas day I know we will be joined by more Fisher Price toys such as the Roll n Racers Spinnin' Sounds Raceway which he really enjoyed playing with at the party.


Thank You Fisher Price for inviting us to the play party, we had a brilliant time!!

I'll leave you with some photo's of Oli playing with his new friends Little M & Jasper.

Fairy obviously heard that the only kind of housework I do is the washing up, after all there's only so many take aways you can have simply to avoid having to wash the dishes!

It's true though, I despise any kind of cleaning or tidying but when it comes to washing up I don't really mind. It was once suggested getting a dishwasher but I just don't get the appeal to them, I actually find filling up the sink and cleaning the dishes and other stuff rather relaxing. So when asked to try out Fairy's new clean & care with a touch of Olay softness I said yes, well it saved me putting it in the trolley next time we go round the supermarket. The pink fairy bottle we usually buy is the only thing pink that I'm allowed in the kitchen!




We got sent a bottle of Clean & Care's - Silk & Orchid and Peach & Mandarin , of course the first thing I did was to flip them open to have a smell. The silk & orchid was my instant favourite, it's like a bouquet of flowers in a squeezy bottle! The peach & mandarin smelt edible, you know one of those smells that you would eat if you could? You're nodding arnt you? See I'm not crazy.

I got sent them a while ago now but have only just finished the Silk & Orchid bottle and started on the peach & mandarin. So the fact they're slightly different to the original fairy doesn't make a difference to it lasting 50% longer which is a bonus.

Did it make my hands softer? Yes.. much softer and silky to the touch. I like the fact it's doing my hands good at the same time as doing housework. If only I could make the rest of the housework as good for my hands as it is when I wash up using Clean & Care with Olay.

There's a survey you can take over at Softer Hands Secrets to see if you qualify to take part in the softer hands secret experience.

I'm Mummy & he's Daddy and as much as we love each other and respect that we are both different people with different opinions when it comes to parenting our Son , our parenting skills can often clash. The whole Mummy Vs Daddy came to light on two different occasions this week.

Oli's hair is at the point where it could probably do with a trim , I know this but I just cant bare for his little curls to be just chopped off. It doesn't look a mess so it can carry on growing.
Daddy disagrees , he thinks Oli's growing a mullet and keeps threatening to trim it when I'm not around. Safe to say I've not left him alone with him to give him the chance to snip away but then I don't think he would be stupid enough to go against my wishes , after all I grew him for 9months so I should have the final say on something such as the first time he has his hair cut.

We also had a disagreement with how to deal with a tantrum Oli pulled , he was so upset and it upset me to see him in such a crying state so naturally I wanted to just hug him and help him calm down. Daddy wanted me to just leave him alone and let Oli deal with by himself , I ignored Daddy and carried on using my method. It wasn't about getting one over on the other one we just both wanted to do what's best by our child.





What do you do when you disagree with your other half? Has there been one certain area/issue which you've disagreed on?

This BBC article about the school toilets really hit home with me. It speaks about how dirt and bullies lead to children avoiding the toilets.

I remember first avoiding the toilets at a young age , I think I was around 7 or 8 and I had just gone into junior school from infant school. The school was still rather old fashioned , the classrooms looked ancient but even worse the toilets were ancient. We had a outdoor toilet which consisted of about 8 cubicles which the whole of the junior school had to share. As well as being freezing cold (my bottom used to stick to the seat!) , they were dirty and often dark as the light never worked. I hated using them, would try and hold it in and wait until I got home but of course at such a young age, I could never just hold it in.


A year later the school has a refurbishment where they connected both the infant and junior school and turned it into a primary school. The toilets were improved and were put in doors , they were modern and often checked at break times by the dinner ladies so bullying wasn't really something that happened.




That was until I went to secondary school. I made no secret about the fact I was bullied , and the toilets were somewhere where bullying often took place. Having your head slammed into a basin? Not fun.. trust me!
I used to find all sorts of ways to get out of using the toilets where most of the bullying took place. I would sneak up to the English block to use the teacher toilets up there or into the changing rooms to use them. These had risks , if the bullies were to follow me then I had no chance. No one would walk in to stop the bullies or if I was to tell the teacher I would get the answer 'well you shouldn't of been using them'.

I was so pleased when in year 10 I could forge my mother's signature to get a lunchtime pass. This meant if I needed the toilet I could pop to Mcds down the road, and then after I used to go and sit in the park to eat my sandwiches to avoid the bullying. Of course as I got older and nearer to finishing school, I just skived completely as it was the easiest way to avoid bullying.




They were often dirty, toilet paper all over the walls and ceiling from where bored students got them wet and chucked them around. We never had any soap or towels available , I remember drying my hands on toilet paper when we lucky enough to have some available. Graffiti was everywhere, all over the doors, walls and mirrors. I often found my name scribbled on the wall with some kind of insult or a picture, but of course the teachers did nothing about it when I reported it, how could they? There was no proof to who did it. It would be covered up with some paint a few days later by the caretaker where then a few days later another insult took its place.

School toilets for me holds nothing but bad memories and it saddens me to hear that they are still creating bad memories for youngsters these days. The toilets I grew up using in public schools were just like the ones you find in public toilets or bars.


What were the school toilets like when you were younger? Did you use to dread going into them or was it a safe place for you to do your 'business'?

We got sent a copy of The Adventures of Penny the Postie - Penny and the Pirates to review. The book is about a postie who comes across a strange old postbox and then finds herself on a desert island helping out a pirate who had his ship stolen by another pirate.





I read it to Oli earlier whilst he was eating his lunch and whilst Daddy wasn't around to laugh at Mummy doing her silly pirate voices. We both enjoyed the book , ok I might of understood it more and got really excited at certain points more then him be he still understood that it was a story book and he happily listened to me read it to him whilst showing him the pictures. I hope we can see more books involving Penny's postie adventures!

We thought the pictures were fab , the book was illustrated by the Author Keith Robinson. As well as illustrating Penny The Postie he also illustrated Guernsey's (where I lived and worked for a year!) Philatelic Bureau's Sherlock Holmes Stamps.

We've been given two copies to give away to two lucky readers , all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning a copy is to let me know in the comments section is what would your pirate name would be if you were a pirate?

I will get my own little pirate to pull out two names from a hat exactly one week today (24.10.10) Sorry only open to those in the UK... Good Luck!

If you cant wait or didn't win then you can buy a copy of Penny and the Pirates over at The Adventures of Penny the Postie's website for only £4.95 which includes Pirate Ship stamps - worth £2.95!

It's no secret that the Internet is a big BIG place , which is and can be just as scary as the real world. I know we all want to pretend that it's as safe as being wrapped in cotton wool, but the truth is it's not.

I admit to having a large presence online , I am a member of many websites such as facebook , twitter and forums. I've always been a 'online' person since a young-ish age but I never went into a chat room or abused the Internet in a way which alot of other youngsters do these days. But then technology over the last 10 years has become more 'in your face' and it is simply everywhere you turn. Most mobiles are now smartphones which allow you to access the Internet just about anywhere , and even popular kids gaming devices such as the nintendo DS let you access the web with its built in wi-fi capacity.

The Internet is a place you cannot trust, I learnt this for myself the moment I first logged on to the world wide web. At school we used to outsmart out teachers with what we could do when it came to the Internet , we knew all the hacks to get onto our social networks and no matter how safe the safe search was we could still access pictures we shouldn't of seen at our age. The Internet should carry one huge safety precaution because of the dangers it contains and can create.

Only just a few months ago I was slagged off like crazy by a mums internet forum after they got wind of my social services post. Not because of the situation but because they saw my blog and saw that I write about my child , can you believe it? A mummy blogger writing about her child? Shock! Horror!
Yes I call my son Oli in my posts but how do you know that's even his real name? How do you know the pictures I post are even of my child? More Then Just A Mother has recently posted about .


I know the risks I take with blogging , by using 'real' names and 'real' photos. But how about the risks with something like foursquare?



I got caught in the excitement of foursquare , I though cooool.. I can let everyone know where I am. That was until I really thought about it. Why would I want to let people know where I am?? Ok I suppose foursquare has its advantages - I can get 20% off at weatherspoon or even a free pizza at domino's if I become mayor but apart from that what else does it have to offer?

Oh yeah.. it lets potential thief's know that you're not at home , foursquare-ing from my exotic holiday in the Caribbean is not exactly a smart move when potential thief's are scowling foursquare or wherever I publish my foursquare feed too for empty houses to ransack.

And how about the lack of age restrictions? Yes I know anyone can lie about there age , but at least the warning would be there when they go to sign up. The current age related message which pops up when you sign up is 'Foursquare requires all users to provide their real date of birth to provide only age-appropriate access to content. This information will not be shared with other foursquare users.'
The terms state that the service is available to 13 years + . So your 13 year old who's been given a mobile for safety reasons could be using the foursquare app to let those 'naughty' people know exactly where he or she is at anytime they update it.

It's not just foursquare which gives us the option of people knowing our whereabouts Twitter & Facebook have also got in on this craze by installing places on to your page. I quickly opted out of this on both twitter and facebook. After all why would it interest my friends for me to say I'm at the dentist? If they wanted to know I'm at the dentist all they have to do is check where I would of most likely tweeted 'Am off to the dentist , am crapping myself' .


I've not deleted my foursquare account yet, But it's not been updated since I came to my senses and asked myself why I was doing it.

What do you think? Is foursquare fun or is it dangerous?

As it was in the evening and in London , Oli skipped this one and stayed at home with Daddy.
He didn't miss out completely, he was kindly given a costume from Tesco's Halloween clothing range which he is modelling here.

Goodnight Iggle Piggle comes with a storybook , a working lantern and slippers and PJ's which can be removed. The working lantern requires 2 x AA batteries which are already included. This is a bonus in our eyes , means that it was ready to work as soon as it came out of the box.