Last week we were sent a rocket play tent to review. In one way this was perfect for half term: something new for the kids to play with, and also something that more than one child can play with at time.

K and J have had lots of fun with it: K is really into space, aliens and so on at the moment and it is the perfect size for him. We started off with the tent in the lounge as it has been cold, and they have played in together and separately and even watched TV from it.

The construction quality is good – wooden poles slot into plastic joints and a robust canvas cover goes on top. Now, for my main grumble. Assembling the tent wasn’t hard at all … but neither did it take the 15 minutes indicated in the instructions. There are 54 screws to screw in: I’d like to challenge any regular mum or dad to screw 54 screws in 15 minutes. A tip – assemble the tent where you want it to stay: once up with is too big to go through a door frame. Fortunately I worked out this might be an issue and have only screwed the bottom half together so I can easily take it apart so it can move into the garden once the weather is better. This is going to be a good tent for the garden this year – my boys and the boys next door are going to enjoy playing with it. The tent costs between £65-75 – just search for Rocket play tent on Google.

Find more garden toys and games at Garden Games

Erin has started a business selling stuff in our livingroom. Over breakfast she gave me some ‘tips’ that I thought I’d pass on.

1. “Sell two things to two people before breakfast”

A good strategy, I like her self discipline. I also liked that I got favourable rates “because you’re a girl and you have a business too”

2. “It’s like Jessie J says, it’s not just about the money. You have to make them feel good too”

A nice reminder to stay customer focused.

3. “Sell people what they really need, because then they’ll be happy”

Makes perfect sense. What can I offer that people really want.

4. “Keep your stock shopped with lots of different things. If you have two Hairy McClary books that are the same just put one out”

Excellent, keep a nice variety of products and keep diversifying my income.

I shall need to listen to her more often, she has a good business mind that one.

SeaWorld and Discovery Cove in Orlando have some fantastic new attractions for 2012, which mean that visitors can embark on a journey of a lifetime to see through the eyes of some of the most charismatic animals, from the lush tropical rainforests of the Amazon to the deepest parts of the sea through to the coldest continent on this planet.

There is Turtle Trek which uses new technology to get you closer to the lives of a much loved yet vulnerable reptile, the sea turtle. This 3D 360 degree dome is the first of its kind and immerses you into the plight of the sea turtle and their incredible life journey. Back in the real world visitors can get up-close with sea turltes too.

Freshwater Oasis has a rainforest canopy with fresh springs below where visitors can have face to face encounters with playful otters. This is a whole family experience with the water being at waist height, and my not try the inwater chairs in the In-Water Relaxation Station.

Coming to SeaWorld in 2013 is a sub-zero attraction, Antarctica - Empire of the Penguins. This new attraction will take you on a journey like no other to the coldest and most baron place on the earth through a state of the art interactive ride and combined animal attraction. Keep a look out for more information soon! For more information, prices and to book tickets please visit SeaWorldParks.

Erin’s six. I’m doing that cliche’d thing of wondering where the years went. In the grand scheme of things six is still pretty young. After all it’s not like she’s about to go and get married or anything. Blink and I’ll miss it though.

After resisting for too many years we gave into the big party. ‘Big party’ being something more substantial than a cinema trip and sleepover for three. We booked the village hall. We did pic n mix instead of party bags. There was ‘Rab the DJ’ with his bubble and smoke machines. 25 kids all dancing to Olly Murs and Katy Perry – quite different from parties when I was younger when we’d do the okey cokey and agadoo (child of the 80s, much). There were cocktail umbrellas and raspberryade and popcorn…

Erin loved it.

I spent the entire time stressing about kids escaping and what I might say to parents when the realisation dawned that their kid had gone AWOL in my care.

We’re pretty reserved when it comes to birthday presents, this year we gave her money – £40. She put it together with all the other money she got from various relatives and bought herself an iPod Touch. I know the ongoing debate about these gadgets – are they old enough for a Nintendo DS, an iPad, an iPod, a mobile phone – will it cause them to go off the rails or will they become social pariahs without them… It’s different times now though isn’t it, gadgets are a part of life for us all – why resist it. It might not be ‘our’ version of childhood but it is theirs. Just because it’s different doesn’t make it wrong, does it?

I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong but when I receive emails saying things like ‘I love you mummy’ how can it be wrong? It’s just different, surely.

So that’s it, she’s six.

But more than that, she’s changed this past few months…and I’m struggling to keep up. On more than one occasion I’ve hankered after a baby. Each time I’ve been pulled back from the cliff edge. I need to try and embrace this new phase. I need to find more ways to have fun with my growing up fast, not-so-little girl. There’s something a little frightening in realising that you’re needed less in one way, needed more in other ways. Ways that I haven’t quite figured out yet. In the meantime I’m learning the actions to price tag, and how to move like jagger… the rest will come. I hope.

How many places can you go and shop whether it be in store or online and receive not only excellent quality products, fantastic value for money but also receive extra rewards for shopping with them? There is one store where you can get all of this and more and that store is Tesco.

Not only do Tesco cover all of the above they also manage to go that extra step with their rewards scheme, Tesco Clubcard. Not only can you use the vouchers you receive in store but you can get more for your money by converting them into days out, cinema trips, holidays and meals out for the family.

So how does Tesco's Clubcard scheme work. You can collect points on almost anything in store, online, when you fill up your car, through Tesco direct and when you use your Tesco credit card. Once you have earned 150 points, this is then turned into £1.50 which is sent out with your next Clubcard statement. So the more points you save, the more money you receive back! You can spend your Clubcard vouchers in store, at the pumps, online and through Tesco direct but there is an even better way of spending them.

Why not save them up and spend them on some of Tesco's fantastic Clubcard Deals. There are numerous deals you can convert your vouchers into and you can increase the voucher's value this way too. A great example of this is converting £50 worth of Clubcard vouchers into a 7 night vacation in a luxury mobile home in the south of France or Italy!

I must admit I tend to use mine for treats for the family in store as I am not very good at saving them! I do have a friend who once a year uses all of their clubcard vouchers to go away with. Last year they paid for their accommodation, days out to Warwick Castle and Legoland plus meals out for the four of them with their vouchers! Another friend took her children during a half term down to London and used her Clubcard vouchers for a visit to Madame Tussauds, the London Eye and lunch out and only had to pay for the train tickets. So it really is worth saving them up or converting them into the great deals Tesco Clubcard has to offer.

To find out more and see how easy it is turn your vouchers into great deals for all the family, watch the video below. It shows you step by step how to use your vouchers for the amazing offers Tesco Clubcard has available. What are you waiting for!

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Viral video by ebuzzing

I think January is the fastest month of the year, seems to pass by in such a flash! Here’s what I’ve been up to…

In January I’ve been VISITING…

The Toy Fair in London. I met up with my old pal Laura to check out the latest toys and what we can expect in 2012. We had a good look at what was new at playmobil in 2012 before checking out some of the other exhibitors.

I’ve been MEETING…

Sponge Bob Square Pants! Ok, not quite…maybe one day.

I’ve been DISCOVERING…

Laser Pegs – the stand at the Toy Fair caught my eye and I was offered a sample to bring home for Erin. This smart idea blends construction with light – the end result is a cool night light that you can continue to use long after the construction fun is over. Laser pegs also fit with lego so you can bring light to your lego constructions – very cool.

I’ve been READING…

Well technically proofing. My very own book Blogging: The Essential Guide due out in April!

When you first start a business, you might be short on cash. Perhaps like me you’ve been making ends meet by budgeting and picking up bits of work here and there. If you’re working and looking to make the transition to being self employed this can also be a worrying time financially: starting up a business often means taking an initial drop in income. Whichever of these scenarios you are faced with, your response needs to be the same.  For a while you’re going to have to live on less.

That can be a pretty daunting prospect.  First, get clear about your own personal life goals. You might find, like me, that loads of material possessions are not top of your list. Despite that, achieving the life you dream of can still need some sacrifice along the way but I’ve found it to be very much worth it.

My story

Back at the beginning of my mumpreneur journey I was a stay at home mum.  My husband Alex worked as a bus driver on a modest wage.  We were both keen for me to spend at least a few years bringing up our daughter Erin and so we committed to living on less.  For almost three years we lived on his income alone.  No benefits, no savings, no rich parents to bail us out whenever we needed.

We survived that period with  a strong sense of purpose, some clever budgeting, and cutting back wherever we could. We learned together as a young couple (22 and 23) just how little we really needed to be happy.  I learned how to budget properly and threw myself into the ‘thrifty lifestyle’.  I even studied the topic, reading books and blogs on thrifty living.  I discovered how to be happy from the inside.  I know that sounds a little cheesey but when I look around I do see a lot of people chasing material posessions and other people’s dreams instead of looking inward to see what’s making them happy.

Fast forward to today. While I am not wealthy I *feel* rich because I’ve come from a place where I’ve had hardly anything.  It is all relative.  If you have no money and you find £10 in the street you feel rich.  If you have £100 in your pocket and you see £10 in the street you’re not going to feel as rich as the person who has nothing.

Taking a leap of faith

So going through a period of living on less should be embraced.  It’s very much part of the journey and you may learn things about yourself that are very helpful later on. You’ll also appreciate success so much more, when it comes.

If you listen to most successful entrepreneurs they’ll regale stories of poor childhoods and the day they ‘lost it all’.  One of the reasons they succeed is a lack of fear of losing it all.  If you know deep down that you can live on less and without all the ‘stuff’ you’re much more likely to feel that you can take the calculated risks to become successful, whether your risk is investing in your business or leaving employment.

Remember the saying ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’? At some point you’ll need to take some sort of leap of faith.

I’ve just been reading an article in The Guardian about whether mothers and fathers should have equal rights when it comes to parenting after seperation.

“Fathers and mothers should be entitled to a legally binding presumption of shared parenting”. From the article this appears to relate to certain rights post seperation including access rights, although the government is “not in favour of giving seperated parents rights to equal time”. This leaves it all rather vague as to what exactly they mean by a legally binding presumption of shared responsibility.

The article did get me to thinking about what happens to children after a seperation though, I would hate to think that this is a move towards giving parents equal custody rights to parents. I feel quite strongly that if a mother is capable of caring for her child and the child expresses a desire to be with the mother then custody should automatically go with them. Sorry, I know that might not be a very welcome stance for fathers but I do believe the bond is different, if you’ve carried and birthed a child then I do think you have the right (if fit and the child desires) to have custody over the father. That said, I do think we need a fairer more efficient system for establishing access rights and where possible I would favour an open approach, inviting the father to spend as much time with his children as he likes because I think in most cases it’s what’s best for everyone (not all cases!).

What do you think? I’m open to having my views challenged (nicely!)

I’m back with the main events from our Boston and New York trip.

Lunch

The food courts in America are amazing, so we didn’t mind making a quick pit stop at one while shopping. We went to Panda Express and had orange chicken and kung po with rice. The best orange chicken ever might I add.

In New York we hit it lucky and found that our hotel was attached to Tick Tock Diner. After travelling on Amtrak from Boston to New York we arrived just in time for some lunch. Alex had a ‘Monte Cristo’- turkey, ham and cheese between two wodges of french toast. I dread to think how many calories! My Southern Chicken Sandwich was equally indulgent, but man it tasted gooood.

Our other lunch highlight came just around the corner from Ground Zero. It was the day with the severe snow storms and we were absolutely drenched. For the first time ever I caved in and put one of those god awful rain mate things on. We didn’t so much choose Au Bon Pain rather than dive in to take cover. I had a warming bowl of butternut squash and apple soup with a cheese breadstick and Alex had oatmeal with cinammon and apple. It was just what we needed before a *very* wet and snowy open top bus tour.

Dinner

About two months before our holiday Alex started researching places to eat and things to see and Whiskey’s was one of the places we had earmarked from way before we jumped on the first plane. It’s a barbecue pit restaurant where they cook ribs and brisket for 14 hrs! The pulled pork was to die for.

On our second night we went to Max Brenner: Chocolate by the bald man (sorry pic came out really dark). Most menu items had chocolate in them (even the game chips were cocoa dusted!) and the deserts.. they had all types of fondue including a table top flame to toast marshmallows. We didn’t have dessert (I’m not sure why either!) but we ransacked the shop on the way out. One of the things we bought was a ‘chocolate syringe’ that we created our own fondue with at home, the quality of the chocolate was amazing. Nom.

I’ve read about The Cheesecake Factory on some American blogs so I was pretty confident it would be ok. Alex and I both ordered the ‘Memphis Burger’ – a quarter pounder topped with barbecued pulled pork, cheese and coleslaw. It was the best burger either of us have ever eaten. To be honest it was a miracle we managed to choose anything, the menu is the largest I think I’ve ever seen anywhere. There was no space for desert but we did take away a huge wodge of key lime pie to share

My final food highlight was at the California Kitchen. We stopped for a late lunch or early dinner, depends which way you look at it. There was alcohol so I think an early dinner! I had pork taco and Alex had barbecued chicken and pineapple pizza. We stumbled off a little tipsy and ended up treating ourselves to Uggs and Oakleys, remind me never to go ‘drunk shopping’ again!

Just a quick post to say that our Become a Mumpreneur Course that we launched in Jan 2011 is having one more intake of members before it closes forever.

This course offers the most training for the least investment of all our courses and has been really well received. If you want to join be very quick as it closes at 9pm Friday 3rd Feb.

Watch the video about what’s included here >> Become a Mumpreneur