Comments (2)

By Little Mummy, October 15, 2009 10:30 am

Big news, Disney have announced that they’ll be choosing a town to be twinned with, you’ve guessed it, Walt Disney World, Florida!

The competition is open and we’re expecting a fierce battle (well as fierce as it gets with anything Disney!). It’s up to us to put Scotland on the map, don’t you think it should be a Scottish town that is twinned with the most magical place on earth? The Americans are always telling us that their roots are in Scotland, we’re practically brothers all already, and rumour has it that Mickey Mouse himself has a little Scottish blood in him.

It’s only right that it’s a Scottish town that can proudly display a sign linking them with Disneyworld and one lucky family (the nominees) will be jetting all the way to Florida to attend a special ceremony marking the twinned town status of their homeplace.

Entries can be submitted via this website and you can use photos, poetry, video and any other ways you can think of to back up your claims that your town, city or village is the best ever.

Scotland….our time has come, forget the Battle of Bannockburn it’s history, becoming the twinned city of Disneyworld is here and now, we must battle hard to ensure that we rise above the rest and take this coveted title for ourselves!

Comments (7)

By Little Mummy, October 9, 2009 1:31 am

Blurb are running a competition to find the best book in three categories. You should simply create a picture book using their ‘easy to use’ (and I can confirm that it is easy having made my own) software. At check out enter it into one of their categories; Family, Pet and Travel.

The top prize in each category is $3000, runners up receive $1000.

The competition closes on the 22nd October 2009, when the voting will be opened to the public. Entrants should ‘rally their troops’ via facebook, blogs, twitter and try to get as many votes as possible. Voting closes on the 9th November 2009 and winners will be announced shortly after.

It is FREE to enter the contest other than the cost of purchasing one copy of your book, which is where I come in. I have a £30 voucher for one lucky winner, this will buy them an excellent book as prices start at £6.95. This is a no lose situation, you get a beautiful *free* copy of your book and the chance to win $3000.

Entry is simple, because jumping through hoops is for dogs

1. One entry for signing up to my newsletter.

2. One entry for leaving a comment or link to a favourite photo, on this post.

3. One entry if you retweet this competition on twitter.

So that’s a maximum of three entries per person. You may do one or all.

I’m having a short closing date for this competition because I want the winner to have as much time as possible to produce the winning book, therefore the winner will be drawn on Sunday 11th October 2009.

This competition is open to everyone. Good Luck

Comments (20)

By Little Mummy, October 1, 2009 12:39 am

Christmas has come early! I have a fab christmas themed jollybox for one lovely winner.

The Jollybox company offer a range of themed playtime boxes that encourage children to use their imagination.

Each Jollybox equips parents with the tools to transport their child into an exciting, imaginary world of characters, themes and scenarios. Whether it is a dinosaur, an explorer or an airline pilot, children are encouraged to explore their imaginations through creative play, acting and drawing. Jollyboxes have been created to promote problem-solving skills, strengthen communication and encourage social interaction in children at an early age.

The range includes The Explorer Box, The Wedding Box, and The Holiday Box. Each box contains illustrated flash cards, an inspiration booklet and an activity book with puzzles, themed games, amazing facts, exciting new characters and plenty of creative ideas for budding young artists.

I have the Christmas Box to giveaway, which is bound to keep the little ones busy throughout December, or you could even keep it as a special gift for Christmas Eve or the big day itself!

Two Ways to Win

1. Join my newsletter for one entry, how easy is that?

2. Leave a comment on this post on the subject ‘One thing I hope for this christmas….’. This will count as one entry too.

You can enter either way, or do both for two entries. Newsletter subscriber will automatically be given one entre

I will choose a random winner on Thursday 8th October 2009

*This competition is open to UK residents only*

Comments (13)

By Little Mummy, April 9, 2007 1:26 am

We’re hearing it all the time in the media, banning schools sports days, discouraging competition, and here Craig tells of a television programme exploring the concept of not being graded at school.

My thoughts today – when did competition become the evil enemy?

I must admit I am quite competitive, I like to compete, and, yes I like to win (my husband has likened me to Monica in the Friends episode where she plays table tennis!). If I lose I feel a strong force inside me to improve and do better. I think this is a good thing, it means that I am constantly striving to do better, whether it’s winning a promotion or winning at Monopoly (Alex I WILL win next time).

When I was younger, my brother and I would always compete, board games, obstacle courses, quizzes. It was fun, sometimes he would win, sometimes I would win. There were a few occasions where neither of us would win. We used to like drawing or painting pictures, we would spend a long time carefully colouring in, or drawing the perfect house only for our judge (mum) to announce a draw Were we satisfied? No, we felt robbed, we would beg her to choose someone, but like most parents they don’t like to choose between their kids. The moral of the story here is that kids like competition, without it they don’t know where they are, if you don’t know how good you are how will you have the motivation to improve?

As parents are we providing too much of a ‘cushy’ existence as Craig says. In my opinion yes we are. We never want to upset our kids, we are reluctant to show any disappointment in case we knock their fragile self esteems. The truth is that kids aren’t that fragile they are pretty robust and receiving a fair and honest assesment of their achievements and failures (there I said it) is what they deserve and respect.

It’s like the idea that if you never have anything bad happen how will you be appreciative or even recognise when things are good? I want Erin to know in her heart that when I praise something I mean it, and, when my reaction is a bit less enthusiastic I hope that she will strive to do better.

Of course you have to tailor your reactions to each child, a ‘B’ grade might be a real achievement for one kid, or a bit of an underachievement for another. I don’t expect perfection, each parent knows their own kids and their strengths and weaknesses and should praise accordingly.

What do you think about competition for kids? Do you encourage it?

Photo by flickr user DrMoores