The list I received on Friday morning:
"Clean my desk" - tick
"Organise my room" - tick
"Pull my table out and get chairs" - tick
"Make a reading space" - tick
"Take my carpet out of my room" - tick

Mummy brownie points: 10

This high-cut, one shouldered, cut away swimsuit look like it would be right at home in a kids beauty pageant. Ugh.
Sadly this is on sale at the Disney Store here in London for, wait for it, 2-3 year olds! Just another example of very bad judgement from a children's wear designer.
Inappropriate, much?

9 years... it's a big one, baby.

Mile End Climbing Wall is fantastic for a party.
And an unusually high ratio of fit men.
I may just have to take up climbing.

Whoever was responsible for this revolting and downright offensive piece of rubbish has something seriously wrong with their head. The fact that some one had this idea, and then someone else must have approved it, and someone else put it on the site.... there were countless opporunities for someone to have a backbone and stand up and say "this is wrong". I am disgusted.

I have had a really unhealthy relationship with food constantly since I was 13 years old, it has really affected the way I live my life, feel about myself and my relationships with people. I hope and pray that this won't happen to Connie, it's so easy for it to start, and just putting the concept of 'skinny' and 'fat' into a little girl's world is dangerous and irresponsible. Some of the little girls in her year, they are 6 years old, already talk like this which I find pretty shocking.

She hasn't really grasped it yet, and I hope she doesn't for a long, long time.

Click here to read the full sorry story on Yahoo...

Peacocks selling padded bras for girls, from 28AA.
Three words words: inappropriate, unnecessary, irresponsible.
Three more words: Stop It Please.



Mumsnet have a campaign going called "Let Girls be Girls"
We are behind them 100%.

As I countdown the days to my summer holiday with Frankie and Connie in Nerja (woooooohoo) my obsession with buying dresses has got to OCD level. Anyone who knows me knows I Don't. Do. Dresses. I live in my acne jeans. Every day. Of my life. Except sometimes I wear my Nudie jeans. But for the most part, it's my Acne Kex.
However.... Connie has made me promise that I will wear dresses every day in Nerja. She says "Mummy, you dress like a boy". My lovely friend Marcus says "but that's your look" and although he's 150% right I just can't bring myself to disappoint my little darling. She's just discovered Hannah Montana, adores barbie and has a big girl crush on my lovely intern Jo, who rocks a girlie look, and I am feeling suspiciously like one big fashion disappointment to her. And frankly, her opinion matters to me. Big time. I want to be her superhero, and it's looks like I need a dress for that.

This looks brilliant... The Lollibop Festival in Regents Park on this weekend, the 5, 6 and 7 August. I am T.H.E.R.E!

Started by a group of savvy parents, it is now a three day super extravaganza featuring headliners... wait for it.... Peppa Pig, Charlie and Lola's Best Bestest Play, Horrible Histories (oh yeah!), Rastamouse and da Easy Crew and Zingzillas!

What else, you ask? Roald Dahl Museum and story telling Centre, Waybuloo, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom and DJ Dick & Dom... Plus hundreds of other activities throughout each day....

So far so fantastic.
And the best bit, I reckon, and I know soooo many of you will agree is that once you've paid the ticket price, all the activities are FREE, including facepainting.
That doesn't include food, drinks and market stalls, which makes sense. I'm taking a picnic.

Tickets are from £20.00 per person per day, with a family ticket, 2 kids 2 adults for £108.
Not too bad for a full day out, doncha think?

Click here to go to the website, which has everything you could possibly need to know about the festival.


Glastonbury, eat your heart out.

So sad to hear Amy Winehouse has died. Our thoughts are with her Mum and Dad who have lost their precious little girl. Such a talented girl, such a terrible shame.

WTF?? The thing about this video that gets me thinking is that the Mum's instinctive reaction is take the baby away from the lion, whereas the Dad makes her put him back to get some good footage for Youtube.
What does that say?
I would have, without a doubt, done what the mother wanted to do, and told the Dad where to put his camera.

My 'Mum' friends and I won the Bacchus Hoxton pub quiz on Monday! I have never done a pub quiz before in my life, and it was so much fun (yes, I am getting old). We called our team the 'Dumb Mums' but we turned out to have the smarts needed on the night. We've since been dubbed the 'Drunk Mums' (ouch) on twitter by one of the looooosers but we still knocked 'em all for 6!

I'm shocked. Over 1 million tonne of fish thrown back into the North Sea, dead, every year. Sign up to Hugh's Fish Fight and help stop this disgusting and senseless waste. I'm so amazed that this sort of practice is still allowed but I guess my world is not the real world...yet.

We need to send a message loud and clear to the powers that be that things have to change. For our children's sake.

Everyone who knows Robin knows how much he loves his dogs, like they are his babies. It's something I really admire about him. Here's Alfred, who at birth nearly didn't make it, and if it wasn't for the love and care Robin gave him he probably wouldn't be here today looking like a right little man in his Oh Baby London black tie print t-shirt.

So... last Sunday I finally took Frankie and Connie to the Imperial War Museum. I've been resisting it, mainly because it's not a place that in any way interested me. This may be because of the time we visited the War Museum in Waiouru, New Zealand in around about (ahem) 1979. I remember it was a cold grey day, and it was all khaki tanks and stuff, not stuff the 9 year old me was really into. If it had been the Charlie's Angel's museum, well, that would've been a different story. As it was it has been embedded in my memory as a long, cold, depressing experience. Maybe because not much else we did was boring. Oh, except waiting for my Mum, in the car while she was shopping (yawn), outside ballet, outside the school gates while she was... wait a minute, what WAS she doing? I know she always had a damn good excuse, but hold on, she didn't work so how good could any excuse really be! hmmm.

Anyhow, the Imperial War Museum was great and Frankie and Connie loved it. It didn't glorify war, in fact quite the opposite. The bit that got me the most was the story of the evacuation of children during the WWII. Yes, there were tears. For Frankie it was the recreated trenches, and Connie loved the 1940's house. And after a couple of hours and a half hour in the shop we all loved getting the hell outta there and playing in the playground in the grounds.

I can't say I have ever celebrated pancake day before, but yesterday I made up for it big time.
I make pancakes every weekend for Frankie and Connie, my Dad always made them when we were little, and it's a lovely memory and a tradition I love continuing.
So we had pancakes for breakfast yesterday before school, which in retrospect was not such a good idea - Connie got confused and thought it was the weekend and went into a minor meltdown when I then tried to drag her away from her Littlest Pet Shop and get the school-day routine going.
Note to self: if doing pancakes on a school day, make sure everyone dressed and ready to walk out the door first.

So fast forward to lunchtime, and we had already been suckered in by Giraffe cafe's 'Pimp Your Pancake' online marketing. I have not been there since Frankie was an ickle baby... So Anna, Jo and I went on down and pimped our 'cakes.
Here's Anna's... chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, chocolate chips, bananas, vanilla ice-cream... beautiful, huh (you know you want it):


And then there's mine... which our waitress thought was pretty disgusting. I dunno, is it weird? I've always loved this combo; banana, bacon and maple syrup with extra butter (if you're gonna do it, do it right, right?):


Jo's? Well Jo did a hybrid version of mine and Anna's; bacon, maple syrup, maple syrup, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce and chocolate chips. Anna deemed it unfit for photographing, and I thought if our pancakes said anything about us Jo's says she hasn't yet worked out what direction she's going in yet... meanwhile Anna's and mine just hint at mild eating disorders.

Dinner? Yes you got it, more pancakes, this time thick blueberry ones with maple syrup, and the "You're the Best, Mum" award from Frankie and Connie. If only every day was pancake day.....

Anna took this shot of the lovely Rob (aka Bertie) outside Oh Baby London's mini flagship store on Brick Lane just as the snow began to fall on Friday. Little did we know it would go on and on and on. Never have I cursed as much my inability to keep my camera battery charged as the weekend continued on with photo op after photo op and me with no usable camera.
My mum always, and I mean ALWAYS had a camera at the ready for any photo op that came up. Actually it drove us all (and her) a bit mad. The pics never ended up in albums though. She has drawer upon drawer of loose photos going back to the sixties.
And you know what? I like that.
Whenever I am back in New Zealand I love going through the photo drawers, grabbing a handful and seeing where they take me. I always discover something new about my family, our history, our relationships, and now (especially this weekend, camera-less) I can really relate to my mum behind the camera desperately wanting to capture every special moment.

Battery charging? Check.

My little sister (the baby in this picture) just made this pic her Facebook profile picture. It's 1976, and it appears massive collars are de rigueur. Here we are, the four McHalick sisters; Victoria, Emily, Hannah and Olivia just as things were about to get crazy in our house. Four girls? Rather Mum than me.

Frankie said "was your sister in World War 2?"... ah no sweetheart, that's the Girl Guides.

This summer holidays I made the decision to go off the radar work-wise and spend the whole time with the kids. I took email off my Blackberry, didn't go to work and found that I had very little energy to work even after the kids went to bed.
I strongly recommend taking email off your phone - I have realised that the sky won't fall in if I don't read my emails as they come in. And I also realised that the urge to check my emails had become a compulsion. It was, and is, liberating... and I can't bring myself, even though I am now back at work, to put them back on again.
I am welcoming myself to a new way of working. The kind that lets me leave it at the door when I leave to pick up my children. It's the way of the future.

And so the first week of the holidays has bitten the dust, and all is well.
Tomorrow we go camping for a week, it's the first time for the kids, which I can't believe.
They're gonna love it, and with a little help from Math and Cath Go Camping I think I'm pretty prepared. Famous last words...

Happy Birthday to my little sweetheart, 5 today!



We had Connie's Party on Sunday, hottest day of the year so far...



I was all set to make it difficult for myself, making hand made sausage rolls a la Jamie Oliver when Ali set me straight; "just whack a sausage in a bun, make it easy!". Best advice ever. A whole lotta Tescos Finest chipolatas and fresh rolls from the 24hr beigal bakery on brick lane plus king size tomato ketchup (and a few bottles of cava for the grown-ups) later and we were all happy campers. I did make cupcakes, and I did make a cake - although Connie HAD to have a store bought Disney Princess cake as the main event...

The weather was so good, and it was a lovely chilled out picnic, with egg and spoon and sack races to liven things up. A medal for all, cause everyone's a winner baby - that's the truth.



And then there was the face painting... I now believe it's essential.

I found a fantastic face painter, Shantala Sacco 07980 179338 who I would recommend to one and all.

She was absolutely lovely, the kids all loved her, and man she gave good face. She is very talented and a league above most of the face painters I have come across.

I've told you about this great idea before, but here's a recap:

Rentabuggy was launched in 2008 by a couple of smart ladies to allow families to ease cash flow and rent top selling pushchairs on a monthly basis.

By hiring a pushchair, it takes out having to spend money on a big pushchair but it also means you can afford the one you may want. Their top two best rentals are Phil & Teds Vibe and the Bugaboo Bee. You can rent the Bugaboo Bee for just £30 Per Month when the retail price of this pushchair is £420. They also now offer a service that if you hire it and you like it you can buy the pushchair for a discounted retail price. Nice.

They also provide holiday rentals Nationwide on baby equipment including Highchairs, Travel Cots, Stairgates and more.

They have a SPECIAL OFFER on for April only, which is if you rent one item from their 'Holiday Rentals' then you receive a second item half price! The great thing is, your holiday rental dates can be for whenever, as long as you book in April!

So for all you organised peeps who have already decided on your holiday dates, hurry! cause the offer finishes at the end of April...
For more information, please visit www.rentabuggy.co.uk

A big congratulations goes out to my lil' sis Olivia and her partner Jeremy on the birth of Sylvie on the 17th April in New Zealand.
6 days late, but an hour to deliver - when she makes her mind up she doesn't mess around!
Can't wait to see the pictures, and wish I was there to have a squeeze (a gentle one of course).

Decorate an egg as a storybook character, setting optional - so went the brief. And then game on. Several eggs later Frankie's Elmer was born.
Meanwhile Connie created "Sleeping Beauty". Uncanny resemblance, no?

I remember well my first Mother's Day, Frankie was only a month old and I had just recovered from the emergency ceasarian. I had just had a job interview in a design studio the week before with Frankie in the front pack/babycarrier thing (A leopard print lined Tomy number as I recall). A surreal experience, it was the first time I had really left the house properly since the birth and I felt very tender physically and emotionally. I got the job, and was due to start within two weeks. In fact Frankie was 6 weeks old when I started. On my first morning I handed Frankie to a childminder I had only spoken to on the phone and cried the whole way to work. I was only to work three days a week, but those three days were long ones. often I wouldn't get home till 9 at night, and would bring work home to finish late at night in between feeds.
Needless to say I was a mess.
I would express milk four times a day in the toilets at work and keep in the fridge with everyone's lunches. I still managed to make all Frankie's food - he never ever had a jar of baby food. I started Oh Baby London when I was six months pregnant, so I was fitting that in around my new job. Internet orders, wholesale orders, Spitalfields Market and the Brick Lane Up-Market on the weekends. When I look back I think it was little wonder that I burst into tears everytime I took Frankie to see the doctor at the baby clinic.
Just to make it clear, I didn't have a choice. I had been self employed before I had Frankie, so I had no maternity pay. Boo.

Anyhow, I've gone way off the point.
My first mother's day came and went. No card, no flowers, in fact not a mention.
Ah, yes, I remember it well.

People may say Mother's Day is a shameless marketing ploy, but to me it's really important. I think it's important to have special days where we focus on one thing - otherwise everyday just blends into the next and there goes life. I love birthdays, making someone feel special for a day - that's golden. Likewise, having the kids make a fuss, tell me they love me, make me breakfast in bed makes it all worthwhile.

I love being a Mother, I love the purpose, the motivation, the joy, the work, especially now I have my sleep back.

What to do on a miserable half-term holiday day? Have a little friend over, make chocolate chip muffins and watch 'Up' on DVD of course!

My baking skills are (ahem) not particularly extensive, so when a recipe works I feel the need to talk about it. I Googled chocolate chip muffins and Nigella's recipe came up. We left out the cocoa powder (double chocolate seems a bit full on for a day indoors) and these babies worked out a treat. Perfect recipe for baking with kids - a throw all the dry stuff together, throw all the wet stuff together, mix and bake. Simples! (OMG - the power of advertising)

And 'Up' - what can I say, I laughed, I cried. It's a beautiful thing. I am a veteran, a connisseur of kids movies after 7 years of them, and to anyone just starting out I have one thing to say: see 'Up'. It's gorgeous.

Here's the link to Nigella's wonderful muffins...

Connie "Did you know elephants can fly?"
Frankie (laughing) "No they can't!"
Connie (indignant) "Yes they can; Dumbo's an elephant and he can fly".

I was having a conversation about pets with my children yesterday. We were debating who would have to pick up the poo if we got a dog. Of course I drew the short straw, and was complaining about it.
Connie said "well lets get a cat then, because they don't do poo"
Frankie and I cracked up "yes they do!!" we said.
Indignant, she replied "well, I've never seen one do it".

Cute.
Am wondering if there's an idea in breeding non-pooing cats. I'd buy one.

Yesterday, walking up Brick Lane, I found this old record player being sold on the footpath for £15. I couldn't walk past it, I had to have it.
So now the kids have it in their bedroom, and are totally in their element. With a big stack of old singles from the 70's and 80's we played musical statues, and they were still dancing around this morning before school. Nice thing about it is at £15 it's fine for them to be the DJs - and they're loving being in control. They're discovering all this old music for themselves, finding music they love.
Let the musical education begin....

I took Frankie and Connie to see The Gruffalo at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Ave today (thanks to some Lastminute.com £7.50 tickets)
I wasn't that keen on it myself, don't get me wrong, I love The Gruffalo, it's just that after reading it 1587 times, it just lost it's spark. So I was unprepared for how totally fantastic the stage production is. Great acting, hilarious and damn good music. What more could we ask? Good seats? Got them too.

Go and see it. I mean like, really, go see it.

Having just got my little lovelies off to sleep, here I am spending my quiet 'me' time with a glass of wine, Ugly Betty (an episode ahead on E4) on my laptop in Club Penguin playing the 'Astro whatever' game to earn Frankie points to buy a Puffle for his penguin. Are you with me? If you have a kid approaching six you soon will.

And I don't do computer games. Ever. Until now.

Here's Frankie's first Photoshop creation.



Not bad for a littl 'un.
For a great piece of freeware for kids, kinda like baby Photoshop, try Tux Paint. My kids love it, and I like the idea of them learning how to use the computer by being creative rather than just by playing computer games.