Thames Valley Mums Blog

Free Tangled colouring sheets

Well today is the big day: Tangled is out in UK cinemas! I'm really curious how it will be received. My girls loved the film, and I hold an affintity for it after meeting the people behind it on a recent press trip. It has all the characteristics of a blockbuster, and damn it made me cry twice!

If you see it this weekend, please let me know your thoughts. And if you want to extend the experience, I've attached some colouring sheets to occupy your little ones.There are more colouring sheets and activites here.

Enjoy!

Download TANGLED_Color_Sheets_WEB_07-27-10[1]

This post was written by A Modern Mother.

Track Santa's journey online

Our girls will keep tabs on Santa's journey tonight on NORAD's Santa Tracker. This organisation has tracked Santa's Christmas Eve movements since 1955. The site is perfect for children that are not quite sure Santa exists -- it contains "official" news reports and videos. Also fun for believers to watch Santa and his sleigh move across the globe (shhh -- don't tell them it's really a geography lesson).

Check it out for yourself (it's in seven languages).

Merry Christmas!

This post was written by A Modern Mother.

Photo credit: Weasel McFee

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These mums are safe

 
To highlight the 1,000 women who die everyday in pregnancy and childbirth in poor countries, Oxfam organised the reconstruction of this iconic image to coincide with the Millennium Development Goals summit which took place in New York last month. Pregnant women from London took part in the reconstruction of the Charles Clyde Ebbets ‘New York Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam’ image in support of an Oxfam campaign.

Well done ladies!

 

Oxfam pregnant women recreate classic new york photo from Hayley Baker on Vimeo.

 

Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth Prize Draw

Enter your primary school and local library in the Prize Draw contest to receive an exclusive, signed artist’s proof from Eric Carle 

This autumn, 680,000 copies of Eric Carle’s wonderful story book “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth will be given to reception age children in England, as a gift from independent charity Booktrust and Pearson, the world’s leading education and technology company.  

To celebrate, Booktime are offering primary schools and libraries in England the chance to enter a prize draw to receive an exclusive artist’s proof from the book. Each vibrant, colourful spread from the book is signed by Eric Carle. 

Top five tips for getting ready to go back to school

Sponsored post

One of my favourite US retailers Target (pronounced Tar-JAY) asked if I would pretty please come up with a few back-to-school tips.

A Modern Mother's top five tips for getting ready to go back to school:

1. If your child is feeling apprehensive about their new class (who wouldn't?) arrange a playdate with some classmates during the course of the summer. The summer break is a long one and regular contact with school mates will help to maintain stability and ease back-to-jitters.

2. Be enthusiastic about school. Point out all the fun they will have seeing their friends again and all the cool things they will learn and do. Children will take your cue, so the more positive you are about school, the more excited they will be.

Exams don't have to be stressful

Childline sent us this viral video. With much of the country's youngsters getting ready for extensive testing, the message is a good one: Exams don't have to be stressful. Please pass it on!

This post was written by Susanna, a Thames Valley Mums Blog founding contributor. You can read more at her blog, A Modern Mother.

It's worth all 76 minutes...

I'm known for being a bit behind in current events. I come by this honestly (my parents still don't have cable TV) but I'm sure it is made worse by the fact that my brain can only handle so many bits and bytes and mine is on overload with kid stuff.

So when my friend Charlene asked if I had heard about "The Last Lecture" I gave my usual blank look.

If you haven't heard about this, let me explain. Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon in the US. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2007, he gave a moving "last lecture" on achieving your childhood dreams that was videotaped and widely distributed on You Tube. To date, the lecture has been viewed by more than 6 million people.

YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE TIME TO SEE THIS. It is worth all 76 minutes. It is a good reminder of what is important in life.

Note: Randy Pausch died in 2008.

This post was written by Susanna, a Thames Valley Mums founder. You can also find her at her blog, A Modern Mother.

Go on then, be a dinner lady

I volunteer as a dinner lady at my daughters' school.

I did it out of sheer desperation. I had no idea what was going on at that hallowed institution – my daughter offers very little insight.

Before being a dinner lady, this is how our conversations would go as we made our way home:

Me: “how was school today, sweetie?”

Daughter:  (looking around to see if any of her friends were still on the school premises; she spots one) “Hello Ella!”

A visit to Nirvana Spa, Reading

This week, the very lovely Mr. B. took me to Nirvana Spa to celebrate our wedding anniversary (he also bought me smellies while we were there – how good is he?). After a day at the spa, I was feeling just about as mellow as you can get. Let me tell you about it...

Nirvana Spa is a day spa in Berkshire just outside Reading, a short distance from the M4, Junction 10. For me, it is no more than a 15 minute drive away – temptingly close. This is not the first time I have been (oh, no!) but every time I go, I feel refreshed and relaxed. It's a sure fire way to chill me out.

Nirvana spa's unique selling point is their 'Floatation' experience. Lie back, chill out and float about care-free in a darkened room. The first time I tried it, I remembered all too late that I was allergic to mineral products so the salty, mineral-heavy water irritated my skin. The experience is really not very relaxing when you are trying hard not to scratch and not to bump into other people in the darkness.

Coffee mornings and threadworms

I love coffee mornings. Women get together and discuss all sorts of things that they wouldn’t dream of mentioning on the playground or at a dinner party.

This week the topics drifted from Sarah Palin (the UK is actually frightened) to Jerusalem artichokes (I had no idea!) to threadworms.

My ears perked up when the discussion turned to threadworms. It’s one of those topics people don’t often talk about in public, like flatulence, headlice, and sex.

It turns out that threadworms (knows as "pinworms" in the US) are quite common in the UK, and most of the mums at the coffee morning had dealt with them at one point.

Oh, my.

A couple of my daughters have been complaining lately of itching “down there” and I had put it down to, how shall I say this, a lack of understanding on how to use toilet paper properly.