Family Life With a School Age Child
If you’ve had to miss your family holiday this year, you might want to fit in at least a short trip or two this year. A good idea at the moment is to plan some family weekends away. A weekend trip in the UK is a great way to see a city, take a short road trip, or relax in the countryside without worrying about travel restrictions. Here’s how to plan the ultimate weekend break.
Before you decide where you want to go, decide on your budget. Not everyone can spend a lot of money on these trips, so setting a budget before you start planning can help you find a break that you can afford.
When deciding on a budget, don’t forget to include the cost of transport, accommodation, activities, sightseeing, and food. If you’re on a tighter budget, go self-catering so you can cook in your accommodation, and look for free activities. Take advantage of any memberships you might have, like English Heritage or National Trust, which can get you free entry into beautiful stately homes.
Think about your travel time when you decide how long you want your trip to be. If you’re driving from London to Brighton, for example, you can go with just the weekend itself, and still have plenty of time. If you want to fly up to Edinburgh, you will need a four-day trip to make the most of it.
Book your accommodation in advance to get the best prices. It’s also a good idea to stay in the same place for your whole trips, as changing hotels can take up a lot of your time when you already don’t have a lot.
When thinking about your accommodation options, remember that you don’t have to limit yourself to staying in a hotel if you don’t want to. You could also look into B&bs or guesthouses, Airbnbs, or campsites. Where you choose to stay will depend on where you’re going, your budget, and whether you want to cook for yourself or be looked after. For a weekend trip, try to stay to close some of the attractions that you want to visit, whether that’s the beach or a theme park, to cut down on your travel time.
How far in advance you book will depend on where and when you’re going, but it’s usually the case that the best prices can be found a least a few weeks before you go.
You don’t need a lot of different outfits for a weekend away. Pack one outfit for each day, and comfortable shoes. Pack for the destination and the weather forecast, but keep it light.
This is especially important if you’re flying. Don’t waste time standing around at baggage claim. Pack carry-on only, so you can get straight to exploring. On your last day, if you have to check out of the hotel early, stash your case in luggage storage, so you get more time to explore, without dragging a case around with you.
Finding good products to use for children in the bath can be tricky. You want something gentle, but it’s good if it isn’t boring too. There’s a delicate balance to hold there and I think the new Baylis & Harding GOODNESS Kids Range has got it just right. Their new range is an plant-based paediatrician-approved, natural and allergen-free collection. It’s also gently fragranced to make it pleasant and enjoyable to use.
As you can see the cute bottles are colourful and fun. I’m reassured by the natural ingredients and the mildness of the product. When you use it on your own skin, you get a feel for how mild it is. The scent is one of the things I love about it the most. It’s fresh and you get a real hit of the fragrance when you open the bottle or use the product. But, it’s not overpowering at all.
The new GOODNESS Kids Range has four fabulous products in the range.
The products have pH balanced formulations and are 98% naturally-derived and are registered with the UK Vegan Society. All the formulas are 95% biodegradable and the bottles are made with 100% PCR amd are fully recyclable.
The all new GOODNESS Kids Range is available from 19th July in Boots stores nationwide and online from £4 RRP.
I’m a big fan of using children’s bathroom products on myself and I’ve been putting these through their paces down at the local swimming pool (not the Bubble Bath I hasten to add). They have done a great job of getting the chlorine off my skin and out of my hair. The lovely scents are soothing and refreshing at the same time. My hair is easy to get back into some sort of order after using these products, so I can finish up in the changing rooms as quickly as possible. All in all, I’m loving them.
I have a set of the GOODNESS Kids Range products to give away to one lucky reader. Enter via the Gleam widget below.
1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries allowed.
2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.
3. The winner or winners will be chosen by a random draw using the competition widget.
4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter to enable prize fulfillment. Please be aware that prize fulfillment may take a little longer in these uncertain times.
5. The winner’s name may be published on this site.
6. Competition closes 12th September 2021.
Baylis & Harding GOODNESS Kids Range Giveaway
Disclosure: I was sent a selection of products for the purposes of this review.
I’m born and bred in the Black Country. So for me Mad O’Rourke’s is a bit of a local institution. It’s located in Tipton, in the heart of the Black Country, and I’ve been there a number of times to sample their famous pies. Up until recently you needed to go to Mad O’Rourke’s to try the pies. But the family-run business has started shipping out its delicacies by post, to allow pie aficionados from across the country the chance to sample its wares.
Pies By Post has a host of cheekily-named pies including the Hen Pecked, packed with chicken and chestnut mushrooms in a classic creamy sauce; the 100 % Bullocks, with best cuts of beef slowly cooked in its famous gravy; the Andy Murray, a delicious chicken curry pie; and the Eeny Meeny Beeny – a vegan offering with a mixture of beans, mushrooms and garlic in a tomato and chilli sauce. You can see the full range here.
I was sent some pies to try out. They came well packaged and undamaged which is always good to see when you are receiving food through a delivery service. I popped them straight in the fridge. You can keep them in the fridge for 3 days, or alternatively you can freeze them until you are ready to use them.
The pies are made using traditional methods. A pie paste is used that creates a lovely shortcrust pastry. It’s good to know too that the ingredients are sourced locally. Most of the meat comes from Shropshire and the vegetables come from the local market.
It’s really easy to have the pies ready to eat. They just need 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees from chilled and 40-50 at 190 degrees from frozen. There’s even a cheat’s hint in the instructions: microwave for 2 minutes, before blasting in a hot oven for another 2. I tried mine following the 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees from chilled instruction.
This is the Steak and Stilton pie, also known as Posh ‘n’ Becks. I was intrigued to know what this one was like. I love a steak pie, but I wasn’t sure about the addition of stilton. Stilton is such a strong flavour, it could easily overwhelm the beef. I need not have worried though as it was perfectly balanced. The Stilton is there for a bit of a kick and to add some flavouring, but it doesn’t overwhelm the tender beef.
In all the pies I tried the meat was of very good quality and very tender. I loved the pastry. The pies stood up to the oven and their fillings and the pastry was intact when they came out of the oven. I was really pleased at this as I hate a leaky pie. It’s a difficult balance getting the moistness of the filling right without impacting on the pastry. This was managed wonderfully on the steak as well as the steak and stilton pies, I tried. The chicken and mushroom pie was a bit drier than I’d have liked. The sticky rib and the curry pies were about right.
Overall I was really impressed by the quality of the pies and it’s great to support a local business. Currently priced at 6 pies for £24 with free delivery and you can pick out a mixture of pies for your delivery. I love that you can even add in a couple of bottles of Lumphammer beer for your delivery.
Disclosure: I was sent a selection of pies for the purposes of this review.
Back to School rolls around quicker than you think each year. With the pandemic, I’ve found that my school uniform shopping is a bit out of sync. I ended up buying quite a lot earlier than usual as my son had had a bit of a growth spurt ahead of going back in the spring. Also, I’ve had to buy more PE stuff than usual as my son’s school are now wearing that a day or two a week. I’ve had to invest in school joggers as well as the usual sports stuff as it’s been a bit chilly to wear shorts all day. So I’ve got most of that done already and I think I only need a few new shirts. I’m just hoping those school shoes continue to fit.
For me, this year it was accessories and stationery that were looking a bit tired, lacking or just missing. So that’s where we have focused our back to school efforts. I can remember looking forward to getting new stationery each September when I was at school. It often wasn’t as exciting as the options available now either, but it was still lovely to have new stuff to go back to school with each year. Water bottles are something else that can need replacing every so often. These days it’s a school essential, but it wasn’t something that we had in my school days – I think I used to drink from the tap, trying not to touch it, but I’m not sure that’s the most hygienic way. Anyway, we were in need of a new water bottle for September, so I started looking around for one.
As luck would have it Clintons got in touch to tell me about their new Back to School range. There are two main collections, in the Clintons Back to School range, the Neon Tropic Range and the Camo Collection. So there should be something to suit most children.
We tried out the bottle, nesting snack pots and the clipboard notes. The bottle is priced at £10 and is nicely balanced in the hand. It’s a great camo design and I think a lot of boys would like this design. It certainly went down well in our house. The nesting snack pots are a set of three tubs and are ideal for carrying snacks and more delicate parts of a packed lunch around. They are light and the lids fit well. They are on sale for £7 for a set of three.
The clipboard notes come in at £6. You get a good amount of paper and it’s got a graph paper pattern on it. This makes it great for use for drawing as well as written notes. There’s also an A4 notebook, patterned pens, sticky notes and a friendship bracelet in the range. At the moment there’s a 3 for 2 offer on, so it’s a good time to get stocked up for the new school year and the term ahead.
Disclosure: I was provided with the products for the purposes of this review.