Little Monsters

Last weekend we held a party for our daughter's fifth birthday. Rather than do the sensible thing when planning to entertain her whole class and hire an entertainer we decided to do the whole thing ourselves. One mother actually said she couldn't decide if we were mad or just stupid. But we thought that we'd make use of our large garden - and thought naively how hard can it be? We're lucky enough to live in the country opposite a paddock so it was easy - and quite reasonable to arrange pony rides. I knew boys have to work off all their excess energy so we hired a bouncy castle - and I had prepared party games like pass-the-parcel. Perfect we thought. What I hadn't bargained for was how much hard work all this would actually take. Put it this way - I was so tired on Sunday I couldn't actually speak. And that's not even going into all the food ordering, preparing, arranging and dishing up.

When all the "little darlings" had gone home, while clearing up the carnage I was amazed how much damage 30-odd children can inflict on a garden. So I wasn't surprised to read that, according to Direct Line home insurance, the summer has already caused £423 million pounds worth or damage thanks to summer parties and barbecues. The main culprits - not surprising - are people's children, with 37% claiming their garden damage was the result of over excited children. Lawn damage, trampled borders, broken furniture and windows are the most common damages, and the most damage occurs at family gatherings and barbecues.

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Entertain the Kids this Holiday

As the summer holidays have now officially started, parents across the land are worrying about how they are going to keep the children entertained.

One solution provided by a wide variety of companies is residential and day camps for children aged between 3-16 years across the UK and abroad offering activities to suit everyone. Children are separated into age groups with programmes for every age range. These fun activity camps allow children to socialise, build confidence, and have access to safe adventure experiences whilst offering peace of mind for busy parents.

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Harry Potter Madness

22nd July 2005
Harry-hysteria hit the UK and US this week with the release of the sixth volume of the Harry Potter saga. Harry Potter's publishers (http://new.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/) said that the latest instalment sold more than 8.9 million copies in the first 24 hours it was on sale in the United States and Britain to become the fastest-selling book in history.
I don't know if you've had a look at the reviews which started to be posted via the internet within hours of its release. According to CBBC's Newsround the reviews written by adults and children vary a lot. Almost all the criticism comes from adult reviewers, whereas younger readers barely

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Grandparents Noddy and the Disney Princess

I'm a very lucky person. I have two beautiful children and a rewarding work-life. When it came to deciding what childcare I needed to arrange I looked at all the options, a child-minder, nursery, or nanny - http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/childcare/choose_checklist.shtml. Each option has its pros and cons, but the decision was made really easy for me when my mother and in-laws said that they were happy to help. For me, leaving my child with one of our parents works really well. They are flexible about the hours, they love the children and financially it means I don't have to work as many hours to pay for childcare. And my husband and I aren't alone. The Daycare Trust states that seventy per cent of employed women with dependent children use informal childcare by friends, neighbours or family for all or part of their childcare. http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/grandparents.html is an excellent site that explains all the benefits and potential problem areas for grandparents who are thinking about offering their time to their offspring.

For our family the arrangement works really well. The children get to have real........

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Birthdays, Internet for kids and Shrek....

I'm busy trying to arrange an old fashioned fifth birthday party for my daughter. I've noticed more and more of the parties for her class-mates are being held in play centres and village halls. Thinking this might be a good idea I was really shocked to find out that most entertainers charge around £150 for two hours - and half an hour is taken up with tea! So I started having a look for information on traditional party games, and asking friends if they remember the games they used to play. "Dead or sleeping lions" is a good one for calming the little darlings down before their tea. But if you have any other suggestions please let me know editor@pricerighthome.com. If you are in the same boat - have a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A765920 for party game ideas and one great site for party bags and invites check out http://www.partypieces.co.uk. My daughter's party is planned for the end of July so I'll let you know how I get on.

Looking for children-friendly news is quite difficult. For the best news round-ups written with children in mind you can't beat http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/default.stm. My five-year old is still a little too young to understand the impact of the G8 meeting, or Live 8, but I've found this site manages to pull out the main elements of the news and give an excellent summary.

In the entertainment world Shrek fans will be delighted to hear that the list of celebrity voices continues to grow. This week it has been reported that Justin Timberlake has joined his girlfriend Cameron Diaz in Shrek 3 - http://www.countingdown.com/movies/3337640. Apparently the singer is going to voice the part of a new character called........

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Batman Fever

Batman fever sweeps the country as the movie Batman Begins is released in the UK this week. Reviews have been mixed, "certainly one of the best of it's genre. A must see on the big screen," says www.filmfocus.co.uk. But with a 12A certificate it isn't one for the little kiddies, "Gloomy, crepuscular, dripping and bristling with the wings of a million nocturnal creatures - that is how it appears in this movie, literally a cave, and also a subterranean expression of the dank hellhole that is Gotham City above, with its stalagmite-skyscrapers and urban vermin," is how the Guardian Unlimited's review the film (http://film.guardian.co.uk).

Batman's fans in Hertfordshire will have to keep their eyes peeled when they watch the caped crusader's latest movie if they want to spot a scene filmed in the county.

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Did you know?

Did you know that there isn't a DVD chart? No, neither did I. There is no authoritative chart to track the sales. All existing charts include film, TV programmes, fitness and football DVDs. I found the Empire DVD Chart (www.empireonline.co.uk) interesting reading. It claims to be totally independent, and compiled using a new formula to calculate both quality and popularity. Each week, they give you the top 20 selling DVDs, and correspond that against not only the ever reliable Empire star rating, but also the average rating awarded by their membership. They then calculate the average star rating. And what do they do if two films get the same score - as a secondary factor, we include the worldwide cinema box office takings of each film - once again giving a deciding vote to you, the consumers.
So, after all this who made it into their top ten this week?

1 - Star Wars Trilogy (www.starwars.com)
BOX OFFICE: N/A
WEEKS IN CHART: 3
LAST WEEK'S CHART POSITION: 1

2 - The Incredibles (www.pixar.com/featurefilms/incredibles)
BOX OFFICE: $631,286,092
WEEKS IN CHART: 9
LAST WEEK'S CHART POSITION: 2

3 - Alladin
BOX OFFICE: $504,050,219
WEEKS IN CHART: 1
LAST WEEK'S CHART POSITION: New

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Junior Choice

3rd June 2005

As a mother of two under-fives I've been avidly watching all the child-care expert TV programmes such as Nanny 911 and Who Rules the Roost, hoping to pick up vital clues on how to be a perfect parent. We all know that being a parent is wonderful and rewarding, but it can also be exhausting, stressful and to be frank a bit of a mystery. And it's good to hear what the experts think - and maybe even giving some of their techniques a try.

One of the most common problems that parents face is how to get their child into bed - and to stay there. How much sleep your child needs depends on their age. But whatever your child's age establishing a routine will make you both happier in the long run.

A bedtime routine is doing the same things, in the same order, at the same time every day, just before going to bed and to sleep.

An example of a routine:

let your child calm down by playing a quiet game together
let your child choose what pyjamas or nightdress to wear
listen to some soft music
read or tell a story
tuck your child in with its blanket or duvet, teddy bear or some other thing that makes them feel secure
For both the child and the rest of the family, a routine that lasts about 15 to 30 minutes is best.

One vital way of establishing the routine is making their room as appealing as possible. An easy way to make sure your child falls in love with his or her bedroom and doesn't want to leave it is to pick a theme and decorate your child's bedroom according to the theme. Keep the main features of the room simple - avoiding undue expense. Keep the floors, walls and paintwork neutral and accessorise. Remember they don't share our adult design or interior décor tastes. I have had to abandon my plans for a tasteful French country bedroom theme in favour of Disney Princess (http://www.disney.go.com/princess/html/main_iframe.html) bed linen, curtains, lamp shades and rug. And my eldest is only 4!

If your children love Thomas the Tank Engine stories, why not decorate their room with the best seller Thomas Stikarounds, or wallpaper borders (http://www.pricerighthome.com). With prices starting at £3.99 you could theme their bedroom with a pair of curtains and duvet cover and pillowcase.

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