Robot: A robot is a mechanical or virtual agent, usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry.

I’m sorry it appears that Robot Number 478 isn’t performing well. He’s failing, he’s not doing what it says in the instruction manual. He is not achieving what he is supposed to be achieving. He’s not good enough. Make him work harder. If he gets something right make him do something more challenging. Never let him feel he’s achieved anything, you must constantly make him do more. What do you mean he can’t retain all of this new information? He has to. Failure is not an option. He must perform. He must reach the targets set out for him, in fact he must exceed them at all costs. He wants to do what…play? My goodness no there’s no time for that. All robots must work at all times. All robots must be overwhelmed with new ideas and new concepts and they must learn them all immediately. There’s no time for trying to understand these robots…they must do as they are told and get to where they are meant to be. Robots must always have more to do, they are never done and must never feel the joy of success. Push them harder, challenge them more, never let them relax. I know let’s make sure they are here for longer – robots don’t need sleep or time away to be just a robot. Why is Robot number 478 still not where he should be academically? Why is he not doing what he’s told? Test him again, test him more. What is wrong with him? I’m sorry, what did you say? ? I do not understand, what do you mean these robots are all different? What do you mean that they all have different talents and skills? That they will not all conform to our rigid expectations? You think all robots’ successes should be measured in happiness and not targets? That they only get one chance to be robots…one chance at having confidence, self belief and pride instilled in them. One chance at being inspired, motivated and enthused. Why is this all so important to you?

Why I say…because they are not robots…they are children. Beautiful precious children. And their education needs to change. Not to one with longer days, shorter holidays and more pressure and stress, but to one that embraces childhood and its beautiful simplicity. One that allows children to be children and rewards enjoyment as well as success. An education not measured by targets and levels…but by laughter and smiles. Children instinctively want to learn and have an innate desire to please. They are adventurous and inquisitive; they believe in fairy tales and magic and are filled to bursting with enthusiasm. They are amazing, deserve the very best…and if I had a magic wand I’d make our current education system worthy of them.

If only I had that magic wand…

You know you’re not welcome here anymore,
Go away, get out, I’ve shown you the door.
Don’t you dare come back and ruin my world,
I won’t let you, I’ll stay strong for my boys and my girl.

Get lost, jog on, go away, just scram,
I’ve worked too hard to get well and to be where I am.
You were beaten, overcome, I was rid of your hold,
You can’t break me, can’t destroy me, I refuse to fold.

My ears are shut to your self loathing attacks,
I shan’t be irrational, I’ll hold on to the facts.
You will not absorb my energy and spirit,
You can say what you like for I’ll choose not to hear it.

I’m stronger than you and I win every time,
There’s no point in fighting, all choices are mine.
Try all you like you’ll never beat me,
So give up, f*** off and jog on PND.

&lt

It is precisely 26 days until my birthday…that’s 26 days which I can use to actually get up off my bum and do something more active! I eat well, but exercise always eludes me. Once I get into something regularly then I’m focused…especially if I have a goal. So, seeing as I will be 37 (eeeek!) in a few weeks – and on my birthday I have to attend a friend’s 40th birthday party – I have an incentive and need to start now!

Here is some advice and guidance from BRITAX about a thirty day fitness challenge…I might just give it a go! 😉

GET BACK IN SHAPE WITH THE NEW BOB 30 DAY FITNESS CHALLENGE!

We all love to begin the New Year with the best of intentions, vowing to ditch bad habits and have a healthier and happier year ahead. But as we all know, will power can dwindle all too quickly. Many people will already have abandoned their resolutions just weeks into the New Year – in fact Friday 24th Jan is ‘Fail Friday’ – the day where resolutions are most likely to be broken!
Are you committed to sticking to your New Year’s resolutions this year? Resolutions often sound easy but are harder to put into practice – resolutions like spending more quality time with the family, planning regular date nights with our other halves, eating more healthily as a family and exercising more to shift those extra baby pounds. We start with the best intentions to keep to them but they can often fall by the wayside.

We believe the key to successful resolution keeping, is to keep it simple, make it enjoyable and ensure its meshes with your everyday life!

That’s why BOB have teamed up with fitness expert, Laura Williams, to create a realistic 30-day fitness challenge for busy parents, designed to help you burn calories and tone up simply by doing everyday tasks around the home.

This 30-day calendar can be printed and kept somewhere you can read it every day – such as the fridge door. It will provide mums and dads with daily hints, tips and motivating advice that will not only make you smile but get your heart beating too – best of all, everything can be done whilst with your little one!

Check out more information on the exciting BOB range and don’t forget to print your very own plan and get active today! You can also get some more amazing advice and ideas from the Active Parents website!

This post has been brought to you as part of the BRITAX Mumbassador Programme.

Time out: Noun: a pause from doing something (as work); “we took a 10-minute break”; “he took time out to recuperate.” respite, break, recess; pause – temporary inactivity.

There’s been a lot of talk on my Twitter and Facebook timelines about having some technology free time. A regular period of time where we are screen free; all technological gadgets and equipment turned off. It comes at an interesting time for me, as this weekend has seen several discussions between my husband and I about how much time we are spending on our phones and iPads. On Saturday I witnessed both of boys climbing up their father’s legs whilst he looked up something on the internet on his phone. I saw my daughter roll her eyes again as I picked up the iPad just to have a peek at Twitter. I saw us through my children eyes, and it did not make me feel good.

Social networking, the internet, the television and more are all available 24 hours a day seven days a week and unless we switch them off they will not be silenced. We went out as a family to enjoy the sunshine yesterday morning and as I wondered around Victoria Park in Bath I observed a ridiculous number of parents looking at their phones whilst their children played and called out to them to ‘look’ and see what they were doing; and often when the parents did look it was through the lens of their phone’s camera – including me.

Photos are extremely important, I love having an in depth record of my children’s lives so far – but I must admit I don’t sit and pour through photos of my childhood – everything is firmly imprinted in my mind, And I’d like the same to be true of remembering my children.

And what are we afraid of if we put our phones down? Missing an important call? Missing a mention or a tweet? Missing having access to the news and weather? Would it really harm us if we weren’t so accessible? If we switched off, zoned out and focused on what was happening right in front of our very eyes? Those messages will still be there hours later, but what is happening then and there will not.

I think that the thought of turning off our electronic devices panics many. But for my family, panic or not, it has become a necessity for us. We need to switch off. It’s all too easy to escape into a different world and shut out the real one. My children are growing up painfully quickly and I don’t want to miss a second. They deserve our time, our energy, our devotion…at all times!

So starting this week we are going to have technology time out. Daily from after school until the children go to bed. Then also at the weekend; phones and iPads will be switched off and put away. And family time will be family time. I think it may be quite refreshing…I’ll let you know how it goes!

What about you, do you think we all rely on technology too much and miss the world around us at times?

&lt

This poem was inspired by a post by @ErickaWaller1 to whom I recently emailed a picture of my post baby stomach.

I earned this body,
It’s mine to keep.
For the body I had,
I will not weep.

Pert breasts were given,
these saggy ones were not,
I worked hard for them, I fed with them,
I miss the others not.

Stretch marks did not come in my youth,
Nor when I was a teen,
They marked my skin forevermore when my babies grew within.

My stomach once was beautifully flat,
Then three times a rounded dome.
Smooth and flawless skin outside,
Before inside became a home.

Darkness reigns beneath my eyes,
Puffed and wrinkled now for a while.
I love those lines for each one marks,
the times you’ve made me smile.

It’s where I grew you, where I first loved you,
Upon where you fell asleep,
For my old body, waiting to grow you,
I will not now nor ever weep.

As a mum of three children I’ve used a fair number of prams, pushchairs and strollers, and I think it’s very telling that each time I had a new baby I’ve had a new pram…for I’d never settled on one I absolutely loved above all others. I’ve had travel systems, lightweight strollers, four wheelers, three wheelers and everything in between. So after becoming a BRITAX Mumbassador, when they sent me an email asking me to review the new B-Motion 3 I literally jumped up and down on the spot. I didn’t like the pram I currently had – it was rickety didn’t feel sturdy and as a three wheeler would tip over at the slightest imbalance, – so I was very excited to be offered this fantastic review opportunity, and couldn’t wait for the delivery.

It came a few days later and I un-boxed it quickly.

I was going to wait until all three of my children were asleep before assembling it as I wanted to concentrate fully…however, assembly was so ridiculously easy I did it then and there. The instructions were clear and the parts fitted together like a dream…and off on the school run we went. The first thing I noticed was how secure and steady the B-Motion 3 felt. It was strong, robust and – unlike the pram I had been using – didn’t feel like it was going to tip over at all.

Over the last few weeks I have used the pram in many different places: on farms, in shops, fields, on pavements, mud…and have tested it thoroughly. Here is my list of positive things about the pram, and (only a couple) of minor things not so positive for me.

Things I love about the BRITAX B-Motion 3…

* SIMPLICITY: The ease with which this pram is put up and subsequently collapsed is brilliant. You can simply collapse it one-handed by just pressing a button on the side, lifting up the fabric handle in the middle and it’s neatly folded in half. And to put up, press one button and pull up on the handle bar. I’ve had elaborate affairs before that take all manner of wangling to get up and down – one pram my husband even refused to use because it was so complicated. This one, with it’s one handed pull-fold mechanism, is by far the simplest pram I’ve ever used.

*STURDINESS: This pushchair feels so secure when you push it. It’s strong and well built and I felt my toddler was extremely safe when placed in it. As a three wheeler it’s great to push and I’ve even (shock horror for those who know me) been running with it which was a dream. (shin splints aside) The lockable swivel front wheel is great if you do want to run or jog with the pushchair.

*SMOOTH: It really is a brilliant all-terrain pushchair. It travels over bumpy grounds and rides over grass and pavements with ease. When my toddler falls asleep in the B-Motion 3 (which is rare, but that’s down to him not the pushchair!) whatever the level of unevenness the ground throws at me the journey is always smooth and he stays asleep. Without doubt the superior rear suspension provides an extremely smooth ride, while the air-filled rubber wheels allow you to tackle any terrain.

*SIZE: The B-Motion 3 is not as bulky as other pushchairs I’ve had. It’s not as wide as other prams and pushchairs and can be easily manoeuvred around shops (no more knocking things off shelves or having to reverse out awkwardly!) and folds down flat and compact to fit easily in the boot of a car. Perfect!

*SUN-SHADE and STORAGE POCKET: The sunshade of the pushchair clicks into three different position offering various levels of shade, without totally encasing my toddler so he can still see the surroundings! It also has a little viewing hole so I can still see him, which is very useful. And the large storage pocket in the canopy, which hangs under the handlebar is genius; I put a couple of nappies, wipes and snacks in there so I’m never caught short!

Things I didn’t love about the BRITAX B-Motion 3…

* STORAGE: There is a lovely big basket under the pram to put shopping bags or anything else you might need, however sometimes I found it tricky putting things in there and had to approach it from the side, pulling down the net to do so as the bar at the back of the storage is very sturdy and doesn’t leave a lot of room to put things in.

*RAIN COVER: This one really applies to all rain covers, I find them bulky and not easy to transport around with any pram or pushchair and sadly this rain cover is the same. Unless it’s raining and the cover is in use it’s difficult to take anywhere with you as it doesn’t fold down well or fit in the storage easily.

*WEIGHT: Put simply, whilst this pram weighs only 11kg I’d didn’t think it was the lightest of prams (although equally it’s not the heaviest) and takes some effort for me to put in the boot of my car. This wouldn’t put me off having a B-Motion 3 at all though, as the positives far outweigh this minor issue for me.

Overall I genuinely love this pushchair, it would seem like my quest to find the perfect one is well and truly over! My toddler is now 19 months, however this pushchair can be used from birth – Using the detachable CLICK & GO® adaptors, you can simply fit the BABY-SAFE infant carriers, BABY-SAFE Sleeper or carrycot directly onto the chassis to create your ideal travel system. B-MOTION also features a multi-position seat recline including a lay-flat mode, vital for newborns. I really would highly recommend the B-Motion 3.

I received the B-Motion 3 for the purpose of this review as part of the BRITAX Mumbassador programme.

&lt

Too much to do, so much undone,
Not enough time.
Want it all, to have it all,
Not enough time.

Gallop here, race there,
Not enough time.
Rush around, never stopping,
Not enough time.

Half done, a rubbish job,
Not enough time.
Never finished, rarely complete,
Not enough time.

Anxious and worried,
Not enough time.
Less than perfection,
Not enough time.

Give my all, give everything,
Not enough time.
Work so hard, constantly strive,
Not enough time.

Do my best, be the best,
Not enough time.
Expectations high, unrealistically so,
Not enough time.

Something must give,
Something must go.
But just what that is
I do not know.

Love my life,
Love everything that’s mine.
Want it all, but there’s,
Not enough time.