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How to Vacation in London with Small Children

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London
Travelling to London is something which I want to do with Jess in the next couple of years. As we already know she loves been able to travel on trains and we only live around a couple of hours. I think she would love areas such as Kidzina. Also teamed with the fact that my other half has not been to London and done the sites this is something which I would love to change.
I have been researching the best tips for taking small children and going to London as I still want to go when Jess is young enough.

How to Make Your Family Vacation to London a Raving Success, Even with small children

It’s no secret that family vacations can sometimes cause just as much stress as the day-to-day routine you’re trying to temporarily escape from. The younger kids tire easily, the older kids get moody, and your significant other gets tired and moody from trying to keep the kids happy.If you’re planning a family vacation to London, use these pro travel tips to ensure a memorable getaway that every member of the family will enjoy! Here’s how to make your London vacation a raving success!

Take Advantage of Free Attractions

Don’t you hate it when you spend big bucks on a vacation activity that your kids don’t find half as wonderful as you thought they would? You already purchased the costly non-refundable tickets, but your kids are dying to get back to the hotel pool. Fortunately, you don’t have to face that disappointing problem in London, where there are plenty of attractions that don’t cost a penny! Stroll through one of the many free museums, visit Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station, eat lunch at a park, take a walk across the Millenium Bridge, and more!

Plan a Diverse Itinerary

If the first two days of your London vacation are spent sightseeing, your kids are bound to become irritable and restless. Keep them on their toes by planning a diverse itinerary filled with a fair mix of things to do for everyone in the family. Improve the experience even more by getting your kids involved with the planning. Build pre-vacation hype about the things you’ll do or the sights you’ll see. Let them pick an attraction or two that they want to visit and if you’re feeling extra generous, allow them to choose which day they’ll visit the attraction they picked. You can take advantage of our predetermined list of London Itinerary Tips, or you can craft your own with a little research and thorough planning!

Stay in a Flat

Cramming your family into a tiny hotel room with one bathroom is the best and quickest way to cause friction among siblings, friends, and even soulmates. Instead of reserving a room tucked away in the corridors of a cultureless hotel, opt for a genuine London flat in a premier neighborhood! With a London vacation rental, you can experience London in its truest form and experience comfort that can only be found in a home.

Vacationing in London

Whether your kids are youngsters or teenagers, these three tips will help you plan a family vacation to London that everyone can enjoy. All it takes is a diverse itinerary filled with free entertaining activities and a vacation rental in London. Happy travels!

Have you taken young children to London, If so how did you find it ?

 

Charlotte

This is post is sponsored

Advice For Millennial Renters

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As some of you may know we are looking at purchasing our first property this summer. However, I have been in the position where I have rented a number of student houses in order to live in different cities to the one I am from to complete my studies. I also have a number of friend who you could class as millennial renters after speaking to a few of them I have complied a list of what you should looks for when renting a house.

Stay at home

This might sound like a strange one when sharing tips for renting a house. However, renting is not cheap in some cases it is more expensive than having your own house. If you have the option to still live with parents or friends take it up I am not saying that it is going to be completely free to do this however you will be paying nowhere the price of rent. I know for one that when looking at 2 bed rent prices in York I couldn’t find much under 1000 a month. Currently we are loving with my parents while we save up enough money to be able to purchase our house. I think now we have enough of a deposit, we just need to find somewhere that we love.

Take Pictures and Read your contract

Take pictures of the property when you move in making note of anything broken or missing. For example when I lived in my third uni house for a few months there was no curtains for a period of about 2 weeks. This was an issue as I lived backed onto a school and anyone could have seen into my room. The landlord was convinced there was some curtains in the room. It was in my contract that there should have been and this meant that he had to to sort the problem out. If I not read my contract I might have actually ended up purchasing some curtains when I wouldn’t have needed to.

Have Contents insurance

You want to make sure that your possessions are safe and this will give you a piece of mind. This is something which I never did when I was at uni because of the fact that I had my laptop and phone on their own kind of insurance. However, speaking to my friends it is important to get some contents insurance this something which we will be doing when we purchase our own house anyway. But if you are renting you may need some more advise on what kind of insurance that you need and what your landlord’s insurance will cover you for. You can find more information about insurance with Homelet.

Make it your own

A tip one of my friends shared with me was that even though you can not paint the walls and make major changes it does not meant that you can not make the place your own. For example they recommend getting things such as cushions and other soft furnishings to make the place like a home. If you want more storage make sure that you have things which you can take to your new place when you move out. This will not end up annoying your landlord which is something which you never want to do.

Deposit Protected

Make sure that your deposit is protected this is something which we had when I was again in my third university house. Your landlord has to put your deposit into a protected scheme this means that you’ll get the full deposit back at the end of the tenancy provided you’ve met the terms of the tenancy agreement .If they do not do this they are actually breaking the law. I remembered that we got an email from the scheme when our landlord put it in the scheme and then 30 days after our tenancy we got the deposit back.

Do you rent if so what advice would you give to those who are looking to rent their first place?

 

Charlotte

This post a collaborative post

Last Minute World Book Day Idea’s

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Don’t worry you still have over a week to get the costume World Book Day is Thursday 1st March. If you have a child who is in primary school or even nursery like Jess you might have to hunt a costume out for them. I already have actually purchased Jess’s I got it off eBay this year she is going to be Tinkerbell. As you know we are not huge fans of been falling into the stereotypes so this world book day is not going to feature any princess even though I have chosen just girls outfits.

You might not have time to go online and purchase them outfits without having to worry if the costume is going to arrive on time. I have chosen outfits which are all from Asda because they have some amazing ones this year and for most people, you can access a store easy and you can click and collect. Do not worry this is not a paid ad I have chosen these for myself.

Moana

The first outfit which I have chosen is this amazing Moana outfit I love how she is not a princess. But she is an amazing character who shows that girls can do anything if they put there mind to it and of course she does not need a man to save her like most other princess’s. This looks like an amazing quality item and it for sure does look like Moana however, maybe a little bit warmer than the ones which they sell in the Disney store which have crop tops.  Of course, this is going to require your child something like tights and maybe something else underneath to keep them warm. After all, it is only the start of March. It does come with the necklace and as a hell of a lot of detailing on it what more could you want for £15, you can purchase it here.

Tinkerbell

Tinkerbell is who Jess is going as this book day, however, because I purchased hers off eBay I can not find the exact same one. I found this one from George which actually has nicer wings than the one Jess has but I have ordered her some new ones. I think this could be easily used for a fancy dress party or even if your child likes to dress up at home. This again is going to need something underneath and tights because it is that cold. I think I am going to put a cardigan on Jess until she is in nursery. This looks long enough as well so that they are going to be able to bend down without showing everything off which is always something which you want. This comes in at £13 which is one of the cheaper ones and available from here.

Wonder Women

I choose wonder women outfit is actually exclusive to online but you can do click and collect.  In this house, we are a huge fan of superhero films. Of course, there are not many which are female so when I saw this I knew I had to include it in a post. It does have the cape which I know Jess would love running around with on her back pretending that she can actually fly. Who would not like that at the end of the day, it also comes with the headpiece which makes you look even more like wonder women.  This would be great if you were going to attend events such as ComicCon later in the year as well because for sure you could wear it there.  It comes in at £15 and can be purchased here.

Spidergirl

Girl’s can also be spiderman or spidergirl this year with this offering. Instead of having to wear a full bodysuit or onesie your little one could wear something which is a little bit more girly. This does come with the mask and the arm holders which will make them feel more like Spiderman. For some reason, I can imagine Jess running around trying to climb walls with this one. Again this would be another great one if you have anything to do with superhero’s coming or even comic con it comes in at £14 and can be purchased here. 

Jessie

Last year Jess went as Jessie which was adorable of course, even if I do say so myself. When searching I found this outfit which I think is even better than the one which she had last year, for example, it comes with a cowgirls hat which even had Jessie’s ponytail attached. This could be used for any occasion. It is long sleeved and has trousers as well which means that it will not need tight but it could be thin so you still need to put something under. For sure you could use this for any cowboy even which your child is going to be attending in the near future.  I am sure everyone loves toy story so this is a bargain at £14 and can be purchased here 

Batgirl

Black is a great colour for children because it does not show a lot of the muck so why opt put your child in it. Allowing them to dress up as Batgirl this is still very feminine it has actual sequins on the top half and then a net overlay on the bottom skirt. This does seem to be long enough to wear without tights, however, if it is cold you may want tights.  This does come with a mask which is glitter and there is a cape attached to the back which you can pretend you are flying with. I think this is something which I am going to look at purchasing in the near future and this is only £14 and available here 

Supergirl

I think when I picked these items out I feel like there was as superhero theme going on. Of course I had to include another if I choose this one which was supergirl. Jess for sure would love it because it had the cape which had a glittered design which means that it looks a little bit more girly than a normal super hero. This is one which I think which we would pair with tights even though it is layered it may not be thick enough because we know how cold it gets in the UK at the moment. You can purchase this one here for £15

Captain America

Of course with all my superhero love if you have ready my blog before you might know I have a marvel obsession. I think my favourite actually had to be captain American so when I saw you could get a girls outfit and it does come with the shield I scream. I actually regret already getting Jess’s outfit because I know this would have been perfect even though we all know Jess would have been throwing this at me constantly. This comes with the mask which you can see the girl wearing which if it is anything like the horns Jess had for Halloween she would have on all the time. I think I might have to be on the hunt for this after book day and she can have it for dressing up this again comes in at £15 and is available here.

Thor

The final item which I have chosen is actually from a the boy section because it is Thor. This is my other favourite character this one I would think would be warmer with the fact that it is actually Long Sleeved and has Trousers rather than being a Skirt. This comes with a helmet mask which I can imagine Jess wearing even when she is not wearing the outfit. The cape does come off as well meaning that you should not trip on it. I also think that’s with it being a padded toro it will be warmer. Something’s which we’d are going to need if the weather forecasts are correct. This again is £15 available from here but I know for sure we would get a lot of wear out of it.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I picked from Asda after all they seem to have some amazing costumes and we can all get to them easy.  I have not been paid for this post at all but these are the ones which I have loved this year. I am amazed how many super hero’s their are for girls which is great it shows after all it is not just boys who like super heros.

What your you are children dressing up as for world book day?

Charlotte

100 Questions About Me

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Last week I got tagged by the lovely Claire in the 100 questions about me post. I thought that it is something which I would do because I am a nosey person and want to know more about the blogger behind the blog. So I thoguht I would share with my answers to these questions.

1. What is your name?
Charlotte

2. Any nicknames or aliases?

Chaazza, Charlie, Mummy, Mama, Babes, Babycakes, Mummykins

3. Your gender?

Female

4. Your star sign?
Taurus

5. How old are you?
22

6. Your relationship status?
In a relationship & have been for 3 years now

7. Any children?
Our little Girl, Jess

8. Any pets?
Not at the moment, maybe one day I will be allowed a couple of dogs

9. Any tattoo’s or piercings?
Only my ears pierced once, I really want my tragus done but I keep putting it off and I would love some tattoos in the future.

10. What do you like about yourself?

This is a hard one but I guess people would say I am kind and put others first even though sometimes I do it way too much

11. What do you dislike about yourself?
. I’m stubborn & a complete stress head and I always am saying sorry it is a horrible habit Jess has picked up

12. Righty or lefty?
Righty

13. The last thing you drank?
Water boring I know

14. The last thing you ate?
A chocolate brownie

15. Your last phone call?
From a friend called Peter

16. Your last text message?
A text saying what time do you finish?

17. Your last email?

A email from vodaphone telling me to how to save data

18. The last song you listened to?

My Chemical Romance- Teenagers

19. The last book you read?
It would have been some kind of uni textbook

20. The last time you cried?

The other day when someone was rude about my situation

21. The last blog you read?

HeyClairebear

22. The last person you spoke to?

Zoe

23. The last place you visited?

Uni because I have lectures

24. Your last holiday abroad?

7 Years and I can’t remember where

25. Have you ever got back with an ex?

Not that I can remember

26. Have you ever been cheated on?
Definitely

27. Have you ever cheated on someone?
No

28. Have you ever lost someone special to you?
I haven’t

29. Have you ever been so drunk you threw up?
Yes last time in August but I don’t want to speak about it

30. Have you ever fallen out of love with someone?
Yeah

31. Have you ever met someone who changed you?
Definitely

32. Have you ever been in a situation where you found out who your real friends are?
Unfortunately, I have, maybe a couple of times.

33. Have you ever kissed someone you probably shouldn’t have?
I definitely have, oops!

34. Have you ever found out people were talking about you behind your back?

I don’t know if I have actually

35. Have you ever broken someone’s heart?

I think so.but I didn’t love him at all in the end

36. Have you ever kissed a stranger?
Yes

37. Have you ever had your own heart broken?
I think I have, yeah

38. Have you ever had sex on the first date?
I am not stating this because I am an angel

39. Have you ever been arrested?
No

40. Have you ever been attracted to someone that isn’t the gender you usually find attractive?
Maybe we all have girl crushes

41. Have you ever done something you regret?
Possibly, at the time of doing them.

42. Have you ever had a threesome?
Not telling you

43. Have you ever embarrassed yourself in public?
Erm yeah usually daily

44. Have you ever misjudged someone?
Unfortunately, yes and usually thinking they were great when they really were not

45. Do you believe in God?
No

46. Do you believe in yourself?
Sometimes I do but not always

47. Do you believe in Santa Claus?
I did but I don’t know when until

48. Do you believe in ghosts?
I don’t think I do.

49. Do you believe in aliens?
I’m really unsure

50. Do you believe in miracles?
Not really, no

51. Do you believe in the power of positive thinking?
I do I blame David for changing my opinion

52. Do you believe in love at first sight?
No, I believe it can happen fast though

53. Can money make you happy?
No, but it does help I think

54. Would you describe yourself as a feminist?
I believe that women should be and feel empowered and should be praised & treated as equals to men.

55. Are you pro-life or pro-choice?
Pro choice for sure I am sure you all know why

56. Do you have strong political beliefs?
I think I do actually

57. Do you have strong religious beliefs?
No

58. What do you think the most important thing you can give a child is?
Courage, strength and love

59. Are you eating anything right now?

No but I am hungry

60. Are you drinking anything right now?

I wish I was I need to drink more

61. What are you listening to right now?

My Lecturer who is boring

62. What are you thinking about right now?

How much I want to go home

63. What are you waiting for right now?

To leave this lecture

64. What are you most excited about right now?

Seeing Jess and getting a huge cuddle off her because she is still in a loving phase

65. What’s your pet hate right now?

People who walk slowly

66. What’s your favourite thing right now?

Jess been in a loving phase

67. If you weren’t answering these questions, what would you be doing right now?

Trying not to fall asleep

68. Your first best friend?

I’m really not sure it is a very long time ago

69. Your first kiss?
Is it bad I don’t think I can remember

70. Your first celebrity crush?

Erm someone from a boy band

71. Your first holiday?

Majorica I think

72. Your first pet?

We had goldfish

73. Your first regret?

Oh gosh not a clue

74. Your first job?

Working in Maccies it is not as glamorous as it looks

75. Your first childhood memory?

Havign my 6th birthday party I think

76. Love or money?
Love always, but money does help a lot

77. Twitter or Facebook?
Twitter

78. Hook up or relationship?
Debates

79. Dogs or cats?
Dogs for sure

80. Coffee or tea?

Coffee

81. Beer or wine?

Beer these days though I barely drink at all

82. Sweet or savoury?
Both

83. Introvert or extrovert?
Introvert definitely

84. Vampires or werewolves?
Neither

85. Seaside or countryside?
Seaside

86. Summer or winter?
Summer (

87. Books or movies?

Movies

88. Horror or comedy?

Comedy,

89. Do you wish you could change your past?
In ways I guess, like I said before though, everything makes you who you are today

90. What’s your dream job?

Physiotherapist

91. What’s your guilty pleasure?

Some cheesy pop music

92. What are you afraid of?
A lot

93. What was the first thing you wanted to be when you grew up?

Physio

94. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

To fly

95. If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?

Honestly, to work less to spend more time with Jess

96. Would you want immortality?
I don’t think so, I’m terrified of dying but I don’t think I’d want to suffer and not be able to die either

97. If you could interview anyone, alive or dead, who would you chose?
Kurt Cobain

98. Would you say you are happy?
Today is an alright day so yeah fairly happy

99. What one piece of advice would you give to yourself at eighteen?
Slow down and stop rushing with things and wishing life away

100. Where would you like to be in five years time?
A house of my own with a garden, a job and possibly a dog and another child

If you have a blog feel free to do this tag because I tag you all

Charlotte xx

Little Dish- Cupboard Essentials Review

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As busy parents sometimes we don’t have time to cook nutritionally healthy meals from scratch every single day. We try and make a couple of meals a week this kind however there is times when need to grab something from the cupboard and use that instead. We all know about the sugar and salt levels which are reported in some of these items for adults. I dread to think how bad they would be for a child like Jess. That’s where Little Dish come in they have a range of products which can be put in the cupboard which are suitable for children without half of the nasties in them.

We have seen them in a range of the big supermarkets which is great. As this means that you can just pop them in your trolley in your normal weekly shop which great. I for one like to try and get as many things from the same shop as possible. So these been available like this is a time saver for me.

The three from this range that we have tried are baked beans, korma curry sauce, and a tomato pasta sauce. All very normal and basic food based which you can use for creating a meal quickly.

The first one Jess tried was the curry sauce as family we like our curries however they can be too hot to feed Jess. Or we want to eat later than when she need feeding these little dish curry sauces are amazing because all you need to do is cook the chicken and then stir the sauce in for around 1 minute. I have added rice because this is something which Jess loves to consume even on its own.  The sauce was big enough for a medium/large portion of chicken and it was saucy enough for Jess. I did try a little bit off and found that it was tasty without the spices this is something which I am glad of because I did not want Jess to be eating a bland meal. This in total took us about the 15 minutes including cooking the rice which of course is great because Jess sometimes is not the most patient person.

The beans come in a pouch which is big enough size for Jess without there been any waste as if I put them in the fridge I don’t always know when she would finish them. These are can easy go on toast and she can have a small potion of beans on toast sometimes she does like to copy her mummy. Or they can be added as a veg element of her tea when she has something like fish fingers. They take next to no time at all if I remember correctly around 1-2 mins great when you have a grumpy toddler nagging for food.

The final one which Jess has tried is the tomato pasta sauce this is something which is her favourite food anyway so having a good quality pasta sauce means so much to us.  This again is one which you have to stir in your pasta when it is cooked which means again it takes about 15 minutes and the sauce does get warm. My brother actually tried some of this when Jess had it and said again it was a little bit bland it was more like tomato puree. It does mean that it does have the flavour for your toddler however, it will not have as much sugar and salt as an adult version would do. This is great for if we are not having pasta but Jess wants it she sometimes even adds cheese to the top as a treat.

Conclusion

The sauces are £1 and baked beans are around £1.25 these can be purchased from the major supermarkets as well as  Boots. This is great because you can purchase them easily which is great because you never want to have to think about having to go to additional shops.  You can even click and collect them from boots which I have done because I have not seen them in a lot of the shops. I am going to purchase these again in the future because of the fact that they are super easy and when we move into our own house these will be handy because Daddy will still be working away. I would love to try more of these essentials. Jess already loves the ready meals which are usually on offer in Morrisons so they are a brand that we would recommend for sure.

Have you tried any of these little dish items?

Charlotte x

 

 

Has Emo Died?

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Music is something which has played a huge part of my life. If I am traveling alone I usually have my headphones on and music blasting out, the same can be said for when I am sat in the library. This is something which has the power to change my mood if I am feeling down or angry if I put certain music on I can change my mood completely it is pretty amazing the power which has on me.  For me, I am a huge fan of what you would have called a few years ago Emo music.

Recently I have gone back to listening to bands such as My Chemical Romance, Blink182 and Fall Out Boy yes it really does take me back to high school. I think I was playing some of the music while at uni the other day and a girl told me that she had not heard of these bands were they new and upcoming.  I know that MCR broke up a fair few years ago I think it was 5 years now and I am not over it but bands such as Fall Out Boy have recently released new material.

It did make me wonderer wether alternative/ emo music whatever you want to call it is actually dying. I have noticed that now stores like Blue Banana when I have the chance to go to a store have less band merch in and they used to be full of bands even Green Day and Nivarna.  I popped into a similar alternative store and could not believe how much Harry Potter and the odd Marvel items there was. But hardly any music merch it made me look into it a bit more and released all of the bands that I love have not really made any new material in a fair few years. This made me sad because these are bands which if you play no doubt I could sing my heart out knowing most if not all of the words to the songs.

However, I feel like I am one of those people who are not easy to admit that they are the only people listening to this type of music still. Please tell me that people have it all become the same and all listen to popular music such as pop. Been able to get Kerrang magazine every single week to discover new bands used to be amazing this is something which I have not done in a long time because I rarely see the magazine now. Maybe it is time to admit the type of music is dead and that we should educate people close to us about it in order to still have people listening to it in the future. I for sure in Jess is going to know the words to a lord of the My Chemical Romance and Green Day songs.

What’s your view is Emo music dead or is it just the people I know?

Charlotte xx

Tips For Selling On eBay

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We all are feeling the pinch of Christmas still and if you’re like me you have no room for all the new toys. This year we have decided that we need to declutter a lot because we plan on moving house in the summer. We do not want to have to transport everything. So we have been selling items on eBay for a few months with a lot of success I think in the last couple of months we have made over £100. Just selling items which we no longer require and we are thankful for a little bit more space. Today I thought I would share with you a few of the things which I have been doing in order to enhance my sales and making more money.

Pictures

Make sure that you have good pictures, for me, I use my camera a lot of the time rather than my phone. This may not be possible for some of you I know because not many people have a nice camera. I try and use natural light because it always makes the colour of the item look true. Using flash can change the colour of items which is not something you want.  I make sure that I have several pictures of the item as well within the listing this is the time if there is a mark on the item to show it as well. Just because you are purchasing an item of eBay does not mean that the buyers standards slip considerably.

Times Item End

Make sure that your items do not finish at a silly time. The number of times I have seen people with items ending in the middle of the night when not many people will be browsing eBay. Another time which I would avoid is Sunday mornings this is when I have been picking up items cheap for Jess. Again this must be because people are not online. I make sure that my items end on a night I list between 8-10pm on a night.  This is a time when people are looking online as I seem a spate of late bids sometimes. If your browsing eBay there is a chance that some other person will be and they could be looking for your type of items.

Reasonable Postage Costs

If you put your postage prices too high this can put people off from bidding.  I know for sure if these items are listed too high I will not purchase them.  Previously I have seen it where the items have been more expensive with postage than it would purchase the item brand new in the stores.  I make sure the maximum which I charge for postage is £2.90 for second class.  If I am unsure how much to charge I make sure I got the maximum amount it can be in order to make sure that I am not out of pocket. Maybe if someone purchases a number of your items think about doing combine postage as this can mean that people will purchase more items of yours. This is something which I have done a lot and had people purchasing a lot of items I think the most I had is a bundle of 28 items.

Descriptions

If there is a mark on your item state it because otherwise people will leave you poor feedback and this is something which can affect people purchasing of you in the future. Selling a small fitting item state this as I listed a cropped jumper recently and had a lot of people asking for the dimensions of the item.  The more information you give the fewer people will message you questions. I also put on the bottom that I have other I am having a huge clearout because this might make more people check out your other items.

Leave Feedback 

I have found that if I leave feedback for people they are more likely to leave me feedback in return.  The more feedback which you have the more likely it is that someone will purchase from you.  If people know that you are a good seller they will be tempted to purchase from you. I now have around 900 rating as have noticed that more people are purchasing from me since I have been rated higher. I know we all start with low ratings but slowly been nice and a good seller pays off don’t forget you can even get rated for purchasing items.

Start reasonable

Start with the lowest you would want something to sell for. Don’t forget the amount may increase if you have it in an auction anyway. I have had it where items I have put on for £7.50 have risen to as much as £24. Selling at a reasonable price helps increase the likelihood of a sale occurring. eBay now also puts a suggested starting price on items as well as a suggested buy it now price. This is all based on the sales of the item in the past and currently, it is something which I have used and had items which I wouldn’t have listed so high.

Sell season appropriate

For example at the moment I have items on which are suitable as gifts for Mother’s Day. I try and sell children’s clothing which Jess has grown out of all year long and have found even in December people are purchasing swimming costumes because you cannot get them in the shops. Please may still be going on holiday or wanting to take a trip to the pool. I would recommend putting fancy dress on for children soon as world book at approaches you are likely to sell these.

These are all my tips for now on selling on eBay do you have any others let me know in the comments.

Charlotte

Date Ideas For Busy Parents

- Charlotte Leave a comment

Going on dates is something which all of doing when we are dating, however, once you actually have children it is hard to find a lot of time to go on dates. This is because you either are doing things which are related to them, for example, we now spend a lot of our weekends spending time doing toddler-friendly things such as going to museums or the park which might not be things we did if we didn’t have a child. Doing housework is something which you spend a lot more time doing because toddlers as we have found make more mess which means you have to spend more time cleaning and tidying.

 Today I have decided that I am going to share with you some tips which busy parents could use as date ideas because as we all know Valentine’s Day is upcoming and we all want to woo that special person and show them that the love is still there despite having a child.
The idea is why if your schedules allow instead of having date nights have date days, for example, Friday afternoon is a time when both of us are usually free. We have found that we actually can go to restaurant Wildwood which is a chain. They do food which Jess would eat, however, I know I would feel very uncomfortable their should she kick off which is why we do not eat there with her. There is a branch in the York which is only 20 minutes away from Jess’s nursery which means should she need collecting she could be very quickly. If you have not read the review which I did I recommend going to check it out. Of course, you can go to a restaurant that you enjoy maybe one which you have been to pre-children.
There is no need to leave your own house you could actually get a dine-in meal that m&s became kings a few years ago because you get a bottle of wine a main, side and deserts for between £10-20. This is something which you could do while your child is upstairs sleeping meaning that you do not actually even need a babysitter. As we all know they can be hard to come by. To make it even more romantic you could burn candles and play romantic music like you are actually in a restaurant.
If going to the cinema is something which you liked to do pre-children. Why do you not get some snacks such as sweets and popcorns from the shop and stream a movie because you now do not have to wait as long as you used to in order to see films on DVD. For example, I know that the most recent Thor movie was available within 3 months and this is not that long compared to what it used to be a few years ago. As some of you might know things do not seem to be at the cinema for as long either which is not great when you have to plan trips rather than a spontaneous trip. Also, it can be a lot cheaper than going to the cinema which is always great if you are saving for a house like me.
If you can actually get a babysitter you could book a weekend away it does not have to be somewhere that is a distance away. For example, Newcastle is somewhere which I am visiting at the start of April which is only about an hour and a half away. Make sure that you have someone to look after the children because it is illegal just to leave them at home when they are so young. Exploring a new place and creating some amazing memories is something which would make a special date. Even if you do this once a year this may be worth it, for example, I have a post coming up about something which we have done in order to have a date weekend.
What do you do to still have some romance while being a busy parent?
Charlotte xxx

Just Because I’m A Young Parent

- Charlotte 1 Comment
Young Parent

The amount of times that I have had people stare at me or judge me because I am a young parent is shocking. I have had occasions when I have heard people bitching about me when on public transport. One time a lady sat a couple of seats away from me was like oh look she can’t control her child she shouldn’t have had her I’m guessing she was a mistake. The reason that Jess was kicking off was that she was overtired after a long day at nursery and the train was rather warm.

I was 20 when I gave birth to Jess so you could say that it is young to become a parent.  I was at the end of my second year when I had her 3 weeks off starting my final year of university. So as you can imagine from my circumstances I was not really ready to become a parent I was living in uni accommodation. A week after giving birth I moved over 100 miles back home to live with my parents in order to give her the best start in life.

Just because I am a young parent does not mean that I spend all of my time at home as a stay at home mum claiming benefits. Due to the way, the academic year falls I had to do it for a year before I went back to university in September 2016. I knew that it was a short-term situation and since then have not been on benefits I do get child benefit like everyone who has children as well as extra student finance due to my situation.  Jess has never been a child that will go without anything that she needs she always has enough clothing, food, toys everything which a toddler needs. Having a child young for us doesn’t mean that we are not giving her everything she needs while we save for a family house.

Young parents have no ambition is something else which I have heard well I think I just prove everyone wrong with this at the moment I am in the last few months of my degree. I really want to continue and improve my self by studying in order to give Jess the best childhood I can.  I really do not want to be someone who is in a job which they hate possibly on minimum wage not that there is anything wrong with that. For me, I want to be a positive role model for Jess showing her young mums and women, in general, can be anything they want to be. As long as they put their mind to it.

Another thing which I hear a lot is that young parents are more likely to palm their children off on grandparents.  I am very lucky that my parents will offer to have Jess overnight maybe once a month so that I can have some time off Usually this time is spent either doing uni work or sleeping nothing crazy at all. I know a few people at least who have children who are younger than Jess and they seem to be out every single weekend sometimes during the week as well drinking. Just because they are doing it doesn’t mean every single young parent is doing the same. I for one know that when Jess is away it is time to recover and try and distress I can not think of anything worse than battling a hangover.

 

Joie Every Stage Car Seat Review

- Charlotte Leave a comment

When you have a child one of the most used things which you will need is a car seat I think this is something which we used nearly every single day. Around 18 months ago we had to replace Jess’s baby car seat and I did a lot of research into finding the best car seat for us because of course, it has to be something which works for you all. Jess spends a bit of time when she is going around in the car.  We chose the Jolie every stages car seat in the black colour this is one which is going to last her until she is around 12 years old or 36kg which is scary because it is such a long time away.

One of the reasons why we chose this car seat was because it has 5 different reclining settings this allows you to reface until 18kg which is around 4 years old.  You do have to wait till your child is around 9kg to forward face which approximately is 9 months old.
We didn’t reface once we got this car seat because Jess was a nosy child and she actually wanted to look out of the window we actually let her do this even though we know the benefits of having your child refacing for a longer period of time. There are another 4 settings which allow you to forward face which is amazing because this means that once your child is kicking the back of the actual car seat and this could be annoying to others you may want to change the setting.
 
Due to the fact that this car seat can last till your child is 12 you are able to adjust the headrest, it has 10 different settings and this is something we have found is pretty easy to be able to do. The sides also can widen which allows your child the room they need within the car seat. Of course, this is not a full car seat when they become older it becomes a high backed booster which fits in the guidelines within the UK when this occurs the 5-point harness gets tooked away and you use the normal seat belt which means that it is not in the way. Currently, we have to use the actual seat belt in order to keep the car seat safe meaning that it does not move. 

 This car seat can actually be stripped down and the covers thrown in the wash which is something which we have had to do in the past because Jess can struggle with car sickness. This is handy as well if you have a small child in the car who could do the same I have also had to wipe it and found it drys pretty quickly which is amazing because if you are like us you are always using it. This car seat is very easy to actually install into your car and can be done in only a couple of moments which is great if you are like me and you might need to take it in and out to either put it in someone else’s car or due to the fact that there has been a spillage. 

 Jess must find this comfortable due to the fact that on more than one occasion we have found her sleeping in this for long periods of time while she has been travelling which proves this claim it even comes with thick padding on the shoulder straps and buckles meaning it is even more comfortable for the child. For sure this car seat is very well padded as well as being secure. 
 
I would recommend any parents who are looking at either purchasing their child’s first car seat and are not bothered about been able to click it onto a pushchair. Or patents like us who were looking to upgrade their original car seat to purchase this item. I know it does seem expensive at close to £200 however it will last your child a long time and you can not put a price on their safety.  If you are not interested in rear facing you could look into the Jolie elevate 123 car seat another car seat I own foe a different car which I will do a review on at a later date.
 
Do you own the Jolie ever every stage car seat if so what are your thought? 
 
Charlotte xx