I recently wrote an article about birth marks called ‘stork bites’, which often appear on newborns but usually fade before they turn three. It got me wondering where the whole ‘storks carrying babies’ legend comes from. What’s the origin of storks carrying babies?

I mean… why not an owl, an eagle, an albatross?

Thank goodness for Google – my curiosity has been piqued. I thought I’d share.

As you can imagine, there are various tales of mythic origin that explain why the stork is the bringer of babies but the most common seems to be one of German ancestry. According to this folk … Continue reading →

My two-year old daughter is camera-obsessed – probably because her parents are! We are a photo taking family; for the sake of both art and memory. And my small child is following suit.

The obvious problem is that our cameras are not safe from the well-meaning-but-unavoidably-boisterous hands of a toddler. We have shown her how to use our point-and-shoot camera; and she is actually pretty savvy. The other day, under the gaze of my watchful eye, she was taking photos of herself (copying her mum no doubt) and they look awesome… in a surreal, artsy sort of way.

I’d love to get … Continue reading →

Guess what ladies!? That horrid biological clock that ticks ever so loudly in the back of our minds, increasingly so with age, may hold no weight. It’s not yet entirely certain but research is promising.

In the latest breakthrough in fertility treatment, American scientists have used stem cells from human ovaries to produce lab-grown egg cells.

Women are born with a supply of egg cells that must last throughout life. But if these cells can be regenerated, then time is no issue. Our biological clocks will be rendered redundant.

Now, on the down side, cells grown in a laboratory often develop abnormalities, … Continue reading →

A stork bit my baby – not really! But it looks like one did.

Heard of a birth mark called a ‘stork bite’? What is a stork bite birth mark? It’s one that appears on the forehead, eyelids, nose, upper lip, and on the back of the neck or head – just like a stork picked your baby up by the head and dropped him/her on your doorstep… as the story goes.

Soon after my baby girl was born, I noticed a faint pink patch on her left eyelid and just above her nose on her forehead… and also on the back of … Continue reading →

David the Dinosaur is the first book by Adam Black. It’s aimed at the 4 to 8 age group and will appeal to both boys and girls.

The book tells the story of David Dinosaur’s terrible dietary habits, which provide a fun and funny message about healthy eating, combined with a sense of adventure ready to entertain the imaginations of all little readers…and listeners. David’s tantalising addiction to bad food choices (namely eating young boys) is bound to get him in to trouble!

I love a kids’ book with a sense of humour – in fact; I think that books for children … Continue reading →

When you found out you were pregnant, one of the first things you probably did was get hold of a book or magazine that told you everything that was happening to your baby, week by week.

Once the baby was born, it was a different book, telling you when your baby should start to smile, roll over, eat solid foods. As they grew, your health visitor plotted their growth on a chart and asked you if they could pass little blocks between their hands and how many words they can say now.

Each stage is exciting but can also feel like a … Continue reading →

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget how young our children really are. With kids growing up with computers and mobile phones – things that were new to us just a few years ago – and seeming to take to them like ducks to water while we still struggle to set the Sky+, it can occasionally seem like we are the children and they are the adults!

Even the youngest children seem so grown up at times – my 4-year-old daughter diligently brought me a glass of water every 12 hours while I was ill in bed recently, and each time, she asked … Continue reading →

It’s been a while since Christmas, and you might be noticing that all those new toys that were so exciting at the time are starting to lose their shine a little by now, so here are a few tips to ring the changes on kids boredom without having to go out and spend any more money:

* Hold a toy swap: get together with friends who have children of a similar age or even older, and swap any toys that the children have grown bored with or grown out of. If you keep a log of who owns what, you can swap … Continue reading →

We are currently without a safety gate at the top of our stairs. It is the result of living with young children in an old house – our first-born decided to swing off the gate and the ancient plaster around the screws literally crumbled under the pressure.

It takes 24 hours for the new plaster to be drillable, so in the meantime, we are freewheeling when upstairs. Needless to say, the youngest is never allowed up there unaccompanied and never let beyond a closed bedroom door, but even the rest of us feel a bit of a flight risk as we … Continue reading →

Unless you are one of the lucky ones whose children happily gobble down broccoli and cauliflower without even trying to hide them under a cabbage leaf, the idea of getting your kids to eat their 5-a-day probably makes you think of that age-old battle involved in getting children to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

But it might surprise you to know that there are some hidden gems lurking in places other than the salad draw that can help you on your way to making sure the 5 a day for children quota is met.

Here are 6 sources you might not have expected … Continue reading →