‘Somewhere, hidden amongst thorny brambles is a little kingdom of Elves and Fairies. Everyone who lives here is very, very small…’
We LOVE Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom. I love even more that it’s coming to the stage very soon – we’ve already bought tickets to go and see the show in Wimbledon next month!
So, we’ve had a fairly quiet summer with giveaways, but we’re back! This one is a goodie too – a family ticket to see Ben & Holly Live – and quite frankly, with the promise of a jelly flood, how could you possibly not want to?
The ticket is valid for four seats – and is for all venues subject to availability – so in other words, if it’s sold out then sorry! But if it hasn’t then if you win, request that performance (and a quick glance says they’re all still on sale).
So, how to enter? Well recently we went to an event at the NFT that AstleyBakerDavies – the people behind Ben & Holly and Peppa Pig put on – your answer is in there. So answer the easy question and there’s a few more options to enter, and keep your fingers crossed. The competition closes on the 1st October 2012. Entry by Rafflecopter.
Come on, ‘fess up ladies. How much attention did you pay to your pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy and after birth?
If the answer’s ‘very little’ or even ‘none at all’, you’re not alone. In fact, you may well be in the majority. If memory serves, my own efforts to keep up with those tedious little squeezes in the pre and post-natal period were half-hearted, to say the least.
Maybe, like me, you neglected yours because they were boring. But maybe you also neglected them because nobody pointed out precisely how important they might prove to be a bit later – or outlined what the worst case scenario could be if you ignored them.
Fact is, these exercises (Americans call ‘em ‘Kegels’, after the obstetrician who pioneered them) really can make a difference. The pelvic floor is a ‘sling’ of muscles which support the bladder, bowel and uterus and inevitably it comes in for a massive hit during pregnancy and birth. Working to strengthen it can help prevent – and resolve – a number of conditions that include incontinence, pelvic instability and back pain, and prolapse, which occurs when one of the pelvic organs drops down into the vagina causing, as you can imagine, all sorts of further issues. (As a useful aside, keeping your pelvic floor strong can also make for a better sex life)
‘The process of carrying a baby takes its toll on the pelvic floor and it you then have a vaginal birth it takes a further pounding. So if you’re a mum and you don’t exercise your pelvic floor, you risk some serious problems – if not now, then as you age,’ warns Wendy Powell, a pre and postpartum exercise specialist who developed the MuTu System, a programme specifically aimed at core and pelvic restoration. http://mutusystem.com
It’s important to get them right, though, Wendy stresses. ‘Standard advice is to squeeze as if you’re trying not to a wee, but it’s a complicated system of muscles down there and ideally the pelvic floor needs to be trained and exercised as part of the entire core system of muscle, not just as isolated squeezes,’ she says. ‘You have to remember to lift from the middle and the back as well as the front, exhaling through pursed lips as you do it, drawing your belly button towards your spine at the same but without tucking your tailbone in.’ (There’s more detailed advice from Wendy on how to do pelvic floor exercises right in her blog, which you can find here: http://mutusystem.com/category/body-confidence-after-having-a-baby/pelvic-floor-exercises-kegels)
Most mums I’ve talked to agree there’s not enough information or guidance given on pelvic floors and the importance of exercising them. I tapped a panel of real mums for their comments and views whilst writing First Time Mum, and one of them, Rebecca F, told me: ‘No-one explained to me why you need to do your pelvic floor exercises, and because I didn’t, I had a prolapse, two years after having my second child. Not the most serious kind, but enough to cause problems that needed physiotherapy to resolve. Your bottom falling out of your bits is not a consequence of birth you expect, and I think there’s a huge conspiracy of silence about it.’
Emma Goodman, a mum-of-two and a pregnancy and postnatal personal fitness trainer who blogs at http://www.preandpostnatalexercise.co.uk/category/blog/, agrees it’s a subject that’s often neglected.
‘Exercise instructions may be handed out on a scrappy bit of paper, or plopped in with a heap of other leaflets as you leave the hospital, which doesn’t entice you to get them done,’ she says. ‘I think it would be helpful for expectant or new mums to attend a quick practical workshop, where they could ask questions.’
Why don’t health professionals in the UK make a bigger deal about the importance of pelvic floor exercises for women who are either expecting, or have just had, a baby? I couldn’t say. I’m told that in France, it’s an issue of such national importance that all mums are routinely offered a series of free postnatal physiotherapy appointments aimed at getting the pelvic floor back in shape: La rééducation périnéale. (Although by all accounts, this is less about avoiding health problems and more about getting women back in the sack again http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/26/france-postnatal-care-sexual-health, as soon as possible!)
Of course, we can’t entirely blame the health professionals. Ultimately, it’s up to us to make sure our pelvic floors get exercised – preferably every day, a couple of times a day.
‘It’s not something you’d ever make an appointment to do and that’s why it’s easy to neglect them,’ says Emma. ‘Your best bet is to fit your pelvic floor exercises alongside regular daily activities that you carry out at the same time – brushing your teeth, having a shower, waiting at the bus stop, or sitting on the train, for example. That way you’re guaranteed to do them every day.’
And when can we all stop doing our pelvic floor exercises? Ladies, the truth is that, ideally, you would carry on doing them forever. The pelvic floor is a muscle like any other, and if you stop making it work, it will get weak – particularly as the years roll on!
So. Altogether now. Squeeeeeeeze!
Thank you Hollie! Hollie’s website is over here with loads of information about her books – check out our reviews – we love her books!
The Book People come to Shaun’s work quite often, and stopped by today – so we picked up the latest Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler book ‘Superworm’ for a really good price – and hardback too!
‘Superworm is super-long, Superworm is super-strong, Watch him wiggle! See him squirm! Hip, hip, hooray for SUPERWORM!’
The basic Superworm story – he helps all the local insects and is a proper superhero (and a worm), until he’s captured by the wicked Wizard Lizard. All his insect friends have a plan to free him and get him back….
Superworm is more of the fabulous rhyming, but a little more complicated than the usual books (this is a good thing, by the way) – H asked lots of questions about what was going on and enjoyed it, while generally on the first read she’ll listen. Yet again there’s fabulous illustrations, the rhymes are fun (though I struggled with Uncle Ant and earwig aunt’ – getting a bit tongue twisted), and of course there’s a happy ending.
If The Book People are due at your work, keep an eye out for this, as it’s at a really good price (better than online) – and with a rrp of £10.99 you’ve got an excellent bargain.
Superworm is published by Alison Green Books, ISBN 978-1-407132-04-4
I’m taking the Weight Watchers Back 2 Best challenge with BritMums!
I remember growing up in the seventies, my mum tried several diets – but it was always just her doing whichever diet she felt she needed to do while we ate normally. They didn’t seem like much fun back then, and I remember my mum being miserable about being on a diet – none of them really working and having any kind of lasting effect.
When I was pregnant I developed Gestational Diabetes and we followed the GI Diet – eating low GI foods to keep my blood sugars down. It helped and I lost weight – but I resented not being able to have the occasional pizza or higher GI food, and when the diabetes went, my good eating habits did too.
I’ve also recently found out that the white spots under my eyes are due to cholesterol – I’m due to be tested to find out more on this, and have since found out it can be linked to diabetes, but that’s set off alarm bells again – I need to be looking after myself, we all need to look after ourselves – and we need to promote a healthy lifestyle to H so it’s second nature to her.
I work with K who did Weight Watchers with her husband (this article is worth a read – warning – contains lots of swearing), who has lost an incredible amount of weight who has promised me she’ll give me loads of tips to help (and already has) – diets are about a lifestyle change, or adapting what you already do to make it healthier. I know I can do this.
I think we’ve kept some elements of the GI diet, though we’re not losing weight. We don’t have takeaways very often, though I do snack badly at work. I’m doing the Thinking Slimmer SlimPod which is helping the way I think about bad food (it’s really working with chocolate) – it’s working in changing how I think.
So. Weightwatchers. Here we go. A change of lifestyle which will hopefully make us change how we eat as a family – including H – without her getting those thoughts of us ‘being on a diet’. I’m looking forward to it, and want to lose at least a stone – plus being able to track it on my iPod Touch will be easy as I’ve always got it with me, so now it’s just controlling portion sizes and being even more aware of what we’re eating as a family. I know we can adapt and change and make it work – bring it on!
There’s a Twitter Party this lunchtime – more info over here – where you can win Weight Watchers things – 1-2pm #wwback2best – Tuesday 18th September 2012
I’ve reviewed one of Hollie Smith’s previous books (The Ultimate Baby & Toddler Q&A), and found the advice to be sensible and covering all angles – which to me is a very good thing. There’s a lot of books out there and so much information your head can explode at times – or you just end up bursting into tears with the fear of it all (thanks to the Dr Miriam Stoppard book, though that could have been hormones).
First-time Mum is the follow-up to Pregnancy for Modern Girls
What I really like about First-time Mum is there’s never a right or wrong way to do something – you kind of muddle through it all, and this book is full of good suggestions and down to earth tips. It covers emotional advice as well as practical, and the thing which stood out to me (more to follow on this very soon), there’s a section on the pelvic floor – something that’s drummed into us all in our antenatal classes, but how many of us actually do it? We really should be you know – and there’s very helpful and important advice why in the book.
Tips included are:
• What to buy for your baby
• The early weeks
• Basic babycare
• Feeding
• Sleep
• Development
• Health and safety
• Your body after birth
• Emotional well-being
• Love and sex
• Going back to work
I love how Hollie writes – I felt like reading it I was sitting chatting with a friend having a cuppa in a cafe – it’s not preachy, it’s full of helpful advice and there’s enough it’ll help you make your own mind up. It’s also an easy read, as I remember those early days, and actually reading anything was a task in itself.
As Hollie says “I try not to lecture people but give them hints and tips that can really help – like what things you definitely don’t need to buy, where to get help with breastfeeding, how to sleep safely in bed with your baby, how to tackle the Mum-Tum. I remember my first year of motherhood in vivid technicolour.”
I wish this book had been available when I was pregnant. While it wouldn’t change anything we did, getting the reassurance you’re not doing it wrong is equally as important – and this book does exactly that. Highly recommended by us!
You can read excerpts from First-time Mum over at Amazon.
Hollie’s website is over here
We received a copy of First-time Mum for review – look out for a guest post from Hollie coming very soon
It’s been quiet these last few days on here – I’ve had an annoying cold. You know the kind, bunged up and sniffly, and I’ve really fought it. However, I suspect it would have been a lot worse had I not been boosting my immune system with A. Vogel’s Echinaforce Echinacea Drops.
I always forget to take enough echinacea, especially at this time of year – and while I often forgot to take this three times a day, I did do several doses twice.
It’s nice and easy to take too – no tablets, just drops. Get your glass of water, add 15 drops (0.6ml) and drink.
(I should note here that children of 6-12 years can take this, but should only do 7 drops (0.3ml))
Echinaforce is a herbal remedy for the symptomatic relief of colds and flu – and similar upper respiratory tract infections. Given I’ve had this cold, I’m making sure I do at least two doses a day now – and I’d also say this cold has gone a lot quicker than previous ones.
A. Vogel’s Echinacea is produced using extracts of freshly harvested, organically grown Echinacea purpurea herb and root, picked fresh and used within 24 hours of harvest. The benefit of using freshly harvested herbs has been demonstrated in research – extracts produced from fresh plants contain almost 3 times more active substances compared with those obtained from equivalent amounts of dried herb. (Tobler M et al: Characteristics of whole fresh plant extracts. Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur GanzheitMedizin, 1994)
You can buy a Echinacea 50ml pack for under a tenner, and it’ll last a long time – in the month or so I’ve had this it has gone down by approximately 1cm – so you’ll be buying something which lasts all winter – plus it helps boost your immune system.
We were sent a 50ml Echinaforce bottle to try, all opinions are our own.
Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly and Friends at the NFT was an amazing event where we got to meet the people behind the voices on Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom and Peppa Pig.
Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly and Friends at the NFT featured the works of Neville Astley, Mark Baker and Phil Davies – who of course are from Astley Baker Davies who make Peppa Pig, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom and The Big Knights.
It really was a whole day event – as prior to the start of it the foyer was set up with paper and tons of crafty things so you could make your own Peppa Pig mask (with a polystyrene cup and a paper plate!), or paint/colour in some Peppa characters on paper – or even design your own scene then make your own plasticine characters so you could then make a stop-start animation. There was tons to do, and even better it was free – you didn’t need a ticket for this part.
The part you needed the ticket for, however, was brilliant – Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly and Friends at the NFT meant everyone sat and were introduced to Astley, Baker and Davies who then chatted about the shows, answering questions from the audience as well as doing giveaways and prizes (H won for her drawing of Peppa Pig!).
We got to see three new Peppa Pig episodes – ‘Mr Bull in a China Shop’, ‘The Olden Days’ and ‘Grampy Rabbit on the Moon’ as well as a new Ben & Holly one which we can’t remember the exact name of, but it involves bees (and is very funny) – these episodes may not screen until December time, so that was a pretty ace exclusive! We also saw a remastered Big Knights episode ‘Clockwork Knights’ which went down well.
There was plenty of participation from the audience – they invited kids up to sing the Peppa song (H was too shy) and almost all the questions were asked by children.
Then the bit we’d really been looking forward to – the voices behind the characters Daddy Pig (Richard Ridings), Mummy Pig (Morwenna Banks), Peppa Pig (Harley Bird), Miss Rabbit (and Nanny Plum) (Sarah Ann Kennedy), as well as the narrator (John Sparkes) all came on the stage. Harley Bird who plays Peppa brought on her BAFTA that she’d won (first time I’ve ever seen one of those!) and they all chatted, swapping anecdotes and answering questions. Of all the voices, the most immediate were those of Richard Ridings and Sarah Ann Kennedy – both of whom have been voice-spotted while out and about.
Morwenna Banks, Richard Ridings, Sarah Ann Kennedy, Harley Bird and John Sparkes – the voices of Peppa Pig (and Ben & Holly)
So, what did we learn? A days work at Astley Baker Davies results in seven seconds of a Peppa Pig episode – but that can be several episodes at the same time. They’re done in batches and then sent – so the ones we saw today were only very recently finished.
Brian Blessed says too many swear words for him to attend today (which I think is very funny), and a lot of the stories that involve his characters are based on anecdotes he’s told while recording his parts.
The Big Knights wasn’t a massive success – and Astley, Baker and Davies all realised it was due to them not targeting the animation and knowing who their audience was. They went back to the drawing board (so to speak) and had a re-think, knowing they needed a family with a mum, dad and two children… fast forward and Peppa Pig was born!
The parts are recorded ahead of the animation being made – rather than afterwards like you might assume. I’m not sure if they were joking, but they did say it’s the first time they’ve all been in the same room together!
There are no plans for a Peppa Pig film as they don’t want to mess with the five-minute format (hurrah!), but they are working on a Big Knights film. The Big Knights was shown on the BBC, there are thirteen episodes and it has recently been updated and remastered so it’s suitable for our televisions these days – and has been recently brought out on DVD.
Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom is fun for them to work on, as Peppa episodes feature things that have happened or have been dreamt about, whereas with magic you can do anything which gives them a much broader start to work from.
That’s about all I can remember. Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly and Friends at the NFT was great – considering you had a lot of very young kids there, attention spans weren’t too bad – it started with chats, a quick episode, then more chats – and it flowed well. When the kids didn’t really want to listen to the talking, the characters on stage was interesting – H still can’t quite get her head around Nanny Plum and Miss Rabbit being the same person’s voice.
The actors (voice actors?) on stage all introduced themselves in their character voices, and we found out that quite often they’ll try different accents for different characters – Morwenna Banks gave us a quick Madame Gazelle (alas no Bing Bong Song), and the narrator John Sparkes is also the voice of Mr Potato – as well as several other characters! (which he did for us).
You could see how much everyone enjoys working on the shows (which are made in the UK, in their offices on Regent Street) – and how they’re not running out of ideas – there’s always something to write about – the original Peppa, Lily Snowden-Fine’s mum told them a story which was made into an episode – which I think is brilliant! Imagine that – an everyday event becomes a kids tv episode – how cool?
The BFI hold monthly kids events – and we’ll be on the lookout for more – this was a great event – we were in the NFT from 11am until around 4ish which is quite a long day – but there was so much to do that time flew by. I’d highly recommend it and will be going again.
The Big Knights
Disclaimer – I was given free tickets for this event, but this was down to taking too long to buy them rather than for the purpose of review. Thankyou to Liz at the BFI for all your help!
Last night I made a new discovery via Brooklynvegan – a band Play Date who play the kind of music that doesn’t drive you mad, in fact its proper indie – and aimed at kids!
Do you want to hear some? All you have to do is like their page on Facebook and you get access to five songs; ‘Rad’, ‘Anyone Can Sing’, ‘Imagination’, ‘The Number Song’ and ‘Dance Like A Monster’. It’s all fun guitar pop and catchy enough that children like H will get dancing (and hopefully it’ll start her on the way to realising there’s music outside the mainstream). At times the harmonies remind me of bands like The New Pornographers (least appropriate band t-shirt to wear at a Children’s Centre EVER – note to self), and it’s all good.
There’s some YouTube goodness here –
Play Date are Bouncing Souls frontman Greg Attonito and his wife Shanti Wintergate who have recorded an album of children’s music ‘Imagination’, due on October 9 via Fun Fun Records (who I already love as they say they’re putting out Kindie Rock). Fun Fun Records started as Mike felt that there wasn’t a label out there putting Kid Friendly music out – and most of the bands he knew had become parents and wanted to make music that would appeal to their children. As they say “The idea is to keep the DIY PUNK ethics intact while providing quality and educational music for our kids.”
I received a link to download Play Date’s album, all opinions are my own. I have received more download links to feature other Fun Fun artists, so keep an eye out!
We’re huge fans of the Dr. Oetker pizza range in our house – where I’m more than a little bit addicted to the Pizza Mozzarella one – so when we had the chance to review the pizza we obviously accepted!
Dr. Oetker pizzas became popular on our weekly NCT group meets, when we’d often have a couple of the varieties to share – from the vegetarian Pizza Mozzarella to more meatier options like Pollo, Speciale or Hawaii. They’ve a very slim base and cook nicely – you know how some bases get soggy if they’re overloaded with fillings? That’s absolutely not the case with these pizzas – they cook straight on the oven shelves and are ready within ten minutes.
For review we went with my old favourite Pizza Mozzarella – a tomato base with mozzarella cheese on top, plus several dollops of pesto around it. The base cooked brilliantly, stayed nice and crispy and most importantly of all didn’t have that annoying too-much-topping problem some pizzas have, when they dribble all over your oven – everything stayed intact.
Would I buy this brand of pizza again? Absolutely! They’re light enough you don’t have that stodgy feeling afterwards like with some pizzas, while still being filling. While I’m a sucker for the Pizza Mozzarella, there are a lot of varieties available and a decent vegetarian choice.
The pizzas are available from all supermarkets – and are just the right size to fit in the freezer too.
We received a voucher for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own
There’s something really cool happening at the BFI this weekend – particularly if you’re a fan of Ben & Holly and Peppa Pig.
The creators of both shows, Astley Baker Davis are letting us into their world – you can meet some of the creative people behind the programme as well as watch some new episodes that have never been seen on tv, plus get a glimpse at a rarely seen classic episode of The Big Knights remastered in HD.
The event is designed for fans of the shows who may be curious how they’re made, as well as getting to see the characters on the big screen.
Present on the day will be the creators of Peppa Pig; Neville Astley and Mark Baker, Producer Phil Davies, Director of Animation Joris Van Hulzen and their fabulous voice cast Harley Bird (Peppa), Morwenna Banks (Mummy Pig), Richard Ridings (Daddy Pig), Jon Sparkes (Narrator) and Sarah Ann Kennedy (Miss Rabbit).
There’s also a free Peppa Pig Workshop – with a chance to create your own characters – anything from humans or animals like George and Peppa – or even elves or fairies like Ben and Holly and you also get to learn how an episode is put together.
There’s a few tickets left! As they say, ‘this is one funday that Peppa Pig and Ben & Holly fans simply cannot miss’!
‘Somewhere, hidden amongst thorny brambles is a little kingdom of Elves and Fairies. Everyone who lives here is very, very small…’
First-time Mum is the follow-up to Pregnancy for Modern Girls
The creators of both shows, Astley Baker Davis are letting us into their world – you can meet some of the creative people behind the programme as well as watch some new episodes that have never been seen on tv, plus get a glimpse at a rarely seen classic episode of The Big Knights remastered in HD.