My husband doesn’t seem to share a love of shoes in the same way I do and apparently I am passing on my love of shoes to my two girls. In fact, I will let you into a little secret; the toddler possibly has more shoes than any one of us (but shhhh don’t tell my husband that).

I am partial to a sky scraper heel, whereas the girls love trainers, party shoes, boots, pumps, sandals, in fact any style of shoe that matches the outfit of the day. So when you have three women in a household all with a love of shoes, we need to find affordable shoe options to feed our addiction. Buying shoes can be expensive and traipsing round the shops with two children isn’t my favourite idea of fun. The solution? Buying online!

So when we were introduced to Pisamonas, we may have been a little excited! They are a gorgeous children´s shoes and accessories brand shoe store based in Spain and aside from the stunning classic shoe range, they tempt you with free shipping, free size exchanges, and high-quality shoes at low prices.

Despite being despatched from Spain, at Pisamonas, deliveries are always FREE, with no minimum purchase required, and returns & size exchanges are always FREE too, no explanations needed. If the size does not fit, they will send a new one for free, just as if you were shopping at a high street store. (We may have done a happy dance when we found this out).

So once you have got over the excitement of the FREE delivery and returns bit (I have to admit some other online retailers should take a leaf out of Pisamonas book) and take a look at the designs, you will find that they have an adorable classic look to them that is somehow both timeless and on trend.

As a Welcome to the UK they are offering £10 off on your first order when spending over £40 so grab it while you can! And while my husband may insist that we don’t need any more shoes in our cupboard, Cinderella is proof that a new pair of shoes really can change your life!

Tweet

We may have mentioned our love of baby swimming once or twice and one of the things we love about our swimming lessons, is that Water Babies always choose pools that are a minimum of 30 degrees or more as little ones can feel the cold when swimming and a shivering baby is usually not a happy one.

So we have always been a huge fan of the Konfidence range of products for baby swimming and beyond and we love that this remains a family business based in the UK. We are therefore thrilled to be able to offer a Baby Bundle worth £50 to our readers. The prize includes:

The Konfidence Roll & Go Changing Mat is perfect for the poolside and changing room.  It is made from 3mm thick chlorine-resistant neoprene cushioned foam, with an embossed treaded underside, which provides grip so that it won’t slip or slide on wet surfaces.

You have a choice of picking from one of the three colours and all you need to do is enter below:

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions:

UK Entrants Only.
The winner will be chosen at random by the random winner generator on Rafflecopter and notified within 5 working days by email
Konfidence will be responsible entirely for the prize
By entering this competition, you understand that your details will be retained for future mailings. You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.
There is no monetary equivalent.
Little Lilypad Co take no /responsibility for loss or damage in the despatch of prizes
If the prize is unclaimed within 7 days we reserve the right to redraw the winner.
End Date 28/02/2015 12am

Tweet

If you hadn't noticed, it has gone a little chilly outside recently. More than a little chilly and for some reason, 9 year old girls insist that they don't feel the cold. If you are the proud owner of one of those 9 year old girls, you will surely know what I am talking about.

They know best.

They don't "need" to wear a coat.

They certainly don't need a new one with a hood!

We have spent the whole of January trying on new coats, they have been too big, too fluffy, too long, too green (!!) and I had a reality check about who was actually the decision maker in our parent / child relationship, so when Vertbaudet asked us to review one of this seasons Parka's from their children's range, I said yes.

You can see her reaction to this removal of her choice....

The coat is well made, it is shower proof and despite it's rain proofing qualities, it is warm and cozy with its fur lining. We love the selection of winter warmers that Vertbaudet has and we *may* have lost an hour of life browsing round the site. 

There is a great selection online and colours for every picky 9 year old to choose from.

My word of advice when buying, is to pick a colour you know they like (or get ready for a battle every single morning) and in the case of this particular design, buy a bigger size. It does come up a little snug, so when the cold chill really does hit, it may be more than a little cozy if she is wearing a jumper underneath.

So if you are the proud owner of one of those choosy, particular and down right adorable 9 year olds, have a little look at Vertbaudet, it might just make one of those parenting battles a little easier today!

Tweet

This may sound a strange blog post for our usually fluffly and "nice" blog, especially when the thought of nits, or head lice as they prefer to be known, sends most people into an itchy and scratching frenzy.

I remember the nit nurse at school.

I remember the stigma of those who were found with lice in their hair.

I remember all the parents saying "don't be upset, they only like clean hair".

All of this came flooding back to me last week when my daughter started scratching her head after her shower and  I started combing it through to find this ......

I was mortified, we always tied her hair back for school, we regularly used tea tree oil repellent but still they found her!

She was upset.

I was upset. But I was also a little bit miffed that no one had said anything at school. I immediately got in touch with all her little friends parents to get them to check their children's hair.

Needless to say, I spent an hour and a half combing through her hair but it was late at night and we had nothing to treat her hair with so we googled natural home remedies for the removal of lice. Here are the top three ;

• Coat the hair with Olive Oil to suffocate the little mites. Some people suggested Vaseline but lets be honest, that is going to be unnecessarily messy, and is going to be difficult to wash out. It was recommended that you could try coating the comb instead of the hair and re-applying the oil as needed. You may have to try both methods to see which works best for you. Work under a good light so you can see what you’re doing. Rinse out the comb often under running hot water as you go. 

• Tea tree essential oil is a natural insecticide, making it an effective treatment for head lice - they REALLY don't like it. So all you need to do is mix together one teaspoon of tea tree oil, one ounce of natural shampoo and three tablespoons of coconut or olive oil. Apply the solution to the whole head of hair and then cover your head with a shower cap or towel. Leave the hair covered for a half an hour and then rinse thoroughly with hot water.  It is important to remember NOT to apply tea tree oil directly to the scalp.

• Garlic - lice apparently detest it and abandon ship. I have read that one mom gives her children a garlic tablet on a regular basis just to keep them at bay!

We chose the "suffocate them with oil" option and the poor little thing had a shower cap on her head for about 18 hours! It definitely helped with the lice but we chose an over the counter treatment to ensure that the eggs were eradicated too!

I am pleased to report that they have gone but it doesn't stop me from itching when I think about it.

So are you sitting there scratching your head yet?

Do you think that schools should bring back the nit nurse? Would this have helped?

I just wonder if our weekend drama could have been avoided before an outbreak began. The social stigma of "nits" is what makes people avoid talking about it but we need to share the problems, the ideas for remedies and above all, make sure that the children know that it is something that can be dealt with and not scorned.

Am I asking too much?

Rant over!