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Learning new adventures is all part of being a child isn't it? 

Learning to roll over, to crawl, walk, run and ride a bike. Bike riding has been very topical in our house this summer, with big sister finally letting go of the stabilisers and little sister making her first attempts to ride a bike, courtesy of the fabulous Strider Bike and whilst they are safe riding in the confines of our gardens, I wouldn't want them out on the road just yet.

For over 60 years, children have wobbled their way through the Cycling Proficiency Test, now called Bikeability, and there are 3 levels that children can take. Level 1 helps new riders (like my girls) to control their bike before they move on to developing on-road skills at the next level. Level 2 is usually tackled by children in Years 5 or 6, before they leave primary school but then level 3 teaches children how to ride in different and more challenging traffic situations, and is usually completed by children of secondary school age (so I have a little time before I start worrying about them being on the road because the last thing I want to be worrying about is road traffic accidents and whiplash injury). 

The little one is still a long way off from finding her feet (or her pedals) on the bike and she is just as happy to go down to the main road and watch the traffic go past. I genuinely thought my other half had gone a little bit mad when he suggested going to watch the cars one morning but she loves nothing more than waving to the trucks, farm tractors and cars as they go past and getting them to honk their horns!

So I don't think I need to worry about her learning the dangers of the road, as whilst she may only be little, she seems quite competent at commanding the traffic from the pavement.

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This week's Ranty Friday post is based on proposed action by the government. I am not getting all political (its not really my style) and in fact I am in support of the proposals by the Lib Dem's that schools in England need to take action to cut the cost of uniforms for parents. It is ludicrous that some schools still insist on uniforms being bought from one single outlet, giving parents on different household incomes no option but to shop there. You can see the article from the BBC here.

I totally understand that schools want their children to be smart and a good representative of that establishment but surely that can be done by wearing a branded jumper or a supermarket one? Isn't the behaviour and appearance of the children the responsibility of the parents, rather than the clothes on their backs?

I was looking at the uniforms from our schools "single use supplier" and they have a variety of uniforms available but one thing that did strike me with other schools was that you had the option to buy a sew on emblem, meaning that you didn't necessarily have to buy the branded clothing but you could buy elsewhere and just sew on the logo. (hopefully in the right place and not at all wonky)

There will always be those that are for and against this move. I like my children having a uniform and I wouldn't support any decision to get rid of it completely but I do think that there are lots of families that want their children to go to the best schools but being forced to shop in one specific place just simply isn't right!

For the sake of parents pockets,

For the right to have a choice,

For those children that regularly lose uniform,

I support these changes, do you?

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It seems ages ago since the children all went back to school, even though it is only a couple of weeks and typically in our house, we are already chasing missing cardigans! For some reason, my daughter and her friends have an inane ability to lose parts of their school uniform and at first I thought it was just my child but apparently it is a common complaint from all the parents. On one sports day last year, another child apparently went home with my daughter school polo shirt, never to be found again and she came home in her PE top.

I don't deny that I can occasionally misplace items but my daughter lost a grand total of 4 cardigans in one term last year, this is not only frustrating but expensive too, especially when you buy the school branded clothing. So this year, we have been a little more savvy. We have bought a small number of school branded items but we have mixed this with the supermarket brands too. Asda have a great range of affordable and great quality school uniform, which washes really well and is easy on the purse strings!

This year, in an act of rebellion, I bought a "Hello Kitty" PE bag from Asda this summer, rather than the standard issue ..... again mainly so that there was no chance of mixing it up with anyone else's

Some schools want all of their children in the same uniform, not a mixture of different styles (this is a whole other blog post tomorrow) but when they are smart and hard wearing, I really don't see what the issue is. The range from Asda gives us an affordable option when parents need them and who can argue with that?

Disclaimer : We were sent a couple of items of school wear from the Asda back to school range but the views are honest and true.

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When I was in junior school, I was asked to draw a picture of my favourite place in the world. I drew my bed.

I have always loved my bedroom, if everyone else is out for the evening I won't snuggle up on the sofa, I always climb into bed and read, work or sleep. My bedroom therefore has to be a haven of opulence, serenity with a little sassy thrown in. Unfortunately with two small children it is a little less serene and a little more second grade with baby wipes adorning my bedside cabinet rather than gorgeous table lamps.

So when I saw that Debenhams have a fabulous competition  where you select a range of products to create your perfect bedroom from their website and then combine them to create a mood board, I thought it was a great chance to indulge myself. The only restriction is that you have to do it within a budget of £5000. The winner, chosen by judges from Mammasaurus and Love Chic Living, will receive a amazing £500 worth of Debenhams vouchers to spend on anything they like! Sounded like a challenge to me.

So if I take the influence of two small children out of the equation and am let loose with what I want on my bedside table, then this is what it would be:

The room would have aubegine accents (my mom would say purple) and as our cat likes to sleep on our bed so much, I thought the cat cushion would either give her some company (or competition).

I love the delicate etched glass table lamps and a proper dressing table but the thing I love the most is the ottomon style bed. The reason? I can stash away all my shoes under that bed and no one will ever know how many I own ..... ssshhhhh!

So out of my £5000 budget, I only spent just over £2000 which in my eyes means that I have more money to spend on shoes!

This is my entry into the Debenhams Dream Bedroom Competition.