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This week has been a little dismal with all the rain, well that was until an email pinged into my inbox telling me that I had been nominated for the Mumsclub Top 100 Mumpreneurs for the Little Lilypad Blog.

Receiving an email that says .....

Congratulations you've been nominated for a
Business Mum Award! 

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 ..... is certainly one way to brighten my day!

If you didnt know, this week is National Business Mum Week! Business Mum Week was created to inspire the growth of UK mum-owned enterprise.  The week was the idea of a fellow business mum and founder of MumsClub, Jane Hopkins MBE with the aim of creating local media interest in mum run businesses and to create more mum-owned businesses.

So with the awards already causing a huge buzz through social media channels, I was completely gobsmacked to be nominated amongst some amazing women. You can vote by clicking through the badge above but I never like asking for votes as it feels a little like a popularity contest for who is the coolest kid in school ! Even back in my school days, I was always happy being me, doing what made me happy and celebrating my friends success, so lets celebrate all these fantastic women and the determination, success and family flexibility they demonstrate!

As for winning .... what will be will be.

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If you are anything like me, you will have lost count how many times have you ended up with a wet patch on your sofa, on the carpet or in the car due to a “none spill cup” slowly spilling its contents all over the place. Having a cup that the little one will drink out of and doesn’t spill everywhere has genuinely become a quest of mine! (I am a bit sad, I will admit that). So when I was asked to test the new Click Lock™ Cup from Munchkin, I jumped at the chance.

The sales blurb tells me  “Sometimes things in life just click and this is never truer than with the brand new Click Lock™ Cup range from Munchkin”. So realistically what can the Click Lock™ Cup offer me and the little one, that other cups can’t?

I am told that the Click Lock™ range features ‘ click’ to lock  technology providing a 100% leak proof guarantee, , so drop, throw or tip upside down, no liquid will come outand this is 100% guaranteed. The cups could not be simpler to use, simply turn the lid until it ‘clicks’ in to place providing parents with an auditory reassurance that the cup is completely sealed. 

That sounded like a challenge if ever I had heard one and I think by now, we all know that the little one is a boisterous and energetic soul, so I knew that the cup was about to be put through its paces! We had already tried a number of cups that she either didn’t like the teat, or it had no handles or she simply refused to try, so I simply put the Click Lock™ Cup on the side and waited to see what she would do. I don’t know if it was the bright colours of the design or the easy grip handles but she grabbed it straight away and started drinking. Now for a child who has always favoured milk over anything else this was a massive milestone for us!

She loves to babble and wave her cup around and the sturdy handles mean that she is always in control, which she loves (I wonder where she gets that from). The 100% leak proof guarantee also means that I don’t have water sprayed all around my lounge or kitchen!

We have tried her with other cups since having the Click Lock™ Cup and she always goes back to it, so it is a firm favourite in our house.  Since her arrival, we have spent a fortune on unnecessary baby products but with the Click Lock™ cup range starting at only £3.99, this certainly wouldn’t be one of them.

Munchkin have a range of great products, go and have a look on their website if you don’t believe me! www.munchkin.eu.com. 

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As a parent, keeping your child safe is your highest priority and with the media filled with news of child abduction and abuse, how safe are our children?

According to Home Office figures there were 532 child abductions in England and Wales between 2011 and 2012. With about 500 children under 16 abducted each year - but the majority of these are parental abductions, according to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop). Has  the world become a darker and more dangerous place or do we simply hear about it more through the media we now have at our fingertips.

There are always those people that will try and lay blame, whether it be at the parents, with the school or with anyone close enough to be considered but ultimately the people that are to blame are those that abduct or abuse these children. The very thought of someone taking my babies makes me feel physically sick and if I could, I would wrap them in cotton wool so nothing or no-one could ever hurt them but I can't do that if I want them to have adventures, to explore, to learn.

Growing up, I was never allowed to "play out", my parents just simply wouldn't allow it and I sulked a lot because of it. I now find it very difficult to let my own daughter do the same. I want her close, where I can see her, where I can hear her chatting, laughing and even crying when she falls over. 

Children will always be children, trusting, innocent and naive if we shield them from life. I was still trusting, innocent and naive well into my teens and sometimes I wonder if that was a good thing or not. I believed that there was good in everyone, you just had to find it. Years later (ahem) I find myself still believing and searching for the good in people but I am no longer naive enough to believe that it lives in everyone.

So tonight, with my thoughts and prayers going out to the family of missing April Jones, I will hold my children a little tighter and kiss them goodnight more times than necessary because they are home with me, safe and for that I am beyond thankful.

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