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Here in the UK, it is Mothering Sunday on 2nd March, otherwise known as Mother’s Day.

Mothering Sunday initially started out as a day when people would return to their “home” or “mother” church once per year. However, now it is closer to the US Mother’s Day; it is a time when children pay their respects to their mothers for all the love and care they receive during the year.

So what are the best presents? Well, it doesn’t have to be expensive. Often the simplest things are most appreciated:

* A handmade card
* A handmade present
* A handwritten letter of appreciation
* Some spring flowers
* A recorded message saying “I love you”
* Photographs of mother and child
* Breakfast in a bed and a bit of pampering!

I was at work today when I received a call from my son’s school to collect him because he has conjunctivitis. It turns out that he is now not allowed back at school until he has suitable eye drops prescribed by a doctor. I am surprised at this school policy and write more about this below.

Now, most parents are familiar with (bacterial) conjunctivitis. Your child has sore, red eyes and a rather unattractive, thick yellow discharge. Their eyelashes often stick together making it difficult for your child to open his/her eyes.

The main problem with conjunctivitis is that it is highly contagious. This means that you have to keep reminding your child to wash his/her hands and ensure that he/she does not share a towel with another child.

As far as I understand it, you can deal with it one of two ways:

1) Let nature take its course and the infection will usually clear up within one week or two. IN this case, you just keep carefully cleansing the eyes with cooled, boiled water and cotton wool. My doctor advised me to wipe from the inside of the eye out and to use a fresh cotton ball for each wipe.

2) Alternatively, you can use eye drops that are now available over the counter in most chemists. These drops contain the active ingredient Chloramphenicol. You then need to follow the instructions on the label/leaflet that come with the drops. Generally, there is an improvement within 48 hours.

I will be taking issue with the school policy because:

a) Why do I have to give my son antibiotics if I want him to return to school when the infection can be treated without them?
b) If I do give antibiotics to my son, why can’t I obtain the antibiotics over the counter at the chemist and sign a consent form for the teachers to administer them?

Maybe I am overreacting, but I would be seriously interested to hear how other parents /teachers /healthcare workers have dealt with this issue.

Whenever I go into a children’s bookshop my mind suddenly goes blank when it comes to the classics. So, I think this list of the 50 Top Children’s books (compiled by Booktrust) is quite handy:

1 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, C S Lewis

2 The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle

3 Famous Five series, Enid Blyton

4 Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne

5 The BFG, Roald Dahl

6 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J K Rowling

7 The Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

8 The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

9 Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

10 The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson

11 The Tales of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter

12 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

13 Matilda, Roald Dahl

14 The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

15 The Cat in the Hat, Dr Suess

16 The Twits, Roald Dahl

17 Mr Men, Roger Hargreaves

18 A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

19 The Malory Towers Series, Enid Blyton

20 Peter Pan, J M Barrie

21 The Railway Children, E. Nesbit

22 Hans Christian Fairy Tales, H C Andersen

23 The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum

24 The Witches, Roald Dahl

25 Stig of the Dump, Clive King

26 The Wishing Chair, Enid Blyton

27 Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell

28 The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr

29 Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jan Brett

30 James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl

31 A Bear Called Paddington, Michael Bond

32 Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

33 Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

34 Aesop’s Fables, Jerry Pinkney

35 The Borrowers, Mary Norton

36 Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling

37 Meg and Mog, Jan Pienkowski

38 Mrs Pepperpot, Alf Proyson

39 We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen 4

40 The Gruffalo’s Child, Julia Donaldson

41 Room on a Broom, Julia Donaldson

42 The Worst Witch, Jill Murphy

43 Miffy, Dick Bruna

44 The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery

45 Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown

46 The Snail and the Whale, Julia Donaldson

47 Ten Little Ladybirds, Melanie Gerth

48 Six Dinners Sid, Inga Moore

49 The St. Clares Series, Enid Blyton

50 Captain Underpants, Dav Pilke

The children’s classic tales of the Mr Men are returning to our TV screens very soon. They will be appearing from February 25th on Channel Five. However, alongside familiar characters such s Mr Lazy is a new character that I certainly don’t remember called Mr Rude.

Apparently Mr Rude has a french accent and is prone to farting (especially when you pull his finger!). The makers of Mr Men do not think that Mr Rude will offend the French:

‘Mr. Men is a comedy show for four to seven year olds. The fact that Mr. Rude has a French accent is meant to be light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek and no offence is intended.’

I am not sure that everyone will agree. You can find a small taster of Mr Rude over on the Mr Men Website.

Maybe the controversy is to encourage viewer numbers? We will just have to watch it and make our own minds up.

Business Week have a fun list of “working mum moments”, gleaned from high-flying executive mums…

“One morning in my haste to get the kids off to school and go to work on time, I allowed my preschooler to pack his own backpack for school. I dropped him off and went on to work—only to be pulled aside by the teacher at pick up to inform me that the contents of my child’s backpack had consisted of a large pair of scissors, a steak knife, and a box of tampons.”

Check out this old commercial for a children’s game where you get smacked in the face with a cream pie. It is a world away from what kids do for a laugh now!

Source:Jim Snapper at Flickr

The Chinese New Year Celebration will be taking place on Sunday 10th February. There will be a grand parade along the Strand, Charing Cross Road and Shaftesbury Avenue and on to Trafalgar Square. The parade will start at 11am and you will be able to see all sorts of performers including acrobats and Chinese dragons. There will also be fireworks to round off the celebrations.

There are lots of different activities for kids including:

+ China in London at London Zoo - learn about the species that form the chinese zodiac

+ Chinese Tales and Mask Art at the National Portrait Gallery - storytelling and mask making

+ Chinese Dagons Art and Craft at the Horniman Museum - sessions about chinese dragons

+ Animals of the Chinese New Year at the Natural History Museum - which year were you born?

+ China’s Terracotta Army at the British Museum - chinese games and workshops

+ Beijing Bailing Shadow Puppet Show - see the website for shows at various venues

+ Fan Dance and Animal Mask Workshops at the Museum in Docklands - plus other half term activities.

People born in 1972, 1984 and 1996 are Rats. So, that must mean that Piers is one (sorry – just gave your age away ). It sounds awful to be a rat, but read this flattering description from Wikipedia:

Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiacs, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat’s natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

Anyway, enjoy the celebrations and Happy New Year!

Following on from the previous post, I’ve just received this from Andrew Pakes, a councillor for Southwark where the Livesey is

Hello

Thank you for signing the online ‘Save the Livesey Children’s Museum’ petition, there has been a great response from all parts of the community and from supporters across the world.

Despite the overwhelming response and positive coverage in the South London Press and Southwark News, this morning the Council tabled its recommendation that the Museum should close at the end of March. The announcement was contained in just one sentence in a 14-page report.

Overall, closing the Museum will ‘save’ Southwark Council £140,000 – a lot of money but a small sum compared to budget as a whole. It is also considerably less than what the council proposes to spend on publicity, consultants, agency workers or a range of other items.

The recommendation will be discussed next Tuesday by the Executive – these are the Lib Dem and Tory councillors who have proposed these cuts.

So, we still have a lot to do in fighting this devastating cut. Please forward this email onto anyone else who has not yet signed the petition and ask them to do so:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/16681.html

For more information on the Museum visit: www.liveseymuseum.org.uk.

The more support we can get the better. This is a fantastic Museum and a great resource for children, parents and the local community. Shame on the Leadership of Southwark Council for putting self-interest and political spin before the needs of our local community in in Peckham and the children who benefit from the Museum.

Please do email me at this address if you have any ideas about how else we might highlight this issues or fight the cuts.

Kind regards

Andrew

Cllr Andrew Pakes
Member for Livesey Ward

Southwark Council is threatening its museums with total closure from April. These are the Cuming Museum and the Livesey Museum for Children. The Livesey is especially vulnerable as it does not house a collection.

It’s depressing news, but news that we can hopefully all do something about. As the Facebook Group involved Save Southwark’s Museums, says

“These museums are located in one of the most deprived areas of London. The museums and their staff are already operating with minimal resources but reach local disadvantaged communities, schools and families and provide value for money. Everyone involved in the museums, as friend or staff, has plenty of evidence of the impact of the rich collections and innovative displays on visitors.

Time is short because the Executive meeting to make the budget cuts decision is on 12th February (7pm). You are urged to contact Southwark Council, MP’s and senior influencers in museums, communities and education to explain why you believe these museums provide such an essential service. If you write to your MP, copy to Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture (see http://andyburnham.org/ )

Please also sign the petition“

Please help. Please.

I now feel officially old. Grange Hill, the BBC have announced, has had its last term. I suspect CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist is right:

“We have to not confuse our own nostalgia for something that we loved for something that children will want nowadays.

“We think we have got a lot of exciting new shows coming up that will please them and challenge them equally as well as Grange Hill did in the past.”

But what, I wonder, is going to take its place?