Archives: May, 2007

Source:Triobike.com

Having been brought up in Oxford where everyone cycles, I was interested to come across the Triobike. It is a three-in-one bicycle, pram and carrier-bike that allows you to push two children around in a pram with a bit of pedal power. The idea of a carrier-bike is not new, but the ability to detach the child-carrying part certainly is.

The triobike is suitable for carrying two children under nine and comes fitted with seatbelts. Whilst it might look a bit precarious according to the makers it is very safe.

Source:Nosefrida USA

My baby has a cold and has been snuffling all night. The poor mite is finding it hard to breathe and there is not much I can do to help… or so I thought. I have just come across a Swedish invention called the Nosefrida that might be just the ticket:

The site says:

Nosefrida is a plastic tube with a filter that the parent uses with their own mouths to get the mucous out of their children’s noses.

There is a filter in place so the parent will not come into contact with the snot but this is not a gadget for the squeamish!

I don’t know whether it is because I have boys, but it is almost impossible to squeeze a word out of my children about school. I have tried asking open-ended questions such as “How was your day at school?” only to be answered “Fine.” If I perservere, my sons just tell me to stop asking questions!

However, Be A Good Dad has some great tips so I want to share them with you:

This article made me wonder what is the current acceptable age for parents to let their children do activities on their own eg walking to school, going to the local shops, playing outside?

I remember walking to school by myself aged 10 or 11. When I was not much older than that I would also pick up my younger brother from his school, walk him home and give him a snack until Mum came home about an hour later. I also spent many evenings hanging out on the street with other local children, playing games and riding bikes.

For those of you who live across the pond (in the States), you may be interested to know that there is a similar project to Little Legends but for the US. It is called Parentography and their catchphrase is “Connecting Families on the Go”. Just like our site, you can:

* search for child friendly services, restaurants, hotels, activities, playgrounds and attractions
* rate or review any of the entries
* sign up and connect with other parents

I wish them all the best and hope that we can strike up a conversation with them and share some great ideas about how to develop our sites further.

Moleskine City Notebooks
from Mojo

These look like a great idea. [thanks Tom for the link]. The same notebooks that Picasso, Hemingway and others used has now morphed into a DIY city guide.

Each notebook features a key map, which gives you a brief overview of the city of your choice, along with 36 pages of zone maps, which provide large scale maps the city centre. A 96 page tab—separated personal archive keeps hotels, shops, addresses, places of interest and facilities neatly organised. A further 76 blank pages let you jot down thoughts, stories and memories.

For those of you who have followed this battle (that has been posted about earlier on this blog here, here and here) you may be interested to know that Gina and Mumsnet have now settled the case. Gina Ford has decided to drop her claim on the basis that Mumsnet pay some money towards her costs and prevent any further comments about her on their site.

The founder of Mumsnet, Justine Roberts, said:

We are very relieved that the issue is over, it was a commercial decision to settle because although we were told that we had a case, we could not afford to take it to court.

Believe it or not staying at Youth Hostels is a very affordable way to travel the UK with families. Comfortable rooms with en suite bathrooms and breakfast are available from around £18.50 per adult and £13.50 for kids. That is pretty good and cheaper than many B&Bs.

Youth Hostels that are particularly family friendly include:

1) Bellever, Devon - a former farm near the Bellever forest and Dart River. Miniature pony centre nearby.

2) Oxford - a centrally based Youth Hostel, ideal for exploring this beautiful city of dreaming spires.

I was beginning to wonder where all the UK parent blog activity is. Us Brits are definitely some way behind the USA in terms of blogging. Anyway, I have recently discovered some more UK blogs, thanks to following one of the links on Mother at Large.

If you are reading this because I have linked to you, please have a look at the main website and let me know what you think! All feedback is appreciated

What is the attraction to parents of joining online communities or regularly reading parenting blogs? There are so many parenting sites online that it is interesting to consider why some sites have a much higher readership than others. I suggest the following reasons:

1) First impressions count, so the design of your site will have an effect on whether or not readers hang around for longer than 5 seconds. Easy navigation is essential and the reader will usually want to find out quickly about the author, aim and background of the site. This is why “about” pages are so popular. Personally, I am always attracted by people’s photos because it makes the websites less anonymous.