Aveeno Baby Allergy Awareness Week in association with Mimi’s Bowl

HANDS up who usually gives up the battle when it comes to brushing their little one’s teeth?

I mean, who would have thought it could be so difficult when this human being you created is less than half the size of you….

Therefore when I got an invitation to an event which sounded like it could make brushing your teeth – gasp – fun, I couldn’t resist.

So on Thursday we wore white coats and played at being dentists at the Foreo Mikro Dentist event in Central London.

Obviously there was a ball pit involved, but I also received tips from Harley Street Dentist Dr Mark Hughes on oral hygiene for both my kids – even for my one year old, who I learnt can also use their specially designed sonic electric toothbrushes.

The silicone toothbrush head is soft enough for his gums AND can also help with the dreaded itchy gums caused by teething – the Mikro brush has two settings, brush and massage mode.

He’s 18 months and it seems like the majority of his teeth have decided to come at the same time, so anything that soothes the pain is a God send.

Other pluses include a looong battery life, as well as a happy or sad face to encourage little ones to brush for the recommended two minutes.

We’ll see how it goes, but so far, so good. I mean, at least he’s not running away every time I bring out the toothbrush now… In fact it’s the opposite – he’s now dashing off whenever I try to take it off him!

Find out more at www.foreo.com/issa-mikro

I’m going to try and to be a bit more prepared for the next school holiday and think about things to do with the kids in advance, and not just leave it to the night before!
I’m lucky to have discovered 5 Minute Fun who come up with simple – and enjoyable! – ideas to keep little fingers busy and most importantly allowing you to grab five minutes to yourself.

It was great to see both my toddler and nine year working together to make a fabulous owl from the goody bag they kindly gifted us!

I’ve spoken before about how difficult it is to get them to enjoy the same activity, so this was a Godsend.

And the activity cards (only £1.99 atm!) could keep the whole family occupied for ages doing little fun tasks, in the house or outside, which don’t involve any extra cash being spent.

Check them out ahead of the forthcoming Easter holidays!

www.5minutefun.com

WHENEVER we go to playgroups, at some point my toddler will make a beeline for the pretend kitchen areas.

He loves the role play of making me a cup of tea or something to eat! So it was great to try out the Hape Pop-up Toaster Set at home.

It definitely came at the right time for us as we were stuck in the house as my son had a viral infection. #funtimes
So it was a great distraction for him as we pretended to make breakfast together. Sometimes I was lucky enough to be served breakfast on the sofa!

The classic wooden set comprises of seven pieces including a toaster that pops up two slices of bread, a plate, knife, butter and honey pot.

I absolutely adore wooden playsets, for me they’ll always have the edge over mass produced plastic toys – although don’t get me wrong, you’ll still find lots of plastic toys in my home too!
Made to last, they’re the sort of thing you pass down from child to child.

Toys like this are great for your little one’s imagination  – it makes you realise how much they actually watch you while you’re at work in the kitchen!

The Hape Kitchen and Food range also includes a Tea Set for Two and even a Coffee Machine – very millennial!

Available to purchase from Hape’s Amazon store.

So how’s everyone holding up?

Lockdown life is certainly trying but it seems many of us are turning to the art of making food to get us through it.

I’m not much of a baker to be honest but I can proudly say I’ve officially become a member of the FAB Flour Easy Peasy Baking Campaign 😂

I used their simple recipe to make flatbread and a tzatziki dip with the toddler – yes I could have done it faster by myself and yes he made a mess, but it kept him occupied for like, um, 20 minutes or so 🤣🙈

Bonus points were achieved when both kids actually ate it and gave the dish the thumbs up 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

Definitely worth following @fab_flour for more simple baking and cooking ideas, especially if you’re like me and are currently serving up the same few dishes on repeat.

Here are their recipes for the flatbread and of course, the infamous banana bread which seems to be most people’s go to at the moment!

Easy Peasy Flatbreads with Tzatziki Dip

Vegan Banana Bread

Good luck!

 

Recipes from the FAB Flour Easy Peasy Baking campaign, launched by nabim. You can find more Easy Peasy Baking recipes and information on the campaign over on the FAB Flour website: https://fabflour.co.uk/easy-peasy-bakes/ or on social: @fab_flour on Instagram or @fabflour on Facebook and Twitter.