Netflix recommendations - Netflix Originals

Who doesn't love Netflix? 

I love that at the touch of a button I have access to so many different TV shows, films and documentaries. 

I have previously written a post about my documentary recommendations on Netflix which you can find here

Today I wanted to talk about my favourite Netflix originals because Netflix is seriously cranking out some great shows!

1. 13 Reasons Why. 

I watched this show much later than everybody else because honestly, it didn't sound like my cup of tea. When I finally did watch it I loved every second of it. I cried, I laughed and I was invested in the lives of every person and that season 1 finale defiantly nearly killed me off! 

2. Riverdale

So Riverdale is a controversial one. I know lots of people who aren't fans and would even go as far as calling the show cheesy. I however am a big fan! This is the kind of show that is so bad its good. I also have a HUGE crush on Cole Sprouse so there's that. 

3. Brain On Fire. 

I loved this from the moment I heard about it. This was not one of those that I avoided while everyone was all hyped up about it, something about this film spoke to me and I totally related to everything. Maybe its because when I'm having my migraines, I get very similar side effects, although no where near as bad!

4. Unsolved Mysteries

If you love murder documentaries you will love this! there is now 2 seasons and I'm hooked!

5. The Crown

I just don't even know what to say about this one! Just watch it! please!

Gift Guide - Gifts for her

 Why hello there! 

It has most defiantly been a while. I took a little break over lockdown 2.0 and honestly found it a little hard to get back into the swing of things blog wise. I got very overwhelmed and this blog took a bit of a back step to other priorities in life, but I'm back with a post I'm really loving. 

Is the 10th of December too late for a gift guide? All of the gifts I am listing here are available on Amazon, most with prime so I am saying no! 

This is a gift guide for the women in your life. Mostly things I have had my eye on for Christmas but if you need a last minute gift idea here are my suggestions to meet every budget. 

Disclaimer - Some of my links are affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you chose to buy something from my link, but it will not affect the price you pay!

1. Travel cups. 

Now if you have a coffee/tea lover in your life you cannot go wrong with a travel cup. I'm a tumbler girl myself (must have a straw) and this Ted Baker tumbler is gorgeous. It's a little more pricey then I would pay for myself currently at £20.34 but this makes it a perfect gift for your loved one, or if you have a bigger budget a great stocking filler!

If you are looking for a more traditional travel cup, Emma Bridgewater do some lovely ones (If you know me you know I'm after the stars!)

2. Candles

You cannot beat getting a nice big candle as a Christmas present. My go to is always Yankee Candle. However for presents I try to avoid the Christmas scents as by the time people are receiving your gift Christmas is over. I tend to buy things they can burn all year round and the Honeycomb is top of my list. Vanilla lime is also lovely if the person you are buying for doesn't love a sweet scent like me. 

3. Make up brushes

If the lady in your life is a make up lover, they will always appreciate a nice set of make up brushes. I love Spectrum brushes and the 10 pieces essentials set covers all bases! 

Real Techniques also have an amazing range and are great too. 

4. GHD Curve Creative Curl wand

I don't think I know any females of around my age or younger that don't curl their hair every now and then. I love to curl my hair and one of the things on the top of my list this year is this curling wand by GHD. It has great reviews and I'm desperate to try it. 

(also would love some GHD straighteners Sam, if you're reading this!)

5. Nespresso

The absolute top thing on my wishlist this year is a Nespresso . I love coffee but most of all I love ICED coffee, and honestly its just not the same at home, but with a Nespresso I feel like it would be pretty darn close to a Starbucks! I also really want the milk brother because how fancy when we can finally have people over!

So those are my top picks for Christmas gifts for her this year! Hope they have been helpful. 

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Baking with Toddlers

Today, I wanted to put together my top tips for baking with a toddler. I spend a lot of time baking and it is also one of Harry's favourite things to do, but baking with toddlers is not always easy! So here is my top tips!

Forget your expectations!

When you look at baking with kids vlogs on YouTube or photos on instagram you instantly get expectations, but I can pretty much guarantee your baking experience is not going to go like that! It will definitely be an instagram vs reality moment for you, but that's okay. 

Pre mesure your ingredients

This one is more for younger toddlers, but I cannot tell you how useful this is. There is nothing worse than ingredients everywhere and pretty much nothing baked and a huge mess to clean up - although you can honestly get some super cute pictures with this!

Pick a recipe they can get creative with

Harrys favourite things about baking is mixing, licking the bowl, and decorating! Whether this is biscuits or cupcakes or tray bakes harry loves to decorate them with different sprinkles, coloured icing and all of those things. 

Use child friendly utensils

Toddlers are small. Like really small some of them, so using the normal baking utensils can be really hard for them, so if you really want to make this a great hobby for you and your toddler I highly recommend investing in some child friendly utensils! They aren't expensive, but will make a real difference with your toddler baking. 

Bake something they will want to eat

There is absolutely no point baking something with your toddler they then are going to point blank refuse to eat. Although cooking and baking with children is a great way to get them trying different foods, if you know they will not touch say broccoli, don't bake something with broccoli because the likelyhood is they won't be interested in baking it and you will struggle. This is a tip for toddlers only, when they are older they may be more accepting. 

I hope you find these tips useful! Let me know if you try being with your toddler.

Baby Shower gift ideas

With restrictions lifting in the UK lots of parties are starting to happen more and more and I've noticed lots of people planning baby showers. 

I know that most people give baby clothes as presents, and while that is so appreciated by new mothers there are often lots of other things they need or have their eyes on, so I thought I would put together a list of present ideas for if you are stuck and don't want to give clothes. 

Money or Vouchers

This one is probably my go-to because I would rather parents buy something they actually need. I usually give a £20 John Lewis voucher (I used to go to Mothercare but as that's now gone...). A voucher towards a big or special item can come in really useful and while it's not the prettiest thing its probably one of their favourite presents. 

Personalised gifts

I love anything with Harry's name or initials on and always have, so when people got us things with his name on they were probably my favourite presents. I love the idea of gifting one of the My 1st Years backpacks or one of their wooden toys, although maybe not too useful with the newborn stage something beautiful for when the baby is a little older. Obviously, if you don't know the baby's name this one is a little harder. 

Jelly Cat stuffed animals

I found Jelly Cat by watching YouTube and fell in love, they do so many different animals and these are perfect 'special' soft toys that will last the baby for years. I love the idea of if the parents have a themed nursery - especially if its an animal theme - you can get an animal to match. Harry got his Jelly Cat elephant this year from my lovely work colleagues and I'm even more obsessed!

Potty Training

Lockdown seemed like such a great time to look at potty training, and I know for a lot of parents it worked out really well. 

Most people this kind of post would go up when their child has nailed potty training and is having very little or no accidents at all. This is not the case for me. 

I wanted to write a post about the real struggle we have had with Harry because all the posts and videos I've seen have gone on about how easy it is. We have not had that experience. 

Harry started showing signs of being ready for potty training a little bit before his 4th birthday, but with working full time I didn't have the time to dedicate to potty training. I knew I had around 6 days off over Harry's birthday and could dedicate that time. Then lockdown happened and I thought yes! This is the time I've been wanting. We let Harry enjoy his birthday and the day after we said to him 'that's it, you are 4 now, time for the nappies to go'. 

Shockingly, Harry was fine with this. I did lots of research the days leading up to this and knew that for the first day or so Harry was going to need to be naked. We had got all the options, not knowing what Harry would prefer, a traditional potty or toilet seat. Harry chose the potty and this was fine by me. 

We did around 3 days with naked and Harry amazed us. He did so well having very little accidents, we had set timers on our Amazon Echo for 15 minutes, then 20, then half an hour until the third day when we felt that Harry had nailed it. He had started telling us when he needed to go and even did a few poo's on the potty so we got rid of the timers and let him go when he needed. 

On day 4 we felt it was the time to start with some pants. This is where our problems started. Harry chose his own pants (Hey Duggee) and every morning was super excited to pick a pair, then he wouldn't be able to tell us when he needed to go. He would pee in his pants and just carry on playing or whatever he was doing. We decided to go back to being naked and I did more research which said to try just trousers as pants felt too much like nappies. After 2 more days of naked we put Harry in just some loose joggers and had the same issue as with the pants. 

Its been months now and when Harry is naked he is completely perfect, no accidents and really being good at telling us when he needs a wee. He has even started to tell us when he needs a wee or a poo when he has a nappy on, but the moment he has something else on, pants or trousers he is not even acknowledging that he needs to go and its gotten to the point where if we are home he is naked and if we need to leave the house he has a pull up on. 

I honestly feel like a failure with this, Harry started school in September and I was really worried about not potty training him before, however I have spoken to his new teacher and they have no issue with him being in nappies. But I just don't know where to turn with potty training. A friend said to me wait until his speech gets better, but I don't know when this will be. 

Rainy day activities for toddlers

Rainy days are finally here!

The weather seems to have taken a turn, which means if you are anything like me you are scouring the internet for ideas for things to do with your toddler while it's raining. So I thought I would show my list of go-to activities for when it's raining. 

Disclaimer - Some of my links are affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you chose to buy something from my link, but it will not affect the price you pay!

1. Baking - Any time I make a list of activities to do with Harry baking will always be top of the list. Baking is my passion and something I know Harry will love too, even if it's just getting to lick the bowl! 

Baking is a great activity for kids and can be very educational too with measuring the ingredients and mixing the wet and dry ingredients. Biscuits and cupcakes are my favourites to make because Harry can let his creativity flow with the decorating. 

2. Biscuit decorating - So if you are not a baker, this is something really fun to do with your toddler. Buy a basic pack of digestive or rich tea biscuits, some chocolate spread, sprinkles and icing pens. Spread the chocolate spread over the biscuit and let them go with decorating! You can talk about the colours of the icing pens, shapes of your sprinkles and see what happens when they drop the sprinkles from different heights and directions.

3. Painting - Harry loves to paint. Recently we cut out the letters of his name in cardboard and let Harry loose with his paints. These came out great and really helped Harry to recognise his name. We are now planning on putting these in a frame for his room too!

4. Puddle jumping - This one needs no explanation. Sometimes, even when it's cold or wet outside its good to just get out. So get out the raincoats, puddle suits and wellies and go and get some fresh air. Then when you get home, grab a hot chocolate to warm up. Your toddler will thank you for the change of scenery. 

5. Puzzles and games - We love puzzles in our house and have recently discovered Orchard Toy games. These are fab - especially for little ones and can be very educational too. Harry loves to help complete a puzzle and break it up for us to do it all over again! 

If you don't own any Orchard Toy games I highly recommend the Shopping List - you can find this here - it's very simple but great for your first game!

What's On My Amazon Wishlist

Am I the only person with about 12 wish lists on Amazon? I have one for me, one for Sam (not that he uses it) one for Harry and one for pretty much every room in the house, then storage ones too. I may be a little obsessed really. 

For todays post I thought I would share some of the things on my Wishlist, because honestly I'm super nosey and if I saw this post I would be clicking straight on it!

(Please note I will not be sharing my Wishlist on this post, I am not in any way begging for gifts I just like to see what's on other peoples list and get ideas for mine. If you don't like the idea of this post please do not feel like you need to stay!)

Disclaimer - Some of my links are affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you chose to buy something from my link, but it will not affect the price you pay!

1. Baking supplies

I don't think I ever not having baking stuff in my Wishlist. I love baking. It's my happy place and so I am always looking for new things for my baking hobby! Right now I am in desperate need of a new mixer as mine has finally after around 7 years. I would obviously love a kitchen aid but I just can't justify £500 for a mixer right now. I'm currently looking at this one. 

2. Instax Mini

Who remembers the original poleriod camera's back in the day? I remember my aunts buying me one for Christmas when I was around 9 years old and I'm 100% positive that is where I got my love of photography and all things media! So when the Intax Mini's came out I was obsessed but haven't been able to bring myself to buy one because as a parent, there is always something more important to spend the money on! The camera I am looking at is here.

3. Nespresso Vertuo

I am a huge coffee lover and I have a Dolce Gusto machine, which I love but honestly, the Nespresso Vertuo looks amazing! With the milk frother I can see me using that so much. You can find the coffee machine here

4. iPad Pro

Who doesn't want one of these? For me I would love it for doing some writing on the go as it is almost impossible on the go at the moment. You can find the iPad Pro on Amazon

5. Bookmark

Possibly my favourite thing on my Wishlist (and the ONLY Harry Potter thing) is this beautiful Ravenclaw (the best house) bookmark - Please note other houses are available! Find on Amazon here

What I've Been Reading - Book recommendations

I know some of you will look at the title and this blog and thing back to last year when I attempted 12 books in 12 months (spoiler alert! I read one book, yeah) and think how could I possibly be writing about reading. Well, guess who found her love of books again! I've put down Amazon Prime (damn Grey's Anatomy gets me every time) and picked up the books again and I'm hooked. Whenever I have a spare 5 minutes you will find me with my nose in a book lately and its been so great, so I thought I would share what I've been reading. 

Disclaimer - Some of my links are affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you chose to buy something from my link, but it will not affect the price you pay!

1. Flowers In The Attic - V.C Andrews

Now this book I know is quite well known, and I remember reading it at around 13 or 14 (shocking) and loving the story so much I was hooked on V.C Andrews. Well recently I discovered a Facebook group dedicated to all things V.C Andrews and I'm hooked once again. If you are in the UK these can be really difficult to find so I get mine second hand from World of Books. The Dollanganger Series is also available on Amazon but if you just want to try the first book click Flowers In The Attic

2. My Sisters Keeper - Jodi Picoult

Not too much I can say about this one except, the book is 1000 times better than the film, and I LOVED the film. I highly recommend any book by Jodi Picoult, I've read so many now and am never disappointed. She somehow manages to merge themes seamlessly. You can pick up My Sisters Keeper on Amazon  here

3. Before I Die. - Jenny Downham

This book was something else. I think it's technically a YA book, which has never bothered me before, but this gave me all sorts of feels. It was also turned into a film called Now is Good, but reading this one I was laughing one minute and crying the next. It was a really great read that isn't took long and makes you truly appreciate life. Pick this up on Amazon here (please note this is now published as Now Is Good)

4. My Best Friend's Girl - Dorothy Koomson. 

This book was so good. The blurb reminded me a bit of the film Beaches and I think that's why I went for this one, but I have loved Dorothy Koomson since reading The Ice Cream Girls (Also highly recommend this one. Its great!) All the feels and I immediately text my bestie after reading. This one is available on Amazon

5. Marked - P.C and Kristin Cast

This is the first in the House Of Night series, and again is technically YA, I first read these somewhere in my Twilight phase - I know we all had that phase - and picked it up because it was something similar but different. Its based on a vampire school with lots of mystery but so well written when I saw my copy in the local charity shop I had to pick it up, now looking to finish the collection as I never got to finish reading the series. Buy the first one on Amazon or the entire series available here

6. Glass Houses The Morganville Vampires book one - Rachel Caine. 

This was another one from my Twilight phase but a little more older YA this time. Again this is the first in the series and I saw it in the charity shop and couldn't resist. I don't think Sam wants me to go into the charity shop anymore because this is just another series I need all of! You can buy Glass Houses here or the first 5 books in the series here

So that is what I've been reading lately! I will be doing another book order on pay day, and of course visiting the charity shop regularly. I have also been listening to audio books at every chance so if you would like to know what books I have been listening to let me know!

What have you been reading?

Five things I've learnt since becoming a mum

Parenting is one of life's greatest adventure, if it is something you chose to do with your life it can be the most rewarding experience, but can also leave you screaming and crying and throwing things. I've lost count of the amount of times I've cried because its been a hard parenting day, or its overwhelming, or I'm struggling to juggle everything, but then I pick myself up and do it all over again the next day. 

I thought I would share five things I've learnt in the four years I've been a mum. 

1. It is just not possible to do everything. This is something I tell myself every single day. I am the type of person who gets up in the morning and writes out my to-do list, which lets be honest is so long I wouldn't be able to complete it if I didn't have a toddler and full time job! Then at the end of the night when maybe three of these things are ticked off (if I'm lucky!) I feel like the day has been wasted, but honestly my child is clean and fed and happy and to me, that's all that matters really. 

2. You are their mum, not their friend. Growing up my mum was one of my best friends, but looking back I realise that actually while I loved her and we have a really great relationship, she was always my mum first, and while I always thought I would be my child's best friend that's not the way its suppose to be. Harry doesn't like me all of the time, especially when I have to tell him off or take a treat away from him and that's okay. Because I'm his mum. 

3. There is absolutely no point in comparing your child to any other child. I'm guessing this would even apply to siblings, because every child is different. Harry is different to most of his peers, but also different to lots of other children with Down's syndrome and Klinefelter's Syndrome, and that's fine. Every child is different and its about embracing those differences. 

4. Everyone has opinions, but not everyone's opinions matter. The amount of judgement there is for mothers in the world is ridiculous. I've been told I shouldn't work, I should stay home with my child, I needed to feed him certain foods or put him in certain clothes and I've developed a thick skin about it all. I don't listen. I have a little rule; If I didn't ask for your opinion, it isn't welcome. 

5. Money isn't everything. As a child who grew up with very little money, I always said when I had a child we would have loads of money and my child would have the best of everything. How ridiculous was I?! We have by no means loads of money and Harry definitely isn't spoilt but we are happy. I've also learnt you don't need to spend money to have a good time. As long as Harry is smiling, its the best day ever for me. 

30 before 30

For todays post I thought I would share my 30 before 30 list. I'm currently 28 so I've got just under 2 years before I turn 30 but I have a list of things I would like to achieve before then!

1. Visit America

2. See Chicago on stage

3.Visit Disney Land Paris

4. Get married

5. Hit my goal weight/size

6. Start earning money from my blog/Youtube

7. Visit Scotland again

8. Visit Wales again

9. Visit Ireland

10. Finish writing my book 

11. Learn to drive

12. Feel more confident

13. Feel more in control of my anxiety

14. Learn to crochet

15. Learn to cook

16. Bake more recipes from Jane's Patisserie

17. Read classics like Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Oliver Twist 

18. Read 20 compeltely new books

20. Learn an instrument

21. Learn to drive

22. Learn to make/ adjust my clothes

23. Eat more adventurously

24. get my nails done

25. Dye my hair red again

26. Eat at a Michelin Star restaurant 

27. Watch classic films

28. Sky dive

29. Scuba Dive. 

30. get a new tattoo

What's on your list? and how long do you have to complete it?

Meet Harry!

 Hello!

I realised earlier this week, I've never really introduced Harry. So here he is! 

Isn't he the cutest? 

So, Harry was born on 31st March 2016 at 5:49pm. If you want to know more about his delivery then you can find that here. He's now nearly 4 and a half and about to start school in September - I'm not really sure where that's come from honestly - he's around 96cm tall and weighs around 17kg. 

I've spoken about it all before, but if you didn't know, Harry has Down's syndrome and Klinefelter's Syndrome. He got the diagnosis of Down's syndrome at birth - you can find out more about Down's syndrome here and Klinefelter's Syndrome here. 

So here are some facts about Harry you may not know

1. Harry actually has 2 middle names - Alexander, which was the name we had picked out for him originally, and David, after my grandfather

2. Most people believe Harry was named after Harry Potter - He is most definatatly not! He is named after Sam's grandfather who unfortunately never got to meet Harry. 

3. Despite never wanting to shorten Harry's name (I wasn't even sure that you could) Harry gets called H. Just H. 

4. Harry is identical to my baby brother (who is now 21?!) but acts like Sam in every way. 

5. The first word Harry learnt to sign was food - He still signs it now even though he can say it. 

6. For Harry's first 3 birthdays we visited SeaLife centre (honestly its great for sensory)

7. He's had 3 main nicknames in his life that aren't H, Rex, Monkey and Bug.

8. He knows 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. 'The Gruffalo' and 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' off by heart.

9. Harry is a complete daddy's boy. Always has been, always will be. 

10. He loves the number 3. When ever you ask him how many of something he wants his answer is always 3.

So there is a little more about Harry! 

Hope you have enjoyed getting to know Harry!

How to meal plan

Meal planning is such an important part of the week in our house. We shop weekly now because we try to eat lots more fresh fruit and vegetables but with Sam's shifts and my 9-5 job its hard for us both to get to the shops together so we spend an hour or so every week planning out our meals for the week. 

We only plan our evening meals as Sam eats the same thing every day for lunch and breakfast and Harry will pretty much eat whatever. I take a pack up to work so usually, I take leftovers from the night before. 

I thought meal planning was something everyone did but when I was speaking to friends, I realised it wasn't and thought that maybe this post would help others who don't, start

Why meal plan?

Why should you meal plan? Meal planning is a great way to be organised, help you try new things, prevent food waste and save money on your weekly shopping every month!

Where to start

Starting to meal plan honestly couldn't be easier! Everyone has different ideas for meal planning and the more you get into it you will find your own way of doing it, however, I always start with looking at our cookbooks and recipes that we have found that we want to try. I also like to have a constant list of favourite meals to pull ideas from. 

Once you have your inspiration, you need to think about how many days you need to have food for, how many meals in total and how many people you will be feeding on those days. Meal planning doesn't mean you cant have those days where you just cannot be bothered with cooking or really just fancy beans on toast for your evening meal, it just gives you a guide with your meals. 

Once you know who you are cooking for and you have some ideas about meals you can start assigning meals to days. 

Here is an example of our weekly meal plan;

Monday: Spaghetti bolognese

Tuesday: Pizza

Wednesday: Lamb meatball curry

Thursday: Fajitas

Friday: Fish and chips

Saturday: Chorizo pesto pasta

Sunday: Cottage pie

Obviously, this is not the same every week, and on weeks where we don't have much planned or no one come over to eat we can move meals around if we don't fancy what we have planned. 

Once we have our meal plan we can then write our shopping list. Once shopping is done you are done and can start again next week!

5 Summer Activies for Toddlers

 It is HOT!

Every time I say that I think, god I'm definitely British, but my word where on earth has this heat come from? Personally, I am a real winter lover, I love the cold weather and have been praying for the snow and thunderstorms. Sam is totally different, he loves the summer and being outside with the BBQ's and sports and walking. Harry is definitely somewhere in the middle, he loves the being outside all day long but is definitely not loving the heat so I've come up with 5 activities for him to do in the summer that keeps him nice a cool and these are all free or cheap things you can do at home so no need to go out, brilliant especially in the current climate.

1. 'Fence Painting'  - This is possibly my favourite one and definitely Harry's favourite. Whenever the sun is out Harry asks to 'paint'. We just get a pot of cool water and an unused paintbrush and let him loose on the garden fence. He ends up covered in the water but keeps him cool, and occupied for AGES which is definitely a bonus. Also, mess-free so win-win!

If you don't have a garden you could always let them paint your windows if they are in reach or a mirror.

2. Toy Ice Block - My mother-in-law sent me this idea and its fab! Get some of the smaller toys and pop them into a large pot - We use an old ice cream or large yoghurt pot. Fill with water and put into the freezer. Then put the ice block out of the pot, put onto a tray and give to your toddler with a fork and spoon or plastic hammer, then you just tell them to rescue their toys, this may take a while and they may get a bit bored half-way through but its great fun for them and keeps them cook. Also super easy to clean up because the ice just melts away.

3. Paddling pool - No brainer really. Let them free in the paddling pool! 

4. Splash pad - This is a new one for us this year. Harry got this for his birthday in March and loves this. We usually put this up with his pool but this is constant cool water. You just lay it flat, plug in the hose and turn on the water. It then has a sprinkler all the way around that sprays into the middle creating a large puddle. I think this comes from Amazon, and you can find a similar one here.

5. Water Table - We got ours from Tesco at the end of last summer and Harry loves it. It's especially great if we just don't have the energy to get the pool or splash pad and hose out. This would also be great if you don't have a garden, you could put a waterproof mat on the floor and it would keep them nice and cool. 

Tips for starting nursery

Harry has officially finished nursery. Writing that honestly breaks my heart, we love Harry's nursery, they have done so much for him and he wouldn't be developmentally where he is now without the wonderful staff and key workers he had there. Harry started nursery in September of 2017 so has been there for almost 3 years. He initially went 5 days a week, 50 weeks of the year 8am to 6pm, so he was there more than he was home. Thinking about all the time he has spent at nursery got me thinking about all of the things that we had no idea he would need and I thought I would put together a nice list of tips and some essentials so that any other parents in that position have a starting point. 

This is actually a photo of Harry at nursery in September 2017!

Obviously, every nursery is different so it would be worth taking to them to see if there is anything you need I haven't listed!

1. Buy cheap 'Play' clothes - I know, especially if this is your first child you may have spent lots of money on beautiful clothes for them, I know I did! But please do not send them into nursery in those beautiful expensive clothes, I guarantee you they will be ruined. Go to your closest Primark and pick up a load of their £1.80 T-shirts and some cheap jogging bottoms or leggings. Things that you wouldn't care about getting stained or ripped or ruined in any way. And a big tip is to buy more than you think you may need. Harry still now has around 10 pairs of jogging bottoms and too many cheapy Primark T-shirts to found and every single one of them has a stain on it!

2. Get a recognisable bag - This is so important, especially if when your little one starts nursery they are still in nappies, while your changing bag is beautiful and probably cost a bit of money, the likelihood is someone another parent at nursery probably has the same or a similar bag, which can be confusing for nursery staff when looking for bottles, nappies or spare clothes, so try to use a bag specifically for your child or have some kind of easily recognisable feature on it. We used a backpack from My 1st Years, that was personalised with Harry's name, however, please be aware that personalised bags are not necessarily recommended as it advertises your child's name, maybe think about initials.

3, Label everything - This one seems so obvious now, but back when we were first sending Harry we honestly never even thought about it. We lost so many clothes, a few teddies and even a few packs of wipes in the first few months of Harry being a nursery because there are so many kids running around and things get wet or messy. We ended up using a sharpie to write in the label of all of Harry's clothes and packets of wipes and stopped letting him take toys in. 

4. Buy costumes well in advance - My word, how expensive are world book day costumes? For something that your children wear for one day and again are probably going to get messy or wet, but one thing I've noticed throughout the years is costumes are a lot cheaper online and easy to get hold of in all sizes when its not close to world book day or Halloween, so why not buy them a few months before and save yourself some pennies!

4. Buy 'nursery' outdoor wear - The number of times, in the beginning, we forgot to grab Harry's coat, wellies or hat and gloves so to remedy this we went out and got a second set to leave at nursery on Harry's peg. This meant that he always had them available as nursery would take the children outside even if it was chilly and wet, but make sure you label them all!