Fran Taylor

we haven’t been in full lockdown the whole time, but aside from the summer when we got a little taste of freedom it’s been pretty much a year without seeing friends, without hugs, without pubs, restaurants, shops, schools and leisure activities… More importantly, I can’t think about the people that have died without thinking about how unnecessary many of these deaths were, without thinking about the incompetence of our government; their refusal to lock down in the first place, placing elderly COVID patients back into care homes, the billions they have wasted awarding contracts for useless PPE and useless track and trace apps to their mates, the lockdown rules they’ve made and then broken themselves, illustrating that it’s one rule for them and one for us plebs and disillusioning the whole country. I’ve seen people on social media boasting of breaking lockdown rules so they can have a family party, dozens of people refusing to distance at supermarkets… and don’t get me started on antivaxxers passing on misinformation (ie total bollocks) about vaccine safety. If I’ve learned anything from the last year it’s that prioritising my own mental health doesn’t make me weak, friends are very important, and being able to admit that my kids drive me crazy occasionally and that, often, I can’t wait for them to go to bed is entirely normal.

I was sent this MOOSOO K17 2 in 1 stick vacuum cleaner to review free of charge, but words and pictures are mine. First impressions of the MOOSOO K17 cordless 2 in 1 stick vacuum cleaner The MOOSOO K17 cordless 2 in 1 stick vacuum cleaner comes boxed with the engine/dust collector and separate, removable battery, 27-inch red aluminium alloy tube, a motorised floor brush with LEDs, a crevice nozzle, an oval brush, charging bracket which can be wall mounted if desired (but doesn’t have to be if you lack the space) and of course instructions. With an RRP of £139.99 (and available with a large discount online) it would be unreasonable to expect the same performance as a £500 Dyson stick, but for the price it does a really good job of cleaning and I would say that it is better than expected especially for the price point.

And so we approach the end of the first week back at school for kids in England and my, hasn’t the 6 hours of daily silence been wonderful? You might think that SURELY after months of not being near any other children, nits should have been entirely eradicated, but I would stake my life savings on the fact that you would be oh so wrong (albeit that would be more convincing if I had got any life savings). It might just be a courtesy call to remind you that it’s circus-themed lunch day tomorrow and you need to bring in a top hat and an elephant, but the panic and terror that comes from seeing the school’s number flash up on the screen cannot be paralleled. /Save the Children/Children in Need/New Playground Equipment/School Roof fund/The Emotionally Vulnerable Seagulls Charity (but at least it’s unlikely to be for a school trip).

’s bedroom is something that I would personally aim to do as little as possible, but if they’ve outgrown their nursery decor, or maybe you’ve moved house or had a renovation like we did and have to start from scratch, then here are some tips for creating a child However if the idea of re-painting in a few years makes you sweat then the best idea is to go for light, neutral colours and then use bright accessories and soft furnishings like rugs and curtains to brighten it up and bring colour and fun. Toddler beds and cute teeny tiny wardrobes might be be fine for the first few years of your child’s life, but they will outgrow that bed quite quickly and with the kids themselves, their clothes grow. By the time they start school you are going to need somewhere to store their expanding collection of clothes including their school uniform and unless you want to have two loads of washing every day, you are going to need a lot of that.