The NetObserver study began in 1998, and is conducted online twice a year. It provides over 1,000 partner
websites with a better understanding of user’s online behaviours and attitudes, offline behaviour and visitor
satisfaction and engagement. This is just the second time the study has questioned internet users on their
favourite sites, and covers the following categories: clothes, shoes and accessories retailers; cultural retailers;
family; IT/High‐tech; motoring; multimedia retailers; music; travel‐tourism; and women’s interest.

Family and Parenting made it into the Top Ten Family websites in the UK and we thought we’d share the exciting news with you all. F&P and the whole team here at Fsh Media are thrilled to bits, thanks for reading us, and please let us know if there is anything we could do better for you. Our challenge is now to grow our readership whilst retaining the attention to detail you have come to expect from us.

Thank you

Best wishes,

James Cole

They were advertising beds… I’m going to focus on the other.

Anyone who’s ever taken care of a child knows how important it is to find the proper baby shoes. In my search for shoes for my babies, I’ve tried high street footwear retailers, and more recently experimented with high street retailer’s footwear (a subtle difference I ‘ll grant you).

Today I’m looking at Vertbaudet. They are a UK company that specialises in children’s attire, and they have a whole line of footwear just for babies with a focus on comfort. (Full line of footwear for babies is listed on the company website).

Baby Girl's Kickers Ankle Boots

For boys and girls (yes there are differences), Vertbaudet offers shoes, rubber boots and snow boots. There a variety of models available, including the ankle boots which are designed to promote good posture in the baby. The full range is designed to  give you as the parent the choice over what you would like your baby to wear, for example,  the ankle boots are also helpful to babies who still need a lot of support from their shoes. There are two different models available for these ankle boots, one for new-borns and one for babies who have been walking for a little while.

Again, it really comes down to what is best for each child,  by having choice you can make the best choice for your baby. The respective models are designed to make the walking experience more comfortable for the respective ages. There is also a version of the Kicker ankle boots for girl babies. The main difference between the boys’ version and the girls’ version is colours; the boys’ version is available in colours such as black, dark blue and grey, whereas the girls’ version comes in colours such as pink and purple. Great, for having those arguments with little girls over only wearing pink … which coincidently happens from day one!

For me, it was the Newborn Aster special first step ankle boots, which provided lots of arch support to my new-born. These ankle boots are designed with small children’s morphology in mind, and the natural contours of the foot are followed by the shape of the boot. Of course, this helps to make the shoe more comfortable. These baby shoes may be used by boys or girls.

Then there are the practicalities of having children, you know the type of scenario …. you’ve finally got out the door after spending 3 hours getting everyone dressed, changing nappies, spare clothing and enough stuff to sink a ship. You have been out 10 minutes when  one of the children gets water in their shoes, because at that point all bets are off and the crying never stops. That’s why rubber boots for the children are so important in wet weather.  Vertbaudet offers a range of wellington boots including guest design 100Drine, which are really helpful in keeping the baby’s feet comfortable,  they have an insulated lining, which is good for keeping feet warm. A bonus of these boots is the fact that the sole is slip-resistant, which makes unexpected falls less likely, even during a rainstorm. The 100Drine wellies have really cute cartoon graphics, too. The boys’ version has a black background with coloured graphics, while the girls’ version has a white background with more lightly coloured graphics. I’ve even taken to bringing them with us whenever I see clouds in the sky. The fun designs even make children want to wear them … winning half the battle already!

Vertbaudet Wellies

The range of wellies are so warm they can be worn for the winter, but I prefer to have separate baby boots for separate seasons, so I also checked out the Vertbaudet winter line of baby boots. For babies who are beyond the new-born stage, I found a really good choice to be the wellies boots. These boots contain a removable sock, which helps the baby to maintain warmth. I liked the fact that the sock was removable, so that I could wash it after a particularly wet day. And once again, the soles of these boots are slip resistant, so that even on icy days my babies didn’t lose their footing right away. Ideal for unexpected snow showers like we seem to be having in the UK  …. and children always want to go out in the snow, so a great idea that really works to keep those little toes snug and warm!

Vertbaudet offers a range of baby clothes, children’s clothes and home collections for your little ones and with their Final Clearance sale now on, there’s hundreds of items reduced by up to 70% off.

There really are some amazing bargains to be had ….  visit Vertbaudet now at www.vertbaudet.co.uk

Promotion

So when I saw that Sesame Street Live was coming to town county, I was interested to see how essentially a live broadcast stage show translated onto the live, but much smaller, stage in Dartford.

This is my first visit to the Orchard at Dartford, and I have to admit that I was quite interested to see it knowing that my better half was on stage here as a child star.

The building itself seemed nice, relatively modern, a classically municipal looking piece of architecture that could be a theatre, council building, swimming pool, or court house. Once inside the atrium opens up and the merchandise machine was gearing up ready to sell cuddly things, flashing light type things, or combinations of the two, to the hordes of children who will be flooding through the door in a short time.

We had arrived early and so went up the steps to the restaurant to sample the food. The menu was good, but pricey for the setting, but it was too cold outside to wander far, so we decided to suck it up and just enjoy the day. I have to say that it was possibly the best burger I have had in a long time, and would highly recommend it. The kids meals didn’t go down so well, and my wife opted for a (much cheaper) sandwich from the concessions shop [top tip!].

The children started to flow in through the doors and the cash-only merchandise stall kicked into action. The excitement was building and the sugar was starting to kick in from the pick-and-mix. It was time to go in.

We found our seats and I was very impressed with the legroom, being seated at the front of the second tier of the main stalls. The lights went down and unfortunately that’s where my interest stopped. I fell asleep.

Now I know that is a heinous crime to admit within a theatre review, and it says more about me than about the show, or the theatre, but in all seriousness the on-stage action just wasn’t enough to keep my interest. After a quick 20 mins nap I was back awake as Elmo elicited more screams from the enthralled children.

In comparison to the In the Night Garden Live show we’ saw a couple of years ago, this was definitely bigger, with the characters being full size, not hand-puppetry. The cast did well to keep interchanging the characters on stage with maybe 7 actors playing 12 parts with 6 on stage at any one time, or something along those lines.

The show got better as it went on and as the children got braver and joined in with the singing and shouting of answers, the whole theatre came alive with the sound of unadulterated enjoyment. Children of all ages between 1 and, at a guess, 9 were locked on, immersed in the world of Sesame Street. The adults were firmly in nostalgia.

The show felt the right length, with a well placed and good length interval. Sesame Street was good solid family entertainment, it lacked some of the magic of Peppa Pig or In the Night Garden, but it made up for it in energy.

Family and Parenting visited Sesame Street Live at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford on Saturday 4 February 2012.

So the question is, how should we talk to her about death, when should we… heck should we talk to a small child about death?

Best wishes

Family & Parenting Magazine reader

[Ed - Please tell us what you think... all opinions welcome in the comments below. If you have a question that you would like answered, then please contact us via our contact page]

If you are looking for the perfect new-mum/new-baby gift, then look no further than Jellybox. With a large collection of luxury gifts for boys and girls of assorted ages, it’s a really interesting concept for a business, especially when the media fills us with tales of woe and financial doom every day – by focussing on high quality, organic, beautiful products, Elizabeth Walters has created a business that whilst delivering value for money – delivers top quality goods.

In order to test out the service, we ordered a soft book for our 18monther. He’s just started to love his books and nothing he likes more that picking up a book and demanding some mummy or daddy time to flick through the pages with him… well at least until about 3 pages from the end where his excitement for the next book gets the better of him and he’s off to the bookshelf for the next one.

When the package arrived, you knew you were in receipt of something special. Everything about the packaging has been thought through with care and attention to the smallest details. We opened the outer box, branded with the Jellybox attractive colour scheme and inside was a fragranced, hand-packed Jellybox their trademark keepsake box come packaging.

As adults, it was impressive to see this level of care taken in the packaging, when we’re all so used to the polystyrene and wire contraptions that most children’s toys arrive in nowadays. As an 18 month old baby (not letting go yet ), ok, toddler, the thrill of opening a brightly coloured box, full of exciting packing materials only to find a wonderful soft book inside was almost too much.

I would highly recommend taking a look at the website www.jellyboxuk.com – there are gifts from £5 and the Jellybox keepsake box comes as standard for gifts above £20. For a gift for a new baby, it’s beautiful.

Planning a child’s party can be overwhelming for some parents, especially if they have never planned one before. Here are five simple steps of what needs to be done with some good advice:ersHe

1. Decide how much you want to spend and try and stick to it!

2. Set a suitable date and time for the party. If your child is in school then weekends work best, especially Saturdays. You can be more flexible with the little ones. It doesn’t matter if the party is not on their actual birthday. If you are planning to have an entertainer, or book a party venue then you will probably have to work around suitable dates. It’s a good idea to start planning your child’s party about 4-6 weeks in advance to allow plenty of time for on-line shopping and any cake orders.

Good times to have the party are… 11am to 1pm or 3.30pm to 5.30pm. Ideal for little ones too, as it works around nap times and parents then don’t have to worry about giving their kids lunch or supper as they would hopefully have eaten enough at the party! Two hours for the party is sufficient enough, otherwise kids tend to lose interest and parents get stressed out! Most party entertainers also charge for two hours.

3. Who to invite? This really depends on how big you want your party to be and what your limits are. It can be tricky not to invite all the children in your child’s class at school, especially when all the parents know each other! However, you shouldn’t feel compelled to invite every child in the class if you feel you cannot cope with so many kids. Quality of the party is more important than numbers! Your party will be more successful if you invited your child’s closest friends, this way you know they will get on well and have much more fun! A good number of kids to have at a party is between 8-16. (Most party tableware come in packs of 8!) It’s not mandatory that you invite the siblings of your child’s friends, or even parents (unless children are very young). Most parents enjoy the break from their kids and you won’t feel so much pressure to entertain adults.

4. Pick a party theme. Involve your child as much as possible in this, and once you have decided this, the fun of shopping for your kids party supplies can begin! But before you actually purchase the tableware supplies, it is useful to know how many children will be attending the party, as you don’t want to order too much or too little.

5. Send out your Invitations. It is best to give out your party invitations as soon as possible, 3 to 4 weeks in advance is recommended. Any earlier than this, the guests may end up losing their invitations or may even forget to reply! It does look better to choose an invitation card that fits into the party theme. Ensure that you request an RSVP and don’t forget to include your name, contact number/email on the invitation. If you don’t get a reply after 5 days, do remind them as some parents are just too busy!

About the author:

Razia Smith is a mum of 2 children who has recently decided to set up her own online kids party shop, where busy parents and carers can simply buy everything they need for their children’s parties in just a few clicks.

Website: http://www.bestkidsparty.co.uk
Contact: Razia Smith
Email: sales@bestkidsparty.co.uk

Planning a kids party for the first time? The basics you need to know!

As Richard Desmond took over Channel 5 there was always a danger that the programming could go to pot. However the results of the survey carried out within my own house have returned a rather different view – Channel 5 documentaries are now a regular on the viewing schedule and have managed to transcend the boundaries between celeb-gossip and hard hitting docs.

Kym Marsh was a teen mum with Emily and David her two not-so-little-now children, and with this experience under her belt, she’s out and about on the streets of Manchester offering support and advice to some current teen mums.

The documentary managed to draw attention to a range of issues faced by today’s teen mums (and all parents to a certain extent); including loneliness, financial worries, and striking the balance between being a caring mother and living a life of your own.

If you would like to see more then visit the Channel 5 site here. Unfortunately it appears it was a one off, but it left me wanting to see more. Come on Kym, let’s see you champion motherhood and present us with more documentaries.

And I’m not sure on the ranking of chain-restaurants, past the fact that Subway have slipped into the lead against McDonalds, both in terms of number and impossibly costed deals.

But for the weary road traveller, the family worn down by shouts from the back seat as brother annoys sister, and for an easy meet-up of scattered friends, there is always the Beefeater.

Personally I flit between a possibly mis-guided anti-chain stance which sees me sing the praises of all that is both independent and individual, and a ease-back, relaxing stance which says I just want to eat where I know what I’ll get.

And I guess that’s what the Beefeaters Restaurants are: a standard menu cooked in the standard way, from standard ingredients. Each pub has a slightly different feel, and are within much older buildings, most of the time, but you still know roughly what it will look like, and how hard it will be to find a waitress when you want to pay and leave.

For this occasion I was looking for somewhere in Essex for me (Kent) to meet my Brother (Suffolk). The obvious place is bottom of the A12 plus a bit, probably near lakeside, so we agreed to meet at Thurrock services and work it out from there.

So after meeting up in a car park in a manner suited to people swapping cash for goods in suitcases, we consulted the ever-useful Yell mobile app, and settled on the nearest Beefeater: The Haywain at Stanford-le-Hope

As we arrived, the car park seemed deserted, but the building itself looked inviting, and a kids play-area outside was quickly noted. Inside we found that many families were already tucking in, and the smell of the flame-grill was wafting through and exciting appetites.

We ordered a mixed grill and classic steak and chips, the children decided to go for a roast dinner. The food was, as expected, good. Not the best steak in the world, but portion size was good, and the unlimited chips went a long way to keep me topped up after the steak had gone. The steak itself was a bit stringy, the fat running through it tasty, but at the same time making you wish you’d spent the same amount of money on a steak at the butchers.

The children’s roast dinners went down very well and with some potato and veg trading between them, both children were well fed and very happy with their lunches.

After lunch we retired to the bar, grabbed a table and chairs in the optimistic hope that the kids might sit still, and ordered the Costa Coffees that every Beefeater has available. With our Whitbread loyalty fully topped up, we took the hot coffees out to the garden to allow the kids to run riot over the play equipment, which they did, at top speed and full volume.

Aside from the temperature, which sat at around –1,  and wasn’t really Whitbread’s fault, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It is what it is, A Beefeater, Another Beefeater, but then that’s the attraction to it. When you have hungry children, and adults who enjoy hearty pub grub and a pint on a Sunday, then the Beefeater offers the ideal solution.

Visit took place on 15 January 2012, at the Beefeater, Stanford le Hope

The Haywain
High Road, Fobbing
Stanford Le Hope
Basildon
SS17 9NR

Telephone 01268 554500