All those lovely days off work and children off school equals no hassle mornings, no real bedtime for the kids and taking things a bit easy. To cheer myself up my thoughts have turned to the next holiday So whether you are planning a short break in the half term, a skiing trip at Easter or visiting a hot sunny country for that all important recharge of sun, it makes our long dark nights, chilly mornings and back to work blues easier to bear. Booking holidays early can not only get you great prices and special deals such as free child places or free childcare, but it’s also great to look forward to. Good luck with your holiday planning and whatever you decide I hope your New Year is full of happy times and treats!

Our eldest boy is 7, very into Ben 10, would like themed co-ordinated bedding and furnishings throughout, bearing in mind that only 6 months ago his obsession was Spiderman, you can see my reluctance to dive in and be-deck the room in Ben 10, we are battling towards a compromise at the moment, but it’s not looking good. My middle girl is 5, all pink and fluffy, we’re not quite into Barbie everything but we are heading towards pepto bismol pink, you’ll need glasses to enter the room. She’s chosen an adorable princess bed with matching wardrobe and chest of drawers, I love them, my husband baulked at the price but once he’d had a lie down and his little girl had worked on him they’re on the list. My youngest, she’s 8 months old, is obviously the simplest. We have been looking at a whole range of gorgeous nursery furniture, but the cot is proving to be the thing, do we opt for a cot bed so she can grow into it or use her old hand-me-down cot for the moment until she’s old enough for a proper bed? There is so much choice for nursery furnishings, furniture and bedding, I’m exhausted, I don’t care about our bedroom, we’ll sleep in a big box, with the lid on.

The one good thing about the end of Christmas holidays is taking down all the decorations, which was lovely, as now my house seems much large and for a short while tidier! Now that I’m back to near normality it’s a case of trying to sort out the next school holidays, actually I think once you have children your calendar changes and your world is consumed by school holidays including the ever-growing inset days! Found a fantastic range of holiday clubs as well as workshops that are perfect for school holidays. Helps enormously if you have to rely on loving family members as childcare back up, gives them a break and the kids love it.

It was my sons turn last weekend to chose our kids day out, he opted for an outing to a zoo, we went to Regents Park Zoo and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There was something for everyone and for all ages, My daughter is hoping for a day shopping for clothes, that may be pushing it for my son, but we’ve agreed on shopping in Greenwich in the morning and visiting the observatory in the afternoon with a run around the park before we go home to exhaust the little darlings, that should make bed time painless! Unfortunately I feel we may be running out of ideas, if anyone wants to share their great day out I’d love to hear about it.