Colouring Pencils In Restaurants – A Rant

Dear restaurant owner, please ask before offering my child colouring pencils or crayons at the dining table. It isn't allowed at home, so why would it be allowed in your restaurant?

Lara has been dining out with us at restaurants since she was 3 weeks old! At 19 months she is now old enough to sit up at the table with us and enjoy a meal (quite what foods she gets to enjoy depends on the 'children's menu' available but I shall save THAT rant for another day). Over the last few of months, every time I have taken Lara to a restaurant, she has been presented with some paper and coloured pencils... this is doing my head in.

Lara enjoying a meal out when she was 8 months old!

Like all toddlers, Lara can be a bit of a handful when she is hungry, and if she gets bored she sometimes needs some entertaining. I understand the thinking behind the presentation of coloured pencils to children, I really do, but I just wish that restaurateurs would ask me before supplying 'entertainment' for my own children. I want Lara to grow up to know how to behave at the dinner table and to join in with the pre-dinner chit cat with the grown ups. Dining out is as much about the social occasion as it is about the food. I don't want Lara to be the troublesome kid causing havoc, or the child who ignores everything going on around them. I don't want her to be absorbed in colouring pencils, or a personal console, or even a cuddly toy... I want Lara to join in with us.

That isn't to say that I would always refuse the offer of colouring pencils in a restaurant. No, sometimes I need all the help I can get to keep her calm until the food arrives. But, once the crayons have arrived, there is no going back and even food can sometimes be ignored in favour of frantic scribbling. For this reason, Mr or Mrs waitress, kindly ask me before plonking the colouring pencils down in front of my child. Thank you.

The Sunday Review - Cheeky Wipes Reusable Baby Wipes

A few months back, I blogged about re-using baby wipes. Several of my readers recommended Cheeky Wipes to me as an alternative to re-using packet wipes and then Cheeky Wipes got in contact to ask whether I wanted to give them a try... so I did! I had to find out for myself whether they were up to the hype.

Cheeky Wipes are re-usable, washable, towelling baby wipes that can be washed and re-used again and again. They come in a handy all-in-one kit which provides wipes, storage boxes, carry bags for when you are out and about, and a set of aromatic essential oils.

The concept is simple. Everything colour-coded in blue is for clean, fresh wipes. Everything colour-coded in red is for mucky, used wipes. When it comes to changing a nappy, you take a wipe from the blue box (which is filled with water and a sprinkling of the blue oil that contains lavender and chamomile) , use the wipe and then discard it in the red box (which is filled with water and a sprinkling of red oil that contains tea tree and lemon). If you are on the move, you can take clean wipes out with you in the blue bag, and bring them home for washing in the red bag. Easy.

We like the wipes. They're soft and kind to Lara's skin and they clean incredibly effectively... more so than any packet wipe I have tried. I'd say that the wipes themselves were a little small and they curl at the edges after washing. We find they wash well in our normal washing (although I do tend to put particularly mucky loads of wipes in with nappies or soiled clothes along with some nappy sanitizer) and they dry very quickly.

We like the oils. They smell fantastic and once again, I've not come across a brand of baby wipes of which I prefer the smell, not even Jackson Reece!

I love the idea of the blue/green storage boxes that sit on the shelf of my changing unit but I do struggle to find enough hands with which to open the boxes when we are mid-nappy-change. I also struggle with the mesh bag that I stretch over the mucky box to prevent me from having to handle the wipes when I put them in the washing machine - the bag absorbs the water from the mucky box and so does the draw-string. The draw-string rests against my wooden changing unit making it wet. I am reliably informed that all of these issues are being resolved with the launch of their new boxes at the end of February - well done Cheeky Wipes HQ!

This aside, the Cheeky Wipes really have changed things in the mellow household. I do occasionally need to buy a new pack of baby wipes for use in the nursery (for days when the Cheeky wipes are in the wash or still drying) but the number of packs I have bought since using the Cheeky wipes has reduced A LOT. For every weekly shop I do without needing to buy baby wipes, I can FEEL the money that I'm saving. I will, occasionally need to replace the bottles of essential oils and I was worried that this would be expensive, but the prices on the Cheeky Wipes website are competitive with any other aromatherapy retailer and, given how little you need to use, the bottles will last a long time.

I've enjoyed using the Cheeky Wipes and have been converted to re-usable wipes for nappy changes. I will definitely continue to use these baby wipes.

The Sunday Review – Lovea Bio Body Care

A little while back I discovered Lovea Bio organic shampoo with argan oil so I was really excited to get the chance to try out some of their body care products.



The Lovea Bio Burkina Shea Nourishing Body Balm costs £6.49 from mypure.co.uk and is a sizable tub. The body cream is quite rich so you don't need to use very much. The balm is wobbly to touch but kind of melts into your skin upon use so it absorbs well and doesn't leave me feeling sticky. The smell of shea butter is very strong yet comforting.

For an organic, paraben-free body lotion, I'm quite impressed. It is the first paraben-free body lotion that I've tried for adults (I've tried plenty for Lara). In terms of its effectiveness as a moisturising body balm, I'm still undecided about whether I would buy this product again.



The Lovea Bio Argan Oil Cell Renewal Body Scrub is scrumptious. I love the effect of the Argan oil on both my hair and body – it leaves me feeling silky and soft! This body scrub is incredibly effective, and rates up there with my current favourite (non organic, non paraben-free) Clarins bamboo scrub. The scrub is made with small pieces of sugar and orange peel which makes for a great exfoliant for use a couple of times a week.

My only complain with this product is that I struggle to get it out of the tube! The chunky bits get stuck in the opening which means you have to squeeze REALLY hard to get any out. Next time you try, the opening is unblocked and it takes you by surprise, causing it to squirt all over the bathroom. Note to self... don't point the tube towards your face when trying to remove the blockage. The Lovea Bio Argan Oil Cell Renewal Body Scrub costs £7.49 from mypure.