MUMMY TO THE MAX

It's hard to believe that Splash About adventure started over 25 years ago. Their aim back then, as it continues to be now, is to try and make children as safe, secure, confident & comfortable in and around the water as they possibly could.
Reported the most essential item in your baby swim kit, we introduce you to the Happy Nappy!
The Happy Nappy is made from stretchy neoprene and finished with soft bands of fabric that have a high rubber content to enable it to fit snugly around baby's bottom and thighs without leaving marks around your babies legs from it being too tight.

Love the new BMW Buggy? Can you picture it fitting perfectly into your family’s active life? Then head over to Maclarens Facebook page and you could have the opportunity to win your very own Maclaren BMW Buggy, or chic accessories from the BMW Buggy Collection!

From now until 10th March, submit a photo showing your family’s style on-the-go and you will be automatically entered to win a BMW Buggy Messenger Bag. Share the contest with your friends and invite them to vote for YOUR entry in our gallery. The fan photo that receives the most votes will win our must-have BMW Buggy!

To enter via Twitter or Instagram with your mobile phone, snap a picture and tag it with the hashtag: #bmwbuggyUK

The fine print: By uploading a photo, fans have two ways to win:

One Grand Prize winner, who receives the most Likes on their photo from fellow Maclaren fans, will win their very own BMW Buggy!

Three winners will be chosen at random to receive our exclusive BMW Buggy Messenger Bag!

Only one entry per person.

You must own all rights to the photo, or have verifiable permission to use it. Any submissions found to be non-compliant can be removed without notification.

Share the contest with your friends and invite them to vote for YOUR entry in our gallery. You can come back daily to vote.

All votes will be verified before winners are announced. Any votes found to be fraudulent, non-valid, or spam will be disqualified.

The winners will be announced following the end of the contest within our photo contest app on Facebook, and also as a status update.

Good luck everyone.
Make sure to visit MaclarenBabyUK Facebook to learn more about our BMW Buggy Collection!

Since Maxwell was small, I have always had trouble finding him the perfect cup to drink from. Many issues I have had with cups in the past have been the fact the cup leaks if the cup is tipped up. I have also found Maxwell finds it difficult to drink out of, as it either lets to much liquid out of not enough so he ends up getting frustrated.
We were recently sent a  Munchkin Click Lock Cup to review.


When I first saw it I was surprised at how bright and colourful it was. We were sent a sippy cup which was yellow which had a bright red lid. The design of the cup we were sent had a animal design on. The cup has a clear outer with a colour tinted inner cup. This helped me see the fill level so I was able to see when Maxwell was running low on his juice.

The Click Lock Sippy Cup comes in 3 pieces which makes the cup easy to clean. There is a plastic valve that slots into the lid. From past experience, over time the valves in sippy cups often get mouldy or dirty, so it's great to know that the valve is replaceable.
When you secure the lid on to the bottle you hear the magic "click". When you hear this its a sign the lid is secure and it is very unlikely to leak.
Maxwell tested the cup. He dropped it, rolled it and shook the bottle and not a drip of his juice managed to come out.
I liked the fact that the sippy cup is simple to clean an there are no small bits that can be fiddly for parents to put together. We also found out the cup flowed perfectly for Maxwell so he was able to drink out of the cup comfortably.


The cup is very well made. The hard plastic spout has not been damaged at all, even though Maxwell has had a little chew on it due to teething. It has been taken to many places and as far as London and has been washed many times and is still in a new condition.

The cup is said to be insulated to keep drinks cold, so we are looking forward to making good use of this feature in the summer.

Overall I would rate the Munchkin Click Lock Cups  5/5

This cup is perfect for any child aged 9 months or over. It comes in 3 different designs so there is something suitable for any child. This product is also BPA free. For more information o Munchkin and there products please visit their website.

Maxwell Made Me Smile this week by:


Maxwell has a new love... Chuggington! He will constantly sit and play the song on his book and dance through the day to it. Im dreading the day the batteries stop and the book no longer works... Maxwell is rocking it!

Nothing annoys me more than rude customer service and recently two well know companies have been culprits of this.
I worked in customer service for over 4 years before I had Maxwell and I can honestly say I always treated customers with respect, never did I fail to resolve a problems and I was always happy to help,

Recently I have had dealings with Debenhams and La Redoute.

Earlier this month I saw a great deal on Debenhams website and being a great deal I thought I would order it for a mothers day treat for my Mum next month. I got the confirmation email and money was taken out of my bank account, however to my surprise 2 days after making the order I was emailed, only to be told that my order will not be fulfilled. I rang customer services up and asked why was money taken out of my account yet my order would not be sent, I was told they were out of stock of the item I had ordered and that the money would be refunded however it could take up to 5 days.... 5 DAYS!! For a refund, for a item I never received.
A day later I went on to their website and to my surprise the item was back in stock, so I rang up. I explained the situation to the customer service representative on the phone and was told the item was back in stock, they then checked the product and I was then told it was a mistake as their website was playing up. I accepted this and got off the phone.
Two days later again I checked back on Debenhams website, just to see if the item was back in stock, of course it was. Again I rang them up, as a friend had made a order for the product, I asked them was there any in stock, they replied no.
I asked the customer service person I was speaking to, why they were taking money of customers knowing full well they were unable to fulfill the order and why were they happy to sit on peoples hard earned money for 5 days if they are not fulfilling a order, with this I was hung up on.
A few hours later my friend received a email telling her the product was out of stock.
In the end I have given up with Debenhams, I have rang up several amounts of times to sort the order out, I have contacted them on social media sites and have not had answers. I have had no words saying sorry and after taking my money and giving me a refund after 5 days of them sitting on it, I can safely say avoid at all costs. You just need to look on there social media site Facebook to see how many complaints they have off very unhappy customers.

I go on to La Redoute.
I found a great deal on a site to use on clothing for Maxwell. Maxwell needed some new PJ's and some new trousers so I happily made a order with them. I was a new customer and I wanted to see if they could live up to there great reputation I had heard of them.
When I saw the code I also told some of my friends about the great deal that La Redoute had to offer and they also happily placed a order for their children.
A hour after placing the order I received a confirmation email about my order.
A week went by, no order yet my friends had received there order. I rang up La Redoute and was told first of all they were unable to find my order. Finally after explaining the order I was rudely told as I had found the code off a site I was not entitled to my order. However I asked why my two friends had managed to get there's. I was told that "All customers with none processed orders will be informed by letter".
A week and a half on and I still have not got a letter, no apology, no explanation of why my little boy doesn't have new pj's or trousers.
They have my name, my address, my number and also my bank details, details such as my telephone number and address they could sell on.
After talking to my friends, they told me that they were new customers just like me, no different to me. So why am I different and not entitled to my order?

In conclusion, in this climate that we are in where huge company's are going into administration can these company's really afford to upset there customers. If im getting bad customer service are others experiencing this?
Is giving their customer information about a order they placed but never received to hard to do?
Is giveing a refund to a customers they happily took money off for a item that the customer never received to hard to do?

What bad experience's have you had with companies? Have they rectified the fault or even given you a simple apology? I would love to hear your experiences.

Coca-Cola and WWF have joined forces to launch Arctic Home, a new project focused on raising awareness and funds to help conserve the home of the polar bear and create a positive future for the Arctic.


A long-standing icon across Coca-Cola advertising for 90 years, the polar represents family and togetherness for the brand. This is why Coca-Cola is pledging €3 million over the next three years towards conserving their Arctic home as well as bringing their plight closer to home for millions of consumers. The funds raised through the campaign will allow WWF to use their extensive scientific network and conservation expertise in a variety of ways, including conservation planning for the Last Ice Area - an area of over 1.4 million sq km in northern Greenland and northern Canada – a region bigger than France and Spain combined.

Arctic Home launched at The Science Museum, London on 17th January with an augmented reality experience, where guests saw the polar bears brought to life and which allowed them to observe some of the challenges facing them and the Arctic. The campaign will also bring the Arctic into millions of families’ homes; with more than 300 million Coca-Cola packs and cans featuring a mother polar and two cubs making their way across the Arctic for the first time. A new television advert around the Arctic Home campaign will also see the polar bears in their Arctic environment brought to life from February as well as a buzz across social media activity around the launch.

The Arctic Home project will see the largest number of European countries ever come together to support an initiative to raise awareness and funds for a common cause, with 16 launching in the coming weeks.

Arctic Home forms part of a global partnership between Coca-Cola and WWF, which focuses on working towards cutting the Company’s carbon emissions, water conservation and sustainable agriculture. The project will also raise awareness of how the Arctic is being affected by climate change, with it currently warming twice as fast as the global average and sea ice is disappearing at a rate of about 11% each decade. This shrinking sea ice is threatening the future of the polar bear.


Coca-Cola and WWF are calling for everyone to find out more, get involved or donate by visiting the Arctic home website no amount of money donated is too big or too small!

HOW THE MONEY FROM THE ARCTIC HOME CAMPAIGN WILL BE USED:

CREATING A SAFE HOME

- The polar bear needs help to give it a safe, sustainable home. It lives, hunts, mates and breeds on the sea ice, but with that rapidly shrinking, WWF is working to protect and manage what is still there.

UNDERSTANDING POLAR BEARS

- Before we can work out how best to protect the polar bear population, we need a better understanding of them. Due to the challenges of the Arctic environment it’s difficult and expensive to even get an accurate count of how many bears are left. Part of the money raised by the Arctic Home campaign will be used to fill in the gaps, allowing us to study the polar bear population and habitat.

CONFLICT BETWEEN BEARS AND PEOPLE

- As the ice retreats, polar bears are being forced to spend more time on land hunting for food. People in several Arctic communities are reporting an increase of bears in and around their communities. This is dangerous for people, and dangerous for bears.

- To reduce that risk, part of the funds raised by the Arctic Home campaign will go towards WWF research and actions to help communities live in harmony with the polar bear population.

POLAR BEAR SUMMIT

- WWF is encouraging Arctic governments to hold a polar bear summit this year to put a spotlight on the polar bear and the issues it faces. Held with the help of funds from the Arctic Home campaign, a major event like this will attract high-level interest from government leaders. While WWF’s efforts can help sustain an Arctic home for polar bears, government support will also be needed.

TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE

- WWF works with communities, businesses, governments and international organisations (like the United Nations and the European Union) to help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing deforestation, by making much smarter and more efficient use of energy, and by moving to clean renewable sources of energy. Even if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions very quickly, some climate change will continue through the coming decades because of the greenhouse gases we have already emitted. So WWF helps communities, organisations and governments to understand the interdependence of people and nature and to adapt to a changing world, working in new ways to build resilience into the natural systems that support our lives and livelihoods. Part of the funds raised through Arctic Home will support WWF’s work to tackle global climate change with the goal of slowing change in the Arctic and globally. It will also help WWF understand how climate change will affect the Arctic so that we can help people and wildlife adapt to their changing world.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you who have nominated me and Maxwell for the Mad Blog awards. The categories I have been nominated for so far are:

Overall I  would rate Baker Days 5/5

I think the idea of sending a cake by post is a great concept and product. The letterbox cake is a perfect gift idea, especially if you know someone who enjoys cake.
If you head to Baker Days Website you are able to find lots more information on all the cakes that they offer.

Basic weight: 5.7kg (without accessories)

Carrying capacity: 15kg

Suitable from 6 months

Recline multiple position, drawstring operation and zip open hood panels

Wheel size 12.7cm

Hood ventilation panel

All round suspension

Lined brakes

Lockable front swivel wheels

Rear reflectors

Carry strap

Accessories included: bucket style seat liner, shoulder pads, shopping basket and rain cover

Why YOU should be a Maclaren Buggy Owner:

A key featured to me when buying a buggy is to make sure it is light weight as we need to climb stairs to get up to our house. This buggy would be perfect for myself, I found it easy to lift, I am only 5 ft. tall and normally find other branded pushchairs far to heavy.
I really liked the idea of the buggy coming equipped with a removable, ergonomic bucket seat liner. This would provide cushioned comfort for your little one and ensure they would be comfy when travelling round in style. The liner is also Water- and stain- resistant fabric which I find important when having a little one around.

• Universal organiser - This  black organiser has space for bottles and a deep zip mesh compartment to keep not only your possessions but children's. Finished with the brand’s iconic logo, it is the ideal addition to your buggy.
• Park Blanket - This soft park blanket has a space saving roll up design, meaning it can be easily stored in your buggy.
• Changing Bag - This sleek black Nappy Bag has a spacious interior with room for all of your changing essentials. Finished with the brand’s iconic logo, it is the ideal complement to the BMW Buggy.

Sometimes in life there is something that hits you so hard, that you forget so many simple things and focus on things that really matter. You feel other peoples pain and learn things from it.

Tonight I have forgot about petty little arguments I have had with people, things people have done to make me angry and forgot so many other problems and worries I have in life.
I actually need to start thinking what I need in life to make me happy and live my life the way I need to and make the most of it.

Maxwell is my main focus in life and without him I don't think I could live, eat or breathe without knowing he's just ready to show me his cheeky grin round the corner. 
He is my main reason of why I live. The reason I smile, the reason I make sacrifices in life, just so I know he never goes without. Everything I do in life is for him.

Maxwell makes me proud every day, I look into his eyes and cant believe I managed to bring such a beautiful little boy into this world. Every day is different, everyday is a huge learning curve. Every day he manages to make me laugh.

Today's new game and something to make me laugh was to put his favourite objects down the back of his radiator - 2 wet wipes, his polar bear, a dummy, a packet of biscuits and Mummy's hair clip.

Something he did today to make me proud was to walk around the house just holding my hand, just how I had been wanting him to do for weeks.

So from this day today I have decided I am going to write a post every week to highlight what Maxwell has done to make me smile, what he has achieved in that week as I don't really write about it enough.

I will be able to show him in a few years time just why he has made me the proudest Mummy in the whole entire world and why he will continue to make me proud throughout my life.

Remember life is short. Remember to kiss the people you love every day and make sure they know how special they truly are to you, you can never get a single day back.