Reliving the 80s with Chad Valley at Argos

So you may wonder how I could possibly be reliving the 80s with the Chad Valley range, without leafing through a vintage Argos catalogue?

Well in this months Play Panel bundle, they sent us a toy which I had in the 80s and one which my friends and I used to spend hours playing on.

The pogo ball (or Lolo ball as it was known back in the 80s) is a great way for children to learn about balance, get them to use their core and generally have fun whilst falling over and laughing.

With it being winter, it hasn't been easy to get outside and use this, so we have been playing with it on the landing and in the dining room.

The kids have really loved it and even I have had a go on it (photo withheld!)  I am pretty much as good now as I was back in the 80s for those wondering; like riding a bike you never forget how to bounce on a pogo ball!

I wish I had a picture of me with my 1980s pogo ball, it was purple and yellow and the day it broke was such a sad day :(

Thankfully though I can relive those memories now with the children and show them the kind of toy I had when growing up.

It comes deflated and you use the helpfully supplied pump to blow it up; once it is fully pumped up you are ready to bounce. The platform has two textured footprints for grip and to show you where to place your feet, so even though my 6 year old daughter struggled to bounce on it, she knew exactly what to do.

There are some other fab toys in the bundle too, my daughter loves the Designabear and it hasn't left her side, we've had lots of fun being chased by the lights and sounds elephant whilst trying to get the hoops on his trunk and although we haven't played with the others yet, my son is eager to have a punch about with the inflatable boxing set. Winter sadly doesn't make for great outdoor playing conditions.

As for the scooter; we already had one of these, so we donated this one to charity.

This is a collaborative post, all words and opinions are my own.

Decades at School with Marks and Spencer

Do you have any favourite memories of school? Milk in bottles with little straws, recorder lessons and the school dentist, getting your five meter swimming badge and one computer for the whole school, wheeled in and out of the rooms on a trolly.

Well, times have changed, milk comes in cartons and each class has a few computers and even iPads, but sending your children off to school for a new year will still be the same.  That pang of sadness at not getting to spend time with them even if they were causing you to tear your hair out at times, that dread of early mornings and lunch box making.

New uniforms, shoes, bags and lunch boxes and now it seems we need to add a pencil case to the mix and it got me thinking about what it was like for my parents when I was at school? What hopes, dreams and feelings did they have for me starting a new year?

I remember going to look for a new school uniform and new shoes with my mum, it was one of those defining moments of the school holidays and nothing got the excitement going more than a crisp new pair of shoes and school uniform. Trying them on when we got home and showing dad when he got in from work, just to get the approval.

I took that approach when my son started school and it was a big occasion for us to go and look for school uniform, however it wasn't as easy as i'd hoped and we couldn't find everything in his size, it was a little stressful to say the least, that happened for a few more years and then last year as much as I would miss the shopping ritual with my daughter I decided to order everything online.

We'd had uniform from Marks and Spencer since my son started school and they always lasted and stood the test of time, so with everything in one place I ordered all the school uniform for next day delivery and we had the same excitement levels, albeit in a different place, when two bags of clothes arrived.

We went through them and tried them on, I cried a little and my daughter told me I was being silly, it was a new experience and I suppose an updated and modern version of my memory.

For me my memories are happy ones and are deep in my core memory, they are what makes me tick and so I hope I can pass some of them on to my children, even if they are as different as our one computer at school to the whole row of them in each class now.

Nothing says the first day of school like a baggy jumper and shoes too big for those skinny legs, here is me surprisingly smiling for my first day at secondary school.

This year Marks & Spencer have yet another brilliant uniform collection, in a range of sizes, colours and styles. There are some neat touches to their uniforms, including, Stainaway™ shirts, made with a special finish to help make stains disappear, adjustable hem trousers to adjust the hems without a needle and thread and machine washable jumpers that stay bright and bobble free.

My two children love their new uniform from Marks & Spencer, they are just what we need to allow them to run, jump and explore. With ribbed cuffs, easy to do up buttons, zips and hooks and fabric that moves with them, I am sure these will last them the year as they have always done before.

Our holidays only started this week and they will be back at school earlier than everyone else too, with just five short weeks for their summer, even so, we hope to fit lots in. I am sure the time will come for first day back photos before I know it and most likely tears from me as I see the changes in them and the different a year makes.

Marks and Spencer are currently looking at school uniforms throughout the decades, they have changed so much and it is fascinating to see what we used to wear, you can even share your own memories with them over on Twitter using the hashtag #MySchoolYears

What was your favourite school memory?

NB: This is a collaborative post.

Sunshine, Sun Jellies and Cute Temporary Tattoos

Last week, the lovely people over at Sun Jellies announced a fabulous new collaboration with the uber talented Karen Mabon, creating these cute jelly inspired temporary tattoos. I absolutely adore them and have teamed them up with one of my favourite summer colours from the Sun Jellies collection.

The yellow is so bright and wonderfully summery that you can't help thinking of long summer days eating ice cream and dreaming of being young again. Which one is your favourite design?

Sunshine & Sun Jellies by themummydiary

Glitter shoes, TOTE Jane - The ORIGINAL jelly shoes and jelly bags, BASKET Daisy - The ORIGINAL jelly shoes and jelly bags/ ,attoos - jelly tattoos - The ORIGINAL jelly shoes and jelly bags, Sun Jellies banana sandals - The ORIGINAL jelly shoes and jelly bags

My Daughters Favourite Book

At the moment, my daughter has me reading this book to her every night. It was a charity shop find, I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to get it for her.

Not only is it by the renowned childrens author Enid Blyton, it is also about a mouse, and we love a good mouse story in this house.

I love the name plate in the front of the book, it's so 80s!

My daughter really enjoys reading this book with me, I think she enjoys both the story and the pictures! I love that I can read with her an author that I enjoyed so much when I was younger.

The drawings in this book are really beautiful and even though this book is almost 30 years old it is still as fresh and inviting as it was back then.

Do you have a favourite book at the minute?

Passing on the Past

I have a love for all things 80s and am lucky that my mum and dad kept some of my old books from when I was younger.

I have added to the collection with some fabulous charity shop finds and although these are only a few I wanted to share their magic.

So, do you remember any of these?

The top four are ones I have found, I loved Rainbow Bright, the Gummi Bears and the Fluppy Dogs the Care Bears are back now so that shows how timeless they are.

The bottom three were mine as a child, I remember buying The Nite Glo Gang at a school book fair, the front glows in the dark and it is so well read, even now the kids both love it. Snow White and Sleeing Beauty are classics and my daughter loves to look at them. 

I love that I can still read these books to my children and that hopefully I can pass them on to my grandchildren too.

We were going through some toys the other day to giveaway and it suddenly dawned on me that I should save some, my husband still has a box of cars at his parents house, from when he was a child, they always get played with our the kids go round.

It is these moments that are magic, magic because I had them and now my children are enjoying them too.

Return of the Original Jelly Bag - My 80s Dream

Once upon a time in the 80s, there was a young girl who wanted a jelly bag so much, but money was tight so she never got to own one. Ok, so enough of the sob story and me showing my age, yes that girl was me and no it doesn’t bother me, that’s just how it was.

However, thanks to Sun Jellies my jelly bag dream was realised last weekend. I was like a small child when I opened up my parcel. The bag  was unclipped for easier shipping , which meant I had the privilege of putting it together. Much to my dismay my pink loving three year old daughter quickly swooped it up and walked off with it, proves jelly bags haven’t lost their appeal then.

Having managed to persuade her that it was too big for her I managed to gain control of the bag, for now, but she does look cute in her 'princess' jellies as she calls them ;)

Now on to the bag itself, in the same jelly material as the shoes it is sturdy and well-made and best of all I love the colour. I opted for pink as I thought it was the perfect summer colour, however it was a difficult decision between this, the coral red and timeless black.

We are going to France in the summer (home of the Meduse Sun Jellies) so I can’t wait to take this around the markets for fresh fruit, veg and cheese as well as to the beach. I think this is where the bag will really come in to its own, not only is it the perfect bag to take my books, sunglasses and sun creams in but it won’t get full of sand, well if it does it can be emptied out. It also looks rather cute with a pair of jelly shoes don’t you think?

I love this bag, I love the colour the design and it is also plenty big enough to fit lots of holiday essentials in, it can also be unclipped again so perfect for fitting into your suitcase.

It even comes in a smaller size in the pink for little girls to be like mum, you know because jellies are cool! Thank you Sun Jellies for bringing back these bags, just like when I listen to Madonna's Dear Jessie, I have been transported back to my childhood. Carefree and feeling like I could take on the world.

The bag costs £10 and is 34x25x25 so it is a decent size and I certainly managed to fit plenty of shopping in.

NB I was sent this bag to review, all words and thoughts and opinions are my own.

Spring Charity Shopping

With the sun out and the temperature warming there is nothing more satisfying than finding some goodies in the charity shop that pick up the light and sparkle.

So this week when I popped in to a charity shop near work you can imagine my utter glee when I saw these beauties, I had seen a set in another shop a few months before but they were £15 for a set of 6 and I just think that is a little too much.

This set isn't complete and some are well loved but I had to have them, and for 80p each set it doesn't matter they are still so pretty!

I found this gorgeous cheesecloth tablecloth for £2.25, my mum used to have one and I just love the colours. It will be perfect for the table outside in the summer and I don't think you could get this much fabric new for the price it's huge!

Next this gorgeous Pyrex platter was a snip at 75p, its really heavy and I love the print perfect for serving Christmas dinner on or mince pies me thinks.

I have been admiring my grans murano glass for some time now and when I saw this little fella I knew I had to get him. I am amazed I got him home in one piece as they are so fragile, in fact it's amazing he is still in piece considering his age.

I only bought one of these this week but when I saw him I knew he had to come home with us as a friend for the other, at just £2.99 I couldn't leave him in the shop and I just adore the slight differences, but thats hand painted for you.

And finally, this Pyrosil dish, it is missing it's lid but I love the simplicity of the blue on white and can't wait to cook in it, perfect oven to table wear and only £1.29.

I am really becoming a charity shop addict now but I love filling my home with pretty things that just want to be relived

I am linking up to Magpie Monday over on Me and My Shadow.

Born in the 80s!

Today I saw a little girl picking a dandelion, that got me thinking about the old wives tale of wetting the bed if you picked them.

This led me on to thinking about dandelion and burdock, do they even still make it?

We then went to do a little charity shopping and I found these two books, although they aren't vintage I do have these exact ones at my mum and dads from the 80s. I think they might even be worth something now, I loved them so much I have bought these for my son (don't want him manhandling the vintage ones).

I do enjoy reminiscing about my youth, I'm lucky enough I remember it. My husband seems to have forgotten everything that happened in his!

I love my old school toys and stuff, after a visit to Wonder Years in Bude a few years ago I sought out this Fisher Price Activity Centre which dates back to late 70s.

I also have a couple of Keypers and my old Silver Cross dolls pram for my daughter when she is a bit older. I love that all of these things don't require any batteries, now days there is nothing more sad than the sound of a toy that's batteries are running out!

What do you remember from your childhood? Have you bought something because you had it?