Let the children play

There was a conversation on the radio today about children not being allowed out to play without their parents and the alarming fact that we have become so scared of what might happen that many children these days don't even learn how to ride to bike!

I understand that parents are afraid of what might happen, I am one after all! But in trying to protect our children from every little thing are we in fact hindering their growth as people? How will they learn to assess situations, decide what is dangerous, learn common sense if we as parents do it all for them.

Times have changed and mainly thanks to the media we are more aware of the worse case scenario but to what expense?

When I think back to my childhood I went out to play for hours on end without a mobile phone I might add(had they even been invented then?) and if my mother wanted me she would come out into the street and call me! I was told how far I could go and if I went to the park with friends not parents, I know how bizarre! I was told not to speak to strangers, cross the road carefully and be back by what ever meal time was next. I climbed trees, hid in bushes, made dens and did dares and from what I remember had fun!

Now when I think back to all my children growing up I can see that times and attitudes have changed, when my sons were little I let them play out (still without mobile phones) and told them the same as I was told, they would mostly ride their bikes and play football all thankfully without incident but then the world seemed to change a little, the fear of pedophiles, the increase of gang crime and I started to worry more, by time my daughters were old enough to play out I was a lot more cautious I let them play out, ride their bikes but they were told to stay close so if I came outside or looked out the window I could see them and park trips were accompanied by a parent.

I now have a 3 year old and I'll be honest I don't know how I will react when she reaches the age that she wants to play outside of our own garden, I hope my common sense will kick in but who knows, at least I have a while to think about it!

It's common sense, surely?

It's that time of year when we start thinking about certain things... Money.. Well we think about that all year but right now most of us are still in shock at how much we spend on celebrating one day of the year and how pissed we are that almost all the gifts we bought are now half price just one day later(I'm celebrating Christmas on the 27th this year or at least exchanging presents on the 27th!)and our health, you know the one "oh God why did I drink so much!" closely followed by "oh God why did I eat so much" it's like our brains think "right it's Christmas we can eat drink and be merry and damn the consequences!" then the cold light of new year kicks in and we're 10lb heavier, our livers are screaming out for mercy and our pockets are a lot more pounds lighter!

It's the time when gym memberships( that we use twice!) and weight loss groups have record numbers of new members.

But the reality is that most of us won't stick to our resolutions and will be even more out of pocket as a result!


And so with all of this in mind I have come up with a plan that all of us can follow its guaranteed to work and solves all our problems in the same plan! What's this amazing plan I hear you cry! Where can I sign up for it? Here take my bank details!

Ok, wait for it, it's called .....................COMMON SENSE! Seriously! Eat less, drink less, save money! Ta dah! I know I'm amazing!

Seriously though it just takes a few changes to have an impact and you can even save more money on your groceries by making a few simple changes and by planning your meals in advance.

This week I halved my shopping bill by planning what we will eat for the week, changing a few things for the supermarkets basic range, which by the way when I checked the nutritional value were quite often lower in calories, saturated fat and salt, bulking out meals with vegetables that were on special offer(all the major supermarkets run special offers on fruit and veg)and only buying what we need instead of picking up all those little things that I suddenly decide we need that are on offer, you know the ones they're usually sweet or fatty and they're buy 1 get 1 free and you'd never normally buy them! Or is that just me?

So there we are, that's my plan for the new year and so far this week I've lost 2lb in weight and saved a hell of a lot more in money!

So come one, come all and join me, use that Common Sense and you know what, why not walk to the supermarket if possible and exercise a little more therefore burning a few more calories and get a little more healthier!

I'll keep you informed and I may even post some of my money saving meal plans and hopefully we'll all be healthier and have a bit more money in our pockets!