I used to think writing a blog was a lot like self indulgence to be honest, a little bit boasty and not really of any interest to anyone except your self. However, after having a baby I’ve discovered a tiny bit of self indulgence in any way you can get it is a therapy most needed by the new Mummy, yes probably a touch boasty but perhaps in a good way and if you could write in an interesting way about exciting topics then perhaps someone else may get some use from it… On top of all that I don’t want to be left behind, hundreds of others are doing it and I’ve got a voice, I want to be heard so why in heavens not?

I’m going to be writing about the things my daughter Florence and I do together because we really do have the most fabulous time. We’re lucky enough to live in our capital city so we have lots of brilliant entertainment at our disposal daily. Right from the word go I’ve taken Florence out almost every single day. We’ve done all manner of the fabulous and fun things London has on offer for under fives and we continue to do something new almost every single week with the other days being taken up doing things we already know and love. A small list of favourites would be: Sure Start groups (where we met all our friends), soft play centres, zoos, farms, lidos, parks, Latino Bambino (salsa dancing with a sling), Mummy and baby cinema, Coram’s Fields (If you haven’t been, go!), Museums, walks in the wild life centre and honestly, the list would go on and on so I must stop there… My blog will be about these things, a review if you will on our days out punctuated with news and reviews from anything else we feel should be shared. So, to begin my first entry properly we will tell you about the wonderful day we have had today at Ladybird Live!

Everybody remembers Ladybird books with some nostalgia I think. There are certain things us 70’s children kept from our childhoods and it would seem the Ladybird collection of books is one of them. They had that distinctive slightly damp cardboardy smell, almost certainly a rip or two from our ‘Lenny’ like affections and some rather curious scribbles where we really shouldn’t have been drawing! If you weren’t a 70’s child I’m sure you recognise the description from every surgery waiting room in the land. Ladybird books from my generation were classic, the stories old fashioned but goodies, they were educational as well as fun and everyone had them because they were accessible to all. They were homely affordable books and I for one look back on my Peter and Jane days with great fondness. It was quite probably my Ladybird books that sparked a lifetime love of actual ladybirds and all things Bishy Barnaby (as we from Norwich would say) which as an adult helped me decide one of the middle names for my daughter Florence Mary Ladybird. With a name like hers and a life time of ladybird affection behind me we are always on the lookout for all things Ladybird so when I read my morning emails one day last week and saw what was on offer at the Clapham Picturehouse for today I immediately got in touch with the organisers to bag my own little ladybird and I our places at Ladybird Live, an event co hosted by Ladybird books and Picturehouses, the very same cinema group who host Mother and Baby cinema’s throughout the country. The event promised fun for the under fives including a craft session and a story telling show. It invited its young participants to come in ladybird fancy dress with a book as a prize for every ladybird in attendance and for one lucky girl or boy £100 worth of new Ladybird books. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it?! And I have to say, it didn’t disappoint! My friend Carly and I took out 17 month old girls down from East London all the way to Clapham which with toddlers is a fair old journey but it was worth the hassle and disruption of being with buggy on a tube in everyway. We arrived at the station with time to spare and headed over to the common where we were keeping our eyes out for other ladybirds and receiving admiring glances at our babies in their very own hand made fancy dress outfits… Florence’s ladybird costume was originally a pair of black y fronts and a red pair of shorts from the bargain bin in a local clothes shop and today became wings and head dress of a very beautiful ladybird… Well so we both thought anyway!

After a treat (for us) of an iced coffee we went to the cinema to pick up our tickets and were greeted by the lovely team at the door. They showed us where to park our buggies, assured us there would be someone watching them all the time and directed us to where the fun was beginning: Tables and tables of glue, paper, cut out circles for badge making, felt tip pens, crayons, templates to make ladybirds, pictures to colour in, scissors to cut out… Basically a child’s, especially the new to drawing 17 month old, heaven! After about 45 minutes of creative play which included some very super impressive badges which were finished off with a professional badge maker, we and the ladybirds were shown up into one of the cinema screens where we were given a top notch show hosted by performance poet Murray Lachlan Young. He was engaging right from the very start, even with the really little ones like mine. He had just the right touch of humour to make it fun and comedic for the children while still being a little edgy and entertaining for us Mums and his performances which included poetry, dance leading, costume displaying and interacting with the young audience was either side and in between three really great classic ladybird tales including The Gingerbread Man read by Sally Phillips being shown on the big screen. A taster if you will, of cinema for our youngsters. One of the other readers is, to Florence’s delight Andy Day of CBeebies fame. I was very pleased to note that the tale of ‘The Gingerbread Man’ was just the same as it was when I was little and no cotton wool wrapping seems to have taken place with regard to this Ladybird story. He still meets the same grizzly end he did thirty years ago which is sad but that’s the story and I can’t stand it when publisher’s change the classic tale just to fit in with some PC era that bears no resemblance on real life thus not teaching our children the good values intended by the book in the first place. I can’t speak for many other stories yet although we have been promised some more books to read and review for this here blog in the next few weeks; so I will let you know more then but for now I can tell you this: From the stories I heard today they still have the same old fashioned shine they always had when I was a child, they are shinier and bigger in shape but a little more colour can only be a good thing I think and at £4.99 for the Ladybird First Favourite Tales including The Gingerbread Man I really don’t think they are break the bank type books. I would definitely recommend from what I have seen so far and am very much looking forward to reviewing them properly in the next few weeks with Florence!

As for Ladybird Live!? Recommend, recommend, recommend! A local book shop ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’ round the corner from the event in Clapham was holding a free Gingerbread decorating afternoon for all Ladybird goers afterwards which was absolutely and utterly fabulous, great surroundings in the type of bookshop/coffee shop everyone wants to go to and half of us want to work in and it finished our afternoon off beautifully. While I can’t promise that at the end of all the other ladybird Live events, I can promise a great time at the actual show. If there’s one near you (and there are five more planned across the country) then go! Don’t even think about it! At £3.00 a ticket bookable via Picturehouse websites it’s super worth the fee; your little Ladybirds will have a ball. Check out www.ladybirdlive.com for more information.