We went to The Baby Show yesterday because we wanted to see some of the companies we’ve been working with recently. I used to love going to the show but the past couple of times prior to this weekend and I’d got a bit disheartened. It felt over crowded and just full of leaflets. I liked going before for lots of reasons and the freebies were good! Little trial sizes of things which came in handy were often handed out and there were always lots of competitions to enter. Florence also always liked going in the creche which was great as it gave me a chance to shop and her one to play. But…

When I went about this time last year the atmosphere had changed and it didn’t feel all that fun. There were too many people, too many leaflets and not enough substance. The creche was absolutely awful too and I still feel angry with myself for putting my children in it. It was evident when I went to pick them up that although they had been in no danger, they had not been well looked after. The staff were not interested in the children at all. I decided then and there not to bother going back!

But… The Red Cross were at the show this time round and I like The Red Cross very much. They sent me on a baby and child first aid course which was brilliant and a while later, Jimmy choked on some bread and stopped breathing. Because of the course I remembered I had to hit him on the back and he started breathing again so I am incredibly grateful that from their course a little piece of something stuck in my silly brain and I could use it! Tracy from The Red Cross was on the main stage at the show in the morning and she asked me to join her to talk about the course and when Jimmy choked on the bread, how could I refuse? (Thanks to Debbie from The Red Cross for entertaining the children while I was on stage!)

The children had fun with Debbie while I was on stage!

If you haven’t done a first aid course then I highly recommend them! I’ve actually done a couple with them now because when I used to go out to work my company sent me on a first aid for the office course. At work I had to deal with a woman with haemophilia who cut her hand on a razor blade in her bag and a man who thought he was having a heart attack, both on the same day would you believe! I thoroughly recommend their courses, especially for children! You still might panic in a situation, I did, but at least something might stay with you from the classes and you will be able to use it! Obviously we hope we never have to use any of it and we never get into situations where we might have to but it’s better to know just in case I think! I did my course in London and even had a really great time doing it. I met other Mums and Dads and we had a real giggle.

After my slot with the Red Cross I went for some lunch with Fisher Price. It was fab because the children got to play with all the toys from the Laugh and Learn range (which my two love) and there was an entertainer on hand to play with the children who Florence thought was amazing! We ate lunch, watched the children play and then we even got to take some toys home to play with! It was very interesting watching what Jimmy chose to play with in their little play area. He absolutely didn’t want to let go of the little hoover which was just the right size for him. He knew it was a hoover and was pushing it back and forth just as I do at home – he was definitely pretending to hoover but he absolutely hates it when I do it at home! He screams and runs away frightened. Of all the toys I would have thought he’d have steered clear of that but so just goes to show you never can tell!

Florence loved the toys too but not as much as the entertainer who was armed with masses of bubbles! Jimmy kept shouting BUBBLE, BUBBLE!

The Laugh and Learn range is brilliant, we’ve always loved it and I particularly like the tea pot which makes a VERY realistic pouring sound! Jimmy also has the puppy which he is rather fond of. The puppy for me is the loveliest product in the range and I just love the song he sings ‘I love you, I love you, morning noon and night, I love you, I love you, you make the world so bright’. Sometimes I find MYSELF pressing his red heart until he sings the song… Fisher Price laugh and learn toys are built to last (we’ve had some for years and they’ve withstood many chucks and bumps), educational and interactive. They make sounds but not irritating ones and the songs are usually very catchy. I also like that they are done in an English accent and you don’t get your children repeating things with an American drawl! The website offers more for little ones with an app you can download, games and cartoons, it’s lovely! We’ve got some more Laugh and Learn playing to do so I’ll keep you posted!

Florence wasn’t ready to leave the Fisher Price toy playing time so she went in the creche for a bit. I was a little bit worried about leaving her but it seems it’s back to its best and she had a fabulous time. Fisher Price sponsor it so she got to play with the toys for longer and it’s completely free! Maybe it was just a blip at the last show I went to? If I remember rightly they had changed the people running the creche so perhaps they’ve gone back to the people they had before… Either way, this time she enjoyed it greatly and so did Jimmy. I went back to get them and they wanted to stay so both had another session and ran back in without giving me a backwards glance!

The rest of the show for me was about catching up with friends and seeing new products (I liked Spilly Spoon, the non spill medicine spoon and will be trying it soon). The Aden and Anais stand was lovely and the children got a beautiful toy each here, little dogs with pockets in their tummies for hiding away treasures! I got to catch up with my friends from Bugaboo who were at Mothercare for the show and I of course got to show off my wonderful Bugaboo Bee with the new Warhol canopy! I felt like a celebrity as people kept asking me where I’d got it! I also got to see Prima Baby magazine and we did a little Vox Pop for Prima Baby so watch out for us in an edition soon!

Florence kept finding big toys to play with like the one at the Aden and Anais stand and this big giraffe just before we left!

I had a fab time walking round the all improved show with my friend Emily from Family Four Fun and the children had a ball!

I have not been paid to write this post.

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