The Pass on the Love Picnic, a modern fairy story

A bloodcurdling scream whooshed through the tunnels of Castle Alexander. The King glanced up from angry birds, the princess paused her DS, and the little prince even dropped smelly bear.

'Enough' screamed the Queen as she came flying down the corridor on a toy car.  'Time to tidy up. This castle is a deathtrap.'

'Absolutely,' mumbled the King.

'Well, do something!' screeched the Queen.

At that moment there was a knock at the door, and as if by magic, there appeared a box. 

'Presents!'  shouted the prince.

'Toys!' shouted the princess.

'I bloomin hope not!' said the Queen.

'Well, shall we open it?' said the King.

Inside the box was a letter from Persil, and a Pass the Love Picnic Kit.  The Persil Godmother has spoken,' announced the Queen. 'We're having a picnic, we must wash your old clothes and toys in this', the Queen held up a gleaming bottle of purple liquid marked Persil and Comfort 2 in 1, 'and pass them on to other children in this', she waved a green Oxfam collection bag.

The prince and princess looked nervously at the green bag.  The little prince's bottom lip began to wobble.

'Never fear,' said the Queen. 'You may choose what to put in it, but anything that is not put away properly, goes in the green bag.  

So while the King made sandwiches, the Queen helped the prince and princess fill the washing machine with old soft toys and clothes.  The little prince even agreed to let smelly bear have a much needed bath, on the understanding he was not to go in the green bag.

The toys and clothes dried on the washing line.  The sun shone, the wind blew and filled the castle with the calming aroma of passionflowers.

The prince and princess ate their lavish picnic of jam sandwiches, hula hoops, quavers, fruit salad and ice cream in the castle gardens.

Meanwhile, panic was spreading amongst the castle animals.

'I hear some animals are going to the charity shop,' whispered the bluebird.

'They don't want us anymore,' sniffed the squirrel.

'The time comes', said the wise old polar bear, 'to pass on the love to another child. And to make some money for charity on the way.'

'What's charity?' asked fox.

'Some children don't have any toys,' said Polar bear.

'I wouldn't mind belonging to a child who didn't have any toys,' said badger.  'I might get played with more often.'

'True' said Polar bear, 'very true my friend.'

And so the green bag was filled with sweet smelling animals and other long forgotten toys, placed in the back of the royal chariot, and delivered to Oxfam.

Peace descended on the castle once more.  The little prince was reunited with passionflower smelling bear and curled up on the softest picnic blanket ever known, to finish the last of the quavers.

Persil Pass on the Love picnics encourage the recycling of old toys, either to other children, or to Oxfam, after a good wash in Persil and Comfort 2 in 1. Oxfam urgently need your support right now, after the worst food crisis of the century has left 10 million people in desperate need of food and water in East Africa.   Fill a bag, make a donation and if you are at Camp Bestival this summer look out for the Persil huge Pass the Love picnic.  Or why not organise your own picnic?  You can claim a picnic pack here.

I am a member of the Netmums Parent Bloggers Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team from our database to review products and brands on their behalf. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time (and childcare if the fee is big enough!) but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever about what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I get to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity.

My Cybermummy Sponsor

I honestly thought my birthday couldn't get any better. My family and friends went out of their way to make my 34th truly magical. Dad treated us to a huge curry on Friday, my brother and his girlfriend took the kids during the day on Saturday.  I had a haircut, and they made me cake. Even though I left it to the last minute to invite them, friends came to help me party on Saturday night.

I was just collapsing on the sofa on Sunday, after dropping the last of my guests at the station, the kids were in bed, the hangover was subsiding.  A quick check of my iphone and there in my inbox was an email entitled 'Happy Birthday!'  It was more than just birthday wishes though, it was an email letting me know Netmums wanted to be my Cybermummy sponsor.

I am thrilled to bits because Netmums made a huge difference to my life when I first moved from London to Nottingham, eight months pregnant with my first child, knowing no-one. I made some good friends through Netmums. I've also made good use of the Nearly New area.

I also have a lot of respect for Netmums campaigns, particularly the Real Parenting Revolution which calls for 'a societal understanding and acknowledgement of the challenges of being a parent in our post-recession era', in other words, championing 'good enough' parenting, and challenging the unachieveable, yet much touted ideal, of the 'perfect parent'. 

Netmums really 'get' blogging and have been great to work with.  As part of the Netmums Bloggers Network I've had the chance to review some fab new products and been recompensed for my time and expenses. My reviews have been featured on the Netmums site.

So I am thrilled to be a Netmums representative at Cybermummy.  Thanks Netmums, I think 34 is going to be a very good year!

Never work with children or hamsters, with added VLOG

We have been asked to review The Littlest Pet Shop Hamster Playground.  Okay I admit its the kind of toy that makes my heart sink a little.  Lots of packaging, plastic, lots of fiddly bits, wierd anime style rodents that are scarier than the real life fluffy things (and I had the world's most evil hamster as a child).

But my children loved this toy, they even shared it, it is designed with playing together in mind.  I was impressed with the hamster ball doubling up as a container for all the tiny fiddly plastic bits which are a parent's nightmare, the Hoover's snack of choice and the four year old's dream.  I like the fact it helped them learn about pet care (and will hopefully distract them a little longer from wanting a real one).

Anyway actions speak louder than words, so here is our family review plus some out takes in which my lapse parenting and some other stuff is revealed:



It also went to the caravan with us, and was the perfect toy to occupy them in a small space.

Just to point out (from the mum who leaves sharp objects hanging around) that although my 2yo was involved in reviewing this,  it is a 4 plus toy, due to small parts.