Justin Fletcher Made My Son Cry

Yes, you read correctly.

The lovely Justin Fletcher - Mr CBeebies himself - made three year old Cash cry yesterday.

So how did this happen? Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

The boys were ill over the weekend. They had some virus or other. They were feverish, with sore throats and colds. Also, Cash vomited all over me and then all over his bed. Nice.

When this happens (after I've put the washing machine on) we make nests of towels on the sofa and switch on CBeebies. We have many programmes recorded on our PVR, mainly Bob the Builder, ZingZillas and the boys' new favourite, Iconicles. Four year old Presley in particular is mesmerised by it. He stands in front of the television as if it's his own Iconiscreen and seems to know every word to every episode. When the boys run in to wake us up every morning, they pretend they are Splish and Splash. Every squirrel they see is now called Skitter. Even Maisy's friend Cyril has been renamed.

I did an experiment two years ago.  I switched off the television and left it off for two months, only turning it back on when the boys were ill one day and I wanted to distract them. Even now it never goes on before 4pm. Then they can chose what they want to watch while I cook the tea.

Yesterday we had exhausted our cache of Iconicles episodes. I really couldn't face another, so we watched the CBeebies channel live.

The new programme, Justin's House, was on. After five minutes of watching Justin and his friends larking about Cash burst into tears. He looked terrified and said 'I don't want to watch this'. So that was that.

Were were invited to watch Justin's House being recorded.  It's filmed in front of an audience of children. On the show they all look like they're enjoying themselves, none of them are shrieking. I don't know what it was that upset Cash. I'm glad we couldn't make it to Salford now. Sorry, Justin. We still love Something Special.

We also like the new look CBeebies Grown-ups website, there is even a blog. I hope the BBC don't mind me using the photo of Justin's House. From the reaction of the parents on Twitter over the weekend, I think we were the only family that didn't love the new show.

I'll be sad when the boys grow out of CBeebies and I'll miss watching them laugh their heads off at the 'Spud the Hotel Manager' episode of Bob the Builder. I've almost perfected my Spud impression too.


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Justin Fletcher Made My Son Cry

127

Every day 127 people are diagnosed with breast cancer.

127.

Do me a favour, would you? Check your breasts now. I don't care if you're on the train or at the school gate. Just check them. Thank you.

Now I can tell you about last night's Breast Cancer Care Show 2011 at the Grosvenor House Hotel. It's a charity fashion show where all of the models are breast cancer survivors. One of the models was television host Trisha Goddard.

This was my third time at the Show. The first time was in 2006. That year I went a little bit crazy with my credit card and won the 'Romantic' auction lot. Last night it was great to catch up with Jon and Rachel from Jon Dibben. Jon and his team designed and made my stunning engagement and wedding rings. If you're looking for a special piece of jewellery, Jon's your man.

I went with my best friend, Amanda, who was a model in the 2009 Show. Here she is last night with the very lovely Lisa Snowdon.

There were a few other celebrities knocking around. The night was hosted, brilliantly, by Arlene Phillips.

This is the fabulous Vanessa Feltz with her daughters, Saskia and Allegra. Vanessa and her partner did a splendid job running the Heads and Tails game.

Bernie and Linda Nolan were very funny hosting the Lock and Key game.

There was also entertainment from Strictly Come Dancing star Katya Virshilas and her partner, Klaus Kongsdal.

The real stars, however, were the models. It was a moving night, full of inspirational stories. Times are hard for charities, but people were generous again last night - the room was full. Breast Cancer Care provide such a vital service. They are there for the 127 women and men diagnosed today, tomorrow and every day.

Go on, have a feel for me.


October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month



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127

Wordless Wednesday - I tawt I taw a puddy tat!

Wordless Wednesday - I tawt I taw a puddy tat!

We Met The ZingZillas at Harveys

Don't worry, we didn't bump into them shopping for a new sofa for the Coconut Hut or anything weird like that.

We were invited to spend a bit of time with them before they posed for photographs with the children of Milton Keynes. Boy, was there a queue... that we went straight to the front of.

The occasion was the opening of the new Harveys furniture store in Milton Keynes. By the way, she added conspiratorially, there's an additional 10% off most items until the end of tomorrow (Monday 26th September).

My boys LOVE The ZingZillas. They were absolutely thrilled to spend some time with their idols. Tang's eye had been fixed since their appearance at Lollibop and they were all full of beans and wonderful with the children.

Huge thanks to Harveys PR for the invitation.

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We Met The ZingZillas at Harveys

Reasons to love living in Milton Keynes #3

Milton Keynes has a sense of humour.

These are the famous concrete cows. They started life in 1978 as an art installation, they are now in the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre.

I guess they are meant to represent the march of the new metropolis, concreting over fields and cows or something (I don't really do modern art-speak). I hope they were created by an artist with their tongue positioned firmly in their cheek, because - as residents of Milton Keynes will know - this new city* is greener than the average city. There are fields and parks and canals and woods and open spaces. They aren't just dotted around, here and there. The houses fit into the greenery. In fact, you often can't see the houses for the trees.

The trouble is, a lot of people have a perception of Milton Keynes that is based on the concrete cows. I suppose they have no reason to see beyond them, after all there are a lot of roundabouts to navigate in Milton Keynes. If you're only heading for the shops you may not be looking out for much more than road signs. Let's just hope you don't see the monstrosity that is The Hub! It's only when you spend a bit of time here that you hope decide the concrete cows are mostly a joke.





*Milton Keynes is not a city, but everyone here acts as if it is.



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Reasons to love living in Milton Keynes #3