http://www.parentdish.co.uk Parentdish http://www.parentdish.co.uk/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.parentdish.co.uk en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/fun-and-activities/why-are-family-days-out-so-expensive/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/fun-and-activities/why-are-family-days-out-so-expensive/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/fun-and-activities/why-are-family-days-out-so-expensive/#comments Filed under: Travel Tips, Holidays

It's time to punctuate the school holidays with a few family days out. But I'm strangely reluctant to go anywhere at all. I think I've been scarred by the past. Years ago, when I was about eight, we piled into the car to celebrate my brother's ... Read more

 

]]>costexpenseexpensivefamily days outfun-and-activitiesjourneysrip-offtheme parkstripsMarianne KavanaghTue, 22 May 2012 07:00:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/21/surviving-teenagers-why-girls-have-it-tough/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/21/surviving-teenagers-why-girls-have-it-tough/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/21/surviving-teenagers-why-girls-have-it-tough/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Rex Girls have it tough. Yes, it's hard for boys. Testosterone, constant competition (who's funniest, strongest, fastest, most popular), spots, sex, having to be cool...But teenage girls have it worse. I say this as the mum of two boys ... Read more

 

]]>attention from mengirlshormonesperiodsstressteenteenagerstoughMarianne KavanaghMon, 21 May 2012 09:15:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/14/surviving-teenagers-why-teenagers-are-like-cats/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/14/surviving-teenagers-why-teenagers-are-like-cats/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/14/surviving-teenagers-why-teenagers-are-like-cats/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

PA Teenagers are like cats, according to a new survey*, because: 1. They are largely nocturnal 2. They spend most of the day asleep... 3. ...and spend hours stretching and yawning when they wake up 4. They demand food constantly ... Read more

 

]]>behaviourcatsselfishnesssleepsurviving teenagersteenteenagersMarianne KavanaghMon, 14 May 2012 08:05:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/08/surviving-teenagers-welcome-to-exam-season/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/08/surviving-teenagers-welcome-to-exam-season/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/05/08/surviving-teenagers-welcome-to-exam-season/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

PA Welcome to exam season. If you've got teenagers, you're now treading that impossible line between encouragement and nagging. "How's the revision going?" "I'm on a break." It isn't helped by the fact that no parent (unless he or she ... Read more

 

]]>A levelsASexamsGCSEsmodulesparentsrevisingrevisionteenteenagersMarianne KavanaghTue, 08 May 2012 04:55:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/30/surviving-teenagers-should-parents-crash-the-party/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/30/surviving-teenagers-should-parents-crash-the-party/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/30/surviving-teenagers-should-parents-crash-the-party/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

PA Embarrassing dance winners Twice recently my 17-year-old has been to a party and the parents have joined in. Not right at the beginning, obviously. They haven't formed a welcoming committee at the door. But at some point in the ... Read more

 

]]>crashing the partyembarrassinggatecrashparentspartysurviving teenagersteenMarianne KavanaghMon, 30 Apr 2012 12:25:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/23/surviving-teenagers-french-exchange-student/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/23/surviving-teenagers-french-exchange-student/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/23/surviving-teenagers-french-exchange-student/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Alamy We have a teenage French girl staying with us. My daughter went off to France last term, and this is the exchange visit. I want her to like the UK. I don't want her to go back thinking British people are sad, weird tea-drinkers who eat ... Read more

 

]]>cups of teaexchange programmeexchange studentfrenchrainteateentrying to impressMarianne KavanaghMon, 23 Apr 2012 11:52:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/16/when-can-you-ask-teenagers-to-turn-the-music-down/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/16/when-can-you-ask-teenagers-to-turn-the-music-down/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/16/when-can-you-ask-teenagers-to-turn-the-music-down/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Rex It's Tuesday night, 10pm. Next door, the other side of our semi, I hear music and laughter. "They're having a party," I say to my husband. He yawns. "I'm going to bed." Half an hour later, my eldest returns home. The noise levels the ... Read more

 

]]>complaincomplaintshouse partynoisepartyteenteenagersMarianne KavanaghMon, 16 Apr 2012 10:10:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/10/surviving-teenagers-hopeless-shopping-lists/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/10/surviving-teenagers-hopeless-shopping-lists/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/10/surviving-teenagers-hopeless-shopping-lists/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Getty "I'm making a shopping list!" I shout generally. When my lot were little, I'd write out shopping lists and find them full of additions as soon as my back was turned - chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate, Penguin multi-packs. My ... Read more

 

]]>family lifefood shoppingliving with teenagersshopping listssurviving teenagersteenMarianne KavanaghTue, 10 Apr 2012 08:00:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/02/surviving-teenagers-what-happens-at-family-reunions/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/02/surviving-teenagers-what-happens-at-family-reunions/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/04/02/surviving-teenagers-what-happens-at-family-reunions/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Getty We have gone to stay with my parents for the weekend. It's Sunday morning. My dad is outside in the April sunshine sorting out the recycling. My mum is on the phone. It's 10 O'clock. "Do you think,'" I say to my husband, "we should ... Read more

 

]]>doing the wrong thingfoodgetting upparentssleepsleeping insurviving teenagersteenteenagerswaking upMarianne KavanaghMon, 02 Apr 2012 10:35:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/26/surviving-teenagers-asking-for-help/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/26/surviving-teenagers-asking-for-help/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/26/surviving-teenagers-asking-for-help/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Getty It's Saturday. I skid into the kitchen, arms full of dirty washing. I've got to rush to the shops - there's nothing in the fridge but Philadelphia covered in green mould and half a packet of rotting rocket. All three of my ... Read more

 

]]>asking for helpchoresemptying the binshelpinghouseholdmessparentsteenteenagersMarianne KavanaghMon, 26 Mar 2012 12:15:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/19/surviving-teenagers-why-they-forgot-mothers-day/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/19/surviving-teenagers-why-they-forgot-mothers-day/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/19/surviving-teenagers-why-they-forgot-mothers-day/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers, Mother's Day

Getty On Mother's Day, I bump into my friend down the road. She has four teenage sons, the eldest away at university. "One out of four," she says. "He just rang. I said, and where are my flowers? I like to keep him on his toes." At ... Read more

 

]]>childrenforgetforgotkidsmothers daymumremindreminderteenteenagersMarianne KavanaghMon, 19 Mar 2012 10:55:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/14/universal-credit-why-150-000-single-working-mums-will-be-worse-off/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/14/universal-credit-why-150-000-single-working-mums-will-be-worse-off/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/14/universal-credit-why-150-000-single-working-mums-will-be-worse-off/#comments Filed under: Single Parents

Getty The charity Save the Children says that 150,000 of the country's poorest single parents will be worse off by up to £68 a week under the Coalition Government's new Universal Credit. This may mean that a quarter of a million children ... Read more

 

]]>child benefitscoalitiondaycare trustgingerbreadgovernmentmothers daymumpovertysave the childrensingle mumssingle parentsuniversal creditworking mumsworking tax creditMarianne KavanaghWed, 14 Mar 2012 09:10:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/12/surviving-teenagers-buying-a-new-mobile-phone/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/12/surviving-teenagers-buying-a-new-mobile-phone/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/12/surviving-teenagers-buying-a-new-mobile-phone/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

PA Not the phone Marianne's daughter got! We've just been out to buy my daughter a new phone. She's 17. She cares about how it looks as well as about what it does. (To be fair, we can't afford to buy a phone for her that does very much at all. ... Read more

 

]]>buying+a+phonebuyingaphonecostdetentioninternetlife has changedmobilemobile phonesphoneschoolteenteenagersyoungMarianne KavanaghMon, 12 Mar 2012 09:30:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/05/surviving-teenagers-words-let-you-down-misunderstandings/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/05/surviving-teenagers-words-let-you-down-misunderstandings/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/03/05/surviving-teenagers-words-let-you-down-misunderstandings/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Rex Words let you down. You think you know what they mean. And then they surprise you by saying something completely different. I was giving my daughter a lift to school (because her bus, on rainy days, never stops and has to be chased ... Read more

 

]]>adviceconfusionenglebert humperdinckmeaningmispronunciationmisunderstandingparentsteenteenagerswordsMarianne KavanaghMon, 05 Mar 2012 11:42:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/27/surviving-teenagers-why-i-ended-up-watching-the-inbetweeners/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/27/surviving-teenagers-why-i-ended-up-watching-the-inbetweeners/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/27/surviving-teenagers-why-i-ended-up-watching-the-inbetweeners/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Rex You'll need to sit down. I am about to confess. I've just seen the DVD of The Inbetweeners. When my teenage sons first started watching the TV series, I thought they'd discovered something warm and cuddly like The Simpsons or Friends. ... Read more

 

]]>boysdisapprovedDVDfilmgirlsmoralsmovieteenThe InbetweenersMarianne KavanaghMon, 27 Feb 2012 13:20:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/20/surviving-teenagers-why-they-make-you-feel-ancient/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/20/surviving-teenagers-why-they-make-you-feel-ancient/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/20/surviving-teenagers-why-they-make-you-feel-ancient/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Getty Teenagers make you feel about 103. For a start, my 17-year-old daughter keeps shopping for 'vintage' clothes in charity shops. These turn out to be the back-of-the-wardrobe cast-offs of a woman roughly my age. Secondly, teenagers ... Read more

 

]]>Blondiefamily lifefeeling oldgetting oldretrosurviving teenagersteenteenagersvintageworrying about your childrenMarianne KavanaghMon, 20 Feb 2012 10:00:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/13/surviving-teenagers-why-they-never-eat-breakfast/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/13/surviving-teenagers-why-they-never-eat-breakfast/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/13/surviving-teenagers-why-they-never-eat-breakfast/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Getty There must be teenagers who eat a full English before catching the bus to school. But I don't know any of them. Breakfast and teenagers don't mix because they find it so hard to wake up. By the time they're standing in the kitchen, ... Read more

 

]]>breakfasteatingfamilyfoodsleepy teenagerssurviving teenagersteenMarianne KavanaghMon, 13 Feb 2012 09:27:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/06/what-do-teenagers-know-about-money/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/06/what-do-teenagers-know-about-money/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/02/06/what-do-teenagers-know-about-money/#comments Filed under: Surviving Teenagers

Rex Features Teenagers have a hazy idea about finance, says research from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) this week. Over 70% of 16 to 18-year-olds don't know what APR stands for. "What's APR?" I say to my 17-year-old daughter. ... Read more

 

]]>aprdebtfeesmoneyoverdraftpaying backspendingteenuniversityMarianne KavanaghMon, 06 Feb 2012 10:00:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/kids/why-february-half-term-is-the-worst-holiday/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/kids/why-february-half-term-is-the-worst-holiday/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/kids/why-february-half-term-is-the-worst-holiday/#comments Filed under: Primary School

Rex Features February half term is a sort of cruel joke. It creeps up on you when you least expect it, because it feels as if the new year has only just begun. Everyone's still broke after Christmas, so there's no money to go away anywhere ... Read more

 

]]>boredchildrencooped upentertainingfebruaryhalf termholidayholidaysindoorskidsoutdoorsMarianne KavanaghMon, 06 Feb 2012 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.parentdish.co.uk/kids/impossible-questions-from-under-5s/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/kids/impossible-questions-from-under-5s/http://www.parentdish.co.uk/kids/impossible-questions-from-under-5s/#comments Filed under: Toddlers

Have you ever been really stuck when your pre-schooler asks you a question (usually in the supermarket queue when everyone else is listening)? The basic rule is to be honest about what you know and don't know. If you haven't got a clue, say, "What ... Read more

 

]]>childrenimpossible+questionsimpossiblequestionskidslife with toddlersquestionstoddlersyoung childrenMarianne KavanaghTue, 31 Jan 2012 06:35:00 EST