My toddler is a bit of a pain when it comes to bedtime. There is the odd occasion when she pops into bed without a peep, but battles at bedtime are also a regular occurence in this house. One of the main reasons she gives for “NOT sleeping now Mummy!” is a fear of the dark. So, step up the Brother Max Bunny Nightlight.

Frog already has a nightlight in her room. Plus, she sleeps with the door ajar so the light from the landing peeps in. But, on evenings when she really doesn’t fancy giving in to her tiredness, these sources of light are no help. Something changed last week though. And I’m putting it down to this little beauty:

Although we’ve had a couple of long bedtime dramas over the last fortnight, the Carry and Hang Bunny Nightlight from Brother Max has definitely removed my two year old’s favourite bed-dodging excuse. It’s no longer, “I scared of the dark Mummy”. Instead it’s, “I want more milk / cuddles / sandwiches / books / kisses Mummy”.

The funky light comes with Brother Max’s typical attention to detail. It can be carried by a toddler seeking a parent in the middle of the night, as well as hung on a door handle. It glows various soft disco colours and charges from the mains at the wall, taking away the need for expensive batteries.

It’s my daughter’s new bed companion – she calls it her “Bunny” and “he” has to be tucked in beside her each night. I take him out of the bed once she’s fallen asleep and put him next to her bed, so he’s ready to be grabbed if a bad dream wakes her in the night.

The different colours have also come in handy when asking Frog to identify “green” and all the other shades she’s currently learning. There’s been a marked improvement in her recognition of all colours recently and I’m sure it’s partially down to us talking about the colour of “Bunny’s” belly.

It’s a great little nightlight with a difference, if you’re looking for something funky, easy to use and transportable. And if it helps with even one bedtime battle, then I reckon it’s money well spent.

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Please see the brothermax.com for more details and to find your nearest stockist. The product featured in this post was provided for the purpose of this review.

The post Brother Max Bunny Nightlight – keeping the goblins away appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

I’ve won major points this month. The husband owes me BIG TIME.

These are some very posh cars. No, I didn’t buy them for him. But he did get to drive them, due to an incredible offer from Activity Superstore. The Triple Supercar Drive saw the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine get behind the wheel of three cars he regularly fantasises about.

As someone who knows next to nothing about cars (seriously, I don’t even know what car I drive, let alone anyone else) I didn’t realise what a big deal this was. To me, a car is for getting from A to B. And if it doesn’t have a boot big enough to fit a buggy and a week’s worth of grocery shopping then I’m not interested. My husband, however, takes an entirely different perspective. 

He drove a Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari 360 and Aston Martin DB9 and had a hot lap in a Porsche GT3. Apparently these are all very fast, very snazzy, very expensive cars.

I am now going to show you some pictures of cars. Some of you will be excited by this. Some of you will not. Again, my husband assures me these are thrilling photographs.

I’ve never seen my husband go weak at the knees – not even on our wedding day. Not until the day he got in a Ferrari.

My 6ft 5″ man was an excited, quibbling wreck. The driving experience day left him with a spring in his step and a new-found love of domestic drudgery that he knows I loathe. In short, he has done the washing up every day for the last two weeks, in homage to the amazing day he had at the airfield in Oxfordshire where he realised his childhood dream.

Driving speeds that make my eyes water, the NLM was with a fully qualified instructor at all times and – I’m assured – in very safe hands. I was a bag of nerves when he first got behind the wheel, despite the fact he’d been in a half hour safety briefing. That said, once he’d done one lap and didn’t seem to be careering all over the place I started to relax. I could sense he was enjoying it. And when he pulled up and literally ran over to me to tell me all about it, I knew he’d had fun.

If you know someone who loves cars and hankers after the type that aren’t grocery / buggy / child friendly, then this is the gift for them this Christmas. They’ll get to drive cars you normally only see in films. They’ll get to imagine for a few minutes that they’re James Bond and not Mum or Dad. They’ll get to escape real life for a bit and experience a rush of adrenaline.

I loved seeing the NLM so excited. We both work bloody hard and, at the moment, thrills come with a bag of Kettle Chips and a glass of wine on a Friday night. So it was nice to see him really having fun – even if it was the type of fun I don’t understand at all.

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Disclosure: We were given the Triple Car Driving Experience from Activity Superstore for the purpose of this review. The experience is currently available to buy for £99.

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Here’s a little snippet…

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My daughter has started dreaming. I know this fact with unwavering certainty because I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in more than a week.

The dreams began with the occasional cry in the middle of the night. Nothing major, just a little shout here and there. The reluctant teeth, hiding out under the gums, were inevitably blamed and we all went back to sleep. But then the dreams went up a notch.

There’s nothing spookier than going to calm your crying 17 month old, to discover her lying fast asleep in her cot. It’s the type of experience that’s particularly unwelcome for ghost-phobic types like me, who stupidly choose to live in houses over 500 years old.

I eventually pinpointed the dreams when I brought my daughter into my bed one night. The screams were so loud that by 3am I didn’t have a choice. I needed sleep so the husband was pushed out of bed onto the sofa downstairs and the non-toddling toddler (what do you call a non-walking child of 17 months, by the way?) settled in next to me.

Read on at Circus Queen

The post The stuff dreams are made of. Or not. appeared first on Mother's Always Right.