We have been begging for this to be invented and now someone has..read on for a corker of a product review and get it on your Christmas list!

The must-have accessory for all you Scooter lovers out there, you heard it here first!

It's no secret that we at Mumsnet Hackney love a product review. We are very lucky that we do generally have a small queue of very generous people happy to allow us to do what is easily the guiltiest pleasure of blogging. So what makes this product review different from the others? On this occasion MNH was so impressed with this beautifully simple scooter transporting device that I don't mind admitting that actually I totally crossed the line of professionalism and instigated this review. 

I met Scooterslingz creator Penny Othen whilst attending Google Campus for Mums, business training for parents: a veritable smorgasbord of business brains and inspiring entrepreneurs. What made Penny stand out was the fact she turned up to class with a microscooter, as you do. 

After confirming this was not her preferred mode of transport and it was in fact a prop to demonstrate her product: the nifty Scooterslingz bag, designed to easily transport your child's scooter, I was all ears. Having a dedicated scooter lover in our family in the shape of our eldest. with a buggy being my youngest son's preferred mode of transport, I regularly attempt what I can only describe as an apparatus conundrum. 

Pushing a buggy with a buggy board and a scooter slung over the handle is something I regularly struggle with. However, this is the only way available to me as I utilise the storage space under our buggy to wedge in youngest's Scuttlebug and our changing bag. Don't even get me started on attempting to take this awkward entourage of wheels onto a bus. 

I also recently had a rather unfortunate experience when walking through the park. I'd attempted to slot my sons scooter over my shoulder to leave my hands free to transport coats, helmets and other appendages. Without being too in depth here I will just say I narrowly avoided wearing the animal excrement that had inadvertently become lodged in the scooter's wheel. 

So, poo-based anecdotes aside and onto the important stuff, how exactly do you fit a mini right angle into a bag? It's a little known fact that a Microscooter's handle bars can be removed very easily. All you need to do is turn the scooter upside down and at the base between the front wheels where the T bar meets the scooter, there is a button. By holding the button down you can then un-slot the T bar, giving you a scooter in 2 pieces. 

The 'before' shot

Scooter now ready to be stowed away. 

One flat packed scooter

The bag is ergonomically shaped so you can easily slide the scooter and T bar inside. It closes with a flap that closes over the top, secured with a strap that clips neatly and snugly around the scooter. You can then literally sling the scooter onto your back and away you go. The strap is adjustable so it doesn't rattle around and, awkward shape aside, a micro scooter is as light as a feather. The bag has a hook so if you do store your child's scooter indoors you can now flat pack it and hang your scooter up. The bag's fabric is waterproof, neatly folds into it's own nifty little drawstring storage bag and is available in a selection of colours or this gorgeous patterned design. 

Naturally this innovative design comes with it's owned beautifully matched little storage bag

If you have it on good authority that Father Christmas might be bringing your child a Microscooter this year then do yourself a favour and make sure you add this to your Christmas list, as its nothing short of a life and hand saver.

For further information or to purchase a Scooterslingz bag, which retails at £19.99 please click here

Mumsnet Hackney received this product free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Are you feeding your children well?

Left to right: Dr Emma Haycraft, Gaby Morris and Jill Wheatcroft 

Last thursday MNH was very excited to be invited to a talk arranged by childcare experts Riverside Cares titled 'Feed your children well'. As a cooking enthusiast continually short on inspiration I assumed it would be some cooking tips, with nutritional advice thrown in. Little did I realise that even though I was about to be served some healthy portions of both of these, I would also learn the fundamental principles around children's eating habits and the common pitfalls which, as a parent, I experience when feeding my children on a daily basis. In other words: gold dust. I hope I can summarise just a fraction of the incredible information around the psychology of eating and food that was shared. It won't be difficult as I immediately went home and papered my kitchen walls with the notes I took.

Professional childcare expert and co-founder of Riverside Cares (who have been providing a comprehensive range of childcare facilities since 1989) Jill Wheatcroft kicked things off with some sobering statistics, including that 1 in 5 children of reception age are obese, a figure that has been steadily increasing since 1995. According to the WHO, childhood obesity is now one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. I didn't realise that at the moment my children, who are both under the age of 5, should be doing a minimum of 3 hours physical activity a day! 

Jill then handed the floor over to Senior lecturer in Psychology at Loughborough university Dr Emma Haycraft, who highlighted some of the feeding issues experienced by parents and children which fall into 5 main categories: refusing food, unhealthy food preferences, pressure to eat, food as a reward and food restriction. 

Food refusal is something my children certainly demonstrate on a frequent basis, including food that they will have happily tucked into the previous week. This is linked to neophobia - a fear of new things, an innate instinct we retain from our caveman days when we had to exercise considerably more caution around what we ate, compared to nowadays, in case our foraging efforts were of dubious origins. It takes around 20 attempts of presenting a child with a certain type of food for a child to categorically confirm their dislike for that food. Anyone who has found there are certain foods they just didn't eat until later in life will understand this concept. I didn't really start eating cheese until my 20s. But as a parent where do you begin to track something like this? Why am I asking this? Of course there's an app for that (and an amazing website too for that matter). Also, when you present a particular type of food you might  find that your child might not enjoy boiled carrots but they will eat carrot sticks or mashed carrot. A little bit of creativity beautifully captured in my favourite saying of the day 'think outside the plate'. Another fantastic idea, which anyone who has done baby led weaning will relate to, is allowing your children to play with their food. I don't mean the kind of thing that as I child I was continually reprimanded for, but again being a little bit creative - potato printing, squeezing the juice out of raspberries or beetroot and then painting with it. 

It is not uncommon for children to have unhealthy food preferences and Emma's explanation for this was compelling in its simplicity. Children are born with an innate preference for sweet things because breast milk is sweet. Often by explaining to children the potential super powers they will gain by eating certain foods (such as carrots help you see in the dark) is great for motivating your child to eat certain foods. However, this links in beautifully with the next section regarding pressuring your child to eat. This sounds harsh but actually it's something I frequently find myself doing. Urging my children to clean their plates or just simply to eat up their vegetables. The two key points to consider here are: firstly that children are very good at understanding when they are full and that this may have no correlation with them finishing what's on their plate. As parents we must trust our children to know when they are full. Whilst gentle encouragement is fine, by continually urging your child to clean their plate they will stop listening to their internal cues telling them that they are full and follow external cues like the amount of food in front of them, which could lead to a life time of over eating; The second point is once again delightfully condensed into 2 words: portion control. A rough guide to the size of each portion of food being served on your child's plate should be around the same size as the palm of your child's hand. 

The section that as a parent I related to the most is that of giving food as a reward. This is something I was brought up on and I often use to manage my own motivation (there will be biscuits at the end of this blog post). Bribing your children to eat their vegetables by offering a pudding-based incentive, escape from sitting at the dinner table if they just have one more piece of broccoli or treats if they are upset or refusing to get dressed/get in the car/get in their buggy are a daily occurrence in my household. Rewarding good behaviour with food creates emotion around eating which can then lead to emotional eating. Rewards should come in the form of a trip to the park or a small toy for example. Also, consider the logic from a child’s perspective, that carrots surely must be horrendous if they warrant a reward such as cake or ice cream once they’ve been eaten. 

Immediately on hearing the term 'food restriction' I thought this would not be something that I could relate to but on further explanation I realised it was something I do frequently. Food restriction falls into 2 categories: overt (for example 'you've had 2 biscuits you're not having anymore) and covert (making unhealthy food or snacks quite simply unavailable in the first place) So by openly refusing your child to have something that they know is stored away on a high shelf makes it even more desirable to them. However, if you give them a 'treat' but it's made clear that there are no more left then this makes it easier for them to understand 'treats' and they consequently feel less restricted. 

The main question this left for me was 'when is the time to give treats in the form of sweets or chocolate and should they even be referred to as ‘treats’? Of course if there was a straight forward answer to this then I’m pretty sure we’d all be doing it already however, reminding your child that sweet treats are special and not an everyday occurrence and not giving in to a perseverant toddlers or offering sweets as a reward is a good starting place. I know for me one of the greatest things that impacted on the volume of treats I gave to my children was moving the treat tin out of MY reach. 

To find all of the above information in far more articulate detail along with how to download the app please go to http://childfeedingguide.co.uk

Mumsnet Hackney was allowed to attend this event free of charge courtesy of Riverside Cares in exchange for an honest review

Gherkin for lunch?

Searcy's at The Gherkin

Yes, we know, MNH is very spoiled indeed to experience arguably 2 of the best views of London in one week. Days after a trip to the see the View from the Shard we paid a visit to 30 St Mary Axe, more commonly known as the gherkin. It is a little know fact that the top floor of this commercial skyscraper in London’s primary financial district houses the exclusive Searcy’s restaurant: the highest private member’s club in England and, for the next few weeks only, it has opened it’s doors to the public so of course we felt duty bound to go and investigate. 

Similar to the Shard, security checks are required prior to riding up the 41 floors to the top, via 2 lifts. As you walk through the polished, sleek, industrial corridors it’s hard not to automatically take on a sophisticated swagger (or in my case pretend, just for a moment, I am the good wife) However, it’s hard to maintain sophisticated poise when you ascend the spiral stair case to the top floor where you are met by a jaw dropping view.

I can’t pretend I had any interest in attending Searcy’s at the Gherkin just to talk about the food. With a view like this whilst you dine, I would have happily eaten beans on toast. However, who wouldn’t ask the question: was the food as mind blowing as the view? Ok so I’m not sure food and dramatic views of London should ever have to come up against each other, a get out clause to not answer that question? Quite possibly. However, the food did not disappoint. I visited on a Sunday afternoon and the aroma of roast beef as you walked into the restaurant was incredible and immediately put me in the mood for Sunday lunch. I started with squash soup, with salted granola and a poached quails egg. It was a delightful appetiser and I was pleased the granola was salted as Searcy’s is clearly so confident about it’s food that seasoning was not something available on our table. The main course of course was Roast rump of beef, for me this was cooked to perfection, rare. Followed by creme brûlée topped with poached pears. Everything about the menu encapsulated hunger-assuaging comforting warmth.  Next week we'll be having elevenses up the BT Tower.

Searcy’s is open until Christmas, to book your table click here. 

MNH was not requested or incentivised in any way to conduct this review. 

Think you know about issues affecting women today? Read on for a review of the Feminism In London Conference 2014

'I really like hardened milk but could we just not refer to it as cheese?' Yes I have said this, well not quite these words, but something very similar. I think my exact words were 'I am not a feminist but I do believe in equality' I can't take credit for the cheese comparison as this was far more succinctly put by event host, comedian and activist Kate Smurthwaite at the 'Feminism in London' conference MNH was invited to attend last weekend. Any stigma that I had attached to the word feminism was about to be blown apart by a day of starkly informative and impassioned talks covering a diverse range of subjects. I came away in a daze with easily enough material for a plethora of blog posts. So to do this experience justice and not just present you with a shopping list of topics, I have cherry picked just some of the amazing issues that were raised.

Comedian and activist Kate Smurthwaite opening the conference

  

The conference began with a dedication to the counting dead women campaign, with projected images of women who had died as a result of male violence, including a photo of 15 year old Shareka Marsh, shot by her boyfriend in Hackney 6 months ago. I have long been aware of the atrocious statistic that 2 women die a week as a result of domestic violence and to actually put faces to these women was chilling reminder that more action was needed to put an end to this suppressed and needless killing. After a rousing speech by Annette Lawson, Chair of the National Alliance of Women's Organisations, highlighting the ridiculousness of the fear surrounding the word ‘feminism’, we were then given an incredible talk by anti-pornography activist Dr Gail Dines. So, Porn on the internet - something I know is there but haven't ever investigated and always assumed that, unless you are willing to pay, it was meagre pickings. Being shown what, in a few years time, my own sons could easily access for free in approximately 10 seconds via google was sickening. I had no idea that nowadays you could no longer put porn into boxes marked 'soft' and 'hard' and then stow them away neatly: soft living on the newsagent top shelf; and hard away in a locked box under the counter of one of those 'adult' shops, only obtainable by bribing a shifty looking shop assistant. If you would like to view soft porn now then I give you 3 words, 'Game of Thrones' and the hard stuff is located on your internet search engine. This easily accessible, sexual objectification of women, portraying degradation, aggression and violence and packaged as ‘what men really want’ makes up 36% of the internet and is defining the sexual template of boys as young as 11. A UK campaign to challenge the effects of uncensored pornography has now been launched - Resist Porn Culture needs your support now. If you have a moment do take a look at one of Gail’s lectures on her website - click here. 

Just one of the amazing campaigns attending the conference  - Mothers at home matter

 This was then followed by a discussion chaired by research psychologist and journalist Clare Dolman, about the pressures on modern mothers to be ‘super mum’ and how this is permeated by the general lack of pregnancy and post natal mental support for mothers. In London alone only a quarter of the services required to provide mental health support are currently in place. Obstetrician Dr Susan Bewley then discussed the massive impact on women’s health caused by domestic violence, which in the UK affects 24% of women (versus Japan 17% or Ethiopia 71%). Women are 40% more likely then men in the UK to develop mental health issues and 75% more likely to report issues with depression. Probably two of the most thought provoking questions for me that were asked were ‘what is your image of an ideal mum?’ followed by 'what is your child’s image of an ideal mum?’, put forward by Dr Susan Pawlby who also highlighted the lack of support for pregnant women. Pawlby’s research also describes the impact of stress on an unborn child and is campaigning for mother’s maternity leave to have a compulsory start date of a month prior to giving birth, which is already in place in Germany. For more information about Dr Susan Pawlby’s research click here.  

The next talk was by Francis Scott, founder of the 50:50 Parliament campaign, currently petitioning for a debate to get better gender balance in parliament. The figures speak for themselves, women make up 51% of the UK population and yet men make up 77% of parliament. Currently there are just 147 women in parliament compared to 503 men. There are many factors that compromise women getting into politics, including the fact women are still paid nearly 20% less than men and that female MPs experience 50% more media intrusion than their male colleagues. Interestingly, 40% of the female population of the UK are mothers and yet only 12% of female MPs are mothers, even though the average age of a female politician is 50. There are numerous ideas that could create more political, and therefore constitutional, equality proposed by Francis and her team, including mandatory male and female representatives sharing one political seat or quite simply positive discrimination. If you would like to sign this petition please click here. Francis was incredibly impressive and when asked if she would consider going into politics and she responded that she would happily if 178 female MPs walked into parliament with her.

The day’s talks were concluded with the presentation of the Emma Humphrey’s memorial prize, recognising women who work against male violence. The nominees included an individual and group prize for some incredible and inspirational women and organisations - too many to list here but for more information about the nominees and  who Emma Humphreys was please click here. Their immense courage shown by these people who had fought through  unspeakably horrific circumstances was utterly incredible.

There was so much more, I haven’t even touched on the other campaigners that were present - No more page 3, The Feminist Library, Million women rise to name just 3 of so many. Possibly one of the most shocking statistics of the day was that more women die as a result of trafficking than war, cancer and incarceration combined. However, I’ll finish with my favourite quotes of the day from Dr Gail Dines, which I have paraphrased slightly: ‘Beyonce will be a feminist when she is the one fully clothed next to a naked JayZ'. You heard it here first - when it comes to success in feminism - get dressed. 

There’s a shard of fright at London’s newest iconic landmark this Halloween

Don't panic! Please remain calm, yes we know it looks like the Shard has been taken over by giant web weaving spiders but if that really were the case do you think Mumsnet Hackney would have paused for a photo? Not a chance. However, we are very pleased to have been invited to the Shard by Cadbury this afternoon, who are really getting into the freaky Halloween festivities with their spooky spider and web installation on the top floor. 

Look out for Mumsnet Hackney's tweets on this @MumsnetHackney

The Shard is not an obvious choice of outing for me as I have always thought it somewhere to take my 2 boys when they’re a bit older (they are 2 and 4) However, I have to say watching them squeal with delight over the incredible birdseye views of railways, trains and boats made for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and that was before we’d even ascended to the 72nd floor to find the giant spiders. 

This will be here for one day only so if you’re at a loose end tomorrow and the good weather forecast should make for some spectacular views of London, this is definitely worth a visit. To book tickets click HERE

MUMSNET HACKNEY received free tickets to this event in exchange for an honestly spooky review

A yummy product review of Mr Organic Pasta sauces

I don’t mind admitting that pasta sauce is something generally that does not appear on my shopping list for a specific reason, my partner is Italian and therefore pasta sauce out of a jar is classed as blasphemy in our household. So what exactly was my logic on agreeing to test a product that I wouldn’t usually buy let alone feed my children? Well as a self nominated pasta sauce expert, i felt this mindset meant I was very well placed to give an impartial review and try something new. 

The timing of the arrival of the box of sauces couldn’t have been better, it was a frayed Friday afternoon when I was exhausted and completely lacking in culinary inspiration or organisation, so it was without snobbery I gratefully cracked open a jar. 

Before I talk about flavours etc the first thing I always look for on the labels of food my children are the sugar and salt content. Having spent 3 months of this year on Sarah Wilson’s 'I quit sugar' detox I am now extremely mindful of sugar levels in both mine and my children’s food. All the information I was looking for was easily found on the jar labels as all the ingredients, allergens and nutritional information were clearly described. All of the products I was given, bar the ketchup, contained zero sugar and were all suitable for vegans, vegetarians and were also gluten free. This was a good start. 

Our first sample was the Veg A'more Tofu: ‘A delicious pasta sauce with Tofu, sweet red peppers and sun ripened tomatoes’ I don’t usually give my children Tofu so was interested to see what they would make of it. They cleaned their plates. It’s quite a roughly textured sauce with a beautifully deep, rich flavour from the peppers and tomatoes. I have to say that this is something I would buy again to keep in the cupboard as not only did it taste great it offers something I wouldn’t usually prepare for my family.  The next pasta based meal we tried was the Authentic Italian bolognese sauce ‘sun ripened tomato, fresh onion and mediterranean herb sauce’. Again, this was nice and my children happily tucked in. In particular what I liked was the freshness of the flavour which is the one thing I’ve thought would be difficult to find in jar. If this was something that I didn’t make myself for a fraction of the cost (these retail between £1.99 and £2.30 a jar) then I certainly would consider buying it for both taste and good quality, organic ingredients. The last sauce to try was the 'Authentic Italian Basilico: sun ripened tomato and fresh basil sauce’. As a basil junkie my high hopes for this were certainly upheld as it did not disappoint on flavour nor was it overpowering. Again this is one that I would consider buying as again it offered something a little different to my own sauce creations. 

The product I found the most disappointing was the ketchup (£2.49 a bottle). This is absolutely a product which, based on the packaging alone, I would buy, as it contains a gram less per serving of sugar, compared to Heinz. However, I felt it didn’t deliver on flavour and had an almost grainy texture that I found distinctly unappealing. 

The star products in my view though, were the basil and sun-dried tomato pestos (£2.99 a jar). This is a product that I do buy, as I rarely have the motivation to make my own because quite simply I am the only person in our house who eats it however to my complete shock, both my kids really enjoyed the sundried tomato pesto. What also really impressed me were the ingredients. My usual brand of Italian pesto contains a long ingredients list including a variety of chemicals, cheese and sugar however Mr Organic contained just 6 ingredients and is both sugar and dairy free. This is definitely a product you will be finding in my cupboards.

So, while I would never advocate shop bought over home made I don’t have a time machine that facilitates me being able to create everything I feed my family from scratch, so bearing this in mind I would buy some of the jars of sauce as my plan B and will be replacing my pesto purchases with Mr Organic from here in. What’s great about these products? They are good quality with organic ingredients produced in the UK giving you automatic air mile brownie points and the packaging is clear and easy to read. If you are catering for a specific diet or an intolerance these will certainly be your friend. Unless you shop at Ocado, Budgens or smaller niche health food stockists you might be hard pushed to find them on your shop shelf, but of course they are all available online. 

So there you have it, a pasta sauce review - in a pine-nut shell. Mumsnet Hackney was given a selection of sauces to try free of charge, in exchange for an honest review 

Putting the silly into Dalston - A children's theatre review.

The 'toss the beanbag' stall

Who would have thought that in the heart of Dalston lies the concealed rural village of Silliton, where they are in permanent state of May Day celebrations. You will be lead to the bunting adorned village green by singing Morris dancers (with a distinctly West Country twang) and invited to play ‘toss the bean bag’, ‘splat the rat’ or find out if the raffle ticket you’ve been issued with on arrival wins you a prize, all whilst being serenaded by harmonised folk song. Yes, I think we can definitely say so far the children’s production at the Arcola Theatre of ‘The 3 Sillies’ started off with a bang - or should we say splat. 

This tale of love and potential heart break begins with our hero announcing he is unable to marry his love Rose because, after an incident in the cellar involving a mallet, she and her family are just too silly and so he sets himself a challenge whereby he must travel the earth and discover at least 3 people who he deems sillier before he will consider returning to take Rose’s hand.

So he travels the winding roads of England, the year is 1914 and he quickly discovers numerous acts of completely hysterical silliness with intermittent and brilliantly subtle intimations of the onset of the first world war. A delightful twist is the silliest, silly of all, when our hero travels to France and witnesses the needless mass loss of life. How do you portray the corpse-littered battlefields of Europe tastefully without distress to little ones whilst maintaining warmth and more importantly fun? Watch this production as this was seamlessly achieved. 

Welcome to bunting land!

In this show there was no formal stage and instead the cast with their puppets and musical instruments mingled with the audience seated on the astroturf green. My sons, aged 2 and 4 were captivated especially when some of their ad libs were even adopted into the script by the cast. This was a genuinely enjoyable and charmingly heartwarming production. It is a rare thing indeed that will capture my children’s concentration span past its official expiry time of about half an hour but they loved every minute - all 60 of them! I don’t usually see the ending of most theatre shows as I have invariably had to defect half way through in the name of entertaining my restless children however, this was not the case today. THE THREE SILLIES is being staged at Arcola Theatre as the theatre’s contribution to the National Family Arts Festival in October half term 2014. If you want a morning or an afternoon of thoroughly enjoyable silliness get your tickets here as the village of Silliton is well worth visiting! 

Mumsnet Hackney received a free ticket to the is event in exchange for an honest review.