LivingwithKids

...allowing your child to have the biggest ice-cream in the world because you couldn't resist those eyes. ...staying in the shade on a gorgeous sunny day because your child has such sensitive skin. ...knowing that precious moments like this will remain etched in your heart forever. What does Motherhood mean to you?

*This is my entry for the Gallery - the theme this week is Motherhood. To see more or add your own entry, click here

If you've ever wanted to know more about Ken, aka Barbie's special friend and one of the stars of Toy Story 3, here's a chance to find out. This brilliant in-depth interview reveals a bit more about what goes on in that perfectly coiffed head, his style, why he considers himself to be a 'man's doll' and what he really feels about Barbie.

I particularly love the part where he shows us his moves. Genius.  

Unless you’re planning to leave the country for the next month or so, there really will be no escape. No I’m not talking about Big Brother (yet) but the World Cup, of course.

Now obviously Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland did not make it into the World Cup, but there is a dizzying array of England-themed goodies on offer. Here are some of my favourites:

These babygros (£7 and £8) and bibs (£5) from Mothercare are very cute.

I also love the soothers (£2) and baby bottles (£3) from Tesco.

To ensure you don’t miss a single ep of Grey's Anatomy or any of your other favourite shows that clash with an ‘important’ game then you might want to get Sky.

They’ve bought out some new limited edition boxes just for the World cup designed by Wayne Hemingway, Phil Daniels and Gerald Scarfe. (For more details click here).

So, what's the offside rule again?

When No 1 Son was very small, like most boys (and of course some girls) his age he wanted to play football. He supported Chelsea and was a mascot at Stamford Bridge. He happily enrolled in the after school football club. He had boots and shin pads and knee pads, a strip. He collected every World Cup coin and sticker.

There was just one problem. He wasn't very good at football. I'm saying this as his mum, who loves and adores him and is proud of everything he achieves. But he really wasn't very good at football. He was hopeless at tackling, and rarely got control of the ball. When it came time to pick teams for inter-school tournaments, he wasn't chosen. Of course he was upset, particularly when it happened four or five times. After that, he stopped playing football.

Fortunately he enjoyed other sports - tennis, and fencing. And the fact he didn't make the football team hasn't held him back. He has had plenty of opportunity to work as part of a team in science and media studies projects since.

If I think back to my own school days, and the misery of being one of the last to be chosen for netball, it's not surprising that I've never been one for team sports either. I'm a horse-rider, a scuba diver, a snorkeller. You won't find me on a sports team, but I do know how to be a team player.

It's coming up to Non Competitive Sports Day again for many kids. So I'd love to know what you think. Do kids need to take part in team sports to be team players?

We’re HUGE fans of Where the Wild Things Are in this house - the book and the film. And to celebrate the release of the movie on DVD, we’ve teamed up with Play.com to offer you the chance to win three sets of exclusive merchandise.

The prizes include: A childs fuzzy monster suit – as worn by the character Max in the film A Where The Wild Things Are Kite A Where The Wild Things Are T-Shirt A Where The Wild Things Are Wacky Wobbler Bobble Head

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to send your answer to the following question from your KidStart registered email address with your name, address and daytime telephone number to competitions@kidstart.co.uk by the closing date 14 June. (Please note that entries from non-KidStart members will be disqualified. If you’re not a member, click here to join).

Q: Who wrote Where The Wild Things Are?

Good luck - let the wild rumpus start! 

Kids love collecting things and of course we’ve gone through every possible playground craze in this house. But one thing that’s never wavered is the love for Lego, so these collectible Minifigures were an instant hit.

There are 16 to collect (although you don’t know which one you have until you open the packet, and you have to put them together yourself, which adds to the excitement. I mean for the children, obviously, *ahem*).

Not sure about the dodgy looking moustache on the magician – the caveman and the ninjas are our favourites.  £1.99, available from Argos.

And if your children are fans of Chuggington they’ll love this Wilson Carry Case (£14.99), available from Toys R Us. You have to buy the engines separately (and at £5.99 they’re not cheap, but they’re made from die-cast so at least they’ll last).

So far I have failed to teach the offspring anything more than how to make fairy cakes and a chicken stir-fry. But some of my favourite recipes were given to me by my mum, and my grandmother, and I intend to pass them on.

There's my mum's Queen of Puddings, for example (a delicious concoction of meringue and fresh blackberries) and her Shepherd's Pie. My granny's trifle (swiss roll layered at the bottom, orange juice and sherry, jelly, custard, cream, hundreds of thousands, job done) and her potato cakes, scones and chocolate cake.

When I make these delicious recipes (from memory, not written down) I can still remember them teaching me how to make it, and it feels incredibly comforting.

What about you - which recipes have you inherited, and which recipes would you like to pass down to your kids? I'd love to know - and feel free to post the links below x

Our eyes met for a brief nanosecond, and I could feel my knees turning to jelly. Fortunately for Jake Gyllenhaal we were in a room full of press, otherwise I might have been tempted to leap across and give him a big sloppy kiss. Because I’m happy to report that in the flesh he is absolutely gorgeous – easygoing smile, lovely eyes and a fantastic sense of humour (my favourite quote of the afternoon:  ‘I’ve always really wanted to play a prince – some people might say I am in a lot of ways a princess.’)

The occasion was the press conference for Disney's Prince of Persia, and in addition to Jake, Gemma Arterton was also there (absolutely lovely and SO pretty, *sob*), and the wonderful Sir Ben Kingsley. Plus the legend that is Jerry Bruckheimer, and director Mike Newell. Needless to say I was VERY excited.

Before the conference we were treated to a screening of the film which I enjoyed  – it’s a real swashbuckling epic, with blood, guts and sand, romance and drama. There are lots of laughs, too (Alfred Molina is particularly genius).

And Jake? Well Jake is superb, of course. He doesn’t just look the part (although it has to be said he does sport a very impressive six pack - who knew?) and even though he adopts an English accent that sounds as though he’s been hanging out in Albert Square for much of the movie he makes a totally believable action hero.

Later that evening I took the kids to see the movie. They loved it too, declaring it ‘awesome’, although the girls were a bit disappointed that Gemma’s character, Princess Tamina, starts off feisty and ends up soppy over Jake. But let’s face it, you so would, wouldn’t you?

*Prince of Persia is released on Friday

Now I'm not *really* a football fan. I have a team I support (Chelsea, since you ask) and I do watch the World Cup - when England are in it. I love having a big barbecue with the whole family and settling down to watch a big game and saying in the middle 'what's the offside rule?' and 'which team is winning?' (Just to annoy the males, obviously. I understand it really *cough*)

Of course the rest of my family are actually proper footie fanatics - No 1 Son has even been a mascot at Stamford Bridge - so this summer I imagine we'll be spending a lot of time in front of the box. And if you're thinking of getting a new TV then Argos  have the most amazing competition on at the moment. They're offering the chance to win £5000 worth of goodies including TVs, laptops, games consoles, sofa and BBQ, plus lots of footie stuff!  To find out more about how you could win simply click here.

And not only that, KidStart are giving everyone who shops at any of their retailers between now and 11 June the chance to win a 42" LG LCD TV from Argos worth over £1000! To find out more, click here. Good luck!

Puffin Books are big favourites in this house, and here’s a fantastic chance to give children in Africa the chance to enjoy brand new books too.

Simply go online to wegivebooks and every time you read a fabulous Tinga Tinga Tales story with your kids, a book will be donated to the Tinga Tinga Tales Teacher Training Programme in Kenya and Tanzania. There are 20,000 books to be donated, and as many as 90 African children can benefit from the donation of just one book!

Brilliant cause and as you can see, Lenny Henry, who provides the voice of Elephant and Buffalo in the Tinga Tinga Tales TV series , is already a fan.  ‘It’s great that children in Africa will also benefit from the success of these stories with actual books being donated to help improve their literacy skills,’ he says. Couldn't have said it better myself.