LivingwithKids

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?

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!