Home is a special place. The kids grow up there, the family spends the time together, memories are made. It is a place the kids love to explore and to play in. That makes it so important to secure the home, because it is also the place where most accidents happen.

Life is always busy.  Keeping some level of sanity is about finding the comfortable balance in all areas of your life. Is your workload becoming overwhelming and taking over your life?

Look at your routines for both home and work. Are you trying to do too much? It is so easy to feel you must do everything.

I spend a great deal of time and energy trying to save precious time and be organised. I am trying to create a smooth running and efficient household. A house where there is a place for everything: papers, toys, kid's artwork, pens/pencils, pairs of gloves, shoes, cleaning products…I hope that we can find things when we need them! In this dream household there will also be spare time to help the kids with their homework and I will have everything in the cupboard for that last minute cake bake for the school fund raiser!

Saving up for the financial future of your child seems like a sensible thing to do. University fees and deposit requirements for first time buyers all mount up and the last thing any parent wants is to see their children in debt before they've really got ahead in life, so any savings no matter how small will help to give your children a more secure future.

Every so often, I keep hearing that some things are great for my kids’ development. Some say that sport will help them, while others think that sticking to a special diet will improve their ability to learn. However, one thing I learned recently is that they could improve their learning capabilities by buying and reading sheet music online. It might sound a little strange, but I found that by buying sheet music from online retailers like Great Scores, they could learn to play an instrument while learning other things too.

All the celebrations are over, the decorations are down and it is January! I always think January is hard work; it is dark, cold and I never have any money! It seems a long time until spring, seeing new plants peeping through in the garden with the promise of spring and summer to come.

When the kids are growing up there comes the day when your little monsters want to bring more little monsters home to ‘sleep over’. And often they want to bring several! Maybe now is the time to invest in a guest bed, great for family, friends and monsters alike, it is quite possibly one of the most practical yet versatile items of furniture in the home.