Chessington World of Adventures ejects parent for being embarrassing

Kids who object to their parents being “embarrassing” after stumping up £33 per teenager/adult and £22 per child to get into the “attraction” have been given free reign over the summer to call out, and in extreme cases eject, parents who show them up.

That means parents in a typical family of four, having paid up to £110 just to get in (and that’s before being ripped off at the burger/ice cream/cold drinks stands) could face ejection for:

1. Kissing or hugging their kids
2. Holding their kids’ hands
3. Treating their kids like babies
4. Shouting or telling their kids off in public
5. Telling their friends embarrassing stories about when they were younger
6. Trying to be cool
7. Daring to go on rides with their kids
8. Wearing embarrassing clothes
9. Calling out to their kids
10. Telling bad jokes

In fact, a press release for Chessington World of Adventures states that “A sign banning embarrassing behaviour is displayed on-park and whilst Chessington bosses have said that they won’t throw parents out for flouting the ban, they have briefed employees to point out any rule breakers in order to save children being left red-faced in public.”

That didn’t stop bosses having to apologise to a family when an overzealous junior employee tried to eject the embarrassing (read: doing their job as a) parent.

The news comes just a couple of months after problems at the theme park left visitors stranded on a monorail and residents in a large part of the surrounding area without power … twice in one week. Park management deny a capacity problem, but perhaps their time and energy would be better invested in improving the park instead of stopping parents from doing what they’re supposed to.

Kids that are easily embarrassed by their parents can always forego the expensive trip and stay at home instead.

Gigglebiz: New BBC sketch show for under-sixes with Justin Fletcher

CBeebies has commissioned a new comedy show specially aimed at under-sixes.

Justin Fletcher, known to many as Mr Tumble and presented of Something Special, will perform a series of madcap skits and sketches in Gigglebiz (official CBBC Gigglebiz web site).

It will be CBeebies’ first live action sketch show, due to air this summer.

The series of 25 episodes is a rambunctious collection of short, simple, funny sketches packed with lively, hilarious and eccentric individuals including:

• King Flannel: a decrepit old rogue with a penchant for trying to outwit his butler or generally misbehaving without being caught.
• The Berito Brothers: a slightly faded troupe of past-their-best acrobats. Two of them have still got what it takes but the third: Justin, obviously: most definitely hasn’t!
• Gail Force: a glamorous weather reporter with an uncanny knack of forecasting weather conditions which happen only to her … and not always in the most obvious ways!
• The Lost Pirate: an out-of-time pirate on the constant lookout for treasure with the aid of his map (complete with “x marks the spot” instructions). He travels around in a little kayak for paddling across water: whether that’s the water feature at the local park or the fountains in a shopping mall.
• Nana Knickerbocker: Nana lives her entire life as though she’s in a panto. She invokes all the catchphrases and traditions of a panto, but mainly in completely inappropriate places: like the supermarket. Or shoe shopping! She’s even given to throwing random bags of sweets at total strangers.

Justin Fletcher said: “With 20 characters in all, let’s be honest, this is just a big excuse for me to dress up in funny costumes every day and be silly. It’s such brilliant fun to do.

“We gave some characters a test run in the summer with a pilot show and feedback was really strong, so I’m so excited to be back and making a full series! You could say, I’m in the truly biz of making them giggle!”

Celebrity Watch: Jennifer Lopez with March of Dimes, Van Outen marries Lee Mead, Salma Hayek renews vows

Welcome to Family Relationships Magazine’s weekly roundup of celebrity family news.

Jennifer Lopez tackles whooping cough

Jennifer Lopez has teamed up with March of Dimes in a US national awareness campaign about pertussis (whooping cough).

The new initiative focuses on educating new parents and their families about pertussis, a highly contagious and potentially deadly disease for infants. The campaign’s centerpiece is a series of television and radio public service announcements (PSAs) featuring Ms Lopez that are available in both English and Spanish. The PSAs, scheduled to begin airing nationally this month, encourage new and expectant parents to help protect their babies by making sure that anyone who is, or will be, in close contact with a young infant has been vaccinated against pertussis.

Van Outen and Lee Mead marry

Denise Van Outen has married Lee Mead, the star of West End hit musical “Joseph”. They first met when Van Outen judged the show to find the next star of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s stage show.

Denise was previously engaged to Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay.

Read more

Salma Hayek renews marriage vows

Actress Salma Hayek has renewed her marriage vows to Francois-Henri Pinault, just two months after they wed.

The couple had previously been engaged in 2007 but called it off in 2008.

Read more

Internet Watch: adult games sold to kids, Internet addiction, Twitter challenge benefits UNICEF

Welcome to Family Relationships Magazine’s weekly roundup of news about the Internet, particularly as it relates to children and families

Adult games sold to British kids

Trading Standards recently discovered that a number of online retailers are selling “mature” video games to children.

“The teenage volunteer visited 16 separate outlets and found that a dozen of them sold games. Only U.K stores Gamestation, Game, PC World and WH Smith refused to sell the titles.”

Read more

Children dependent on Internet

A new survey has discovered that Taiwanese children are more dependent on the Internet than ever before.

“Cartoon Network, from Feb 24 to March 23, interviewed a total of 1,001 children (aged between 7 and 14 years old) and 1,001 parents in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung in order to find out more about the local children’s lifestyle habits. It released its survey results yesterday and found that more than 90 percent of child respondents use the Internet frequently, with nearly 50 percent of children whose age falls between 13 and 14 years old using the Internet to play online games, download music, write blogs, send e-mail or use instant message services on a daily basis.”

It’s inevitable and a trend that’s likely to be reflected in other industrialised countries across the world.

It reinforces the need for parents to remain vigilant when it comes to their children’s Internet usage, including setting rules and boundaries.

Read more

Twitter challenge raises money for UNICEF

Whether you’d heard of the “Twitter challenge” between Ashton Kutcher and CNN, or even cared, the real winners appear to have been children, as UNICEF announced on Friday that it has received $100,000 from CNN designated for the provision of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) meant to stem the spread of malaria.

Family Relationships Magazine posting calendar

We’ve been a little quiet here of late, so apologies for that, but this post is to let you know that a new calendar for posts is about to go live.

This means that if you’re interested in certain subjects, you’ll have a better idea of when the latest news on that area will be published.

On Monday we’ll roundup the latest celebrity family news and take a look at what’s going on with the Internet, including security, software and new web sites.

On Tuesday we’ll take a look at technology and gadgets designed for families or that will make their lives easier, as well as reporting on the latest charity news.

On Wednesday we’ll highlight TV programmes about families coming up in the next week, as well as any notable events happening around the UK.

On Thursday there’ll be topical opinion piece plus a look at some of the latest toys and games coming onto the market.

On Friday the weekly podcast will go live (apologies for missing last week’s episode).

On Saturday there’ll be a general news roundup and on Sunday we’ll take a look at some of the highlights from family and parenting blogs.

As always, you can follow us on Twitter or get email/RSS feed updates by signing up (top right of any web page).

We’ll also publish any major / breaking news as it happens.

Most British families eating at home, survey finds

Feeding a growing family can be expensive enough without dining out on a regular basis, so it’s perhaps little surprise that a new survey has found that nearly three-quarters of British families are choosing to eat home-cooked meals rather than in restaurants.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of those families asked said that they would opt for home-cooked food over takeaways.

Respondents were also less likely to spend time in the pub, with 40% of family respondents saying that they would spend more time drinking at home, while 11% were more likely to venture out to the pub in the next 12 months than they had done previously.

Families with children were shown to be more cost-conscious across these activities than single people and couples. 57% of couples and 54% of singles agreed that they would be more likely to eat at home rather than dining out.

Roughly the same percentages – 57% of couples and 55% of singles – said they would opt for home-cooked food over a takeaway. Only 31% of couples and 22% of singles said they were more likely to drink alcohol at home rather than going out, while 13% of couples and 24% of single people said they were now more likely to head out to the pub.

Other statistics included:

• 75% of families intend to spend less of their household expenditure on going out to the pub or restaurants, compared to 58% of both couples and single people
• 73% of families said they would spend less on going out to the cinema or theatre, compared to 56% of couples and 57% of singles
• 69% of families intend to cut back on sporting events, compared to 56% of couples and 51% of singles
• 63% of families will cut back on their holidays and travel, compared to 45% of couples and 46% of singles
• 56% of families intend to spend less on in-home entertainment, compared to 47% of couples and 43% of singles

So that’s the figures, but what do you think? Have you altered your food spending patterns in the current economic climate?

UK’s independent midwives form new organisation

The former Independent Midwives Association, made up of individual Independent Midwives from throughout the UK, today announced the launch of their new organisation. The midwives have formalised as an Industrial and Provident Society to become Independent Midwives UK and have announced their official board members.

The patron of Independent Midwives UK is Baroness Julia Cumberlege, the untiring champion for maternity services who chaired the Expert Group producing the landmark “Changing Childbirth” report.

Independent Midwives UK press secretary, Virginia Howes, says, “We are at the beginning of a very exciting time. Two years ago Independent Midwifery, which has been around as long as babies have been being born, was facing extinction in a relatively short time. Since then with amazing public supported an awareness campaign and Government input we have turned a negative worry into a positive excitement and we may be about to make a real difference to the country’s maternity services.”

The Government’s response to the successful campaign, which drew awareness to the plight of the midwives, was to suggest the Independent Midwives contract their services into Primary Care Trusts. In order to do so the midwives had to become a formal organisation. Virginia, who also runs her own Independent Practice in Kent said, “We took the Government’s advice and started the processes they advised, now with their continued support our enthusiasm and our organisation is growing. Now it’s all falling into place, just like any baby growing and developing in the womb, Independent Midwives UK is ready to be born, to grow and become strong.”

In the autumn of 2006 Independent Midwives were informed that the Government intended to make professional indemnity insurance mandatory for all health care professionals. Independent Midwives are the only group unable to purchase insurance commercially and have been forced to practise without professional indemnity insurance (PII) since 2002 when the last available insurance product was withdrawn from the market. Insurance is unavailable due to the small number of Independent Midwives and the potential for very high claims which is simply because of the nature of midwives work around birth. This is despite there being no cases of significant awards against Independent Midwives in the UK since 1994. Independent Midwives have not wanted to practise without insurance, but have had no choice.

In wireless world family still a priority, survey finds

Families most want to talk to each other, a recent survey by a US telecoms company has found.

Verizon Wireless discovered that over three-quarters of its customers would include the phone number of a loved one on its Friends & Family scheme.

Of those, 44% would add their spouse or significant other, with 51% of men wanting to do so compared to 37% of women.

Of course the survey is a way of highlighting the service, of which similar plans exist in the UK, but it’s encouraging that users don’t feel the need to add their boss or a co-worker over their nearest and dearest.

BBC Newsround to show documentary about bereavement

Never afraid to avoid deep and difficult issues, the BBC’s Newsround is to screen Gone, a special documentary exploring the issue of bereavement and how it affects children’s lives.

Barney Harwood tells the story of four children who have all lost someone they love.

Eight-year-old Bradley from Welling, Kent, lost his dad in May 2006. His father was a truck driver who wasn’t home during the week. One weekend he never came home and the following week he was found dead in his cab, having suffered a heart malfunction.

Sarika, 11, lost her mum to cancer in 2005. Sarika knew that her mum was very sick but had no idea that the illness was terminal.

11-year-old Katie from Preston lost her nine-year-old brother, James, when he was fatally knocked down while out cycling.

And 11-year-old Joe from Essex lost his granddad last March.

All four of the children in Gone contacted Newsround through the programme’s website after the show asked children if they felt able to share their stories of bereavement. Hundreds of other young people also got in touch to share their stories with the programme.

The programme airs on the CBBC channel at 6.30pm on Monday 30th March, repeated on BBC One the next day.

Babylolly.com: share baby’s life with friends and family online

Letting friends and family from around the globe keep up with the latest news, pictures and videos of new baby just got easier with the launch of BabyLolly.com.

Secure and easy-to-use, the service allows an online “baby book” to be created, that can include photographs, videos, baby journal, baby “firsts” and favourites, and the opportunity for friends and family to interact.

The free service ensures that only trusted contacts can have access to the book.

BabyLolly.com was founded by UK-based BabyLolly Ltd.

What Are We Doing To Our Kids?: BBC Wales fortnight of programmes begins

BBC Cymru Wales is to begin a fortnight of programmes looking at the changing nature of childhood through the generations, beginning with What Are We Doing To Our Kids? on Monday 16th March.

As part of the project, the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) surveyed a number of Welsh parents, grandparents and children to find out more about their experiences of growing up.

Highlights of the research included:

• Today’s children are more confident and relaxed about speaking with adults
• Parents are concerned about the safety of their children and on letting them have freedom outside the home
• The media paints an unrealistic, fatalistic picture of the dangers facing children that could mean they fail to develop a realistic view of the risks of everyday life
• Parents are also concerned that their rushed lives means that quality time with their kids is lost
• Parents would not swap their own childhood for one today

It’s not all bad news. IWA director John Osmond noted that, “despite many concerns that were voiced, especially around children’s freedom to play unsupervised, it was striking how optimistic many of the parents we interviewed were about their children’s development.

“They thought that children today had more opportunities to develop themselves and, with their greater confidence, should be able to take advantage of these opportunities in later life.”

More information about the report and the programmes coming up in March are available at the BBC Wales childhood web site. If you live somewhere else in the UK, you can probably catch up with a lot of the programmes on the BBC iPlayer service.

Young people still want to live “happily ever after” but lack skills for marriage

If you believe everything the media says, you’d be forgiven for thinking that marriage is on the way out, with commitment a dirty word.

However, research from the Healthy Marriage Resource Centre amongst 18-30 year-olds suggests that four in five do still want to get married and stay married.

At one level that’s encouraging because it means that a large number of people want to commit to a long-term relationship. However, the Centre suggests that there’s often a wide reality gap between the perception of marriage and the reality.

“Once married, conflicts may arise over money, parenting, and other important issues,” said project director Mary Myrick.

“We want to get people talking about the complexity of healthy marriages and provide tools and tips for making relationships work during challenging times,” says Myrick. “We are targeting young adults because they are the group most likely to be considering marriage for the first time and are most likely to access an online resource like TwoOfUs.org.”

Though it’s so easy to get married, it’s most definitely worth investing time in some form of pre-marriage course or counselling.

Though there’s some evidence to suggest that people in a good marriage can have better health, financial stability and life expectancy, no-one wants to be trapped in a bad marriage that was ill-conceived.

Taking time to sit down, ideally with a more experienced couple, and discuss aspirations and expectations, may seem unromantic in the excitement of planning a wedding and new life together, but I believe it’s vital. I certainly value the course I attended with my wife before we married.

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