A time for togetherness

Stacey Collins 
It is with great surprise, and sarcasm, that I do not have to write an over-joyous piece about how well our country scored in the Eurovision contest last weekend amongst the many other 'non-political' performances and votes by 'European' countries such as Israel. However, I bet George Osborne is breathing a great sigh of relief at the prospect of not having to forage around for a spare few hundred million to finance the event.

Pregnant again!

By Baby Blogger Kate Richards
If there's been a deafening silence from me lately, the reason is I've been trying to believe and accept the idea of bringing another new addition into the family.

Yes I'm pregnant again, for better or worse!

It was always my aim to have two children, but that was planned years before I had any idea of the day-to-day reality. So I'm happy but at the same time pretty scared of juggling the needs of a toddler and a newborn.

Pregnant and smoking? See a psychiatrist

Laura Johnson
Just how? How on earth can a mother do it? How can a woman continue to be a smoker when she is pregnant?

Is it because some people are just stupid? You are bearing the most precious gift of all, a new baby. More than that - it's going to be your responsibility. You will raise that child and love it.

We may choose to harm ourselves but how can a mother choose to harm the child she bears?

Elixir of mental stability

Stacey Collins    
There always seem to be new studies telling us women what we should and shouldn’t eat in order gain blemish free skin or to avoid gaining cellulite - but the most recent study offers an ingredient that could provide us with an elixir of life/ mental stability.

Is Beyonce the world's most beautiful woman?

Stacey Collins   
When awards such as Most Beautiful Woman are awarded to a select few of the rich and famous, you have to question who it is that ultimately chooses who the prestigious award should go to and for what reason. Is it just  a Glen Quagmire type sitting in his 4x11 feet IKEA-type office sweating gleefully at the premise of choosing between several of his childhood celebrity crushes for the title of the World’s Most Beautiful Woman?

Are you a hoarder?

Stacey Collins    
You know you’re getting old when the new generation thinks that you’re talking about some far away planet when you mention the words pogs, Friends or Sony Walkman.

Are you feeling sleepy?

Stacey Collins   
I expect that even the deepest of sleepers have been affected by sleep problems at some point in their life and it usually happens the night before that really important work meeting, driving test or college exam. In fact, one third of the British population and 40 million men and women in America have some sort of sleep disorder.

Battle of the sexes

Stacey Collins  
Four weeks in - and already the eighth series of The Apprentice doesn’t seem to be in the girls' favour as Wednesday’s firing saw Lord Sugar show Jane from Ireland the door.

Parenting manuals for the anxious

By Baby Blogger Kate Richards
Having recently bought a new parenting book, Taming Toddlers, I noticed some recent research by a British historian on parent's manuals over the last 70 years. Dr Angela Davis of Warwick University asked 160 women their opinion on six popular childcare books, from the 1940s to 2000.

"I was struck by the cyclical nature of these childcare bibles," she said. "We start out with quite strict rules laid down by Frederick Truby King.

Living with your parents?

Stacey Collins 
By the tender age of 8, had you planned out your whole life including the features of your husband-to-be, the age you got married and the sexes of your 2.4 children? Here’s another question, how many of you achieved your scheduled life plan within the age limits you set yourself? I know I haven’t.