What makes you smile?

Stacey Collins
I think most people would agree that January isn’t the cheeriest month of the year. The month hosts the most depressing day of the entire year, people are still trying to recover from the excess of food eaten and money spent at Christmas and news reports seem to fill us with nothing but doom and gloom about the tough economic problems that we can expect to face in the oncoming year.

Who remembers 'Stranger-Danger'?

Stacey Collins
Well, there I was discussing  the benefits of social media in opening up venues for writers to express themselves and practise their writing when along came a bunch of experts finding a new reason to express concern about the social media - the impact it has on love lives.

Naughty or adventurous?

By Baby Blogger Kate Richards 
I'm starting to wonder whether some of Ben's more "challenging" behaviour could now be described as naughty, or whether it's still just adventurous curiosity.

He went through a stage of biting at about 14 months, and now, at 16 months he's just doing it occasionally. Except I do think he is developing a sense of mischievousness, because he definitely understands the word no, and I occasionally catch a cheeky grin on his face.

To write or not to write

Stacey Collins 
As you get older do you ever find that the phrase 'Well, back in my day' has somehow managed to find its way into your vernacular? Back in my day when the buses were 60p, back in my day when people used to put up with My Little Pony, even the boys, and back in my day when we had none of this internet malarkey and used to entertain ourselves with a hula hoop.

Shock, horror! - 'la difference' survives?

Stacey Collins 
A new report suggesting that men and women have major personality differences may not come as a big surprise to those of you who live with spouses. This is probably something that the majority of us realised after life experiences such as.... primary and secondary school, TV series including Friends and popular titles such as Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.

Ben's first words

By Baby Blogger Kate Richards
Deciding when Ben spoke his first word is not as simple as I'd anticipated. Since he turned one year, three months ago, he's been saying "uh-oh" at appropriate moments. But whether this counts as a word is debatable.

Time to deal with New Year irresolution

Stacey Collins 
I’m going to play a guessing game with you. I bet that I can guess your New Year’s resolutions for the year 2012, and also for the last twenty years of your life. Resolution number one was to start eating healthier, resolution number two was to start doing more exercise, resolution three was to do all you can to try and find your true love and resolution four was to move out of your parent’s house. Do I win a prize?

Happy New Years Eve

Stacey Collins 
Weeks of planning, buying and hard work for just 24 little hours and then just as quickly as it arrived, Christmas is yet again over for another year. Before any recovery from Christmas day could be made, the boxing day sales were thrown upon us and people found themselves relenting to the constant nagging of DFS and their ‘Hurry to our three day only sales’ - that actually occur every three days throughout the year.

Merry Christmas to Womens News UK readers

Stacey Collins 
Merry Christmas Eve; I trust that the biscuits and whisky are out, you’re several stone heavier from the lead-up festivities and that you’ve already unwrapped and then re-wrapped the presents under the tree as you surrendered to your curiosity. If not, then bah humbug.

Christmas is coming

The best Christmas ever!

By Baby Blogger Kate Richards

Well the run-up to Christmas has certainly been different this year with a toddler! I've met several Santas already (often female), sang a lot more carols, and re-decorated the tree on a nightly basis. The baubles are often to be found stashed away under the rocking horse (of course, where else?), but strangely, the presents haven't been interfered with at all.

Ben has been to three Christmas parties so far, wearing a gorgeous but highly flammable looking red robe with pointy elf-style hood. He's developed a quite grown-up taste for mince pies, and a suitably child-like love of flashing Christmas lights.