Family

Advice, tips and lifetsyle features aimed at parents, children and families.

Six things to love about January

January has a pretty rough reputation for being the most depressing time of the year.

After all the fun of Christmas, you suddenly find yourself flat broke, with an empty social calendar and a horrible 'back to school' feeling in the air that has you kicking and screaming when the alarm goes off in the morning.

Couple that with the pressure to set resolutions, go vegan, stop...

How often should you actually wash your jeans, bras and towels?

There's a reason things like cleaning your house and doing the washing are called 'chores'. It can feel like your washing basket is constantly full, and that you're doing yet another load of laundry – even though you just did one.

This is why most of us probably use the washing machine a little less than we should.

So when it comes to those items you might use more than once...

Seven money-saving tips to make your December pay cheque go further

Being payed early in December always feels brilliant at the time. You have money in your pocket to spoil all your loved ones with Christmas presents and even have some dosh leftover to treat yourself in the January sales.

The problem is that after the frivolous spending, your finances often take a serious beating ahead of the New Year. With some companies paying staff in mid-December...

Five ways to help your children grow their savings and learn about money

The humble piggy bank seems to be falling out of favour. Two years ago, 80% of kids said they owned a piggy bank, according to a survey by Halifax – but now the proportion has slipped to 72%.

This doesn't mean the younger generation is losing interest in saving money though, as many are finding new places for their cash. Over the same period as the piggy bank decline, Halifax's...

Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy offers valuable advice on how to teach children to ride their bikes

There can't be many people who know more about riding bikes than the 11-times world champion and six-times Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Sir Chris Hoy.

The champion is currently passing some of his invaluable cycling knowledge on to his own kids – his five-year-old son, Callum, has recently learned to ride a bike, and his two-year-old daughter, Chloe, is just starting to learn...

Professor Green: 'If you talk to kids using the right language, you get results'

Would you let a celebrity look after your kids? W show, My Famous Babysitter, followed a different famous guest each episode as they take full parental responsibility for a family of at least three children.

Professor Green – real name Stephen Manderson – 35, was the first of programme's famous faces. We caught up with him to find out what filming the series was like and the...

Ben Fogle: Why I want my children to go wild

TV presenter Ben Fogle travels the world for his adventures and physical challenges, but when he gets home, he's not looking for a bit of peace and quiet. Instead, he wants his children to go wild.

"I know the virtues of travel, the outdoors and animals," says the TV presenter of Channel 5's series New Lives In The Wild, who has two children, Ludo, 10, and Iona, eight, with his wife...

10 things you’ll know if you’re incapable of keeping anything tidy

We’re ‘mess-blind’ and proud.

When it comes to tidiness, you either have it or you don’t.

For neat freaks, keeping everything in order is a way of life, while those with an ever-present ‘floordrobe’ are equally unlikely to change their ways.

Here are a few things you’ll know if mess is your day-to-day default, and Monica from Friends would never, ever invite you...

Ferne McCann: 'I know who I am now – being a parent definitely teaches you that'

Reality show Ferne McCann: First Time Mum is back for a second series, following the life of the former The Only Way Is Essex star as she brings up her daughter alone. Georgia Humphreys finds out more.

In the first series of First Time Mum, we saw the early stages of Ferne McCann learning to be a mother to daughter Sunday.

The 28-year-old reality star – who appeared in The...

What parents can do if you think your child is addicted to their smartphone

It's a common trope in sitcoms to see teenagers glued to their mobile. It's often played for laughs, but new research shows just how widespread – and damaging – it can be for young people to be constantly attached to their phones.

Scientists at King's College London have found almost one in four children and young people are exhibiting "problematic smartphone usage" (PSU), which...

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