London Mums Blog

The inspirational Jacqueline Wilson

Nothing ever seems to go on in sleepy old Chiswick so when I heard that there was going to be an influx of great authors, I just had to pop along and see what all the fuss was about.

Luckily I managed to grab a few £3 tickets to a talk from a very popular children’s writer. And off we went to the Chiswick Book Festival last Sunday and attended a session hosted by Jacqueline Wilson.

She was very inspirational. She told the story of how as a teenager she went to study to become a secretary and then found a newspaper ad which was looking for articles from teenagers. She wrote in. She sent them stories. She got paid. She wrote a lot more and then, they gave her a job. It was a job with D C Thomson and she was to write for a new magazine. In fact they named it Jackie magazine, after her sweet self.

I love London

As a Londoner, I often forget to do ‘London’ things with the girls. I am so used to seeing the Houses of Parliament from the train when I’m off to buy deadly boring stuff like netball skirts that Pugin’s amazing building has all but lost its charm, while, on a clear day,  you can catch sight of the Gerkin on the school run – enough to make anyone a bit blase.

Last month, though, the magic went back into London living. I went to see the Lord Mayor’s Show for the very first time, with the girls.

Paper dolls ... and other snow day activites!

First, check out the best of the British Mummy Bloggers Carnival, it's up over at A Modern Mother.

And while you are reading blogs, your kids can do this:

Paper Dali.

It's a great site that features FREE historical paper dolls. Choose from Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Biblical Times, American Revolution, King Arthur or the Wild West.

They were created by a home-schooling mother who loves history and doodling. When she couldn't find any colouring books to go with the era, she created her own.

So check it out, it will surely kill at least a half hour...

And if you get bored doing that ... make snow ice cream!

There are ten more tips for educational snow activities here.

This post was written by Susanna, a London Mums Blog founding contributor. You can read more at her blog, A Modern Mother.