Laundry symbols can be a little confusing. Many clothes labels provide only pictograms and omit written instructions for important details to keep our garments looking their best.

Over at A Modern Mother, Susanna posted a link to the Net Addiction Center's Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Since most of my work involves working online, I decided I ought to take the test myself just to see if my surfing habits were causing a problem that needed to be addressed.

As it turned out, I scored only 38 and fall into the category of an average online user:

20 - 49 points: You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.

There are three categories which scores fall into, with the next level suggesting there are occasional or frequent problems due to internet usage, and the highest warning of significant problems in life.

I'd imagine most people would fall into the lower category, though it is interesting to answer the questions honestly to discover if addiction to the Internet could be causing problems in your life, or that of someone you hold dear.

Why not take the test yourself (or pass on the link to others who might be interested in their scores)?

Image credit: Amelia Speed, via Flickr

When considering a move, it's essential to learn as much about the area in which you plan to live as possible. Are there shops nearby? A park for the children to play in? What are the options for local schools, and are they good schools?

As we're hoping to move soon, I've been trying to find information about the areas we're looking to rent in. My first port of call would have been UpMyStreet.com, but since the site has been taken over by Zoopla, the invaluable statistics and overviews by postcode are not longer available.

Luckily I have discovered a few excellent alternatives to UpMyStreet.com which may be useful for researching areas you'd like to live, or even just to learn more about your neighbourhood. These sites provide easy-to-digest statistics based on postcode locations, covering social demographics, standards of education, employment statistics and even crime rates.

Many families consider their mobile phones to be their lifelines. The ability to get in touch with each other at any time of day is invaluable. In fact, we often wonder how we ever coped without them!

The increased popularity of smart-phones offers even more functionality. We can load maps to help us find the best route home; send an email to say we'll be home late; tweet traffic news...

But what better way to put our smart-phones to good use than maintaining the personal safety of ourselves and our loved ones?

In this post, I present five excellent smartphone applications which can help keep you and your family safe. All of these offer a free basic version, and are compatible with both iPhone and Android devices.

When browsing the shelves of Toys-R-Us, it's easy to be distracted by the latest craze and "must-haves". While there are a great many modern toys on the market which offer good play value, there are some essential toy types which every well-stocked toy box should include.

You'll find these in nurseries and playgroups across the country: the types of toys which are brought out again and again, and which are rarely relegated to the bottom of the toy box. What's more, these toys offer good educational value, and are relatively inexpensive.

If you're stuck for ideas for what to buy your child for their next birthday, or are looking for gift ideas, check out this cheat sheet of play room essentials and find toys which will stand the test of time.



This cheat sheet is A4 size for easy printing!

Are you looking for ways to support your child's learning journey without having to break the bank? 

With increased pressure on achievement and inclusion, most parents feel it nescessary to help their children learn and develop outside of school hours. Private tuition and subscription-based learning sites can offer excellent solutions, but unfortunately many of us don't have the funds available to pay for such services.

Luckily, supporting your child's education has never been easier! There are multitudes of free resources, apps for smartphones and printable worksheets to help our children build upon their school-based (or home!) education.

In this post, I'd like to introduce you to 20 of the best free resources we use to support learning at home, from discovering the fundamentals of the National Curriculum through to exciting science videos and educational games for smartphones.