Barefoot Mahala

Put Your Tin Hat On … I Need a Rant!

oooh, I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about today.  I hadn’t quite reached a state of panic, but I was wondering.  I needn’t have worried, because it seems there are plenty of people who would like to give me something to write about. Such as my bank. I won’t name them, but Read more —>

Rape: The New Joke

I think the world has gone mad.  It may be me of course, but on this occasion, I’m pretty sure it’s not. Rape, it would appear, is the new joke.  The new “it’s-so-funny-I-have-to-make-a-tshirt-of-it” kind of joke.  Three times this week, I’ve read about things which make me want to scream “But that’s not FUNNY!”  and Read more —>

A Question of Netiquette

Last week, a friend of mine posted a link to this post of mine about breastfeeding in public on his Facebook feed, in support of women feeding their children.  Someone posted on his feed that they found breastfeeding in public offensive.  Today’s post, however, is not about her particular view, despite the fact that I Read more —>

It’s Only Natural

This week a local mum was told she couldn’t breastfeed her baby in a cafe after customers had complained about another mum doing the same on another day. You can read the story here. I thought we were passed this.  I thought that in 2011, we could reasonably expect mothers to be able to feed Read more —>

Children and Restaurants

We’ve just come back from having a family meal out and I wanted to post about children’s behaviour in restaurants. I know a lot of people complain about children’s behaviour in restaurants and I’ve even heard it said that children shouldn’t be allowed in restaurants (I suppose they mean upmarket ones).  I can’t see why Read more —>

The Sexualisation of Children

We all know that as they grow up, kids are desperate to be older than they are, to be allowed to do certain things, wear certain things, go to certain places – whether that be going to town with their friends, wearing makeup, drinking alcohol, and all sorts of things in between. It’s a natural Read more —>

Don’t Be Fooled: Why You Should Support Teachers

I wrote the following as a note on Facebook yesterday.  And then I saw the evening news, and decided it needed a larger audience.  The media seems to be state-run when it comes to covering the strikes over pensions, so much so that I genuinely think the majority of people are in the dark when Read more —>

Give Me Back My Boobs! (Or Why We Need Sure Start)

So, here we are again.  My daughter is four and a half months old, happy, healthy, beautiful.  We’ve come a long way since the beginning of December – huge weight loss, projectile vomiting, colic, bacterial infection …. And then it all stopped.  She established a sleeping and eating routine which had become pretty reliable.  I Read more —>

Shame on You, Aunty Beeb!

Yesterday, on Saturday kitchen, Michelin starred chef Anthony Demetre admitted binging on gluten, despite having been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. For a coeliac, this is really dangerous behaviour and shows either a complete lack of understanding of his illness by Demetre, or a complete disregard of his responsibilities when discussing such an illness on national Read more —>

Counting the Costs of Nappies – Climate Week Fashion Show

London households throw away a staggering 200,000 tonnes of disposable nappy waste every year and this costs Londoners approximately £20 million annually. Real Nappies for London points out what a waste of money this is, and also points to the fact that cloth nappies,washed and dried in an eco-friendly way, have 40% less global warming impact than disposables.