I know, it sounds a stupid question.

But I've been a parent for nearly 10 years now and I'm very aware that I'm forgetting too many of the wonderful little moments and memories my kids have given me over the years. Much of this is because I've made a complete hash of 'capturing' their childood. More...

The colour ‘pink’ is taking a bit of a hammering right not. Pressure group ‘Pink Stinks’ http://www.pinkstinks.co.uk/ is urging parents to boycott shops that sell pink toys and clothes, and it’s recently been backed by a government minister.

Jordan and the Early Learning Centre come in for some particularly harsh criticism.

At the heart of the group’s issue is what they call the ‘culture of pink’ – from the media’s obsession with celebrity and body image to the paucity of ‘positive’ female role models that result.

Low self esteem is an issue for young girls, but to link the start of the whole process to the ‘pink stage’ many girls go through seems to me to be taking things too far.

For starters there is scientific evidence to suggest young girls of a certain age have a natural predilection for the colour pink. Certainly if my four year old daughter is anything to go by, you betcha! We haven’t in any way pushed dolls, princesses, or pink on her but  - like it or not - pink is her favourite colour and she wants a princess fairy tale castle for Christmas. More...

We've been spending a little but more time playing board games and a little less time watching TV in the Memory Pools household recently. Not sure how it came about but it's most definitely a good thing.

To that end, I thought I'd share my experiences of a few classics that you may well have gathering dust in a drawer somewhere. More...

"Oi, Tucker. Booger Benson is gonna do you." Grange Hill, 1978.

With all the debate around school starting age and primary education at the moment, I thought it worth wading into the debate - but from a slightly different angle. If, like me, you're in your (late) 30s your memories of primary school will be centred on the 70s and 80s. Remember them? Blimey, school was different. More...

"I don't have to do what you say, Daddy. No. Go away." 

Blimey. She's only been at school for a month of her life and she's already developed a bit of an attitude problem. Then again so has her 9 year old brother.

Is there something about starting - or starting back - at school after the summer hols that sends children a bit loopy, or is it just my kids? I've talked before about the sudden changes that happen to our kids seemingly overnight, and it seems like we've hit another one, or rather two. More...

That's it then. My daughter joined her big 'year 5' brother and successfully started school yesterday.  We've safely delivered both children to the point of full time education. Mission accomplished. More...

My son George turns four and a half next week. Of course to you and me the half became irrelevant decades ago but to him it's the most important thing in the world! His friend Matthew is already four and a half, his friend Max is only just four. It's the talking point of the nursery gang. We talk about the weather, they spend the day comparing ages and establishing a heirachy off the back of the results.

This morning George said to me and his Mum "I'm four and a half next week aren't I?" half way between a statement and a question.

Me: "That's right"

George: "Then it's my birthday isn't it?"

Me: "Well you don't really have birthdays when you're four and a half but you do when you're five"

This didn't go down well and it took some major persuasion to convince him you don't celebrate something as significant to him as that half!

It's a mind-bogglingly simple and innocent world they live in. Long may it continue.

I don't know what it is about children of certain ages, but there are times when they suddenly take big leaps forward. That litttle person you have got to know suddenly metamorphosises into a new little person (somtimes overnight). I remember the first time i realised this was going on. My son was two or three (see i can't REMEMBER!!!!) and I'd got used to this easy-going, happy little boy. More...

I've read two very interesting articles in the past couple of days. They've got me thinking about the notion of what we remember both as parents and as children, and inevitably how Memory Pools relates to this.

The first article is an old BBC Radio 4 page (no longer maintained) all about childhood 'amnesia'. It basically talks about the fact that most people have very few memories before the age of 3 1/2 and the reasons for this. One theory states that the memories of our childhood do exist, but that as we grow older we lose the ability to access them. I must admit I do find this very convincing. More...

As I've mentioned, milestones and firsts come rapidly when you're bringing up children. But what's really interesting are the bits in between. The silly little things that happen all the time. The things that often we make no attempt to record or remember. Here's a great example. My son asked my daughter the following (about 2 hours ago): "Should I go to the skate party or not?".

No big deal. But it suddenly occured to me that it is. More...