More Than Just A Mother (Parenting)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: More Than Just A Mother, by Elinor CArlisle

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.morethanjustamother.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: A no holds barred account of parenting, this blog is not for the faint hearted. With posts about recycling vibrators, having crushes on other mums and that infamous account of needing a wee on the motorway, this blog is for all those women who are more than just mothers.

Emily Carlisle lives with her husband and three small children in the Cotswolds. She is a freelance writer and has just finished her first novel.

MY REVIEW: This is a fun blog, both for parents and for people who don't have kids but like to read reviews of various computer items (such as the Hexbug). The author is based in England (for about a year I believe blogs available for subscription on Amazon were strictly from the US, but for the last few months, British blogs have been available, and people from the UK can subscribe to all blogs, as of course can people from the US.)

The author writes well (indeed, she is a professional writer, having just finished a book) and is amusing. So check it out.

Sample post

Why doing reviews could be bad for your bank balance

Next year I'm going to be cutting down on the number of reviews I do on the blog. This is in part because the last product I reviewed, the Hexbug Nano, cost me £160. With an individual Hexbug retailing at just £8.99, that can't be good business sense.

The Hexbug Nano is a battery powered micro-robot which scuttles about your floor like a cockroach on acid. When it meets a barrier - or another Hexbug - it changes path and hurries off in another direction. When it's flipped on its back the Hexbug will simply right itself and carry on regardless. It's unstoppable. These collectible fellows work by the power of vibration, so they make an intense buzzing noise as they scurry about your house. Geeks will love them - there's all sorts of collectible stuff you can do online to find and register particularly rare Hexbugs. They are perfect stocking fillers and great gifts for guys.

When they arrived I turned each Hexbug on and scattered them on the floor. The children squealed delightedly and chased after them; I couldn't help but lift my feet up onto my chair - they're just a little bit too realistic for me... The kids built Lego mazes for them, they tried them out on the kitchen table, the bathroom floor, the hearth - which is where it all started to go wrong.

Quick as a flash my son's Hexbug scuttled into the fire place and through a tiny gap in the gas fire. Immediately the entire grate began to rattle as this malevolent toy vibrated its way through the hollow frame, the noise growing steadily until it sounded as though a thousand centipedes were tap-dancing on a tin roof. My husband looked at me in horror as I grabbed the Hoover and tried to suck it out, to no avail. He bent a wire coat hanger and fed it into the gap where we'd last seen the Hexbug, but it was useless.

Two hours later, having taken the fireplace apart and still not located the Hexbug, we admitted defeat and grabbed the yellow pages. The engineer was far from reassuring.

"If it's gone up the gas pipe you've got real problems - we could have to evacuate the street."

He came out to us straight away. Well, so would I if I charged £160 for my mere presence. The Hexbug was lodged in the entrance to one of the pipes and was retrieved with a pair of pliers.

And that is why doing reviews could be bad for your bank balance.

I've got five Hexbug Nanos to give away to readers of More Than Just a Mother, so just leave a comment below to enter. If you want to double your chances of winning, just tweet "I've entered the #HEXBUGUK giveaway with @MTJAM". Oh - and keep them away from the fireplace.

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NEW Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Retro Reviews published Tuesday and Thursday.

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