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    Share your Super Hero portrait with #KodakAvengers Linky

    Super Heroes always capture children’s imagination…and these days adults aren’t immune either. Join us for the #kodakavengers Linky Challenge – and you could win £500 or one of 3 Kodak Hero 7.1 All-in-One printers plus Marvel’s Avengers Assemble on DVD.

    The Linky celebrates the power of Super Heroes as well as the DVD and Blu-ray release of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble on 17th September, along with free printables for creating your own Super Hero adventure at home from Kodak.

    Taking part is easy

    Simply download and print some free Avengers Assemble templates from this link, and post a picture on your blog of your child or someone else in your family using these to strike their best Super Hero pose!

    Make sure you state that the post is an entry for the #kodakavengers Linky Challenge. You can also include the badge, shown here – grab the text from the box below it. Then post your link in the Linky below.

    Super Hero portrait

    Hurry! Entrants will receive a copy of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble on DVD while supplies last. The Linky closes at 5pm on 5 October 2012. All entrants are eligible to win £500, 1 of 3 printer packages including a Kodak Hero 7.1 printer and ink plus Marvel’s Avengers Assemble on DVD, worth more than £175!

    This Linky is sponsored by Kodak, which has created free Marvel’s Avengers Assemble printables you can print at home, including character masks, posters and party packs including invitations to create your own Avengers themed party! Plus with Kodak you can print as much as you like without worrying about the cost of ink. With the lowest total ink replacement costs in the UK you can replace all your inks for under £23*.

    Plus, we have three fabulous Avengers Ambassadors – Red Ted Art, Imagination Tree and The Alexander Residence – posting Super Hero printing craft ideas. Find out more about them.

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    London Summit for Family Planning – Keep the conversation going!

    On Wednesday BritMums attended the London Summit for Family Planning, hosted by the UK Government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

    World leaders, activists, faith-based organisations, and the public and private sectors came together to support the right of women and girls to decide for themselves when and how many children to have. The goal? To give 120 million more girls and women in developing countries access to contraceptives.

    The Foundation reports that there are more than 220 million girls and women in developing countries who don’t want to get pregnant but do not have access to modern contraceptives. As a result, girls as young as 11 get pregnant. Their bodies are not mature enough to survive the pregnancy. Many die. Some are disfigured. Without contraceptives and the ability to control their lives, those that survive go on to have more children. Sometimes within months. We heard from one girl (she was 17) who said she was one of 10 children. More mouths to feed never rang more true.

    London Summit for Family Planning

    If we supply these girls and women with contraceptives (and surrounding education) it can lead to:

    • Fewer deaths in in women and newborn babies;
    • More girls completing their education, thus leading to more opportunities;
    • Healthier families and communities;
    • Reduced demand on social sector budgets.

    Sounds like a no-branier, right? It’s not.

    “Family planning” often gets mired in religious and cultural issues. My own mother in California, when I told her I was attending this summit, went silent on the phone. She told me family planning/contraceptives were not her favourite subject (she is a devout Catholic/Christian). I pointed out that girls in third world countries as young as her granddaughter were often forced into marriage, resulting in pregnancy, and that many died because their fragile bodies were not ready. Why should these young girls suffer? I asked. I could hear the church in her voice in return. They should practice natural methods. Erm, OK. What else can you say to your mother? *Head in hands*

    This is why I applaud Melinda Gates and the UK Government for taking the lead in this project. You can only imagine the long road they have traveled to get family planning on the world agenda. And what a result. In terms of financial commitments, The London Summit on Family Planning resulted in $2.6B more in funding.

    After a long, draining day , I asked the Gates Foundation what BritMums could do to help the cause. Keep the conversation going, they said. Don’t let it die.

    And so the last words from Melinda ring true (and women always get the last word).

    We have talked the talk. Now we need to walk the walk.

  • General

    BritMums dad blog round-up: cooking, coupons, C-sections and sex toys!

    There’s a foodie bent to this month’s selection of brilliant dad blogs, for which I offer no apologies.

    Three of my six are top bananas in the punny sense of the term, not just because their blogs are feasts for the eyes but because they are also inspirational.

    My top three not only share my passion for cooking (see my weekly Recipe Shed linky here) but they inspire me to raise my game.

    The other three are simply brilliant reads. Like all great bloggers, they vary the pace. I never know what’s going to drop into my subscription InBox – and I’m never disappointed.

    As I’ve said before, I could easily showcase a couple of dozen fantastic Dad Blogs each month, but I’m working on the principle of Less Is More.

    One Man and His Hob is relatively new on my radar – but, oh, what a discovery. The busy dad lives for food and showcases his efforts pretty much every day, whether it be a foodie find at a farm shop or a brilliant moreish meal with super-clear step-by-step pictures. I could pick out a load of his recipes for you, but I’ll direct you to his most recent and you can go off and explore yourself. Try Spinach and Ricotta Canneloni  or Homemade Mini-Scotch Eggs.

    Dan Toombs is not A curry guy, he is THE Curry Guy. His mission is to share as make as many homemade curries as possible – and then share the results with you. He writes his own recipes and I am here to testify that the results are quite sensational. I’ve picked out one that I cooked the other night: How to make British Indian Restaurant-style Lamb Methi.  The results were punchy, aromatic, authentic and delicious.

    dad blog

    Dad’s Cooking Tonight is a dad of five hungry kids and although he doesn’t always post about food, when he does, the results are inspiring and impressive. But this recent post – Cookbooks: Houston We Have a Problem  – tickled the chord it struck. He has 74 cookbooks and is wondering what to do with them. Perhaps build a playhouse for his kids? I have the same dilemma. I think I have around 100 cookbooks, but only ever seem to look at four or five.

    Bringing Up Charlie aka Tim Atkinson is one of the longest-serving and highest-ranking bloggers in the dad community – and a lovelier chap you couldn’t wish to find. As well as being a witty, super-informed, prolific and helpful dad of two girls, Tim is also an accomplished author, publishing both his own books and others’ for charity through his Dotterel Press. I was especially taken by this post – What’s Your Favourite Bedtime Story – this month, as we all have our opinions and favourites. What’s yours? (Mine’s Heston Blumenthal at Home, in case you’re interested – my kids don’t seem to be!)

    Dad-of-three DaddaCool writes a pretty cool blog, if he doesn’t mind me saying (I know he won’t – he told me so himself). And in this post he turns his analytical attentions to the obsession some people have of collecting discount coupons. He asks: ‘Is extreme couponing a manifestation of insanity?’ But the post that nearly took my eye out was ‘Warning: May contain references to sex toys.’ Clue: It DOES contain references to sex toys. You have been warned!

    I like a good yarn. I like a yarn that both entertains and informs. And Random Pearls of Wisdom ticks both those boxes. In this post – A Tale of Two C-Sections – he breathlessly describes how his two children arrived into the world, a story that is bound to chime with both dads and mums. A very wise and moving read indeed.

    More to read – Parental Rights in the USA: A Complete Guide to Family Law for Parents

  • General

    Wednesday: #McCainMums Twitter party!

    Join us Wednesday 21 March 13:00 to 14:00 for the #McCainMums Twitter party and tell us what you would do with £1,000! Wildest dreams to practical plans, and anything in between, we want to hear your ideas.

    Why £1,000? Because that’s what our sponsor McCain is giving away every day for 12 weeks in its new Lucky Spuds promotion, with one overall winner getting £100,000 at the end of the competition!

    To try the game buy a special pack of McCain chips with a ‘Lucky Spuds’ promotional flash on it. From the 19th, go online and play the Lucky Spuds game on Facebook using the code on the back of pack to enter – the highest score of the day wins the £1000, and each code allows 1 play a day, so you can enter over and over again!

    Join us for the Twitter party tomorrow and win some more cool prizes!

    1 x £250 All4One Gift Card, a multi-store voucher redeemable at 17,000 outlets nationwide

    5 x £50 All4One Gift Cards, a multi-store voucher redeemable at 17,000 outlets  nationwide

    To qualify for the drawing, tweet your inspiration or advice on the best way to spend £1,000, along with the #McCainMums hash tag.

    #McCainMums

    13:00 – 14:00

    Weds 21 March 2012

    Join us to share your wildest dreams.