My young and carefree lifestyle has been very children focussed over the last week – not only did I have my 1 year old niece staying with me over the weekend, I also checked out the latest children’s film, Ice Age 3.

I don’t get to see my niece as much as I would like and so when my sister brings her down she often hands her over to me for some quality time (and luckily I get to pass her back when the nappy needs changing/there’s too much crying).

Pushing a buggy round Brighton and Hove makes you see it in a different light. I learnt that the pavement is quite buggy friendly but the shops are a lot narrower than I realised. I also learned the BBQs with babies are doable but with much more of a safety hat on! If you use a disposable BBQ, don’t leave hot coals around.

I also learnt that the children’s play area with the paddling pool is ‘the place to be’ if you have a kid. I knew that it would be a place to drive kids wild (and this was before I found the sand pit) but I didn’t realise that it was a place that seemed to get parents buzzing also. I noticed that parents set up camp there – with the children happily playing in the water, they were chilling out, with deckchairs and picnics – and everyone seems to know everyone. One group’s picnic came fully equipped with wine with proper glasses(my safety hat head hoped that they were responsible enough to be using plastic wine glasses with all the tiny feet running around!) I have to admit though; Ice Age 3 was nothing to do with my niece. She was long gone when we popped along to the cinema to see the latest children’s film. We were one of the youngest couples in the cinema – but I am not sure why. The film was littered with adult humour which flies over kids heads but such naughtiness makes these jokes even funnier. The film continued and exploded on the Scrat’s acorn chase and the film introduced new crazy characters. Definitely worth seeing - kid in tow or not.

This weekend I am returning to my carefree ways. Tonight I am hitting the town on a work team night out – usually we’re really good at getting a plan together but this time around we have no plans and are seeing there the wine takes us! For the first time in a long while, I have a relaxing weekend ahead of me with no other plans but the Friday – does this mean I am getting old? I hope not – as much as I loved my children orientated week – I am definitely not ready to settle down for one of my own!