The first few rays of sunshine have only just appeared in the last few days but along with most mums we are already thinking about summer. Not necessarily about the wonderful long days but more about how it might affect our pockets. After Easter, I’ll have to kit my eldest out in summer school uniform so I’ll be looking for retailers who have multi-buy offers on hardwearing clothes. Lots of mums we speak to tend to bulk buy clothes a couple of times a year (so late summer/early autumn for winter and spring for summer). Anything that helps mums save money is useful – £5 off if you spend £30, buy 2 get a 3rd free. Boots are particularly good at incentivising mums to buy more clothes or buy in bulk, regularly offering buy one item, get one half price – it would be great to see their range extend beyond 5-6 years. Marks and Spencer have obviously picked up on when mums might bulk shop as they have a well-timed online sale this week offering a range of discounted children’s clothes.

This weekend we finally dragged the outdoor toys from the garage and I know they will be well exercised over the Easter holidays (weather permitting). When I speak to other mums we hear that kids still love bikes and scooters (and here is some mum insight – I prefer the scooter to the bike because it fits in my car and I can carry it). This summer I’ll have to investigate scooter possibilities for my 2 year old because she just wants to do whatever her big sister does.

Easter is just around the corner and the biggest bugbear we hear from mums is chocolate – they don’t want it! It’s really easy to end up with a house full of sweet treats that you then have to meter out while listening to the begging noises from your kids. We’d love to see a company create a campaign about giving chocolate a swerve for something healthier that still engages children.

And speaking of engaging kids the chat around the school dinner table is all about CHEDDS by Cathedral City. They’ve recently launched a range of three snack-sized treats perfect for lunchboxes, the cheese bricks are a particular hit in Lynne’s house.

Finally we’re not ignoring the budget but others have said it much more eloquently – mums reaction to the budget, and what the budget means for families.

By Nicola