5 Ways I Like To Spend A Night In

It's not often I go out on the town. Not anymore anyway. Now I am far from being ready to hang up my heels and go into early retirement but the whole prospect of going out on the lash just doesn't appeal to me as much as it once did. So more often than not I find myself indoors for the night and looking for a way to spend my evening and here are my top 5 choices..

1. Catching up with all my Sky + recordings. Ok so this is going to make me sound ridiculously sad but I have so many recordings set up on my Sky box, I very rarely get to watch any of them at the time of airing so literally have to catch up with everything and watch an obscene amount of programmes in one night. I get far too excited than I probably should at the thought of a whole night to myself with nothing but my Sky planner.

2. Our regular "Treat Nights". Since being on Weight Watchers , Saturday nights have become my treat night. Not only is it a day I look forward to because I can treat myself to something yummy but its also a day Aally has come to love also. She loves treat night more than me as it means pizza, popcorn and a movie. She is a big movie buff like me so loves to settle down in front of a good flick with a big bowl of popcorn.

3. Eyes down for a bit of bingo. I have played online bingo for a few years now. Nothing excessive just every now and then. I love the thrill of being close to a win and given that I cant always make it to the bingo halls online bingo is a far better option. I can socialize and win some money (hopefully) without even leaving the sofa. Most sites offer great bonuses for new players too. Just check out a bingo comparison site and see which big bonuses you could claim. Who knows you might be the next jackpot winner!

4. Game Night. Aalliyah is an absolute board game nut! As much as she is glued to her iPod or the Xbox most of the time, she loves nothing more than playing a good board game. I always make sure she gets lots of new games for Christmas so she has enough to last throughout the year. Game nights are brilliant and we love to get competitive with knock out rounds of monopoly, connect 4 and battleships live. She actually has around 4 games still sealed from Christmas that we are yet to try out so I think is game night is on the cards again soon.

5. Catching up on the chores. Ok I wasn't actually doing these in order but somehow the housework has ended up in last place (Funny that) Now I know most of us don't see housework as a pleasant way to spend an evening but with work and other things in the week, sometimes things just get in the way and I put things off until the next day (then the next, then the next) A pattern forms and before you know it the washing is piled high and the dust is an inch thick. Sometimes I enjoy just catching up on the cleaning at the end of the week.

So there are my top 5 ways I would usually spend my night in. Exciting eh? How do you spend a quiet night in if you are lucky enough to have one?

*Written in collaboration with Greatbritishbingo.co.uk 

My Love Of The Dark Side And What I'm Watching

It's no secret that I have a huge love of TV and film and subsequently a serious addiction to Sky+ . I do tend to be late to the party when it comes to TV shows though. I will suddenly get enthralled into a fantastic series which more than likely aired 3 years ago and when I post how great the show is and how I am enjoying it, people must think "Tell me something I don't know!"

When it comes to TV I do love anything crime/psychological/thriller related whether it be fictional or real. I have recently started watching Dexter (see I told you I was late) and I am totally hooked. I am currently on series 3 and have no intentions of slowing down, cramming in an episode when ever I can. Another show I am enjoying at the moment is Hannibal. I absolutely loved the first series so was ridiculously excited when I knew series two was coming. If you enjoy those dark crime series then this is definitely worth watching but be warned it's not for the feint of heart. As you can probably guess from the title there are a lot of gruesome crime scenes and cannibalism depicted in the show.

Another show I love is The Following. I was totally gripped by series one and series two hasn't disappointed either. My Sky planner literally reads like a who's who of serial killers. I have many other great must watch programmes on series link too such as I killed my BFF, True Detective, Snapped: Women who kill, Evil Up Close and Crime Stories.

I'm not just a lover of the dark side and do enjoy a wide genre of TV and film. I am excited about the new channel which has recently launched , ITV encore. I do love the ITV dramas that there have been in the past. Some amazing ones like Broadchurch, Ice Cream Girls and Mrs Biggs so I am looking forward to being able to catch up with these again. When I am not working (and supposed to be doing housework or some other chore) I tend to catch up on my TV viewing and my evenings are mostly spent catching up on shows that I have missed throughout the week. With so much available on Sky I rarely watch anything when its actually aired and nearly all of it has been Sky+'d. Some days I go into work needing match sticks for my eyes. Not from an amazing night out with my friends but from a marathon of "The Walking dead" the night before. It's a wonder I haven't had a work accident yet due to my "Sky planner induced fatigue" (I did Google it, but sadly its not a real condition)

What do you enjoy watching? I am always looking out for good TV shows and or movies to watch weather old or new and would love some recommendation from fellow goggle box lovers.

*This post was written in collaboration with Leo Claims

TV Time.. How Much Is Too Much?

Most children are introduced to television at a young age. I remember when my own daughter watched her first bit of television and watching her nearly burst with excitement as she watched the colourful things bopping around on screen and listened to the music. She would often sit in her bouncy chair after breakfast and watch something (Fimbles , If my memory serves me right) But did this make me a bad parent? Did that hour of television make me a lazy parent? Regardless of what the other hours in the day were filled up with?

There have been endless studies into the link between how much time a child spends watching TV and their weight. Personally I think this is ridiculous. Children of overweight parents are more likely to be overweight and children that do not participate in games/sports/outdoor play are more likely to be overweight but the fact is that nine times out of ten the parents and the lifestyle they choose for their child will determine weather or not your child will be a healthy weight. Not how much time is spent watching TV.

You will always find contradictions in what ever research you come across. My daughter is 9 years old, and in very good shape athletically as well as having a good and balanced diet. She still enjoys her not so good sweet things (in moderation) and YES! she does watch television. In the mornings , after getting up, having breakfast etc there is no time for television, which is good as we would end up being late! Even I tend not to watch as I always end up sucked in to some story on daybreak and end up running late. But when she comes home from school, she normally spends the first hour, getting changed, doing homework etc then I will let her have a few hours of television (Providing her homework/reading is complete). During this time she will no doubt have dinner. I live in a ground floor flat so Its not a case of laziness having dinner infront of the TV, but I have no dining room and no where to eat other than our small coffee table that we sit at and eat. Yes the TV is still on at this time, but more or less not being watched and we still enjoy conversation over dinner abot her day at school and so on.

Aalliyah has watched TV from a very young age. She has also (past year) began using the internet a lot more. She does research for projects and homework, but also spends a lot of time on various websites, such as Cbbc, Mathletics etc. I have yet to find her on a game which had no learning value! She is doing fantastically at school, with high levels in Maths and English. Again yet more information which contradicts most of the research you will find online.

Overall I would say Aalliyah watches TV on average 2 hours a day, more at weekends, if we are not out somewhere and she will play a DVD at night when she goes to bed. The DVD is never watched past 5 mins and she is asleep. But these are all choices that I make for her as her parent, I feel they are right for us as a family, and If I felt they were affecting her behaviour or abilities in anyway, I would change her routine.

Every single parent is different, and I guess there is no right or wrong answer to the worldwide debate of TV time.