THE magazinE FROm SUgaR & SPiCE CHiLDCaRE RECRUiTmEnT agEnCY

in THiS iSSUE...

Coffee with Siren Training

Slugs and Snails and babyhood tales – musings from a new mum

A day in the life of .....

What’s on this summer

Recipes from Alfredo’s table

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& all things nice

Childcare Recruitment Agency

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If you read my intro in the last

magazine, you will know that we had

exam season looming for all our children

- well, I’m pleased to say that we all

made it out the other side,

battered and bruised a little,

but still in one piece, at least

for another year! I’m

looking forward to the calm

before the results arrive

and hope to enjoy the

summer and whatever it

may bring...

This issue we have a

slight safety theme

running through it, as we

speak with the lovely guys

from Siren Triaining

about their First Aid

company and find out

how a baby proofing specialist spends

his day, ensuring our homes are safe for

the little ones!

Whilst not safety themed (unless you

take into account avoiding puddles!),

Kathryn’s column in this issue touches

on the dreaded ‘potty training’ which fills

most first time parents with a sense of

dread. I can certainly sympathise with

her, remembering all too well this stage

with our first born! It’s truly odd how as a

parent for the second time +, you’re just

so much more laid back about

everything and a puddle on the floor in a

high street is not quite as mortifying as

it was with your first!

Love her or loathe her, I’m sure

Gwyneth Paltrow never had to deal with

such an embarrassing situation! She did

however manage to stir up a whole can

of worms recently, when ‘mommy wars’

launched online following a comment

she made in an interview which was

misinterpreted and people took this to

mean that she was implying a ‘normal’

working mother (if such a thing exists!)

has life easier than she does. I do

sympathise; when I had our children, I

was running a busy company, and the

luxury of maternity leave was something

that just didn’t exist for me. I remember

all too well the ‘judgement’ passed by

others, automatically assuming that I

was a bad mum for going back to work

so early. Although not quite in the same

league as Gwyneth, why do people feel it

is okay to pass such judgement on

others when they don’t even know

them? In the words of a very wise 5 year

old, ‘people shouldn’t be mean to each

other’, I couldn’t have said it better

myself!

Sticking with Gwyneth, I genuinely

don’t know why so many people seem to

despise her. After all, were it not for her

‘other’ career as a lifestyle guru as the

head of GOOP, I may never have known

the joy of finding a sleep mask which has

hollow space for your eyes to blink, so,

thank you Gwyneth! As a show of

solidarity to this belagured Hollywood

mom, we review her latest cookbook this

issue, which is surprisingly good.

Apologies to anyone who finds Gwyneth

unpalatable (pardon the pun!), but

sometimes you have to put yourself out

there, after all, if Vogue can have Kimye

on the cover…

‘Mommy wars’.....

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Coffee with Siren training...

it’s not much fun when you’re faced

with a toddler who has fallen over or

suffered a burn; trying to keep them

calm, while accessing the injury can be

challenging for anyone, but imagine if

you don’t have any first aid training. As

an agency, we insist that all our nannies

have current first aid training and we

2. What were you doing before you launched the company?Before we launched the company both

Mat and I were Firefighters, We are still

in the fire service and divide our time

between rescuing cats from trees and

saving training manikins from cardiac

arrest. Mat’s background is in construction,

and I served in the Army for 8 years.

3. What makes your company so unique? Siren Training are different because we

have used the bad points of other training

companies and turned this to our

advantage. We believe that although

First Aid Emergencies are serious, the

training doesn’t have to be. Our courses

are fun, relaxed and informative. If you’re

calm during training then hopefully you

will be calm in an emergency. We only

use Firefighters or registered Nurses to

teach our courses. This way the students

are being taught by people that have

actually used these skills. We don’t borrow

our stories from a text book, we bring a

real life element to every training course.

encourage them all to refresh this on a

yearly basis. Here we speak with Steve

and Mat, founders of Siren Training, a

brilliant, London based First Aid

company, set up by 2 Firefighters.

1. What inspired you to start Siren Training? We were inspired to start the company

after the riots in Tottenham. Following

the riots, a friend of ours decided to

start a charity teaching troubled

teenagers First Aid skills. Our friend is

huge in spirit but quite slight in stature

and asked Mat and I to help. The

response was amazing, the experience

even more so. We learnt so much. At

one point I was teaching a group of

young men how to deal with knife

injuries and was so shocked to find out

that just under half of the group had

received injuries due to knives. We

continue to help the charity, and

because of our enjoyment sharing our

skills and experiences of working in the

fire service, Mat and I decided to start

Siren Training in 2012.

4. Favourite things in life?Family and friends, beer garden weather,

watching Wales beat England in Rugby

(both Mat and I are proud Welshmen!)

We also like to put ourselves through

various pain barriers raising money for

charities. Last year Mat and I had our

chest shaved in front of a packed

audience. This was surprisingly more

painful than the adventure race we

finished last summer, which included an

electrical crawling fence!

5. guilty pleasure?Steve’s is definitely One Direction or 1Dee

as he likes to call them, I often catch him

humming away to them in the office. He’s

surprisingly hid this from the guys at the

fire station (although maybe not for

much longer!). I can’t believe I’m going

to admit this but I enjoy watching reality

TV like the Kardashians, I don’t know

why. A dysfunctional family with endless

money, dealing with life on worldwide TV

- great relaxation!

6. Favourite things to do with friends/family?Mat and I love going back home to

Wales, he is from South wales and I’m

from the more picturesque North.

Nothing beats my mums cooking, and in

return I happily leave a big bag of

clothes washing (nothing I do can make

my clothes smell the way she does!). Mat

is currently planning a wedding to his

long term girlfriend. Weddings are hard

to plan in the first place, so in typical Mat

style he’s decided to make it even more

difficult and get married in Italy. I’m

happy though, as I love italian food.

7. Do you have a favourite fail safe dinner party recipe to share?I do and its so easy and delicious. Italian

food is all about regionally sourced

ingredients, the pasta fredda (fresh

pasta) will change depending on where

you are in Italy and what ingredients are

grown there. Its great for a summers day

or BBQ’s .

What you need (remember its about

quality. I’m not sure about quantities, I

make it off the cuff)-

Fresh pasta - any will do, i like fusilliolive oil2 cloves of garlicbaby tomatoesFresh basil leavesmozzarella ball

1Boil the water,add a pinch of salt and

add pasta- whichever kind you prefer,

and continue to boil for 1 min less than the

time it says on the packet. Drain the pasta.

2Add a tablespoon of good olive oil, a

good helping of ground pepper, chop

2 cloves of garlic and add to the pan,

add fresh baby tomatoes (or sun dried),

a few fresh picked leaves of basil and

finally add the mozzarella chopped in

delicious bite sized chunks. Mix together.

Serve warm or cold with a nice glass of

Italian wine.

8. advice for parents of young children in respect of first aid/fire safety?Accidents happen, especially when

children are involved, I know my mother

was constantly wrapping me in bandages

and plasters as I curiously ventured to

badge myself in as many wounds and

bruises as I could. My advice would be to

be prepared. I would advise anyone to sit

a first aid course especially for children,

even a basic course. It not only covers

the main emergencies children may find

themselves in but it also covers signs

and symptoms and how to deal with

many illnesses such as choking,

meningitis and febrile convulsions. In

terms of fire safety, I would advise that

parents practise safe evacuation in the

event of a fire. This could easily be made

into a little game, start with everyone

pretending to be asleep, press the fire

alarm using the test button. Then, each

parent will be responsible for one child

(or more depending on individual

situation), each child will be responsible

for their favourite toy (the toy should be

close to the child’s bed). Together take

them out of their beds and crawling

along like any 4 legged animal you can

imagine, (snakes and snails are too

slow!) move along the floor to the top of

the stairs. Then safely together, move

down the stairs keeping low and close to

the wall side. Once at the bottom

everyone leaves the house through the

safest exit. If it’s too dangerous to leave

the house, get together in the room with

the least amount of smoke, stay low, call

the fire service and tell them what room

you are in.

9. any plans to expand Siren training in the future? Siren Training and the team are growing

from month to month, we recently won

the #sbs (small business sunday) award

from Theo Papitiis on Twitter. At the turn

of the year we also added 4 smiling

registered Nurses to our team of

trainers. All highly qualified and happy to

continue the Siren ethos, informative,

accredited FUN training. We have also

recently moved into a brand new

training studio near Old Street Station,

Islington. Its great for our scenario based

training which everyone enjoys. The

future looks bright for us and very soon

we will be taking Siren Nationwide.

For more information go to

www.sirentraining.co.uk

a Baby Proofing specialist

So, your little bundle of joy has arrived in

the world and you need to make your

home a safe place for tiny people. You

could run out to the local DIY store and

stock up with all the necessary tools and

baby proof your home yourself...or you

could call in the professionals.

Here, Chris Jones from Baby Safe

Homes, gives us an insight into the day

of a baby proofing specialist...

M y day generally starts with

the sound of one child or

another waking up between 5:30 and

6:00. Once I get them back to sleep, I

grab my iPad and try to catch up on

e-mails until 7:00. My wife and I trade

off responsibility for the children’s

breakfast and getting them dressed whilst

trying to fit in enough time for our own

showers and occasionally a bite to eat.

By 8:00 we’re all ready to go and I head

off to drop my eldest son at school as

soon as the nanny shows up to look

after the baby. Once the children are

taken care of I can turn my attention to

someone else’s baby.

We generally schedule our first

appointment between 9:00 and 10:00

depending on where they are. I’ll meet

one of our installers close to the client’s

home, and head in with a tape measure

and notebook. Our safety assessments

take between 30 minutes and an hour.

After going through the house with the

client, I can offer our recommendations

A day in the life of ....freSh Cooked home mealS

We know how important it is to spend the first few

days really bonding with your new baby. we also know how exhausting it can be and how difficult it is to ensure that you are eating the right foods, as the last thing you feel like doing is preparing food in the early days. well, worry no more, as one of our ‘bespoke extras’ for our clients, we have teamed up with ‘the food stork’ to ensure that you can spend time bonding with your baby and receive delicious ready prepared home cooked food, direct to your door, ready to be heated at your convenience. . For further information, email info@sugarandspiceagency.com quoting food delivery in subject line.

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13Suzanne Ferreira Physiotherapy, is a Physiotherapy, Pilates and Fitness studio specialising in the

diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of all musculoskeletal disorders. All their practitioners are dedicated to health and fitness, and are highly qualified and expert in their fields, so you can be certain you are in good hands.

located in a truly unique location (that many of their regular clients refer to as their ‘health haven’). The studios overlook the hampstead heath Ponds, a tranquil and beautiful setting that provides an ideal backdrop for healing and relaxing, both physically and mentally.

The fabulous team at suzanne Ferreira really understand the vital role of a healthy nanny to a family and in recognition of this, for the spring, they are offering a discount of 15% if you are a nanny, or want to treat your nanny. Just quote “healthy nanny/sugar&spice” to receive 15% discount at suzanne Ferreira Physiotherapy.

+44 (0)20 7209 491296c south hill Park, london nw3 2sn

a healthier nanny

now

and an estimate. In most cases our

clients go ahead with all of our

recommendations, but we’ll install just

what they feel they require to keep their

babies safe at home. The next 2 or 3

hours are spent assembling and

installing stair gates, cabinet locks,

furniture anchors, oven guards and all

the other bits and bobs necessary to

limit risk in a baby’s home.

Every once in a while we finish the

installation with enough time to spare

for a quick lunch. We’ll usually grab

something on the way to the next

appointment, which is scheduled for

13:30 or 14:00. Same process as the

morning and then we’re headed to the

warehouse to pack for the following day.

Once we get everything packed and ready,

I can head home to relieve the nanny and

catch up with the children around 17:30.

On a good day I can return any missed

calls and schedule appointments

between 17:30 and 18:00, then get dinner

for the children and start bath time. My

wife relieves me around 18:00 and I can

sort out invoices and payments before

reading a book for the children and

getting them to bed at 19:00. We make

dinner together and sit down to eat

sometime between 20:00 and 21:00.

After dinner I return e-mails and check

our accounts to update everything for

the morning.

Running a business is an exercise in time

management. It’s pretty rare that any

hour of the day doesn’t include elements

of commitments with the children and

business responsibility. It almost makes

the business a fifth member of the

family…albeit a less demanding member

than the children!

Our particular line of work also gives me

the chance to meet so many people

from different walks of life facing similar

challenges. I learn something new every

day from our clients and hope we can

offer something in return.

www.babysafehomes.co.uk

A day in the life of ....

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It seems to be accepted that potty

training happens later these days so

at 2 years and 4 months, William was still

in nappies as were most of his little

friends.

We were playing with the idea of it,

he was used to using the potty at certain

times of the day and could pretty much

wee on demand so, looking back he was

more than ready, but I had a handful of

the usual excuses that meant I was

putting off the big push. His sister

Alexandra was still very little, it wasn’t

warm enough to be outside yet, etc, etc.

You may or may not remember the

mini heat wave in March this year. Well it

coincided with William’s great

grandmother coming to stay. In her

generation, babies were put on the potty

after a feed from a few months old in

order to ‘catch’ what came out the other

end so, unbeknownst to me, her visit had

a hidden agenda. The first morning of

her stay we went out

for coffee. William was

becoming tired,

Alexandra was ready

for a feed but instead

of heading back home

I found myself being

frog-marched across town to buy big

boy pants! I had not prepared for the

event, I hadn’t read up on what to do, I

just found myself later that afternoon

out in the garden with a potty and a half

naked boy thrown head first into potty

training. By the end of the day I was

feeling very smug and also wondering

why I had put it off for so long as we had

not one pair of wet pants. However, the

following few days the novelty wore thin

for William and I found myself each

evening tackling the pile of wet

undergarments!

My grandmother’s visit came to an

end, but potty training stretched on and

on for me... A few weeks of spending

copious time hanging out in the

downstairs loo, dashes to find the

nearest toilet when out and about, even

an emergency trip from the library to

Marks and Spencer’s as being a novice at

this, I had packed spare pants but not spare

trousers- and, note: these get wet too!

A few months on and we are pretty

much there although we get the odd

accident when tired or forgetful, and

that’s fine. I wish I had understood

before I started that there were going to

be lots of accidents and that was ok, as I

might then have been more willing just

to give it a go.

Slugs and snails and babyhood talesmusings from a new mum by Kathryn Pople

..”I found myself being frog-marched across town to buy big boy pants” .....

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from alfredo’S table

SalMOn aranCInI

Last week, I experimented

with fish cakes – this week I

woke up in the early hours

of the morning after

dreaming about making

this dish! Scary but true.

I had a notion to blend the classic idea of

the rice ball – arancini – with the fish

cake. Arancini are one of my favourite

Italian nibbles whenever I am over there.

They originated in Sicily as far back

as the 10th century – so these babies

deserve respect! Classically they are

filled with a ragu or mozzarella or peas.

Sometimes olives. They are diverse in

their nature.

For my take on them, you will need;

serves 4 4 small skinned salmon fillets2 tbsps of breadcrumbsgood pinch of dried chilli and dillsingle serving of cooked (and cooled) rice

1Pop the salmon in the blender with the

herbs and add a good grinding of

black pepper and sea salt. Blitz until

roughly chopped

2Add the blended ingredients to a

bowl and add the cooled cooked rice

and mix well.

3Using your hands, take a portion of

the mixture and roll into balls.

4Place the balls onto a plate and

sprinkle over the breadcrumbs,

rolling the balls around in the crumbs

until fully coated.

5Warm about 2 tbsps of olive oil in a

frying pan and add the salmon rice

balls when hot.

6Move them around gently every

couple of minutes until they are

nicely golden brown (around 14 mins).

A super summer dish that ticks all the

boxes.

William’s little friend Olivia was potty

training at the same time as him and,

being a girl, seemed to be far superior

in her abilities. When I asked her mum

after a week how potty training was

going, the answer was we’ve done it -

I cried into my washing pile that night.

But, just to show that with little

children everything is a long road with

many a detour, last week at a toddler

group Olivia just stood in the middle of

the room and without taking down any

clothes created the largest puddle ever

known, then waited for her mum to spot

it. I was half tempted to feel a little smug

but then I checked myself as no doubt

that will be us next week!

www.ilovealfredos.com

kids weekThis annual event promoting West End

theatre for children returns – although

for 2014 it is actually running for the

whole month of August, instead of just a

week. Participating shows offer one

child (under-16) per adult to see the

performance for free, and up to two

extra children can go for half price with

no booking fees. Various theatres will

also be organising free activities and

events on stage and backstage, including

puppet-making classes, storytelling,

young writers workshops and more.

Tickets are on sale at the participating

theatres from 10am on June 17.

Plantasia

Get your children outdoors and back to

nature with a visit to Kew Gardens and

the Plantasia Festival. Here, you can slip

off your shoes and wander along the

Barefoot Walk to experience the many

different textures that nature has to

offer, or if you’re feeling brave, you can

climb the pagoda and take a look at the

stunning views across London. Children

under 16 enter the festival for free.

Festival runs from 24th May - 7th

September.

Seaside funIf you fancy enjoying some time at the

seaside, without leaving London, slip on

your flip flops, pick up a towel and relax

on the sands of Camden Beach! Not as

wacky an idea as it sounds - they have

150 tonnes of the finest sand, end-of-

the-pier amusements, pop-up fish

restaurant, beach huts (which you can

book for your group), rooftop garden,

swimming pool, ping pong, live music,

tasty food, ice-cold drinks... From 12-11pm,

Monday-Sunday; until 23 August.

What’s on this summer...floating cinemaHere in London we have seen cinema

screens popping up on rooftops, inside

derelict car parks, and within the centre

of historic squares thanks to Nomad

cinema. Now it’s time to jump ship and

catch a flick on the Capital’s rivers. This

summer, the Floating Cinema, lets you

hop aboard a converted canal boat, grab

a drink, and take in an on-board

screening of your favourite film as you

cruise past the banks of East London.

Alongside single screenings, there will be

boat tours hosted by comedians,

broadcasters and authors, and

‘weekenders’ offering a programme of

food, motion pictures, and music. A truly

unique cinematic experience.

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it’s all good by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen

This time we take a step away from our

usual reviews, to bring you details of a

fab new cookbook out there for all of us

who would like to eat more healthily.

Sometimes with ‘healthy’ cookbooks,

they look fantastic, but then you look

closely at the recipes and figure that

maybe you’ll make around 10 - 15% of

the recipes, which renders the book

virtually redundant. ‘it’s all good’

though is a real inspiration, brought

about after Gwyneth had a health scare

and needed to eliminate certain foods

from her diet.

Don’t be put off by ‘elimination diet’

though, this book very cleverly shows

you how to adapt the recipes depending

on whether you want to follow an

elimination diet or not. Overall, I was

pleasantly surprised at how easy the

recipes were to make, not requiring too

many obscure ingredients.

Whilst I can’t see myself getting hot

under the collar anytime soon about

lettuce wraps, there are certainly plenty

of really good healthy recipes in this

book that I’d be happy to make. If it’s

good enough for Gwyneth...

Reading Corner

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Telephone: 020 8906 4383

Mobile: 07785 391 378

web: www.sugarandspiceagency.com

email: info@sugarandspiceagency.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sugarspice-agency

Twitter: www.twitter.com/sugarspiceuk

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/sugarspice39