Back to School - Speeding up your Morning with M&S

I don't expect that I need to tell you (yet again) that I love M&S, it is my shop of choice. If I need something to wear and want it to be stylish and good quality then M&S is were I go to. Yes I may pay a few more pounds for a similar item to what I might get at the supermarket but the cut, the sewing and the quality of the fabric is just in a different league and the same is true for school uniform as well

For quite a few years my Mum worked as a shop assistant in M&S and this has left her with a wonderful legacy - the discount card! So each year around July before school breaks up my mum gets in touch and asks me what the kids need for the year ahead and then she goes and buys it and yes I do realise she is a complete angel.

There are certain items that I only buy from M&S as they are just so much better than other shops. Girls pleated skirts are one of these things. I can't stand cheap skirts that when you wash them, they lose their pleats and you have to spend time ironing them in, it takes forever and never looks as good as when you bought them. So M&S permanent pleat skirts are just perfect and my girls look really smart in them and they last so well that I can pass them on to a friends child as well. This one Miss E is modelling here is her newest buy and it cost just £9 in her size (age 9-10 years), it has an adjustable waist, uses crease resistant technology to stay smart all day long and has Triple Action Stormwear™, which is a technology that repels water, oil and releases stubborn stains keeping you dry in rain showers and helping to repel mud and release ground-in stains.

10 Top tips for a stress free school morning

I often hear parents talk about how they pull their hair our before school each day and I have to confess that this is one area we do not suffer any problems with, so I thought it would be a good idea to share my tips for ensuring the morning goes without a hitch.

My children are now 7, 7 and 11 and until 18 months ago I was a work out-of-the-home Mum so we needed to leave home by about 7.30am and I had school breakfast club and nursery drops to do, so I do know the pressure of an early morning and multiple children.

Of course my life has changed now and I feel very blessed that we do not need to leave home until 8.25am and as the kids are older they are now more self-sufficient.  Boy did it use to be fun when I had two 18 month old twins to wake, feed, clean-up and dress as well as a 5 year old boy t shepherd and direct, all to leave home by 7.30am.