There is nothing wrong with a sleep over they are great fun, but if your child is going on one there are a few things you need to check.

Where are they staying? Obviously this is the most important of all questions. It is best to make a call to the family hosting the event, or if you are the host, why not be pro active and phone the parents concerned first.

Important Questions

What time do they arrive? Being fashionably late is not really an issue for children.

What time to be picked up? Very important not be be left last the next morning.

Are they going out, and how are they getting there? Just for piece of mind, you know who is driving you child and where they may be going, fast food, cinema etc.

What do they need to bring? Do they need bedding, food, what clothes? Very important for your child not to be left out.

Supa Swap's advice is not to put restrictions in the way of your child having fun but just be vigilant.

However so has the choice. I remember as a child only having three channels to watch and how much of an event it was when a fourth channel started. Today with the advent of digital and satellite TV, we have hundreds of channels.

Safe TV

So what is safe for your children to watch. Well some TV systems, sky for instance comes with child protective measures built in. they will rate films etc and then you can not access them without your pin code.

There are also a huge number of educational programs out there but be aware that an educational program about World War II could be just as graphic as an 18 film.

Watch TV with your child, the TV is not a baby sitter, it is an entertainment too, so share the experience and every now and again, turn the TV off and do something as a family.

With so much choice out there the best advice we can give from Supa Swap is if you do not like it, change the channel, you have the choice.

The box contained letters I had written as a child, programs from concerts and school events, and old baby tooth, a few pictures and other bits and pieces.

The box certainly looked well used and I imagined that on lonely nights they must have regularly looked through these items and relived very fond memories.

Happy Memories

It is then I started to do the same and started to look through the items and read the letter I had written when I was young. My spelling was atrocious but apart from that it did relive many memories that i had forgotten.

So before you throw out mementoes, just think about what effect they may have in later life on you and your children.

Thats all from the Supa Swap Parent Blog for this week.

Many of the points brought up when we talked about cam corders are also relevant for the use of cameras. Of course these days we are talking about digital cameras because of the ease of use and flexibility. It is hard to believe that anyone would be using old film unless they were a real old school professional photographer.

Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes but one of the post important points to look for is resolution and storage space. Try and get the best quality of picture taking with the highest resolution but be aware that the higher the resolution the more storage you will need.

Storage is an Issue

Check out what storage methods the camera uses. Most cameras will almost certainly download to a computer so make sure the camera is compatible.

The big difference with digital cameras is the need for a good printer if you wish to display your pics. You can buy photo paper and most printers will print these out but best to check or you may find the extra expense of a printer on your shopping list.

Back up you pictures, they are irreplaceable and enjoy recording your very happy memories.

Video cameras have come a very long way since the days when they first came on the market. I remember my first one, very bulky, not many features and very expensive. Oh and almost forgot it weighed a ton.

Cameras today are very light weight and easy to use. They are packed with features that make producing a good quality end product very easily.

Special Moments

Recording special moments with your child is very important, they first time they crawl, the first time they walk, their first words; these are moments that should not be lost.

There are so many cameras on the market we would like to give you a few pointers about what to look for.

Does the camera record the date and time? This makes it so much easier to remember when the special event happened.

Does the camera have a lot of recording capacity? Most cameras today have internal hard drives to record on and it is worth checking out how long a film can be stored.

Does the camera link to you computer? There are many software packages out there on the market that make editing your film very easy. Check what is available and that your cameral can download to them.

One final point. Make a back up of your films. They are irreplaceable and if you have a hard drive crash you could loose special memories for ever.

Over the next few weeks we at Supa Swap Parents blog are going to look at ways, as parents, we can record the formative years of our children.

In this very digital age it is very easy to think of any record being on a computer, but on this blog we want to look at a very un digital method of keeping those special memories, the baby book.

There are times we forget what a pen and paper are but in this case there is something quite special about writing information about you baby. A baby book is something you can keep and hand on to your children and records some very special information.

Pictures can obviously be included and weight, measurements and you thoughts but items that can not be recorded on a computer can also be included. The first lock of hair and the first tooth they loose (after the tooth fairy is finished with it obviously) to name two.

Something Very Special

A baby book is a very special memento and one well worth doing. I still take out the one for my children and look at it in those quiet moments of the day.

In the past it was possible to closet your child away from the more negative sides of the world but today it is almost impossible.

With this in mind I think it is even more important to lead by example when it comes to being a parent. Do as I say not as I do, does not always work.

Supa Swap a Positive Experience

Supa Swap is a website that is designed so that children and adults can share a positive online experience and parents can show a child how to behave online and how to behave in a fiscally responsible way. Perhaps something parents could look at doing in other aspects of their life.

Ok sermon over. I know from experience that being a parent is not easy and that theory and practice are not always the same. I look forward to some robust comments.

Those of you who have a sixteen year old at home are about to experience a unique time in their lives.

Probably for the last time in their lives they are about to have nothing to do. GCSE exams are over, A Levels have not started. They literally have no responsibilities on them, no worries, no commitments.

Now after you have got over being jealous (and we at Supa Swap would love a little time off with no responsibilities) the next problem is to work out what to do with them over the summer.

Travel

Foreign travel is always a possibility and as they say it broadens the mind. However at 16 they are not ready to travel alone and you may not be able to take time off yourself. Of course it is also the most expensive time to travel.

In the states you would have sent you child off to Summer Camp and in the UK there are summer school and residential courses available.

Work Experience 

Back in our day (doesn't that make us sound old) we would have found a job but that is not always easy, but work experience is always a possibility and may help students decide on A level choices. Remember though these positions are for experience not pay.

After GSCEs a couple of weeks off is quite enough. Don't let them lounge about the whole summer. Motivate them to aspire to something better.

Supa Swap want to discus the difficulties and stress of moving house.

Moving house is said to be one of the most stressful times of our lives, saying that marraige and death is on a par.

Waiting Game

Once you have the moving date then the waiting game starts, seling a house can take up to 3 months to complete from the offer stage. In some european countries like Spain or Germany then to make an offer a deposit has to be paid to secure the property, then the property has to be taken off the market and can be completed in as quick as 2 weeks, but if the purchaser pulls out of the sale then they loose their deposit. If the vendor decides not to sell then double the deposit has to be paid.

Made Easy

Once the sale has been completed then the fun starts. Packing boxes and getting all the adresses changed can be daughnting. If you go into the post office then they offer a redirection service for a year so any missed post will still reach you. Calling the gas and electric can be done with one simple call shutting down the old account and starting the new one.

So moving house need not be so stressfull, be patient. Happy moving from Supa Swap.

Supa Swap are you ready for a Dog?

Answer the questions below and see if your family really is ready for a Dog, there is so much to consider, and remember the parents normally get left to feed, clean and walk the Dog. The biggest things to consider is, A: is the house big enough and, B: can we afford the vet bills.

Right Time For A Dog