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Tess Daly: Sneaking in their five-a-day and meeting Prince Harry

Guest writer Tess Daly's latest blog reveals her trick to get kids to eat their vegetables, meeting Prince Harry and London Fashion Week.




And relax...!

We're now beginning to settle back into the swing of the school routine. Both girls love their new teachers and classmates and mercifully, Amber got through her first school week without too many meltdowns! ;)

We quickly learned that getting Amber to bed early was key (not easy with an older sister on a later schedule) but bedtime post 7pm led to MAJOR over-tired tantrums! Other reception mums told me their little ones had taken to falling asleep as early as 5.30pm and slept straight through to morning. Bless! It's a lot for a 4-year-old to get used to after all.

This week I’m aiming for less rushed mornings so I've started setting the table for breakfast the night before. It makes it much quicker when hungry mouths are waiting to be fed and, due to lack of time, I'd got into the (bad) habit of skipping breakfast, so this works for me too!

[Tess Daly: Back To School, Back To Strictly]
[Samantha Wood: Why I love it when my children wake me up in the night]

I make breakfast sundaes with the girls - Greek yoghurt layered with fresh fruit (I use bananas, pineapple and strawberries) topped with granola and drizzled honey. A scrumptious AND healthy breakfast for all and on colder mornings, I substitute the yoghurt for porridge.

My children are allowed sweet treats on weekends and holidays, but I'm a stickler for an overall healthy diet, and relish devising ingenious (cunning!) ways to get them to eat their five-a-day.

When I ask them if they want any fresh fruit or vegetables they'll usually say ‘no’. BUT if I present them with a plate of crudités arranged into a smiley face it engages their interest and they wolf down the lot!



Each week my children look forward to our organic fruit and vegetable box delivery. It’s great as it’s all seasonal and grown right here in the UK. Come Tuesday morning they race to be first to see what's in the box and enjoy trying new flavours and textures of goodies they never tasted before.

This week their first-try foods included pink grapefruit ("a bit sour") and
radish ("toooo spicy, mummy!").

On Wednesday I can't wait to be reunited with my great pal Sir Terry Wogan as we're filming a TV clip for Children In Need. It'll be great to catch up my other CIN co-hosts too; lovely new mum Fearne Cotton and DJ Nick Grimshaw, for what will no doubt be an afternoon of fun and frolics and all for a good cause.

[Aurora James: I admit it - we love family food shopping]
[Kash Salem: Why I always look forward to weekend breakfast]

There’s a lot to look forward to this weekend too. Phoebe, my eldest, has a friend’s make-your-own-chocolate birthday party for which I've volunteered to be chief taster (yum).

There’s also great excitement as we count the sleeps until Thursday when Amber will have her first ever ballet lesson. She’s been Pirouetting around the living room since she could walk and as her favourite film is ‘Barbie In The Pink Shoes’ she's been desperate to emulate her heroine in style with the pink ballet shoes and tutu!

I’ll be admiring style of a different kind over at London Fashion Week with the last of the S/S14 catwalk shows. I'm looking forward to the new collection by hot new designer Simone Rocha (she's following in dad John’s designer footsteps).

Seeing as after next week my busy workload will only allow time for online shopping I'm also planning on indulging in a little (a lot of!) retail therapy. Fortunately 8–year-old Phoebe has reached the age when she actually enjoys coming shopping with me - especially if it involves a trip to Claire’s Accessories or the Disney Store!



Finally, after meeting charity patron Prince Harry when co-hosting last week’s ‘Well Child Awards’ with Vernon I'm now a huge fan. He has a wonderful sense of humour and is hugely passionate about the charity and is indeed an all-round lovely chap.

Have a great week whatever you're up to-and join me next week for more musings on motherhood and the likes!

Lots of Love

Tess xxx

Read more from guest writer Tess Daly:

Tess Daly: Back To School, Back To Strictly