Amanda Holden on refusing to be a tiger mum and giving her children time to rest during the school holidays
HELLO from Manchester!
I’m here to film BBC kids’ programme The Worst Witch, in which I play a character called Miss Pentangle, the headmistress of the academy of witches.
She’s a good witch (of course) and loves the colour pink just like me. She’s basically Cher from the movie Clueless in a pointy hat!
I took the role mainly because the series is one of Lexi and Hollie’s favourites, and I love it when they can see my work.
I’m really fortunate that most of the jobs I do are completely kid-friendly – nothing naughty! – so I don’t have to stop them watching.
When they’re older I’ll let them watch shows like Cutting It from before I became a mum, but for now they are always in the forefront of my mind when I’m accepting job offers.
After I finish filming, the girls and I are Cornwall-bound to spend some time with my mum and dad. It will be lovely to have some family time before we all go back to work and school in September.
My mum, who’s 67, is obsessed with bodyboarding, so I’ll mostly be found looking like a drowned rat.
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She thinks wetsuits are for wimps, so here’s hoping the weather is kind!
Now the summer holidays are in full swing, I’m trying to strike a balance between letting the girls completely relax and keeping their brains active.
There’s so much pressure now from schools not to waste these weeks, but I’m no tiger mother – I think it’s important kids get time to rest, too.
I’ve bought them some scrapbooks, and they each have a little Polaroid camera that I’ve been encouraging them to take snaps with every day, which they can paste into their book with a caption underneath. It keeps them busy and it’s a lovely way to remember the summer.
And finally… I’ve had a wonderful year writing this column, but it’s time for me to say farewell for now.
Thanks to my Fabulous family – and especially to you!
I’ve loved every minute of it and hope you have enjoyed reading, too.
If you've enjoyed reading Amanda's Fabulous columns, catch up on how she copes with being an 'older mum' and the secret 'no one knew' about her presenting This Morning.