This week was not my finest, not by a long shot. When your day starts like this maybe you should’ve known!

This week Joss got the rotavirus, except I didn’t realise until we’d gone out for the day, to a museum, with a packed lunch and big plans.

OK so we saw the dinos, and the animals, I thought a bit about Night at the Museum and we had cake, and then it all went a bit wrong, and a bit smelly…

So we popped into a section of the Museum called the Mouse Hole, totally sweet little under fives room, with dressing up stuff and stuffed animals and a hole in the wall leading to a little secret room for children to hang out amongst softplay sized chunks of cheese cushions. Sounds great I hear you say. I looked in there though and it made me come out in a cold sweat, the entrance was teeny, I decided we’d play in the main room instead, until Joss asked for water, I headed for her bag as she headed for the mouse hole, “hang on darling, Mammy’s got your water, one sec”. Joss got in the mouse house. Too quick for me…

I peered through the adult height window, “come to Mammy sweetheart, lets play out here…please…” – “NO!”

Oh well, I thought, she’ll come out soon, but then I heard straining and grunting, and she was getting upset. Claustrophobic, I started to feel hot and ill, then the smell reached me, good grief!

I panicked.

My super Mam reflexes kicked in, did I push my fear aside and go in and get my girl?

I’m not proud of this but I had to get someone else’s four year old to bring Joss out for me, I couldn’t see an adult sized door and was too scared I’d get stuck in the toddler sized tunnel leading off the front door.

Having never had to bathe a child in a tiny sink I had my first and only wish that I had disposable and not washable wipes, I’ve also never looked at a cloth nappy and wished I could bin it rather than wash it, but this poor child has suffered this week

I’ve started a wee scarf for her and she has rested, I’m telling you now though, we aren’t going to that Mouse Hole again until she’s old enough to come back out!

Joss is never happier than when out and about, exploring! Now that she’s walking she really enjoys the daily walk we do to the Farm at the end of the street, but she tires easily so we often take it easy, but I’d been thinking of a toy we could take out to let her rest her legs for a little while.

She was lucky enough to have the opportunity to review a product from the Argos Dream Toys 2013 range – see the range here. We reviewed the Chad Valley 6-in-1 Ride On Quad.

As you can see there was a bit of fun for both of us involved in our first trip out with the Quad, and Monkey came along for the ride too!

She loved the wind in her hair and as we like an autumnal walk it was nice to go through the crunchy leaves too! This added a real fun element to what soon becomes boring as we do this walk a lot!

Indoors Joss had a good explore and I will probably pop the handle off so she can use it as a push along toy too.

I loved the sturdy design with side bars and back stop for safety, and the six in one design means that it is suitable for her younger friends too with the rocker option, or older playmates, and Joss herself in time to come when the parent handle option is no longer needed. As Joss is always on the go it would have been nice to have a harness to stop her hopping out but we use reins for walking anyway so used those for a little more security. As the handlebars control the front wheels she was still a little young to steer but we soon got the hang of turning slowly!

If buying as a gift I’d say give yourself an hour to assemble, and you will need some items from a toolbox, a hammer and a screwdriver. I assembled this on a Saturday when Joss was out with Daddy as it required a bit of hammering to fit the wheel caps, a bit noisy and fiddly with an impatient little one about, but quite a satisfying task to undertake for someone who likes making things. I thought the stickers were sweet too and as Joss loves stickers we added a few of our own!

Whether you have a younger baby and would like a rocker that grows with them, an active tot that who loves to walk but needs a break from walking, or an older one who loves to scoot about this might be the dream toy for you.

Review in collaboration with Argos

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