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    <title>Chorley Citizen | Helen Mead</title>
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    <pubDate>Sun, 26 May 2013 07:49:43 +0100</pubDate>
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           <title>Blog: Being a canny shopper isn't easy</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10430763.Blog__Being_a_canny_shopper_isn_t_easy/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  What a proud mother she must be, I thought, as I read about the so-called ‘Coupon Kid’.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 13:33:31 +0100</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: I break the rules and I don't feel guilty</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10401885.Blog__I_break_the_rules_and_I_don_t_feel_guilty/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  My children went through a phase of telling me off. Going through traffic lights on amber, using charity bags as bin liners and swearing – all of which I know I shouldn't do – they picked me up on it.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 13:35:09 +0100</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: The fun has gone out of photobooths</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10386630.Blog__The_fun_has_gone_out_of_photobooths/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  MUM, can I please have another £5?’ I suspected this would happen, that my daughter wouldn’t be satisfied with the set of pictures she had just ordered from the instant photo booth.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:33:47 +0100</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: My filing habit is out of control</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10355914.Blog__My_filing_habit_is_out_of_control/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  L AST week, my 14-year-old daughter asked me to add something to my supermarket shopping list.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:49:03 +0100</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: Lack of respect is universal</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10340722.Blog__Lack_of_respect_is_universal/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  “I get no respect in this house.” That’s the phrase I use most when I’m repeatedly ignored and verbally insulted by my teenage daughters.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:20:10 +0100</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: It's all too depressing for words!</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10311813.Blog__It_s_all_too_depressing_for_words_/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  WHAT is happening to our language? Poor English, bad grammar and a flagrant disregard for correct use of the apostrophe seem to be part of 21st Century life.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:11:42 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: I'm an 'exploder', my husband's an 'imploder'</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10296696.Blog__I_m_an__exploder___my_husband_s_an__imploder_/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  MY husband is always telling me I have an anger problem.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:56:47 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: Reasons to be disappointed that spring is here</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10281099.Blog__Reasons_to_be_disappointed_that_spring_is_here/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  There’s nothing like a spot of sunshine for throwing gloom on what should be a good day.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:18:05 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: Why I now put my feet first for comfort</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10265395.Blog__Why_I_now_put_my_feet_first_for_comfort/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Last year my eldest daughter bought her first pair of high-heeled shoes.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:23:49 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Column: Children are so wasteful</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10249809.Column__Children_are_so_wasteful/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  I couldn’t believe my youngest daughter’s reply when I told her to stop leaving the tap running at full power while she cleaned her teeth.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:15:17 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: No wonder we're all so stressed</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10235237.Blog__No_wonder_we_re_all_so_stressed/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Life was so much simpler in the old days, for example: The other night, my daughters fancied a take-away.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:03:00 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: I love my cat more than my husband</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10220236.Blog__I_love_my_cat_more_than_my_husband/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  AS Valentine’s Day approaches, I’m going to confess: I love my cat more than my husband.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:43:03 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: The other half's most vexing habits</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10204955.Blog__The_other_half_s_most_vexing_habits/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  I was pleased to see the following words on a list of the ten things women find most annoying about their partners.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:08:52 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: Now I play the 'worse illness than you' game</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10189384.Blog__Now_I_play_the__worse_illness_than_you__game/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Catch it, Bin it, Kill it. That, we are told, is how we can keep coughs and colds to ourselves and prevent germs spreading to others.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:23:41 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: Blue Monday? I'm fed up all the time</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10175036.Blog__Blue_Monday__I_m_fed_up_all_the_time/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  If you woke up today in a pit of despair, don’t be too concerned. Today is Blue Monday — the most depressing day of the year, so-called due to a range of factors including the weather, post-Christmas debt and lack of motivation.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:38:47 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: The case for rationing modern life</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10145010.Blog__The_case_for_rationing_modern_life/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  I've had to hide the chocolates. This is nothing to do with diet-related new year resolutions. Now the schools are back, I can't possibly leave the house littered with boxes of confectionery given to us at Christmas. The place looks like the production line at Nestle and I don’t want the kids to come home while we are at work and chomp their way through seven boxes of Matchmakers, two chocolate oranges and a Toblerone the size of a telegraph pole.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:14:05 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Blog: Fashion just becomes more absurd</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10112596.Blog__Fashion_just_becomes_more_absurd/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  WHEN teenage boys began wearing those trousers with the crotch around the knees I thought I’d seen it all.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:12:52 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Buying presents for teenagers is hard work</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10098749.Buying_presents_for_teenagers_is_hard_work/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Christmas was so much easier when my children were younger.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:40:18 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Regrets . . . where do I start?</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10085563.Regrets_______where_do_I_start_/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  I WISH I hadn’t lost my temper with my teenage daughter last weekend.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:48:40 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Secret agents aren't really like James Bond</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10071176.Secret_agents_aren_t_really_like_James_Bond/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  “I’VE just has one of the most awful afternoons,” my neighbour told me after a visit to the cinema.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:23:54 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Column: If you see me coming, just say hello!</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10057140.Column__If_you_see_me_coming__just_say_hello_/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  ON a recent walk my husband and I had an argument. It centred around the fact that I smile at other walkers and say ‘hello’, while he remains grumpily silent.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:20:06 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Now I'm just the invisible woman</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10041631.Now_I_m_just_the_invisible_woman/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  HOW do you get people’s attention these days? The only way I get my children to look me in the eye and have a conversation with me is to confiscate their mobile phones and lock the laptop in the car.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:41:21 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>We celebrate the saving of Parliament!</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10027275.We_celebrate_the_saving_of_Parliament_/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  THIS year has been the quietest lead up to bonfire night ever.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:53:58 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Column: Getting into the spirit of Hallowe’en</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10013563.Column__Getting_into_the_spirit_of_Hallowe___en/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  A couple of years ago, while making jellies filled with worms (confectionery, not garden, variety), draping fake cobwebs over banisters and sticking plastic spiders on windows, I heaved a sign of relief knowing that as my children were getting older, I wouldn’t have to go through this ritual for much longer.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:06:56 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>I can't get into the Hallowe'en spirit</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/10012833.I_can_t_get_into_the_Hallowe_en_spirit/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  A couple of years ago, while making jellies filled with worms (confectionery, not garden, variety), draping fake cobwebs over banisters and sticking plastic spiders on windows, I heaved a sign of relief knowing that as my children were getting older, I wouldn’t have to go through this ritual for much longer.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:13:01 +0000</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Can men and women be friends?</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/9999412.Can_men_and_women_be_friends_/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Can men and women be friends? That was the question in When Harry Met Sally, and the reason I bought the film for my 16-year-old daughter.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:18:48 +0100</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Give me a comfy cardi any day</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/9985213.Give_me_a_comfy_cardi_any_day/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  I recently read a newspaper article asking husbands what they really thought about their wife’s dress sense.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:23:59 +0100</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>I'm sending out a house SOS</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/9971953.I_m_sending_out_a_house_SOS/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  I’ve never been tempted to sign up for a reality TV show. However much my husband pleads with me, I haven’t put myself forward for Wife Swap, and I ignore my daughters’ suggestions that I’m the ideal candidate for Extreme Makeover.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:26:07 +0100</pubDate>
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    <item>
           <title>Why are we gingers still a laughing stock?</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/9958397.Why_are_we_gingers_still_a_laughing_stock_/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  IT’S 2012. Red-haired people have been around for thousands of years – they’re even mentioned in the bible, for heaven’s sake.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 01 Oct 2012 10:20:43 +0100</pubDate>
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           <title>Column: Dog walkers size each other up</title>
           
           <link>http://www.chorleycitizen.co.uk/blogs/helenmead/9946038.Column__Dog_walkers_size_each_other_up/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  DOG walking isn’t as easy as it looks.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:01:58 +0100</pubDate>
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