Latest blogs
An Officer and a Gentleman at Leeds Grand Theatre: Review
The Review by Panni Loh (Mama Mei's Mama!) From the outset there was an excited buzz in the air as audience assembled to experience the iconic An Officer and a Gentleman made famous by Richard Gere. Audio visuals of anything from Reagan to McDonalds fries fast...
Hello Anxiety – you’re back with a vengeance
"I'm so anxious" is bounded around as a colloquial phrase for what some people actually mean is: "Work' is a bit stressful" or "something is worrying me." It's not a competition, far from it, but I do struggle with the dilution and over-use of mental illness terms for...
Theatre and mental health: My escape from drama
On stage I can be whoever I want to be, that's why I have always loved acting. It is an escape from real-life where you get to express your deepest emotions but with the safety net of embodying another person. But my days of youth theatre weren't just an escape for me...
Eating Disorder Project: Big news and join us for the journey!
I’ve signed a book contract! But rather than create something under a veil of secrecy and merely tease you with an Amazon pre-order link, I want you to join me and be part of the process. We have 10 months to write a book - a project about eating disorders (ED) and...
About me
Mama Mei (aka Sophie Mei Lan) is a multi-award-winning blogger and vlogger specialising in gentle-ish parenting and mental health.
Mum-of-two Sophie can be found running with her buggy throughout Yorkshire or breastfeeding, drinking coffee and eating Vegan food.
She is a qualified journalist and film-maker, having worked for local and national press as well as being dubbed “Britain’s best Bellydancer!”.
Sophie has now turned her talents to blogging, vlogging, column writing, speaking, and running Blog Up North Magazine and Influencer Network.
She chats mainly about parenting, health & fitness, lifestyle, food and business. As well as doing lots of reviews of places to go, things to do and where to travel with the family. And she loves competitions!
Family
National Breastfeeding Week: How important is support to breastfeed?
When I accidentally fell pregnant with my first child, I panic bought all the "pregnancy essentials," or at least what I believed to be a necessity such as dummies, bottles and formula milk. Little did I know I was totally wasting my money but I had never seen anyone...
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Post-Natal Care: After Care not After Thought
There's so much focus on your pregnancy - the scans, blood tests, ante-natal classes and there's all the information on having a healthy pregnancy and planning for the birth. Then there's the "what to pack in your hospital bag" pressure... So you've got your phone...
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Real Life Reads: Yorkshire Tots to Teens – days out & activities founder
People are often surprised to find the the person running a site called Yorkshire Tots to Teens is American. Yorkshire Tots to Teens' Erin EK Rush said: "I am actually from Montana in the US. I grew up on my grandpa’s cattle ranch until I was about 10 when we moved to...
read moreHealth
Mad Mum: Am I safer in a mental health hospital or at home with the kids?
I’ll never forget the wailing in the room next door to mine. It sounded as if someone was being violently attacked. The girl was screaming and yelling “no, stop.” Well that’s as much as I could make out. But she wasn’t being attacked. She was being fed a protein...
My mental health made me give up my dream job
I wear my heart on my sleeve and I am pretty open about EVERYTHING but I've not really said much about this. The reason I gave up my dream job. You may have read or watched me talking about my career as a journalist... I started out as a bright young bellydancer and...
Creatively crazy: A life lesson I live by
“There was never a genius without a tincture of madness…” If Aristotle said it, then it must be true. It's something I've lived by anyway as it helps me to accept my high times when my creativity is going wild and I have all these life changing ideas as well as the...
Competitions
Diggerland: Win a family ticket to visit the theme park
My girls are now digger fans! Before visiting Diggerland they'd never really shown an interests in JCBs or any vehicles really. But our trip to Diggerland changed all that! From skillful digger challenges to being spun around in the air by Spin Dizzy, the theme park...
Win an eco-friendly cleaning hamper with Seventh Generation
I never thought I'd be writing about cleaning. I always thought life was too short to spend too much time scrubbing. But now I'm the proud owner of two mess-makers aka kids - I find myself spending at least an hour a day trying to manage the chaos of spilt drinks,...
Ebookadabra: Netflix style reading app for kids + WIN A SUBSCRIPTION
I'll admit it - we are all slightly addicted to "screen time" in this house. Whether it be justified as "work" or just "chilling" - we have the tech-bug big time! And for a little while the bedtime story was replaced by watching YouTube for Kids. Positive Screen-time...
Food and Drink
Your online grocery shopping assistant & meal planner – a must for busy people #Sp
Being a stay-at-home-working-mum, fitness fanatic and wife of a chef means our household is always busy. I find myself being a reactive person these days rather than organised, which doesn't feel good. I tend to shop daily for healthy food to feed the family but...
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Eating Disorders at Easter: How to care for someone suffering
I've not mentioned my eating disorder for a while because thankfully it has taken a bit of a backseat in my life (with a whole lot of will power and therapy). But it is still lurking which made me think of the challenges faced by those with a variety of eating...
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Bolognese, Lasagne and Huevos Rancheros recipes #ThankGoodness
Whether you're cooking breakfast, lunch, dinner or all three, we've got simple tasty recipes for some mid-week magic at your dinner table. And this comes from me - a rustic, impatient and forced home-cook. I've found my own secret "cheat" ingredient - using Dolmio...
read moreLife
Real Life Reads: Meet the founder and campaigner for #Bullieswontwin
"I was severely bullied myself growing up to the point I actually told my mum I didn't want to live anymore. I was made to feel useless and ugly and it made my self esteem low. "I didn't realise how easy it would be to get help and suffered many years of it and even...
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Kids craft ideas: Sculptures, pebbles, finger painting, magnets, cards, birds & bottles
When I'm stuck for things to do at the weekend (whilst my husband is either working as a private chef or playing cricket/squash/football) I always end up at the Hepworth Gallery Wakefield. Now, I have to admit I have never been an 'art gallery type person' - my mum's...
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Terrorist Attacks: Don’t look back in anger but forward with defiance and compassion
I am very lucky to have been brought up in two very liberal households. It was only when starting school that I realised that not everyone was as open as me. I became subject to racist and homophobic abuse (I am mixed race and my Dad is Gay). But I have always been...
read moreEntertainment
The Scarecrows Wedding: A sweet and tuneful day out at the theatre #review
From the moment the show starts, you're immersed in the sweet story of the scarecrows. We all know how stressful wedding planning can be and it appears that even scarecrows get caught up in it too! We were tapping along to #TheScareCrowsWedding @westyorkshireplayhouse...
Gangsta Granny: WIN tickets to see David Walliams’ childrens book live on stage
Watch out! The cabbage-crunching, criminal master-mind, GANGSTA GRANNY is coming to Leeds Grand Theatre and we're giving away 10 tickets to see the show! It’s Friday night and Ben knows that means only one thing – staying with Granny. There will be cabbage soup,...
Federico Fellini's Oscar-winning film LA STRADA live on stage
A theatre show for the adults this time... and I'd love to know what film you'd like to see at the theatre? One of the true masterpieces of modern cinema, Federico Fellini’s 1957 Oscar-winning film, La Strada (The Road), will be brought to life on stage in a...
Reviews
Blowing out the candles on birthday party politics: The rules
Invites: If you want to invite one person to a birthday party from a group/club/class/clique, you must invite the entire group/club/class, no exceptions, so nobody is left out. Birthday Cake: It should be bigger than the cake at the last party you went to. The...
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Family travel in Malaysia: Staying at Lanson Place Kuala Lumpur
After a long and sweaty four-hour car journey in the humid heat we were ecstatic to arrive at Lanson Place Serviced Apartments. We'd transferred from a few days in the jungle with animals, bugs and Mosquitos to...
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Restaurant Review Kuala Lumpur: Samadhi Retreats has a unique offering at Tamarind Springs
Just a 15 minute drive from the centre of Kuala Lumpur, and we found ourselves transported into a secret garden offering fine food. This "exotic dining experience" takes place in a traditional building perfectly set amongst lush greenery with flowing waterfalls. And...
read moreTravel and things to do
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