Having a baby increases the number of friends a woman has by eight, it has been found.

Researchers claim that before falling pregnant the average woman has just three friends they feel comfortable sharing secrets with and relying on.

But those with children say they have an average of 11 good mates - most of who they meet because of their kids.

Waiting at the school playground is said to be the place most moms make new friends, followed by mother and baby groups and the local nursery.

One in 10 have say they have met new pals whilst sweating it out at the gym… while trying to get away from the kids.

The Dunn's are not your average family -- they spend their days driving speeding vehicles, jumping through windows and setting themselves on fire.

The family-of-five from Vancouver have appeared in countless Hollywood movies including Catwoman, Poltergeist and X-Men 2.

Parents Jim and Celia think nothing of watching their children Connor, 15, Ali 11 and Austin, 9, fighting, exploding and climbing up the sides of buildings.

Amazingly the kids have never (yet) been injured while doing the crazy stunts… though Dad Jim has broke his leg seven times.

The average parent spends more than a month of their life playing with their children's toys by themselves, it has been found.
 
Researchers claim mums and dads mess around with toys such as dolls, cars and action figures for at least 22 minutes per day - when not playing with their child.
 
This means they fiddle with games, bricks and dolls for two hours and 34 minutes every week, which equates to nearly five days a year.
 
That means that while the child is between the ages of four and 11, the average parent will play alone for one month and 10 days.
 
Many parents also get upset when a child wants to play with a toy they are fiddling with… especially if the child makes a taller Lego tower.

Eight out of ten mums admit they have started rolling out the tried and tested adages their parents used to deal with them when they were kids.
 
Researchers found 'Because I said so' and 'Wait and see' are the most common retorts fired at the children along with 'If someone asked you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?'

'It'll end in tears' and 'who's she, the cat's mother?', also emerged as common answers to annoying questions - much like they did for previous generations.

The study of 3,000 mums found more than half intentionally use some of their parent's best loved phrases because they think it worked to discipline them.

But 40 per cent of mums admitted sometimes repeating things their parents said even though they didn't really know what it meant.

Four in 10 kids would rather receive expensive Christmas presents than spend time with Mum and Dad, it has been revealed.



A study has revealed that 13 million British children would prefer to receive a new games console, puppy or bike than undivided attention from their parents.



More than half of those polled said the very best thing about Christmas is seeing what presents are under the tree when they wake up.


However, 45 percent of kids admitted that having both mum and dad with them all day also makes Christmas special.

The most popular toys rivalling mum and dad's attention include computer games and mp3 players - which makes sense when you think about it, how could parents compete with a Nintendo Wii?

The average mum relies on just NINE different meals to feed her family, it has been found.


A study of 4,000 families found that nine in 10 moms cook the same meals over and over again - and one in four even have a set day of the week for different dishes.


The most common meal among the nation's mums was spaghetti bolognaise followed by roast dinners, a shepherd's or cottage pie and a pasta dish.


It was also found that dinner time takes the average mum 35 minutes from start to finish, and four in 10 mums play safe by choosing meals they know their family like.

Despite this odd news many of the moms admitting to keeping recipe books from the likes of Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith on their shelves just to impress visitors - but not ones coming round to eat.

A dog really is a man’s best friend - because dads end up having to care for the family pet, a study has revealed.



Despite being the most reluctant to get a dog researchers found it is dads who are left to feed, clean and exercise the dog.



The study of 2,500 pet owners revealed children are most instrumental in bringing a dog into the family with 28 per cent saying it was to appease a youngster.



It emerged 14 per cent of children were supposed to be solely responsible for making sure their new pet was fed regularly, cleaned and taken out for plenty of walks.

And they are, for the first couple of days. Then it's unenthusiastic dads who are left to take care of the animal.

Forty percent of parents say they feel inadequate and embarrassed when they can't answer questions their children ask.

Brain-teasers like "How is rain made?" and "Why is the sea salty?" are said to be the most embarrassing - because parents think they should know the answer.

A survey of over 3,000 parents found that 52 percent regularly have problems answering questions from their youngsters.

But a quarter say they have an easy solution, they make up an answer knowing their child will believe whatever they say. Another 24 percent try to distract the child by offering them something like sweets.

Hmmm, this could explain why my dad used to say so many things where "Just decided by God rolling a dice".

Boffins have created a piece of software which can tell why a baby is crying - after listening to it for just five seconds.

But that's not all, that have now released it as an iPhone app meaning you can just hold your phone near the baby and find out whether it is hungry, tired, bored, stressed or angry.

Biloop Technologies in Barcelona say that in clinical tests their £5.99 'Cry Translator' app had a 96 percent accuracy level in correctly deciphering the meaning of a baby’s cry.

Maybe that other four percent were crying because their parents kept waving an iPhone over their head rather than giving them a teddy.