Whether you are close to having a full football team, still squabble over the remote control, or are part of the 2.4 masses, this week is all about you – and your family.

As National Family Week kicks off we take a look at ways that you can spend more time with your tribe and we are offering support on family issues. Being a Parent isn’t an easy role and brings with it an immense amount of responsibility.

So to make your life that little bit easier, all week we will be bringing you God focused advice on surviving the recession as a family, being a single parent, raising a family when your partner doesn’t believe, and much more.

Inspirational Breakfast

John has a family ticket to Alton Towers to giveaway every day this week on Inspirational Breakfast. The Family ticket allows 2 adults and 2 children to visit the resort anytime until the end of October. For the best value Resort deals, book your adventure in advance at www.altontowers.com or phone 0871 222 9901 and receive an incredible 10% discount off your stay! Plus, hotel guests receive park and waterpark access for the duration of their stay! Enter the competition.

Woman To Woman

Maria has found something that the whole family can use during National Family Week. We are pleased to be able to offer a copy of the fantastic Bumper Book of Nature by Stephen Moss everyday this week, courtesy of Random House. With The Bumper Book Of Nature the whole family will want to switch off the television and computer, pull on their wellingtons and get outside to discover the endless bounty, beauty and fascination of nature right on our doorstep. Enter the competition!

Lavishly designed with over 160 full-colour illustrations of British wildlife and flora, along with gorgeous black-and-white line drawings throughout, this beautiful and timeless book will be treasured for years to come by children and parents alike.

Lucy Brierley is a minister in the United Reformed Church. She writes a monthly column for the magazine of the URC "Reform" on how she (along with Husband Justin) manages to balance being a mum with being a full time church pastor.

Juggling Act

There is a time in the morning known only to parents of new-borns. That time between 2am and 5am when you wake bleary-eyed to the crying of the baby, and your only thought is “I need to go back to sleep!”

This morning, after a particularly bad night of two-hourly feeds, I realise how complicated life can get when there’s a big brother in the equation as well.

5.45am – Noah (the three year-old) bounds into our bedroom, flings back the curtains and announces “It’s morning! Breakfast time!” I glance at the clock in disbelief and try to persuade Noah to go back to bed.

6.15am – The demands for Weetabix have become so persistent that, for fear of eight week old baby Grace waking up, I prod my husband Justin (who has a wonderful ability to sleep through all of this) and he begrudgingly gets up. I roll over to try to close my eyes for even a few more minutes, convinced that I’ve actually been awake for virtually the entire night.

6.25am – My heart sinks when, in the midst of my beautiful, precious sleep, the grizzles in the cot next to me build to a crescendo. I know that in a few moments Grace will have woken fully and that will be it. I wonder how I will survive the day on so little sleep. My thoughts wander – what happens come September when my maternity leave finishes and I resume ministerial duties at Woking United Reformed Church? I try to block out the visions of me dropping off to sleep during prayer meetings or reading my sermon back to front without noticing (even worse, the congregation failing to notice).

6.27am – Back to reality. I psyche myself up to lift my head off the pillow. I peer into the cot and the moment baby Grace sees me, she rewards my efforts with a beaming smile. That glorious sight is the perfect antidote to even the most severe case of sleep deprivation.

7am – Justin has left for work and I’ve just finished feeding the baby. I go upstairs to change her, leaving Noah playing downstairs on his own (big mistake). Fifteen minutes later I return to find him chilled out on the sofa, watching TV, his face and hands covered in chocolate. He’s been merrily munching his way through a rather nice box of chocolates our church secretary had kindly brought back for me from her recent holiday. It’s my fault for leaving them out on the coffee table.

When I ask him how many he’s had he simply replies “lots”. I can’t decide if I’m more concerned about the loss of most of my chocolates or how, with a screaming baby in my arms, I’m going to get Noah to the bathroom without little chocolatey hands covering the sofa, walls and goodness knows what else. I coax him up to the bathroom, encouraging him to keep his hands above his head.

8.50am – I finally manage to make a cup of coffee and take it into the lounge to sit down for moment. When I get up I feel something squidgy beneath me and stand up to discover I’ve sat on a lump of melted dark chocolate left over from Noah’s earlier feast. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when he innocently comments “I didn’t like that one Mum!”

Read more from Lucy Brierley next week and find out more about Reform at www.urc.org.uk/reform