When you have children your whole life changes. Time for relaxation is limited, and duvet days watching endless episodes of Teen Mom are long gone. Also gone are your lie-ins and the two hour getting-ready sessions before a girl’s night out. Things you once took for granted are no longer possible.

Nowhere is this better felt than when you’re on holiday. What used to be the booziest time of the year with hours laid in the sun is now stressful, chaotic and exhausting. I used to use the severity of my sunburn to tell me if I’ve had a successful tanning session in the sun, now I actively shy away from it. And the 10am beer atop a deafening hangover is now quick sips of Diet Coke in-between rounds of “Here Comes the Aeroplane” whilst trying to get the kids to eat a foreign version of Frosties.

A trip down the beach is completely transformed. Now you’re laden with bags crammed high with bottles, nappies, and creams. Your beach-time essential accessory is no longer your Gucci sunglasses, it’s two lots of bucket and spades (of course you can’t possibly ask them to share!) and hastily bought arm bands from a beach-side pop-up shop.

Now, you head for the busy section of the beach with umbrellas and sunshades to rent. And every time you’re shocked at the ridiculous price you pay for that precious square metre of shade. You cram the kids in, and the bags (lest the bottles of Evian get warm and yucky), and mum and dad lay either side acting as passport control to the sun; your kids can’t pass until they’ve been lathered in Factor 50.

Well imagine you never had to pay for shade again. You could buy a beach umbrella that folds down to a tiny roll that weighs just 2kg. It fits comfortably into your suitcase and doesn’t eat into your shoe quota or luggage allowance. You can sling it over your shoulder when you head out of your chalet and it’s so lightweight you barely feel it. When you need it, it’s assembled in seconds and opens up into a full sized beach umbrella.

Not just for the beach, you can take it on picnics, to festivals, or simply use it in the garden… You can whack it in the car boot and just grab it when needed.

Did I mention it’s a tiny £30?

Welcome to the ShadeMe UV Foldabrella!

This is the second genius product from the ShadeMe family I’ve reviewed on this blog. I previously posted about the baby sunshade that fits on every model and brand of car seat, pram and pushchair, and couldn’t fault it. This one comes a narrow second.

Okay, it’s quite long when it’s rolled up and would be even cooler if someone could design one that goes that one step further and folds in half again lengthways, but this shouldn’t detract from how useful this actually is. It’s impressively lightweight and you’d be forgiven for thinking it will flyaway with a gust of wind, but it honestly doesn’t. Bury it far enough in the grass or sand and it stays put.

Assembly really is a cinch and its really sturdy when it’s up. You can also have the umbrella laid on its side whilst still secure to the ground due to the fact it come in two screw sections. Just bury the lower section in the ground and let the shade of the brolly lie flat against the ground.

I used this recently on a trip to an outside pool. I popped Heidi in her Koo-di Bubble Cot (purely as it allows me to go hands-free) and slipped this into the shade so she was doubly protected against the sun. Despite me being an idiot and getting burnt to bits (with all that UV shade there was little excuse), Heidi stayed milky white. See!

The only thing I’d like to have seen is a few more colours. This one clashes with my bikini!

If you want one, head to ShadeMe.co.uk, and whilst you’re there buy a baby sunshade - ours is invaluable.