Wow, what a moment! My other little girl decided to take off the night time nappy and wanted to try without last night. This was a good start. I must say that I did have my doubts; she had already had three accidents that day. One at pre-school and the other two at a play date with a mate from school. Not sure why she was suddenly is having accidents, but one reason could be pure frustration and also to peer pressure from her sister. “I can do it now and you are wearing a nappy”, probably what she is getting from her sister? She most likely felt upset with herself and was trying so hard yesterday that she waited too long to get to the bathroom.
I have been not pressuring her, and understand it will happen in her own time. One issue that I did have was that she is such a heavy sleeper so not getting up to go in the night. This worry was averted, I had to get up at 3am to go to the toilet, and as soon as I got up I heard little footsteps. It was the child that was without her night nappy. I took her and myself off to the bathroom and we both did what we had to do, she then wanted to come into my bed for a cuddle.
I am very pleased to report that she has gone a whole night with no accidents. I do know that there might be accidents as she is still learning but it is a great start. Now she has done it once, she might have more confidence to do it again. No nappies now and we will see how we go. What a big girl she is, and how grown up she is becoming. I am such a proud mummy. She got cuddles and kisses and of course I told her how proud I am of her.
Did your other children just chuck the nappy when they were ready? It is good that she has decided as it makes the process so much easier. Send in your comments.
As soon as you become a parent you try to keep your little one, or little ones in my case, out of trouble and harm’s way. This is sometimes hard when there are so many things that can potentially hurt a little baby or toddler.
My twins are now four and we have had our share of close calls or near disasters. Some were just bad falls and others are creative accidents by the girls.
Listing some of the incidents:
6/7 month old child trying to walk and plunging into the corner of the coffee table, it was near her eye and first major incident. I phoned a nurse friend who came and looked at the injury and helped me calm down. Child was fine, mummy was a mess!
Same child head dived off daddies chair and got a cut in her forehead. Blood everywhere and trip to hospital to make sure she was fine. All fine just got a butterfly bandage and cuddles with the extra painkillers and all was good
The other daughter decided to take matters into her own hands when mummy said no to treats and created her own ladder to get into freezer of backyard fridge. She had put her bike onto a big plastic lawn chair and had it balancing on the arms. I found her on top of the bike and thinking she was very clever for her building achievement. I quickly removed the new device to access freezer and told her it was dangerous.
One child jumped off pretend fridge at playgroup and collected her lower back on a truck
The other child days after fridge and truck incident did the same injury but she landed on her bike in the backyard.
Sometimes it is as simple as either one of the girls falling and hitting themselves on the floor, door, or wall. They fly around at such speed that you need to be careful of everyday items causing issues.
Helping mummy/daddy cook, need to keep clear of hot fry pan and so on. Stay away from the gas stove. No issues currently but we have had close calls. One of the girls we thought touched the hot stove so we rushed and put her hand under cold water, and this was met with screams of annoyance as she was saying she was fine! We did not know and would rather be safe than be sorry.
Not stopping to check for traffic when told to stop at a road. Hard to keep up with kids who run everywhere. I have told them that if they don’t we will not go to parks or other places that they like to go. Sounds terrible but I don’t want kids to run across a road and get collected by a car.
Trying to take off seatbelts whilst the car is moving (I make sure to stop and fix this as I don’t want the child to not wear a seat belt)– You need to have correctly fitted car seats.
Crossing the road to collect a ball when not looking if there are any cars – As they were not listening they were brought inside immediately.
After the above incidents I have explained to the girls in different ways depending on their age; however the constant problem is that little kids no matter how clever they are don’t listen, if they want to do things they ignore you and go right on doing what they want. As I have realised that the constant repeating and explaining does not work, removal of possible dangerous items is the best all round option. I have removed chairs, toys, sticks, told them they cannot play on certain things due to what they are doing with it, and so on.
If your kids attend childcare you need to make sure that any medication in the nappy bag is removed, I mistakenly left the Nurofen in the bag. This is due to the kids curiously to go through others bags and if it looks tasty of course it goes in their mouth. I must say that there was no incident with my bag and its contents, but I do agree that it is a good policy. I have heard of an incident from another centre of babies/toddlers finding a Panadol from bags and swallowing it. This of course is incredibly dangerous and could cause all sorts of issues, if in doubt it is best to check the Raising Children Network’s Medications for children webpage to make sure what is safe.
Have you had some close calls? Do your kids always end up hurting themselves? Mine are at the moment, but I am trying to make a safer world for kids. What are you doing to make sure your kids are safe? I would urge you to look at your environment to see what accidents might be prevented. Send in your comments.
Why not continue the discussion on our twitter (when on twitter use #kidsafety) or facebook pages.
Disclaimer: ‘I am participating in the National Kidsafe Day Blogger Competition to support and promote child safety, along with the added bonus of chances to win prizes. All opinions are my own and not those of Kidsafe. To find out more or to enter the competition, please visit www.kidsafe.com.au
Not sure where this list started but it has been said that it is from a UK group of Mothers. Look at the below list to see if you are ready to have children? This list is very funny and not a serious list, Enjoy!
Test 1: Preparation
Women: To prepare for pregnancy
1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.
3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.
Men: To prepare for children
1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.
Test 2: Knowledge
Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild.
Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.
Test 3: Nights
To discover how the nights will feel:
1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4 – 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.
Keep this up for 5 years. LOOK CHEERFUL.
Test 4: Dressing Small Children
1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hangout.
Time Allowed: 5 minutes.
Test 5: Cars
1. Forget the BMW. Buy a practical 5-door wagon.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Test 6: Going for a walk
a. Wait.
b. Go out the front door.
c. Come back in again.
d. Go out.
e. Come back in again.
f. Go out again.
g. Walk down the front path.
h. Walk back up it.
i. Walk down it again.
j. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
k. Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
l. Retrace your steps.
m. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
n. Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.
Test 7: Conversations with children
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.
Test 8: Grocery Shopping
1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child – a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
Test 9: Feeding a 1 year-old
1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.
Test 10:TV
1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.
Test 11: Mess
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?
4. Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house onto the floor and proceed with step 5.
5. Drag randomly items from one room to another room and leave them there.
Test 12: Long Trips with Toddlers
1. Make a recording of someone shouting ‘Mummy’ repeatedly. Important Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy. Include occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
Test 13:Conversations
1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
Test 14: Getting ready for work
1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
I went for a nice walk and jog or otherwise known as cross training yesterday. I felt great and good that I did it and my body was alive. I was all set to do it again today when my nose will not stop running and eyes are watery. I know another excuse but the other issue is that I need to complete a university assignment that is due today. I need to focus on the university assignment as this is my second last subject and I need to pass or at least better than that so that I can graduate next year. I am so happy about the graduate part, but need to do well or else no graduation, right? I am just keen to get it all done, then the time will by my own again. Aside from kids and other things.
It is hard when you have a lot on and it all happens at once, especially when you just want to shut the door and be left alone to concentrate. Do you find that this happens when you have something rather important to finish? I do. I know I am not the only one.
I will put the pram in the car and the kids and I will go for a walk this afternoon after school, this way I will be able to do my study and fit in some exercise. It is such a glorious day today, sunny and so warm it would be a shame to miss out on the great weather. Don’t fear, I am still working towards The Slinky Project ™.
What do you do when you have so much on? Are you very organised and have it all scheduled? I do try and I get a lot done, however when I do need to spend my time at the computer for long stretches with uni it is hard to get all things done, especially while they are at pre-school. It makes me think that my post about “Cloning me would fix everything”, my other selves could do all the other things around the house, laundry, cleaning, and I would be left to do uni work and study? Or maybe some sewing?
Send in your tips and tricks for what works best for you. Why not continue the discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.
A couple of days ago Julia looked like she got a splinter on her hand. I tried to look at it and remove it, but she put up such a fuss and a fight, I left it. From what I could see, it did not look like much and might work its way out on its own. I meant to tell the hubby about it once he was back from an interstate trip but forgot to mention it to him. I know this sounds bad, but she did not seem upset by it, and I was keeping an eye on it.
However tonight Julia had it removed with daddies help, but it was due to Lillian having a bigger splinter that looked terrible that needed removing that helped Julia get hers removed. We were alerted to this splinter from Lillian complaining that her finger hurt, she showed me and I then explained it was a splinter and needed to be removed. As you can imagine this news was met with big screams, crying and her yelling at the top of her lungs, “I don’t want the tweezers! It does not need to come out!” I hugged her and said that it does need to come out and that daddy will look at it for her.
You might ask where Lillian got her splinter? Well we were out visiting my mother and my step dad today and she picked something up in the yard. When she did it, my step dad commented that it looked like she got a splinter or hurt her hand but she went on happily playing, so this was not brought to our attention. There must have been too much to do at this place that she pushed through the pain of the splinter to continue playing. So as mentioned daddy was going to look at Lillian’s finger and see if he could get it out, she was not willing she was not his first patient.
Julia was curious with what daddy was getting and she decided to see if he could look at her hand. I then explained what had happened to Julia and her splinter was small and close to the surface of the skin, so easy to remove. While Julia was getting seen to by daddy, Lillian decided to come and have a look see. She asked Julia if it hurt and what it felt like. Lillian was then convinced that it was o.k for daddy to help her with her sore finger.
Lillian was now feeling better about daddy and him looking at her finger. She did get the thumbs up from Julia, so all was well for a brief moment. However after a bit of exploration, not too much mind you as we did not want to hurt her, it was discovered it is rather deep. I am going to go and get some drawing ointment to see if this will help remove the evil splinter. We did what the links recommended below and they even mention the drawing ointment, so will see if that holds the answers.
Here are some links that might help you remove a splinter:
It was sad to see your little one cry and be very upset, although a little upset to remove a splinter is worth it. Pity that Lillian was so upset, as said we decided to see if the ointment will work its magic and help her. Will let you know how it goes. Have you had this happen to you? Do you have a unique way to soothe a child so that you can remove a splinter? Is there distraction tactics that you have used that have worked? Send in your comments so that we can all learn.
Send in your stories and comments to the blog, or continue the discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.
Update: Drawing ointment purchased and now will put on child when she gets home from pre-school.
Today we had the heaviest snow in over 10 years some have said. I have lived in Katoomba for over 10 years now and have not had this happen so it must be right. It was a magical day. Kids loved it, played outside and had their first chance to build a snowman. I have seen another snowman around the corner from our house so kids must have been busy building snowmen everywhere.
It was great that the twins got the opportunity to play in snow and experience it. The joy on the girls faces was priceless and a joy to see. It is a pity that hubby was stuck at work and missed this experience with the kids and for himself. We have been waiting for the day it snows and it covers everything. It did and he was at work. The only negative is that the roads were closed and he might not have been able to come home, although they have just reopened so I hope he is able to get home safely. On the mountain we have one road in and one road out, so if they are closed, not much you can do about that. Wait or visit a friend/relative I suppose.
Lillian’s Snow Angel
Check out some of the fun that we had today. The girls did snow angels and had a blast. Both girls as I mentioned before desperately wanted to build a snowman and we did. The snow was so deep that we had enough to throw snow balls, and build things. How wonderful to finally tell them they can build a snowman, the last time it snowed it just melted and it did not last so no snowman to build then.
The girls first snowmanOur StreetBackyardSnowy Clothes LIneMummy and the girls in the snow
Has the weather been strange where you are? It has today, it is Spring and we had all this snow and it is so cold as you can imagine. Send in your stories and comments to the blog, or continue the discussion on our twitter or facebook pages. For more pictures go to the link on the blog and click the photo link. Enjoy.
Not sure if it was school holidays? Pre-school going back? Or daylight savings that is causing the kids to go mental and stay up till after 9.30pm for the last two nights. It is rather annoying as they look so sleepy and have had a full day. Yesterday was the first day of school going back and after school went to a mates house for a play date. I then did the calming things, drawing, music, a show and dinner. Then got them to brush teeth, and we had story time. After this they both kept running around and causing issues. Hitting, biting and scratching. One of the girls wanted to share a bed with her sister. The sister as you can imagine did not want to share. Oh why can’t they just close their eyes and go to bed.
Tonight I am going to have them have a bath and relax a bit more before bed time. Maybe this will help more. I do have bath time but we have a big bath and cannot use a lot of water all the time, we will run out of hot water. So most of the time the little ones have a shower in the morning and unless they are really messy another shower or wash.
Kids hyper & not settling at bedtime for last 2 nights. Tonight better be different. Send in ideas for a calm night – http://www.facebook.com/Mummy2twinsblog
Yes pre-school is back for term 4, although the last one of the year but I am happy that school is back. Having the kids at pre-school allows me to do my things or just have a rest from the constant wants of little kids. It is hard to be on and going non stop and it is very nice to have the house quiet and some down time. Although this down time does consist of tidying and cleaning but I will try not to do too much as I need to maximise my two days this week. The girls only have two days this week due to a pupil free day on Monday, so next week back to the standard three days and an even happier mummy.
Do you like your quiet time? I know I do. I love it when I am alone and able to concentrate and get things done. Sometimes I do feel terrible for wanting to be left alone but I suppose that is what mothers do, they feel guilty about looking after themselves. I am trying not to feel bad as it is good to do self care and focus on you. A better mother makes a better family.
It was hard to get everyone out of the house this morning and even harder when I had to wake very tired kids. Why is it that when it is school holidays they wake at 6am or earlier and when it is a school day mummy has to wake them and get them out of bed. Not fair I must say.
This term I am going to aim to be more organised and have my things ready to go, by this I mean my sewing, study and so on. I aim to create more, do more and just get more done that I would like to achieve. My fear is that if I don’t then I will be in school holidays again and hanging for next year for school to start again. I know, never happy. So watch this space, I am going to be a force to be reckoned with, a creative dynamite (well I can live in hope, can’t I?)
I am looking forward to the Christmas school holidays as we are going to visit Grandma and Grandad and go to the beach. As I am originally from Queensland, I miss the beach and the hot weather. So going to the beach is something that I really miss and cannot wait to do. Bring it on! The kids will love it and it will be a good day out, however need to wait until December for this unless we go up the coast on the weekend or to the city.
Are you happy school has gone back? Is it just me that hangs for school to return? I love the kids and enjoy being with them, but school is my only time out. I am sure there are others that feel the same way. It is a bit sad that it is the last term of the year, soon it will mark the end of my girls first year at pre-school. Some of their friends are off to big school next year but they have another year. They need to be 5 in the middle of the year but they are 5 in September (the end of the year), so they have to go the next year. This is good as they will have another year learning and growing and be bigger and better for big school in 2014. Send in your comments.
Last night one of my girls went to bed with no nappy. This child is the one that is only using the night nappy as a safety blanket and never uses it anymore. I made sure the mattress protectors were on both beds and asked her if she would like to try again with no nappy for bed time. The answer was YES!
Daddy and Mummy explained that if she had an accident that was fine and just let us know so we can make sure she has dry sheets and clothes to go back to bed. She agreed to let us know if there was an issue. I am very pleased to report she did not wake once, she did not go to the bathroom to go to the toilet and there were no accidents. We are now nappy free for one child! I am doing the happy dance. My little girls is now such a big girl. How proud am I. Well I think you can guess, I am a very proud mummy.
Now I need to see what can be done to get the other one to go to the toilet during the night and eventually have a dry nappy. Problem with the other little one is that she sleeps too soundly and does not stir, so no getting up and needs the nappy. She is fine during the day and goes before bedtime, just does not get up during the night time. It will eventually happen, maybe the peer pressure from her sister will help. Who knows.
If you have twins did you face this? One nappy free and the other not? Was it due to the fact you had a boy or a girl? I have both girls and still in the same boat. I just think everyone is different and both have done it in their own time.
Some links that might help me and you if you are trying to get your little one to be dry at night:
After reading the links above I seem to be doing all of what they recommend. So it is just a waiting game for the other one to be ready as well. I don’t want to pressure her or make her feel bad, it will all happen in good time. Do you have a good tip to help a child be dry in the evening or at least get them to go to the toilet at night? If so send it in.
Why not continue this discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.
Daylight Savings starts on the 7th of October this year. So before you go to bed on Saturday night, set your clocks forward an hour. If in doubt check out this website for more info – Australian Daylight Savings Dates
My girls have been waking earlier and earlier, I think it is due to the warmer days and also in preparation for daylight savings. I don’t think they will sleep at an earlier time as the sun will still be shining so it will be longer days I think. I love daylight savings as it is more time to enjoy the outdoors in good weather. It is also good to come home from work in daylight rather than darkness.
As there is now an extension to get more daylight savngs time, don’t forget to change your watches and clocks. Don’t want to be late to work on Monday.
Do you love daylight savings as much as I do? What do you plan to do with more daylight hours? Family time, gardening or just sitting under a tree in the backyard daydreaming? Send in your comments.
I have many things to keep me occupied during the day, and the main one is looking after the girls. Other than that, housework, laundry, trying to keep fit and lose weight, university, sewing and attempting to start my own business from home (the business idea is based around my sewing, it will happen I just need to get focused).
I am the type of person who has a million and one things she would like to achieve, however I know it is not practical. I would be happy getting the house clean, keeping it clean and being able to do study or even sewing /another hobby and maybe get the chance to go and exercise. Yes that is a simple want. Then why can’t I get my ideas for bigger, grander ideas out of my head.
Maybe it is the frustration of school holidays with no me time? Maybe it is just that I am not as focused as I should be. I have great plans for my home based business, I also would like to write a children’s book (I have a great idea but the challenge is to get it written and then maybe if lucky published). I know, just focus on one thing right? Well it is easier said than done.
Before kids I was the same but more focused, now I seem to be trying to fit it all in with a very narrow window of time. Maybe that is the real reason I think of so many things to do with my time. I have time to think about what I can do and then I have more to choose from when I do get time to myself.
Today is Thursday and the girls and I were going to go to the park with the kids and families from playgroup, but they were naughty so I told them we were not going anywhere. Now I have kids that are asking me if they can go somewhere, and maybe late afternoon we will. The sun is hot today and we have a high UV rating. It will be better for them to play later in the day, especially if it is to be outside.
I do marvel at women who have more kids than I and manage a job (full time or part time), manage to look after the house, look after the kids, and more. I find it hard with two and the lack of family that can help, means I don’t know how I will do a job even when kids are in school.
This week is the last week of school holidays aside from next Monday which is a pupil free day (which I find annoying), after two weeks break I only get the kids in school for two days rather than three. So all the things I want to do is now put in those days only. The second week of pre-school will be great as they are back to their full week, yes three days of kids at school! I can do some of the things I have been dreaming, plotting and planning about.
Do you find that in the time that you have for you, there is always too many things to do. I find it hard to pick what to do first. Currently university is the priority, but soon that will not be. I just hope that kids are still in school when university ends. I would like to have some time for me without study. What are your grand plans? Do you get time to do any of them? Send in your comments.
Today the girls have been naughty little things. I don’t know if it is the moon, or where the sun was shining but something is happening. They did not do anything that was asked and just ruined and created havoc.
Next Tuesday the girls start back at pre-school, bring on term 4! I cannot wait to have some me time. Did your little ones run amok today? Was it just mine?
I managed to get out of the house with the girls and ventured to the park. They had turns on the swings, slippery dip and climbed on many things. They did have fun getting dirty, to mummies dismay as they were clean and showered.
After the park we went to visit some friends and then the girls played with their kids friends and so on. It was good; however they all told ghost stories and then it made the kids frightened to go to bed. Oh the joys.
Kids are finally passed out and sleeping soundly, to my relief. They have been for at least an hour and half now. Do you have days that the kids are all over the place? I do think it was due to a big day the day before. They were still tired but could not admit it or have a rest.
Send in your techniques for this very situation, calming unruly children who are tired but insist they are not. These very kids are getting into trouble and really should have a nap. Send in your comments.
Why not continue this discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.
This past weekend was a long weekend so we wanted to go out and have adventures with the twins. Saturday was not that adventurous as they had their immunisations but had fun at a friend’s birthday party. However Sunday was the best day out. Now I bet you are asking “Why was this outing so wonderful?” Well it was due to a most amazing park.
The park is called the “Adventure Playground” and it is located in Bathurst, NSW, Australia. It is also known as the Dinosaur Park, this is due to the giant dinosaur footprints, sculptures of dinosaurs and the bones that can be unearthed in the sandpit; my little archaeologists had a great time.
My little archaeologistsMore bones in the sandLillian climbingGreat slippery dip
It was a bit of a drive but well worth it, there was so much for the kids to explore and play with. Slippery dips, flying foxes, swings, sandpit with bones to find, dinosaur foot prints, climbing rocks, climbing equipment, a maze, bbq’s and ample seating so you can have a picnic, trees to sit under, and ample green space to just run around. Next time we will take a picnic lunch and stay longer.
Sundial – You stand there and it tells time by your shadowSundial
The girls loved the silver slippery dip as you will see from the pictures and I have more about the other things that were in the park. The facilities were just lovely and something that I wish was available locally, rather than driving over an hour to go to Bathurst. Don’t get me wrong it is nice to go somewhere different, but sad to see that your area does not invest in such great facilities for the community, kids and making their parks more unique. I do understand that it is all down to money and what the council can afford; maybe we need to consider private funding to do this elsewhere? I am not sure what the answer is.
CrocodileJulia in dinosaur footprintLillian in dinosaur footprintCaterpillers next to silver slippery dip. Strange grouping of caterpillars.
Recently hubby and I attended a meeting about what the council are proposing for Medlow Bath park and the upshot is that they have no money, the people want changes for the better might not get it due to the lack of money and the upkeep is not happening currently due to lack of money. So all in all, I thought what a waste of a meeting as it just sounds like nothing will get done due to no money. It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be and if changes are what the community wants. However, I am sure it will not be anything like what Bathurst offered at the adventure park. For one the park at Medlow does not have the space for this type of park, but it would be good to adopt elements of what works well at the adventure playground. Say the nice bbq and more seating, maybe some different more engaging playthings for the kids. The sandpit with bones to find was such a great idea.
On the way home we needed to see if we could get something for our own bbq, however, could not find anything that would work for what we needed. I know it is not related to bbq’s but I looked in the plant section while we were at Bunnings and the girls and I were taken with a plant called “Blushing Bride”, it is so pretty we were taken with it and had to have it. Now it is planted in the backyard and I hope that it grows big and strong.
Blushing BrideGirls watering the blushing bride plant
Hubby has now left for Brisbane for work so the girls and I will have more adventures tomorrow. One of the girl’s friends from pre-school is coming over for a playdate, thinking of going to the fun day for kids that is around the corner from the house. This will be ideal as all three kids can run around and go mad at the school oval and burn off some energy.
Did you have some great adventures on the weekend? Did you also have a public holiday, if so what did you get up to? Did you go away? Have you got a great park that has great facilities? Where is it, please share so we can all go on more adventures. Why not try using the Playground Finder to find your nearest playground. Send in your comments.
The girls had their four year old health check today and that also meant getting their immunisations. Yes needles. Both hubby and I were a bit worried how it might go, so decided to not tell them about it until it was going to happen.
Health check all went well. We are still off the chart for weight although the weight gain is good for them, so good news. We are on the chart for height but they are not big girls, I would say petite and due to that we are on it but they are not tall. Who knows they will probably shoot up soon. All other development milestones are good and other concerns we raised were noted.
Now we get to the point of getting their needles, the bit I and daddy was not looking forward to at all. After the shock of finding out that they were getting needles the twins were not impressed either. Julia started screaming even before the needle went anywhere near her. Lillian screamed and cried due to Julia getting her needles. One in each arm. Oh the joys, two needles not one! Julia did scream “Get it away from me!” Poor little bunny. 🙁
Then it was Lillian’s turn and Julia put her arm up and said “Don’t hurt my sister!” “Get the needle away!” Poor girls it was like they lived it all twice due to having it done to their sister. An after thought, maybe we should have had another nurse do them at the same time or in separate rooms. I do think the separate rooms would have caused more angst. I for one had some tears in my eyes as it was very sad to see my little babies cry and in pain.
We had fish and chips to cheer them up and then went off to a birthday party for a friend of the twins . They filled up on sweets and were themselves until they reminded themselves about the needles or bumped their arm or daddy and mummy did so as well (accidentally mind you!).
Julia is finding it tough as one arm hurts more so than others. Maybe she moved a bit and it is more bruised? Who knows. I have given her some painkillers to sleep a little better as she kept waking for comfort. Lillian seems fine although her arms are sore if bumped but she is doing well. Julia is asking if she has to have any more of the painful needles/ouchy needles. This is the last one until high school so no, however I did not want to say, “NO you will never have another needle from now and high school (cannot imagine my girls in high school, how weird would that be).” What happens if they get sick, need tests, or have to blood taken for whatever reason. Then I am the bad mummy that lied that there was no more needles.
I am sure she will be fine and there will be no more needles but you never know. In the next couple of days it should all be better, but she is a sensitive bunny and does not deal with needles at all well. Have you found that your little one was good and did not cry or have an issue with their immunisation? Or was it a terrible thing, crying, screaming and making you feel just horrible. I do feel horrible, although it is for their own good. It will protect them from deadly disease and sickness. Send in your comments.
My girls could not wait for mummy to finally get out of bed and took matters into their own hands. They were hungry and both decided to get their own breakfast ready. They managed to get the weetbix box out which is a heavy thing to lift, got the milk out of the fridge, bowls, and spoons.
I am very proud indeed as this means that they are doing it all themselves. What a great achievement to get your own breakfast.
The girls making their own breakfast
Talking about independence, the girls especially Lillian have been wanting to cook and to help prepare meals. I think this is great, however sometimes hard due to the crowding near the stove top. I have to make sure that they are further away so that both kids are safe. The other night, Lillian and Julia wanted to chop up the beans and the bok choy for mummy and daddies dinner.
Julia cutting beans for dinner
The girls were supervised at all times and if they got any where near their fingers or danger was around I stopped what they were doing. As they go to a Montessori pre-school practical life skills are taught and they have kids do things like this themselves. Not sure if it is with what we have at home, but they encourage the children to be independent. We are trying to do that at home, and of course as said if there is danger we stop things immediately.
Lillian cutting beans for dinner
Do your kids help you in the kitchen? What are they doing when they do? Have they organised their own breakfast all by themself or do they still need help? Was there any accidents that are funny and you would like to share? Send in your comments.
Why not continue this discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.
The girls lately like to dress up more when going out. Hats, crowns, glasses, and more. When we went to the shops the other day my princesses insisted they had to look the part. Do your kids dress up to go out? Is it in super hero clothes, are they dressed as fairies or just in everything they can put on? Send in the wild things that your kids leave the house wearing.
Original illustrations and drawings from Ernest Howard Shepard of Winne the Pooh. Have borrowed it from the internet as they were up to advertise the sale of the drawings by auction some years back.
Last night Julia picked the book for the nightly story. She picked a small book of stories about Pooh Bear or known as Winnie the Pooh. Daddy was reading the story and he got tapped on the shoulder every 2 minutes or so with the following comment from Julia. “Daddy, I don’t understand! Why is he called Winnie the Pooh!”
Well it is a good question. Why is the teddy bear in this story called Winnie the Pooh or Pooh Bear? I discussed this today with the girls grandmother and she found it interesting that she digested the info that daddy was telling her in the story and she was then thinking of her own questions about this new information. It has troubled her all day and night. Why is this teddy bear got the name he has! We promised Julia and Lillian that we would get to the bottom of it and report back tonight.
I looked online and got quite a lot of information from Wikipedia and explained some things. The Winnie part of the name comes from the place Winnipeg in Canada. The Pooh part comes from a swan, not sure why the swan was called pooh or if it just had an issue. Maybe it was a black swan?
Below is an exert from the Wikipedia page about Winnie the Pooh we learn more about the name:
“Christopher Milne had named his toy bear after Winnie, a Canadian black bear which he often saw at London Zoo, and “Pooh”, a swan they had met while on holiday. The bear cub was purchased from a hunter for $20 by Canadian Lieutenant Harry Colebourn in White River, Ontario, Canada, while en route to England during the First World War. He named the bear “Winnie” after his adopted hometown in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “Winnie” was surreptitiously brought to England with her owner, and gained unofficial recognition as The Fort Garry Horse regimental mascot. Colebourn left Winnie at the London Zoo while he and his unit were in France; after the war she was officially donated to the zoo, as she had become a much loved attraction there.[3] Pooh the swan appears as a character in its own right in When We Were Very Young.”
As I stated before this does explain the name Winnie but not really the name Pooh. Although A.A.Milne wrote the following to show why Pooh is called Pooh.
“But his arms were so stiff … they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think – but I am not sure – that that is why he is always called Pooh.”
Some things you might not have known about Pooh Bear:
Stephen Slesinger in 1930 purchased the US and Canadian merchandising which included television, recording and trade rights
By November 1931, Pooh was a $50 million-a-year business.
According to wikipedia, “In addition to the stylised Disney Pooh, Disney markets Classic Pooh merchandise which more closely resembles E.H. Shepard’s illustrations. It is estimated that Winnie the Pooh features and merchandise generate as much revenue as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto combined.”
Below are some links to more interesting tidbits about Pooh Bear and of course information about Poohsticks and how you can now play online:
I do think that it shows a very good mind to be questioning things that are told to you and especially in books. So good on Julia. We read it to her and Lillian also tonight for the answer of why Winnie the Pooh has his name and it answered half the question. It could be like others have summarised the teddy was named by a child so who knows why it is so. Lillian has her teddies (two of them) and they are called bummies. So anything goes. Have you had issues trying to explain some things to your children? Has the explanation been easy? Did you have to look it up? Send in your comments.
Why not continue this discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.
Waiting to see Tinker Bell – The Secret of the Wings
This is the first week of school holidays and you guessed it a great kids film is on at the movies, it is the latest Tinker Bell film; The Secret of the Wings. I thought why not take the twins to the movies and have a day out. As you would have thought, this news was met with cheers and giggles. The girls love Tinker Bell and of course fairies, so seeing the latest installment of the Tinker Bell films was very exciting for them.
I managed to get to the centre early and thought it was wise to purchase tickets first, as said it is school holidays. I did not want to leave the ticket purchase to find out the session was sold out. As happened, there was a few people but not as many as I was expecting. Maybe it was due to seeing the early session? Probably the afternoon time might have been busier? Not sure but thought it was a good idea to get in early and then we can have lunch there, and go home. It is a 40 minute drive to the movies at this centre so thought I did not want to come back too late, as then I will have very hungry and tired kids.
The film was a hit and as it turns out Tinker Bell has a sister. Tinker Bell and Periwinkle were born from the same laugh of a baby, so they are twins! Although they never said they were twins, both Tinker Bell and Periwinkle’s wings are identical. So I would conclude they are twins. The only problem is that Periwinkle lives in the winter woods and Tinker Bell lives in the warmer climate so cannot live in the cold and vice versa for Periwinkle. It was an enjoyable film, Lillian was a bit worried and scared at parts and ended up sitting on my lap for cuddles. It really wasn’t scary, but it was a bit worrying at times for the characters so I think she was upset that it might be getting scary.
According to the Hoyts website the Tinker Bell film is about: “Tinker Bell meets Periwinkle and ventures into the winter woods with her and Tinker Bell’s other friends to find the secret of fairy wings. If you are interested Wikipedia has a great history and breakdown of Tinker Bell. Worth a look.
Both girls were very well behaved and also held on and did not need to go to the toilet until after the film. No nappies so that is such a big deal. I have big girls now. We drove down to the movies and they held on, we go the tickets and then went to the toilet. So I am a very proud mummy that they are doing so well.
Before the movie I purchased new sandals for the girls as Lillian’s are getting too small, although still fit they soon will not be able to be worn. Julia’s seem to be broken and not sure they can be mended. I ended up getting half price on the second pair and of course both girls wanted the same type. Very lucky they had two of the same in the right size in stock. So good deal on the shoes. Cheap tickets at the movies, then had lunch, kids played at indoor play centre and then we went home singing away to a great music CD.
Kids fell asleep in the car, and no one wants a rest in bed now we are home. The girls are watching Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons. Will organise an early dinner for them so they get off to bed at a reasonable time. Tomorrow we are off to a family lunch, then free tumbling classes at the gym, and then playgroup. I should contact some parents of the girls friends to organise some play dates. I also need to focus my time on uni study. My job with the school holidays is find things for kids to do.
What are you doing these school holidays? Have you taken the kids to the movies lately? What have they seen and did they enjoy it?
The girls new sparkly sandals
From Kids Spot here are some ideas for school holiday activities:
