Tag: mummy

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News

Healthy Dad = Healthy Kids

Climbing like a monkey
Climbing like a monkey

In an article by Nicola Conville, ‘Dads determine child obesity’, on Body and Soul:

“A recent Australian study has found having an overweight father quadruples a child’s chance of being overweight, even if they have a mother of normal weight.”

The study looked at more than 3000 two parent families over a four year period. Weight was looked at when the child was 4-5 years and when they were 8-9 years old.

It is interesting to note that if the mother is overweight and the father is normal or skinny, it does not seem to matter, the change happens when the father is overweight. Interesting don’t you think!

As the article states when the father at the dinner table refuses the vegetables or some other food, then the children follow. This can make it very hard to have kids eat good and nutritious food. In my situation we eat very well and the kids don’t eat the good food. I do try and hide it in other things to make sure they get what they need. It is very hard with fussy eaters. Maybe hypnosis might work with the fussy eating issue…Just a thought.

Parents need to be careful of what behaviours they are modelling for their child. If you don’t eat a particular food, chances are your child might not want to as well. This has flow on effects, if you don’t exercise or participate in any sport or exercise the child will not want to do so either.

If the family is active together this shows the child that it is fun and a part of life, not a chore and something to hate. If it is integrated into what the family does it is a normal part of family time and will be adopted by the child as a normal thing.

In the article it has great suggestions for getting more active with kids, here are some of mine:

  • Go for a bush walk with the family, why not take a picnic?
  • Walk to the shops if it is close by. Take the pram if the little kids get tired. You can always stop at the park and let them run around and have fun. (in the article but we do it too)
  • Go swimming with the kids.
  • Do yoga or some stretching or activity at home.
  • Fly a kite. (in the article but we do it too)
  • Dance to music.
  • Get involved in a sport, running, soccer, or anything that your child might be interested in. We will aim to do that next year as we have tried soccer and that did not work, little athletics seem to take people next year so we will see.
  • Games in the backyard, tag or anything that is active.
  • Play dates with the kids friends; they end up running around and playing more especially if you go to a park or if you have a good backyard.

What are your thoughts about this study? I do agree that if the child sees you not eating a certain food or doing something they will copy you. It is what is taught and you need to teach, do and model with the right foods and behaviour. However this sometimes is hard when you have a person who does not follow your good eating habits and exercise ideas. Also a treat every now and then is o.k if in moderation; well that is what I think. You don’t want to make your kids feel like they are missing out.

Send in your comments and why not continue the discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.

Categories
4 years and beyond

Time For Me

Why is it when you suddenly have time for you, the slot fills with something else to do and you never get to do what you wanted to do? I am aiming to get some sewing done but first need to think about what I would like to create first. The dilemma is that I have many things in my head currently, will it be pants, a dress, or a skirt? Not sure. I want to learn to do something different, but this takes some time to sit and analyse how to do something new.

I have set up the dining room table and will get creating today and tonight as I am keen to do something. As I have finished my exam and waiting for summer school to start I have more free time. I just hope that I can achieve what is in my head, only time will tell. You know what it is like, you have grand plans that are in your brain but sometimes they don’t come out the way you envisioned. We will see.

Are you finding that as soon as you have a free bit of time you suddenly get busy? Does this impact your things that you have been hanging to do? It happens like that for me. Send in your comments.

 

Categories
Creative

Gift Idea: Frame Your Kids Drawings

My kids create so many drawings and some have been just wonderful (Pre-school has told them that if they don’t put their names on their art it gets put in the recycling, I have been told they are prolific creaters and of course the  quantity they create).  It is great to see the girl’s drawings looking like people and actual things that they are saying they have drawn.

For Father’s Day this year I thought why not frame some of the girl’s drawings. I did ask them to draw daddy and they were good enough to oblige.  This gift idea is not just for one event it could be for birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day and as mentioned Father’s Day. So be creative and include your kids in the gift giving.

My artists work
My artists work

Having a nice framed art from the grandkids would be a lovely gift that is cost effective also. I got a deal with the frames. I think from memory I purchased 3 for $20 so a bargain. The paper we already had and of course the creative little artists had a myriad of pens, textas, and crayons to use for their art.

Once framed the drawings look amazing, it makes them looks great and important. One good idea is that if you don’t want to part with the drawings you can hang some on the wall and rotate the drawings. This is a nice way to showcase your kids art and proudly on the walls.

My creative little artists
My creative little artists

So why not give a unique gift that will not cost the earth. It is also nice to have the kids help with the pressie giving and creation.  Why not give it a go and see the smile on your relatives and friends faces when they receive the wonderful art from your little artists. Send in your comments.

Categories
4 years and beyond Potty Training

Success x 2 Now!

No More Nappies
No More Nappies

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.

Categories
4 years and beyond

Making a Safer World for Kids

Upset Child
Upset Child

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

 

Categories
4 years and beyond The Slinky Project University Study

Time Dilemma

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.

 

Categories
The Slinky Project

The Slinky Project

Hi all, I have been trying to lose weight and tone up. I am not that bad but don’t feel comfortable and would feel better if I lost more weight, I suppose most people are in this boat.  It is hard with kids, study, the house to maintain and other things in your life. I know these are all just excuses and other people manage it. The issue I have is that I cannot just take a walk as I have two kids that need to come with me. I do try and put them into the pram but then it limits where you go, at the end of the day if I am walking with kids in the pram it is better than not walking, right?

So my plan is to get fit and wonderful by my birthday. Yes I have a deadline and thought I would expose it so I will get motivated to keep to my timeline, good idea right? I hope so! Now if I fail, I will fail publicly. Maybe it will help me stick to it. My birthday is in May so I have about 7 months to have a good go at it. I have a number of kilos that I would love to lose, pounds or stones depending on where you live. However I would rather just see what the outcome is and if I lose my targeted amount that is just the icing on the cake.

So I have decided to start The Slinky Project™, it is a project to get me fit, toned and by the time of my wonderful birthday next year, looking like a new and improved woman. Some might call me a yummy mummy by this stage, well I can live in hope.

To ensure success this is what I will be doing to for The Slinky Project™:

  • Try and exercise a bit each day, walking, jogging, zumba, swimming, or aqua aerobics (anything that gets me moving)
  • Lower portion size
  • Eat less meat
  • More lean protein
  • Less sugar – no treats or only on special occasions
  • Hardly any alcohol (yes I know I do like a glass of wine sometimes for dinner)
  • Will try and get up early to fit in some stretching – find this hard due to loving my sleep, but will try as need to get motivated
  • Look at more vegetarian meals and recipes, so if you have some send them in!

So this is the start of the new me, or actually a new and improved me. I am still me, just would like to have less of me if you know what I mean.  My issue is finding time to exercise all the time, hubby works late and then he does not get home till late, so I cannot just leave the kids to go off and exercise. Thank goodness for daylight saving, more daylight and hopefully more opportunity to walk in great weather.

What do you do to make sure that you have time for exercise? Does your partner or family help you? Do your kids join in with you when you exercise or do kids helping make exercise redundant?  Has having a deadline for your weight loss goals helped you? Send in your tips and tricks.

Why not continue the discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.

 

Categories
4 years and beyond

4 Year Old Immunisations

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.

 

Categories
4 years and beyond

Dress Ups

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.

Princess Julia
Princess Julia

 

Princess Girls, all dressed up to go out
Princess Girls, all dressed up to go out

 

Princess Lillian
Princess Lillian
Categories
4 years and beyond

My Babies Are 4

Today my twin girls are four. I cannot believe it has been four years but it has. They are such little adults at times, and of course still little girls who are still learning things and finding out about the world. They were born so small and are still compared to other children their age, but this is probably down to genetics and the fact that they are twins so they are small compared to having a singleton. Below is a picture of me with the girls soon after they were born. Look how small they both were! Lillian had a bit of jaundice so she was a little darker than Julia.

Mummy and the girls on the 27th of Sept, 2008. Julia on left, Lillian on right.
Mummy and the girls on the 27th of Sept, 2008. Julia on left, Lillian on right.

We celebrated with the opening of presents, and then got organised to go and see Madagascar 3 (the girls call this film the animals) at the movies. The movie was a hit as well as the birthday presents, after the film we came home to cupcakes and the girls wanted daddy to put their dolls house together

The girls were lucky to receive:

  • A Doll’s House and the furniture that went with it
  • Wooden food, cake, eggs, milk bottles and the like
  • Card games with some windup toys

Both girls were asking for a dolls house and little did they know that mummy and daddy had organised one for their birthday, thanks to Aldi. Aldi is the place we purchased the wooden cake and other food toys, plus all the other furniture to go with the doll’s house. Aldi is such an amazing shop to purchase toys from. They are wooden, well made and just such a reasonable price. The girls were daddy’s assistants to help build the dolls house, however sometimes the screws got dropped and the child responsible would not know were to look for it, so not great at assisting but was trying to help.

Doll house assembly
Doll house assembly
Nearly there
Nearly there
Finished Dolls House - Now the twins can play!
Finished Dolls House – Now the twins can play!

We have organised a party for the girls at a local park so they can celebrate their birthday with friends. This is to happen Saturday but the kids have been a bit sick but on medicine and getting better, so by Saturday they should be much better than they were. Currently it is raining the weather is not ideal for park outings, however the report for the weekend claims it will be sunny so crossing fingers and toes that is correct as we don’t have an alternative. It should be a fun party, it is to be a teddy bears picnic so fun for the kids, just need to finalise games to be played and sort out the cake.

The journey with the twins has been an amazing one and I must say it was not as bad as I thought it would be with twins as my first children, but there have been times that are very testing to say the least.  Currently the girls are testing my patience and now being four I am sure will present us with new learning curves. Other than the standard issues I am very proud of the girls and what they have grown into. Both girls are very smart, happy, healthy, energetic, got a great sense of humour, and just very nice and good spirited.Below is a picture that shows them currently so you can see the difference from when born to now.

Fun at Playgroup
Fun at Playgroup. Picture was taken a couple of weeks ago and wanted to have a nice one for today that they are 4 but it has been a trial to get one. Maybe tonight I might have better luck.

I have tried to get a nice picuture of the girls together today but have gotten angry faces, both girls put their hands over their faces and so on. Not wanting pictures today.  It did not make me feel good as I try and take a picture every month on the 13th to have a record of how they are growing and changing.  Have you had your kids be silly and not want photos taken? If so is it just a phase? Or is it a sign that I am taking too many photos? Happy Birthday to all people that are celebrating a birthday today and if you are twins happy day also!

No Pictures Please - Angry Face!
No Pictures Please – Angry Face!
Categories
Recipes

Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes

Vegan Cupcakes
Cupcakes for the twins birthday celebration @ pre-school

I have never baked any desert that is vegan so these cupcakes are my first attempt at it. The reason behind it was due to one child at the girls pre-school who cannot have dairy and that child normally misses out on cakes and treats. I thought how sad and upsetting for this little person to miss out on the fun, so I investigated what is needed to make a cake/cupcake without dairy. It is actually very simple. I found a great recipe online for chocolate vegan cake, and then had to make sure that my cocoa was pure and not containing milk products and the store bought one did.

Very chocolate vegan cupcakes – hope they are a success.

A quick trip to the health food store got me some pure cocoa and of course some tasty apple juice as I had to use eftpos and the cocoa came to $4 and I had to spend a minimum of $10 so I purchased the apple juice. I made the icing with pure icing sugar, cocoa and apple juice. It tastes great and looks wonderful also. What do you think? I wish I made more as I don’t want to eat any as they are now in the back fridge set for the kids last day of school this week, which is Wednesday.

The final touches will be some cupcake toppers and maybe some candles. Have you got a great recipe for kids that cannot have dairy? Or any other item such as nuts? Send them in as that will be helpful for all.

It is now late and as I have prepared these to get a head start, I am now off to bed for a well deserved rest. Night Night world and see you tomorrow.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Power of Nursery Rhymes

Thatched roof in Hungary. Image by Zyance
Thatched roof in Hungary. Image by Zyance

Last night we were all watching one of the episodes of the BBC Mastercrafts series, they showcase how an average person learns the following skills:

  • Stonemasonry
  • Weaving
  • Stained Glass
  • Blacksmithing
  • Thatching
  • Green Wood Craft

The BBC Mastercrafts series is rather interesting and I must say that I thought it would be a boring documentary series but it very entertaining. It takes 3 average people that have never done anything remotely like thatching or blacksmithing and plunges them into the life and the learning of this field.  So if you get a chance check out this show.

We have seen Blacksmithing, Thatching and the Green Wood Craft episodes, but it was the one to do with thatching that caught Julia’s attention. She was amazed that they were building a house out of straw. I did explain that it was only the roof that was straw and thatched roofs are sturdy and fine as long as put on in the correct way.

Julia was most insistent that this was not good, and should not happen, “A house should be built out of bricks as it is safer!” according to Julia.

This got me thinking of the power of nursery rhymes. The story of the “Three little pigs” has left its mark and convinced Julia that straw was not the right choice for a house. It might be blown down by the big bad wolf she said. She has a point. If a child is presented with these types of stories, then sees a programme showing part of the house being built with straw, what is she to think?

As I said I did try to explain but I don’t think she understood. She was annoyed that they were being so silly with their building materials and explained that we will not use straw for our new house (we are hoping to build a bigger house soon so she is giving us ideas for the new place).

Have you had parts of nursery rhymes or other stories come back in conversation with your children? If so what was it about and what story was your child referring to? Also if you have a straw roof beware of the big bad wolf. Send in your stories.

Why not continue this discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Spring Fun at the Park

Today was such a lovely day, warm, and no cloud in the blue sky. So after school I took the kids to the park. They rode their bikes, played with friends,  rolled down the hill and just ran around like kids do. It is so nice that spring is here, such great weather to be out and about. Check out the lovely pictures that I took of our fun day. Have you found the nice weather helpful for activiites, I do. Send in your comments.

Ready Set Go!
Ready Set Go!
Rolling down a hill is fun!
Rolling down a hill is fun!
Bikes are fast
Bikes are fast
Rest time
Rest time
Categories
3 years and beyond

Planet Pooh

Today the girls have had heaps of energy. We decided to have lunch outside as the day was so nice, not a cloud in the sky and lovely blue skies. Although not very warm it was warmer than it has been, the second day of spring is making me think that summer is going to be warm. Yes finally a warm summer to look forward to.

Now back to the girls. They were running riot, racing around from one end of the house to the other. Running races, kids were pretending to be rats – (they are rats in the Chinese Horoscope and we have told them this so now they play rats) while pretending to be rats daddy and mummy were referred to as mumma and dada rat.

Lillian then decided that she was a rocket and was flying around the garden; she then had to fly to the bathroom for a toilet stop. Once she flew back to the backyard she flew just past the clothes line and then announced she had run out of petrol. Thank goodness the chair next to her was a petrol station so she could fuel up and be on her way to “Planet Pooh!”

Daddy and I had no idea that Planet Pooh was in our backyard and that the girls had their own personal rockets to fly there at a moment’s notice.  Then all of a sudden, no more rockets and no more Planet Pooh, it was Mr Whippy. Lillian decided she was Mr Whippy and she got out the truck that their cousin gave them and zipped that around the yard as if she was off on deliveries.

Mr Whippy or Lillian did get upset at various times as her ice-creams were lost when her helpful assistant tried to clean the truck and melted the ice-creams. Then the girls swapped and Julia was Mr Whippy then Lillian was a customer.

The outside play today ended by the girls making mud and mud pies. As you might have imagined this ended with very messy kids and an annoyed daddy as he had to have them in the shower and clean the bathroom due to the mud. I suppose the kids were just trying to make him feel loved on Father’s Day.

We did have an incident at the supermarket when one of the girls lost it and had a temper tantrum, and this one child has been a sensitive little person all day. Maybe she is just very tired? I am hoping that they will just go to sleep without a hassle and not play the game of can I get a book, a drink, need to go to the bathroom every second and want to come out to tell you something that they have already told you a million times.

As I write this there has been another meltdown about a block. The same little girl who I believe is tried from yesterday is creating issues. We went to my nana’s (the girls GG) for lunch to celebrate her birthday. It was a long day and as there have been many meltdowns and problems I really think it is the fact she needs to have more sleep. Let’s hope this happens, currently she is in her room for time out as she was very naughty.

Have your kids had heaps of energy today? If so what have you done to exhaust them?  Has it worked? Send in your comments.

Categories
Recipes

Chips with Crunchy Cheese

This is courtesy of my nana (the girls GG). Nana makes chips and then sprinkles some parmesan cheese or if you have not got that, just add some plain grated cheese.

In my pictures I have used carrots and pumpkin cut into chip shapes, but you can use potatoes, sweet potatoes or anything that will serve as a chip. I put the oven onto 180 degrees Celsius and it is 356 in Fahrenheit. It took about 15mins or less depending on how thick you have the chips. I had mine thin so it cooked in record time.

I know this is not a fancy recipe; however it does jazz up some chips and make them a little different. I have tried it with the girls but have had no joy as yet, so I will keep on trying.

Chips about to go into the oven.
Chips about to go into the oven.

 

Chips now cooked and ready to eat. Yum!
Chips now cooked and ready to eat. Yum!
Categories
Potty Training

Success x 1

Great news, one of my girls got up at the early hours to go to the loo (toilet). What a proud mummy I was, however after her mission to the bathroom she decided to go and get into bed with me and daddy. It was nice to get cuddles but I am definitely looking forward to having the bed to myself, no little body stealing the pillow at least.

My other little girl is not far off and it is so amazing. Both girls are doing so well. Soon no more nappies, and how good would that be. Yippee I hear you say, and yes I am saying it with you.It also got me thinking. My babies are not babies anymore, a sad thought. Although they will always be my babies, I am there mum of course.

Do you have twins? Have you found that one child is lasting longer with regards to going to the bathroom and the other is having more accidents. Sometimes it does switch so not always the same child. I am just finding it an interesting part of the development process.

I know both kids are different people and have a different timeline. All will sort itself out and I am not worried, just find it rather fascinating. Send in your comments.

Categories
News

Weighing in

There has been a call to weigh kids in school to tackle obesity. I for one don’t think this is a good idea. I feel that it would point out kids that are already sensitive to their weight and having issues. These kids don’t need the further pressure of this at school.

I understand it is an issue with kids and adults, however just weighing kids and monitoring this is not going to help.  Changing your lifestyle and what you eat will have much more of an impact, and I am sure that this will be hand in hand with any programme that is developed.

The choices and what is eaten in the home should be looked at also. Kids rely on their parents to pack a healthy lunch and if the choices are not good, then they eat what is given to them. It is a learnt behaviour. Parents need to be tough and say no.

I know it is hard with kids asking for treats and chocolate, but the more you offer the better things like an apple or yoghurt the more the child will know that this is the only options available.  Every now and then the girls have a bit of chocolate or a treat, but it is a sometimes food.

In the article about weighing kids in school it mentions that: “They (the researchers) said it appeared that problems could be avoided by taking measurements privately and confidential results.”

Making sure to weigh kids in private is the ideal, as I would hate to think it would be done in public with all other kids to watch. All you need is a bad group to make fun of someone or a group of kids and the whole idea of this would fall flat.

As stated, I don’t like the idea of this and believe it is an issue for the family to look after. Why do the schools need to infer in the child’s weight now? I know they are trying to help but I feel it is intruding and it is something that is best dealt with as a family unit. Would this information of your child be shared to other schools or universities? And let’s not stop there, would the data be kept for this individual, and impact the life of this person due to the findings?

Would you want your work to weigh you? I am sure you would not. Maybe this is the tip of the ice berg and we will see employers weighing their staff in the future? Will it be an insurance issue to make sure that all employees are a certain weight and fitness? Who knows? Send in your comments.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Junk Room No More!

Do you have a room that is not really the junk room but ends up becoming one? Well we did, we spent some long needed hours to get it fixed up today.  Our so called junk room was the computer/spare room. We need to create more room and get the bed organised for guests.

My Mum and step dad were able to take the kids for the day and this allowed us to get busy on the house and especially the spare room. Hubby and I moved book cases out of the room to give us more space. We have chucked, some are off to charity, and we tidied, all in all a very productive and positive day.

So now the room is not a dumping ground for things we have no idea what to do with, and we are left with tidy work desks, a place where you can walk on both sides of the bed (I know this is normal in other places, but we needed the space for storage before, now it is all clear – it is going to be so easy now to make this spare bed), and the part that I am very pleased about is we purchased a light shade for the room. It looks lovely and just works so well in the room.

Hubby wanted to go to the hardware shop, but upon arrival we realised it was closed. We arrived at 3.30pm and it closed at 3pm. He thought it closed at 4pm so he was annoyed about this, until I thought lets go and see if there is a light shade we like at K-Mart. Bingo, K-Mart had the light shade we loved and only for $10, $14 for the bulbs and we were off home.

It was a blessing that Nana and Opa could take the girls today; we never would have gotten all the things done today if the kids were in the house. It was nice to focus and spend time doing it rather than getting interrupted constantly. I do love the kids, but you do get more done sometimes if they are elsewhere. The girls had a big day out with Nana and Opa, they went on a long bush walk (rated as easy but it was not that easy – a lot of stairs so girls were good to walk it all), then off to a park, then on to Nana and Opa’s for lunch and some films. I must say they were very sleepy when we came home.

I will post a picture of the light shade tomorrow when it is better to take a picture. Currently it is 9.40pm at night so hard to do, and while I am writing this post hubby is playing his shooting computer game, so turning on the light will cause angst I guess.

Do you have a room where stuff goes to rest and never sees the light of day again? It is easy to do; you get busy, need to clean up. You move whatever it is to another part so it is out of the way and it gets forgotten about. The problem lies when you have to go through all the mess to have a functional room again. What room was your issue and how did you fix it. Send in your stories.

P.S. Now we are ready for Grandma and Granddad to come and visit. Currently I have not made the bed, as I want the sheets to be fresh for their arrival in a week or so. They are coming before the girl’s birthday and party. It will be nice to see them, and the girls are so excited. Hope they like the new room.