Teaching Life Skills

As a parent I know I need to teach my children various life skills to equip them for their later lives. Of course I have to ensure that they are capable of them before letting them loose! The purchase of a flat pack guinea pig run on Saturday was a great opportunity for my daughter to hone her assembling and screw driving skills:

First of all following the instructions and putting things in the right place:

At this point she pointed out that I had omitted to screw the first panel on to the triangles and she set to screwing them together:

The reward for her labours? A mug of soup in the cold garden whilst watching the guinea pigs have their first experience of grass:

As for her little brother who is a little young for flat pack furniture he was getting in some valuable practice at washing up:

What essential life skills are you teaching your children for independent living when they grow up?

Reasons to be Cheerful week 38 #R2BC

Well we are now well back into the routine of back to school and have a lot to be cheerful about this week:

1) Torchlight Carnival

This made a great return to Kendal on Friday after being cancelled last year due to lack of funds and volunteers. It was back on the streets with plenty of local groups taking part:

It was a lovely family event with lots of people smiling and cheering - oh and we donated lots of money to local charities too!

2) Blog Summit

As I posted on Monday I had a lovely day at Blog Summit Manchester. Plenty of reasons to smile there and not just because of the yummy afternoon tea: 

3) My Fitness and Diet

I seem to be getting back into shape and running further and faster:

I have even run faster than any previous bests on some parts of my Kendal route:

All of this is helping my endless battle to lose weight and 1.5 pounds has come off so I'm nearly back to what I was before the school holidays! I have signed up to Go Sober for October so hopefully abstaining from alcohol for 31 days should help lots. If you want to join my team then please go here or just make a donation as I will be sober on my birthday..

4) My children

Sometimes they drive me mental and then they do something like this:

My daughter has received a head teacher's award this week for her writing which is always a good reason to smile! Little brother was asked to show the rest of his swimming class his front crawl legs as he was doing it so well. Great that each of them has something to be proud of this week.

Guest Post: Look who’s talking

Here is another guest post from my friend Squiff:

It’s coming up for a year since my son uttered his first real word “cheese” and unusual and amusing choice for a first utterance and over the months he’s kept us laughing as his vocabulary expands.

He enjoys watching the news and delighted in squealing “Horse meat scandal” every time a new food scare hit the headlines. This was funny at home but attracted some odd looks when he started to shout it from his seat in the trolley whenever we turned into the meat aisle at the supermarket.  I now watch the news with my finger over the mute button as some of the other scandals would sound a little less funny when parroted by a two year old.

He loves vehicles and commentates on the passing traffic easily distinguishing between skip loaders and rubbish lorries but 4x4s don’t feature in his “Things that go” book so he’s had to find a name for them himself and now declares “wardrobe” whenever one passes. 

As I child I got myself in a pickle trying to say “cement mixer” and instead said “cermix menter”. This quickly because a family phrase and my entire family now struggle to pronounce the word correctly as we’ve used the wrong version so often so I’ve stuck to “mixer” when talking to my son.

He loves us to read to him and is always passing books to us. One night I was cooking dinner when my husband shouted through “What’s the Egg and Peas book? He keeps asking for it and I don’t know that one” I was unable to reply for a few minutes as I was laughing so hard “It’s again please book dear” was my eventual response.  

Teaching children about pornography

The recent news articles about children needing to be educated about pornography really made me think as a mum of 2 young children. They are both allowed on the Internet and use both a PC and my iPad to access web sites and YouTube. Obviously at ages 9 and 6 this is under supervision and with parental controls in place.

However for a while the iPad was popping up mildly pornographic web sites due to automatic redirects from innocent seeming adverts. I don't think this happened when my children were using it but I would be distressed if they had been exposed to these images of naked women.

We have always had an open attitude to questions in the family. If my children ask me questions related to the birds and the bees I respond with the truth using appropriate levels of knowledge. The names of body parts are given their proper names even if we generally describe them as boy or girl bits for normal usage! My daughter has known for a while that a baby is made by a daddy putting it in the mummy's tummy.

On getting in the car on Monday night the radio automatically came on and BBC local radio was discussing the topic of teaching children about pornography. Of course my daughter heard the word and asked what it meant... So whilst driving along I had to give both children a brief description of pornography suitable for their age... They were both unsure as to why anyone would want to look at any as at the moment the thought of sex is thank goodness unappealing!

Then my daughter decided to use this is a chance to ask me for more details about how daddies put babies in mummies' tummies.. Not ideal timing with me driving and little brother in the back seat but honesty is best policy. They were then both trying to work out how the daddy didn't pee by mistake instead of making a baby... It's quite sweet that they think it just takes having sex once to make a baby (hope that discourages them from experimenting when older!).

How do you cope with questions about sex, babies and pornography from your children?

Reasons to be Cheerful Week 19 #R2BC

Michelle has a lot of reasons to be cheerful this week and I am not at all jealous that she is off to Butlins! Pop over to see which of my fellow #R2BC bloggers she is highlighting this week. Meanwhile here are mine:
1) My big girl on the mend:
My daughter seems to be almost 100% recovered from her operation and back to her normal cheeky self:

She is still off school until Monday but looking very much ready to go back!
2) A super bank holiday weekend
We had a great weekend trying to do as many of the National Trust's 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4 as possible. Saturday was an organised say at Sizergh Castle and Monday we did things with my parents on the wider estate. It was a brilliant way to spend lots of time enjoying some beautiful days:

3) My son
It's been great to devote more 1:1 time with my son whilst his sister has been away. He has enjoyed a lot more snuggles as well as watching favourite movies together and listening to him read.

4) My health kick
Things are going in the right direction to get myself in shape. If you want to know more then read yesterday's post! Just over a week to go until my 10 k for Cancer Care and I am quietly confident. If you want to help me double my target then please donate here. 
Why are you smiling this week?

Reasons to be Cheerful Week 18 #R2BC

So pleased that Michelle has been nominated for several blogging awards which are well deserved! Pop over and see and maybe even vote ;-) Meanwhile here are my reasons:
1) Operation success
My daughter seems to be recovering well from having tonsils out on Friday. She is enjoying recuperating at the grandparents' house and will be back home for the weekend. Its great seeing her full of beans once again.
2) Time with my big boy
A positive from having my daughter staying away means that I am spending more time just with my son. He is enjoying having mummy to himself. Being on my own its hard for me sometimes to be fair to my children with my time so this is lovely. Also not having to drag big sister around for little brother's activities is heavenly. Nice to be able just to enjoy him:

3) Spring and blue skies
There is nothing quite like blue skies to lift the spirits. On Tuesday I shared some spring photos from this week. When I look out of the kitchen window and see views of blue its a great start to the day:

Its a boost to my running that I am out on a gorgeous day running through the Cumbrian countryside! 

Tonsils out!

Yesterday my daughter was scheduled to have her tonsils out at Furness General Hospital (the downside of living in south Cumbria is that our hospitals are up to a hour away!). She had been repeatedly suffering from tonsillitis which was impacting on both home and school life. It hadn't taken much convincing of the consultant once our GP finally referred her. So at 6:30 yesterday morning she and I set off on the hour long drive out to Barrow in Furness. Its a beautiful drive when your mind isn't elsewhere!

The hospital is on the outskirts of the town and as we were there so early it was easy to get to and also find on road parking. Then we found our way to the front entrance and someone directed us to the right ward - typically right at the other end of the hospital! We were half an hour early but they let us in and showed us the side ward my daughter was assigned to. 

An initial chat with the nurse (including the magic local anaesthetic gel) was followed by the surgeon arriving, he informed us that her notes were still at the Westmorland General in Kendal! This put a delay on her operation as they were waiting for a taxi to bring them over... Meantime a nursing assistant explained more of the operation to my daughter and the anaesthetist came to see her. Then she was allowed to play whilst I had a coffee.

When the time came a nurse led us through a few corridors to the operating theatre. She looked so tiny lying on the trolley as I distracted her from the needle going in. All too soon she was asleep and I was told to distract myself for an hour! I went outside with a paper but it was hard to concentrate and I was soon back in in the ward.

My daughter was a bit upset and disorientated when she came round but I sat and held her hand. She tried to sleep and eat but it was all a bit much. 

In the end they decided to keep her overnight as a precaution. The ward had fold out beds so I could sleep next to her. Just wish I'd thought to bring over night gear for myself!

It wasn't a great night as when we first tried to sleep a teenager down the corridor had too many loud visitors. Then a baby kept crying! I am a light sleeper so the random electronic beeps, phone calls and corridor lights weren't good. I ended up watching kids' films on the bedside TV until I was too tired to stay awake! A nurse checked my daughter at 2 am (my daughter slept through that! Then at 3 the fire alarms went off... I was getting out of bed when a nurse assured me it wasn't in our part of the hospital and to get back to sleep! Hard for us to do when the alarm wouldn't shut up...

This morning I was told that if she ate some toast we could leave as she looked and felt a lot better. I was so relieved when she managed to do this. It was a good feeling to walk back out of the hospital and to our car. We are both a bit tired (despite having a sleep when we got home!) and she is still feeling a bit rough but hopefully a couple of weeks off school and she will soon be back to old bubbly self!

My top tips for accompanying children to hospital:

1. If you are far from home have an overnight bag in car for both you and the child. Earplugs and eye mask could be useful!
2. Unlike me take your phone charger..
3. Have a good book or other distractions for you and the child
4. Take plenty of snacks for yourself as hospital food is expensive
5. Have a decent travel hot drink mug (the ones at Furness dripped on me!)

Do you have any other tips?

Teaching our children life skills

Having had to rely an awful lot on my 9 year old daughter this weekend due to illness I am quite pleased that I have taught her valuable skills in the home! It's only when you have to leave everything in their hands that you realise what they can and can't do.

From quite early on I've been gradually building up her skills in the kitchen and I've always welcomed the treat of a breakfast in bed. Her first ever one was a ham sandwich aged 3 but this weekend she proved how much she has moved on when she presented me with this:

She has now learnt how to use the toaster and is getting a dab hand at preparing fruit! There were a few times she set the smoke alarms off over the weekend using it but that's because some crumpet got wedged..

The fact that we have a Tassimo coffee machine means that for several years my daughter has been able to make a coffee in bed. Recently her little brother has also learnt how to use the machine. She has just learned how to use the kettle (I have to say this gave me a few scary moments!). On Saturday they couldn't agree on who was on coffee duty so they both made me one:

On Sunday there needed to be a lot more cooking from my daughter as I was forced to spend much of the day in bed. It was when I had to wrack my brains for ways she could feed us all with the skills she had without endangering herself! Anything to do with using the hob was out of the question - she is only allowed to cook on the gas when I am in the room. So I had train her to use the microwave as the safest way to cook. This limited the menu choice to tinned pasta shapes and soup! She became a dab hand at cooking these in our microwaveable dishes. 

Her other speciality is sandwiches and she rustled me up a ham and salad one. The only problem with this was that she was using a sharp knife (we started letting practice under supervision from about aged 5) which she managed to cut herself with. I have to say she was very calm about it all but I need to train my son where the plasters are.. This is what she made for me:

It had brought home to me that we couldn't have a proper meal today as her cooking skills weren't up to more than the above without adult supervision. Luckily we do have a microwave but there wasn't much in the house that could be cooked in there. 

Guess I need to teach her more cooking skills and how to use the hob safely. She is a dab hand at pancake batter and cupcakes but obviously at the minute needs an adult around for the actual cooking.

What can your children accomplish in the kitchen?

Preserving Memories

Every parent knows that almost as soon as your child starts nursery they start bringing home stuff. Artwork, junk models, writing, projects.... it can seem like every week more and more bits come through the front door. All of this is of course potential treasure to keep forever but you can't keep all of it especially when you have more than one child!

We have a small house with limited storage so space is a real issue when it comes to extra bits. My daughter is a hoarder and has tried to keep every single piece of school work she has ever brought home. But even she now realises that the drawer it is stored in is bursting at the seams. 

It is great fun looking back at her work from Reception class and seeing how much her writing and number work have vastly improved! She and I had a real hoot this evening looking back at old Learning Journey books. These are great ways of keeping key bits of work in a compact scrapbook. But its the loose bits that are a pain as they mount up and aren't easy to work out when the work was done. I have asked her to get rid of uninteresting pieces of work and just keep a few key bits that she can look back on.

We also have what seems like a gazillion pieces of artwork from both children that at some point grace the wall but eventually have to come down for another piece to go up. It would be impossible to keep it all so I've decided on a 21st century way to preserve the memory and not take up room. I have started to photograph them instead:

So now my son's straw skeleton can be kept for as long as digital images last and the original I am afraid has been thrown in the bin. I think its a great compromise and I do wish that I had started doing this years ago!

How do you deal with all your children's work?

Reasons to be cheerful: week 51 ( #R2BC )

 

Hard to be cheerful when feeling ill but keeping my inspiration from Michelle let's focus on the positive! Last week was all about my big girl so this week it's my boy's turn. He is growing up so fast and at 6 he is starting to change to a big boy now.

 

1) The nice innkeeper




This year being in year 1 my son was selected to have a line in the infant nativity. He was so proud to be the nice innkeeper (big sis was the grumpy one 2 years ago!). I was on the front row so in prime position to see him deliver his line beautifully:

 

 

His shed sounds cosy with all those animals in it - surprised there was room for Mary and Joseph! Do you think a beard suits him:

 

 

2) Cheeky chappie

 

He is full of life and developing a really fun personality. This was him modelling his granny's silly tam o shanter:

 

 

3) Bright bunny

 

We discovered one of his school reading books from a month or so ago and when I compared it to his latest ones the improvement is amazing. He just loves reading and wants to read every day. Long may it continue!

 

His spelling is also moving on and since October he has managed to improve his score from 32 to 67 out of 100! Need to get his letters right way round but the they are in right order at least.

 

What's making you smile this week?

 

Using pktmny.com to teach my children to budget

 

 Sponsored post

When I was invited by Britmums to be a beta tester for the new  http://www.pktmny.com I found the whole idea very appealing. My children are still quite young at 9 and 6 but I want them to learn from an early age the value of saving money and sticking to a budget. They have traditional savings accounts but I control these for them as the money is needed for things such as swimming lessons and big treats.

I have never yet managed to establish a system for regular pocket money and it was always a bit adhoc and was never the same amount each week! In fact I was guilty of giving them more than they deserved in the form of magazines and small treats when out. This new site allows me to set an automatic minimum payment each week that they get paid into their accounts without me having to remember to do it.

The extra tasks that earn extra money are easy to set up and I agreed with the children a fair amount for things like washing up or tidying their rooms. The good thing about this is that they really have to earn their spending money. So if they want to be able to afford something like a new magazine they need to either wait until they the basic money builds up or get busy with household chores.

My 6 year old still thinks that if his account has £5 in it then he has to spend it straight away. On the other hand my 9 year old has become much more savvy about choosing what to use her debit card to buy. She feels so grown up going into a shop and using her own debit card.

 

The good thing is I can adjust the maximum amount allowed to spend so that if they really wanted something above their normal allowance and have saved up then I can allow them to spend more. The fact that I can help them learn to budget is a great thing to do as a family. I know myself the dangers of credit cards so I think that starting young with a debit card is a brilliant idea.

As they grow older then the allowances they have will grow with their needs, abilities and willingness to do chores! It's such a simple yet flexible idea. I look forward to continuing to help my children learn to manage their own money better than I did!
This post is part of a project with BritMums, sponsored by PKTMNY, highlighting it's launch (http://www.pktmny.com). The new tool allows parents to easily pay and monitor their children's pocket money online, whilst allowing their children to earn, save, spend and manage their money in a totally safe and fun way.

Giving your children freedom

In the modern world with news appearing regularly about child abduction or worse its hard to know how much freedom to give your children. You want to find a balance between giving them independence and keeping them safe.

When I lived in Hastings my children were younger but it was also 4 times the size of Kendal. If we were in town I'd keep my children close by as it was always busy. Our house was on an inner ring road where most traffic didn't keep to the 30 limit. I could never let my children out the front without me.

Since moving up to Cumbria we have found things different. For one we live in a cul de sac on a quiet estate where children can play in the street or the local park with minimal supervision. Once they had shown they had road sense they could cycle on the closest roads or run errands to the post box. They know exactly how far they are allowed to go and it's nearly always with a friend.

The town itself is much quieter and its only on special occasions that it gets crowded. It's much easier to see the children from a distance and it feels so much safer. I have been building up letting my children have more freedom and responsibility whilst in town. Things like my daughter going into a shop or library on her own.

Today there's was the next step. As we were doing the advent fair at our church on the edge of the shopping area I sent my daughter to McDonalds on her own to get breakfast. It's only a few minutes walk and the roads she crossed are either quiet or have a crossing. As it was early in the day it was even quieter than normal. I have to admit to thinking about her the whole time she was gone but it gave her a feeling of being thought of as responsible and grown up.

How do you strike the balance with your children or do you find that you clip their wings to ensure they stay safe?

Reasons to be Cheerful: Thanksgiving ( #R2BC )

 

I may not be American but there is no reason to not celebrate the things I am thankful for whilst Michelle prepares to jet off with operation Christmas child!

1) My Health

Finally after nearly 3 weeks I feel like I'm almost 100% back to health again! I've been feeling really tired and run down and everything has got behind... Now I'm trying to catch up on the backlog of housework that didn't get done when I was ill... The house is slowly improving...

2) My Daughter

She has been so much less of a roller coaster girl this week. Maybe it's a sign she is growing up that she can control her emotions better. On our Santa Dash at the weekend she was so keen to do her bit that she ran off like a rocket! Maybe channelling her worries about her dad into fundraising for cancer charities is doing her good. She has also had some moments of being very helpful round the house..

 

 

3) My Son

He seems to be maturing at a faster rate since turning 6! Yes he still has tantrums sometimes and can lash out but these are happening less often. His love of reading is just growing and growing and he is reading books which are advanced for his age.

 

 

4) My Books

It's the time of year when I sell the most usborne books. I now have 4 bookings over next 3 weekends. So I'll be busy but hopefully I'll shift lots of my stock!

 

5) Future Plans

I can blame Michelle for pointing me in the direction of Butlins! I've now booked a bargain short break for early next year. This is something to look forward to after the New Year. Our family camping holiday to France in the summer is also booked. Nothing fancy but the first time my children will have been to one of the countries I love best - better renew my daughter's passport and refresh my French!

 

 

Friday Book Review: Notalie Natters

Sponsored post

A year ago we were sent a Notalie doll for my daughter to review. These were a new concept in companion dolls to help tween age girls accepting themselves as being unique, sharing fun with friends and valuing the truly important things in life.

Since then Notalie has accompanied my daughter doing various activities so she was excited about the new book we were sent to review. Notalie natters about what matters is the title of this book for besties.

Kym Yorke has put the book together with chapters written by Notalie about best friends, her dog and bullies. It is written in language that 7-10 year old girls use themselves and has a glossary of Notalie's own words at the back such as fabolistic and knotted.

We did a combination of reading it together and my daughter reading it to Notalie. My daughter could relate to the way Notalie and her diverse group of friends the Notstars interacted and fell out and made up. At this age friendships are hard work and its good for them to read a book showing how normal this is.

Bits of the book are interactive encouraging the child to draw or write in the book something about their friends or their feelings:

My daughter has a lot on her mind at the moment and since we started reading the book she has calmed down a little bit. Reading things laid out in language and pictures that she can relate to seems to be a great help. A great book for 7-10 year old girls with or without the doll!

Book details

Notalie natters about what matters by Notalie Knot and Kym Yorke

Publisher Pizzazz

ISBN 978-0-9573730-1-3

Price £6.99

Wednesday Book Review: Out of Time 2 - Raven's Hoard

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Having enjoyed Gill Jepson's debut novel and her picture book I was delighted to be sent Out of Time 2 Raven's Hoard to review.

Gill lives on the Furness peninsula and all her stories are based in the area and are full of local history. Like her first novel this story is aimed at older children but I found it fascinating to find out more about what was happening in the area in the 18th century and the time of the Vikings.

The hero of this story is the brother of the heroine in the first story. As the book went on the stories overlapped so you would be best to read them in order.

Once again it is down to a teenage boy to travel through time and find the treasure before the bad guys do. This time there is help in the form of a young couple from the 18th century who sometimes travel through time with him whilst battling smugglers in their own time.

There are quite a few tight corners that they have to get out of whilst on their quest. A few twists on the way and surprises made me keep reading. If your child likes mysteries and history then they will enjoy this book. Even as an adult there was enough to keep my interest.

Reasons to be Cheerful: Simplicity edition ( #R2BC )

Lots of us keeping it simple to follow Michelle's lead this week!

1) beautiful children

 

2) good reports at parents' evening

 

 

3) new hair cut

Friday App Review: Peppa Pig's Sports Day

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If your child is a Peppa Pig fan and inspired by the Olympics then this is a perfect app for your iPad or iPhone. It includes a range of sports events, ice cream making and rosette design. As an app aimed at young children all the controls and games are very simple,

Up to four players can choose their favourite characters to take part in the events. Then all they need to do is tap in their little circle to either make them go faster or jump.

The events are obstacle race, long jump, cycling and tug of war. After each event the winner is announced:

And trophy awarded:

For the ice cream making they have to tap on the ingredients and then stir:

My 5 year old played this at a party with lots of other children aged 2+. They all really enjoyed having a go together. This would definitely be a good addition to your apps collection if your child is the right age.

Posted with Blogsy

#FlashbackFriday: My babies

It's good every now and then to look back and see what my children were like as babies as it seems to long ago. Amazingly looking at these they looked more alike then than they do now!

 

Posted with Blogsy