My kids hate going on road trips. Actually, since my second child was born I’ve actively avoided going anywhere further than an hour away, it was just to stressful, too unpleasant. She wanted to scream and fight her way out of the car and I figured I’d rather stay at home. But then fate (or crazy ideas that I have on a Saturday night) threw a bit of a spanner in the works and suddenly we were forced into making long road trips with the kids. Lots of long road trips with them. See, we decided to sell our place here in Essex and move to the other side of the country to Cornwall, which is great and fun and exciting and oh my days that is one looong journey. So we had to take the kids on a six hour journey to see the place before we moved there. And we have to view properties. And actually move. And then come back from the west coast to the east because all our family still live back here and there’s no flights and the nearest train station is 25 miles away so that isn’t going to work either. So these are my very best tips for travelling with kids in the car, because this is something that I’ve really had to work on and if you have any tips I’d really appreciate it if you could pop them in the comments section below!
Parenting
How to teach your kids with the Twirlywoos
Have you watched the Twirlywoos? It’s the latest series from Anne Wood who created the Teletubbies and In The Night Garden and it seems to be just as popular as those with my kids! We were asked if we would like to review two of the new Twirlywoos books published by Harper Collins and I was really excited about it, not just because I love reading with my kids, but also because the Twirlywoos have been designed to get your kids moving and doing some sneaky learning through play. Want to find out more? And have a sneaky look in my home?! Carry on then!…
How changing one word improved my relationship with my kids
Have you ever lost your rag with your kids? Been bad tempered? I know that I’m far from the perfect mum. That’s not to say that I don’t try, I know that I’m doing my best and sometimes I am pretty great too, but with several years of sleep deprivation behind me there have been days when I couldn’t manage great behaviour with anyone. Then last Christmas I spoke to my son and started to say something so stupid, so amazingly bad that I made me question how I talk to my kids entirely. The good news is though that by just changing one word I instantly improved how I see my kids and how I cope them and nearly a year later this one little word change is still working.
How to cope when your baby has reflux
Has your child got reflux? Then mama, you have my sympathy. My daughters reflux is one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with as a parent. If you haven’t dealt with reflux that can sound daft, it’s just a bit of vomit, right? But if your baby has reflux you’ll know the seemingly never ending sleepless nights, how it feels to see your child being ill again and again and of course you’ll also have the added joy of being out in public in clothes splattered in sick. Yep, I’ve been there. For a long period of time I was only getting four hours of sleep a night and to be honest I kind of lost the plot a bit. Actually I lost it quite a lot, there’s a reason why sleep deprivation is used as a method of torture. As my eldest child was never sick as a baby (true fact, we never even used a muslin with him) I had no idea what reflux was or how we could help our daughter so I’ve put this together as a little guide for parents who are going through it at the moment. Obviously I am not a doctor so do speak to your GP, consultant or paediatrician but hopefully this will help some parents that are looking for some advice on reflux from a mum who’s been there.
How I Got My Whole House Tidier by Moving One Thing
Are you a tidy person? I wish I was, but sadly I find tidying a little bit…boring. At the end of a day I know that I need to clean up or the house will be a mess tomorrow but all too often I just haven’t had the energy and after my husband and I have both finished writing in the evening we’ve often wandered into the floor to realise it’s still occupied by a small town of superheros and all their arch enemies, plus their appropriate houses, robots and snacks. But then two weeks ago we moved one piece of furniture and suddenly our home is significantly tidier every single day and we don’t have to dodge all the mess.




