All posts tagged: kids

active kids

Nature’s Playground

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Keeping active when you have kids can be really hard. Carving out time for yourself to get out and do some exercise is a daily challenge. I often use the hashtag #activefamily because I’ve discovered that one of the best ways to get my daily dose of activity is to make it a family affair. This is particularly the case during school holidays and there are a lot of those! With a bit of imagination you can turn any trip into a work out for every member of the family, without them even realising what you’re doing!

Looking back at 2015 and drooling with excitement at 2016!

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I’m keen on self-reflection. I wrote a diary for years as a child and I dip in again from time to time now.  I find it very therapeutic and I just LOVE reading it back. It helps me to be grateful for all I have and to set targets for the year ahead. It’s amazing how much you forget, even in the space of a year. I guess blogging and vlogging kind of replaces a diary in some ways but I’ll still be making my yearly entry looking back on the year I’ve had and making plans for 2016.

Kayaks, kids, waterfalls and a nervous mum

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How adventurous are you when it comes to family activities? On our recent holiday to Croatia we signed up for a day trip kayaking through a gorge. At the start, all kitted out in life jackets and helmets we gathered to get the brief from the skipper. He told us with glee about the waterfalls we’d kayak over and how one in particular was really BIG. I started to wonder whether the whole idea was crazy, especially with three kids and seriously considered just retreating to the safety of our lovely swimming pool.

wild flowers

Happiness is……

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I usually avoid anything that looks remotely like a chain letter. I spent many wasted hours writing those in my youth; I’m still waiting for the replies from the 500 other letter writers that were promised to me. I’m not superstitious so I don’t fear the consequences of not passing these things on; I often walk under ladders to show my kids it’s all nonsense and I lived many unscathed years at house number 13.  When I was nominated by Rachel at Ten Minutes Spare to share the 50 things that make me happy I felt rather differently. Suddenly I was ripping down the curtains in the bedroom, making dungarees for the kids and singing ‘My favourite things’ in a very loud voice.

Grumpy child

How to help your constipated child

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‘Can you phone Mrs X, her child can’t poo and she doesn’t know what to do’. This is a fairly common message I get at work. What is worse is that when I phone mum or dad to get the whole story I can usually hear a child screaming in pain in the background. It breaks my heart, it’s agony for them. It can catch all of us out; I’ve been there more than once with more than one of my children! So when it’s been a few days and your little one is sore and crying and can’t poo, what can you do?

How was your day at school?

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Kids, kids, kids! I have 3, they’re amazing. I love them to bits and would do anything for them. When they were younger they were so dependant on me. They needed help to dress, eat or wipe their bottoms! I thought as they got older they would need me less but I’m actually finding the reverse. I’m more acutely aware how my behaviour influences theirs. I feel even more responsibility to help them develop into nice young people ready to go out into the world alone. They’re spending more time away from me and I wonder whether they’re acting in the way that I’m trying to equip them to. How do they deal with conflict? Are their manners good? Are they considerate of their friends?