Play With Your Food #2 – Pizza Night...

"Let's put on the yellow toppings first Daddy." This is an old photo because my toddler has been making mini pizzas since she was about 18 months.  Now that she’s almost three, she runs the show when it comes to Friday night pizzas! I cheat by using bought pizza bases, and I like the mini ones because we can all have our preferred toppings.  I do know some other mums though who make their own bases. ...

The Five Love Languages...

If you’re interested in making the relationships in your life the best they can be, have a look at Dr Gary Chapman’s blog.  He wrote the New York Times bestseller, The Five Love Languages. Leave some comments there and you might win a book like I did!!!  Just click on the image if you’d like to check it out. Want to improve your marriage?  Read The Five Love Languages. Want to understand your children? ...

Wait a While...

This photo was taken the day after my son tried baby rice cereal for the first time.  A little ambitious, perhaps?  By next week he’ll be after steak!  I heard myself saying, “Not yet mate.  You just need to wait a while.” If he’s anything like me, patiently waiting might not be one of his strong suits. I get restless waiting for the shower water to heat up, or the microwave to ding, or even...

Leaf Rubbings with Rainbow Crayons...

I love activities that involve both indoor and outdoor time.  They are great for when it’s too hot (or too cold) to be outside for very long. First we upended the crayon box and salvaged all the broken bits.  I removed any labels, and my two year old put her choice of colours into mini patty pan cases.  (You can use regular patty pans but the mini ones work well for mini fingers.)  We put the cases into a mini...

Lamenting Lost Sleep...

The Good Old Days Life as I know it is over.  My toddler has completely dropped her daytime nap, and there is nothing I can do to convince her of the value of sleep.  She was never a great day sleeper, but even one short nap was an opportunity to put my feet up, have a coffee, watch a little Dr Phil or catch up on emails (often all of them simultaneously).  Suddenly my long days seem more like a test of endurance...

Rainy Days...

I was racking my brain for a rainy day activity this week when a thought occurred to me.  What activity can you only do in wet weather?  Play in the rain of course!  So today we went outside – not despite the weather, but rather because of it.  We delighted in putting on our raincoats and pulling on gumboots, ready to explore the sloshy backyard. We looked at the way water droplets sat like diamonds on leaves. ...

Busted for Cheating...

I have a confession to make.  My suburb blacked out on Wednesday night, and I think it may have been my fault.  Indirectly at least.  You might remember that I decided to give up tv five nights a week during the season of Lent (past post: Give A Little).  Apparently cheating doesn’t go unnoticed by God!  Oops. The two nights I’m allowing myself to watch tv are Sunday and Tuesday.  But I thought that...

Play With Your Food #1 – Sausage Face...

Sausages and salad for dinner was a summer time staple in our house when I was a kid, and nothing much has changed now that I’m the Mum.  Except the presentation that is!  It’s not hard to throw a few sausages on the bbq or into a frypan and chop a bit of salad.  Dinner can be on the table in no time. I’ve always found that the key to getting toddlers to eat anything is to involve them in the process. ...

Superwoman...

I’m a bit of a fan of Alicia Keys, and I’ve heard her song “Superwoman” a couple of times recently.  It’s a great song, but it’s got me thinking.  A few years ago this song probably would have been some kind of anthem for me, but now I’m not so sure.  She sings, “Even when I’m a mess, I still put on a vest with an S on my chest – Oh yes I’m a Superwoman.” I’ve...

Chalk It Up...

Kids love to draw, but drawing gets boring very quickly.  For a bit of variety today we sat on the front patio and drew on the concrete with chalk.  Somehow this was infinitely more interesting and exciting to my toddler than crayons and paper. We chose a spot to sit and looked at the world around us before we started drawing.  I expected her to tell me she could see a tree, the car, or maybe even the bird in a nearby...