Love Is A Verb...

A mum I know just moved in around the corner with her two young children.  Moving is tough with kids, so I cooked dinner for my new neighbour and dropped it off late in the afternoon.  It was only a simple meal, but I included some bread, a fruit basket, disposable plates and forks (who wants to wash up when you’ve got boxes everywhere) and a card.  And my friend was grateful. I didn’t do it so that I could...

Winter Wonders...

Living in sunny Brisbane, Queensland, we really don’t get much cold weather.  But for just a few weeks (or it might only be days) each year, while grumbling about daytime temperatures that dip below twenty degrees, we rug up in woollies and celebrate the “season” that is winter. Here are the wonderful things we only do in winter: 1.  Make pumpkin soup. 2.  Wear beanies and scarves.  (A novelty at...

Collections Up Close...

When I saw the magnifying glass at my cheap shop for less than three dollars, I didn’t even hesitate.  I knew my daughter would get hours of entertainment out of it, and I’d certainly get my money’s worth. She has actually used her magnifying glass outside every day for the past week!  Firstly we talked about what it was made of, and what would happen if she dropped it.  (I don’t think we need...

The Fear of Dentists (Parenting Aus)...

I’m blogging at Parenting Australia today!  Head over there to read the rest of this post: Did you know that we are only born with two inherent fears?  The fear of loud noises, and the fear of falling.  Apparently the fear of dentists isn’t included.  It’s a learned fear, and it’s not one I intend to pass on to my kids…

Mums Card Giveaway!...

Pick your favourite design… GIVEAWAY CLOSED – WINNER ANNOUNCED!!! Thanks to random.org the winning comment number is 32.  Congratulations Amanda!  You have one a set of 20 Mum’s Gift Tags. Thanks to everyone who entered.  I hope you keep stopping by here.  If you’d like to make sure that you never miss a post (or a comp) you can subscribe to my blog by email or RSS. _______________________________ I...

Best of Both Worlds...

Feeding animals with Pa My kids had a wonderful time with their grandparents on the weekend at the Samford Show.  Samford is just on the outskirts of Brisbane.  It is close enough for commuting, but still has a country feel (though not sure for how much longer…) We had such a lovely day.  Although the Show had the usual attractions, we bypassed Sideshow Alley entirely and headed for something else.  My daughter...

Little Helping Hands...

I have come to the conclusion that there are two ways you can deal with housework once you have young kids. Option A – do the housework when the kids are asleep.  On the positive side, your house will be really clean.  On the negative, you’ll be cleaning til 2 in the morning and the kids will probably wake you again at 6. Option B – let the kids help.  On the positive side, you can relax at the end...

Book-Loving Boys...

Reading With Daddy – 9mths I recently read Trevor Cairney’s blogpost on The Challenge of Boys and Reading, and especially loved this: “Boys need to understand the value of story and storytelling from an early age… Until boys value story, they will struggle to cope with reading.” I couldn’t agree more.  That is the one piece of advice I give to other mums time and time again.  If...

Town Mouse, Country Mouse...

Beautiful Brisbane Which kind of mum are you?  A town mouse or a country mouse? I’m a town mouse.  My husband’s job in the technology sector means we will probably always be located close to a major centre.  There are a lot of advantages to raising kids in the city.  We only need to drive 5 minutes in any direction to be at a shopping centre, local library, swimming pool, playground, video store, doctor’s...

Thing With String...

My daughter found a spool of twine in my craft box and asked if she could make a thing with string.  “Sure!” I said, “What kind of string-thing should we make…?”  My mind was already racing ahead, designing some kind of simple mobile or something.  Of course, Little Miss 3 already had her own idea.  “We’ll make a string person and we’ll need strong glue Mummy,”...