Category Archives: Parenting

Jan27

Back To School: Some Handy Tips for Everyone

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Back To School: Some Handy Tips for Everyone

Back to School

I’ve enjoyed my time at home with the kids these pass few weeks. It’s been great not having to rush around, pack snacks and lunches, take note of notices, and just enjoying the slowness of it all. But, that’s not to say that I’m not looking forward to them going back to school next week. Pity it’ll be on a Thursday for us, but still, it’s something to look forward to – in a way. To be perfectly honest, I’m no organising queen, in fact, I’m more like the – take it in stride – type of person. That’s in all facets of my life really, which is why I’m pretty surprised at how organised I have been when it came to organising their uniforms. I have so far bought the stuff they’ve needed to have replaced – skorts and shorts that have now become too short or small for them to wear, more socks and shoes they have worn out or outgrown. I have actually surprisingly washed all their school jackets – that was done way beforehand and luckily for me the lunch boxes and paraphernalia concerning packing their food are all still in great condition. So yes, I am ready. But, I thought I’d share a few tips for those who a)are pretty bad at getting organised like me b)parents whose kids are just starting school c)because I thought it’d be good for us all to have some sort of refresher before next week.

  • Remembering dates for school events:

This I have to hand it to new technology – my smart phone. Thank goodness for that! I am hopeless at having a physical diary where I have to write things down. Normally, it gets used say….1/10 of the time and then it sits there, collecting dust. I rely heavily on my phone, so if I loose it, that’s it – my life will go down the drain. Each time I get a notice, an email from the school with important dates or even a birthday invitation from my kids’ friends, I will input it into my phone right away. That way I know if things clash, what’s on when, and where I have to be, all at my fingertips – literally. I know of some couples who have their phones synced, which I think is another great idea. That way you both know what’s going on.

  • Notices:

I have been pretty good with notices that require signatures. Basically, the kids will hand it to me the moment they step into the house. Thankfully for me, I don’t have to check their bags and the school normally emails us with updates on what each grade has got going on. So, what I normally do is sign them the moment it’s handed to me and pass it back to my child to keep in their bag right away. That way, I won’t forget to sign it, and they won’t forget to bring it back to school. I also keep a copy on my fridge. I’m not into keeping them in folders because I know I’ll forget. Also, remember to input it into your written diary or phone.

  • Meal Planning for Lunch Boxes:

I don’t normally plan the snacks and lunches for my kids. I usually alternate what they bring for their lunch – sandwiches, sushi (this is easy to make really), pasta salad (again, really easy), rice salad (need I repeat myself?), savoury muffins (baked and frozen days ahead).

Basically, have these items handy in your pantry for emergencies eg. when you run out of bread to make sandwiches.

  • Dry pasta (I normally buy the small vegeroni spirals)
  • Cans of tuna
  • Nori sheets/Seaweed sheets
  • Canned corn
  • Stir through pasta sauces

For sandwiches, I normally use pre-bought cold cuts, with cucumber and/or tomatoes.This is where the stir through sauce comes in handy. To make it taste a bit more interesting I normally spread it with store-bought stir through pasta sauces – like the one from Sacla in Capsicum & Eggplant. My kids LOVE the taste and it gives the sandwich some nice flavour too. If not, then just butter. The kids hate Vegemite so that’s why I don’t use that.

The tuna will come in handy when you’re thinking of making pasta salad, rice salad, sushi and even sandwiches when you run out of cold cuts.

Pasta salad and rice salad actually doesn’t take very long to make at all. They both use similar ingredients but with the rice salad, I normally use day old rice. Rice that I’ve cooked extra from the previous night. Pasta doesn’t take long to cook either. In fact you can also get the pasta ready the night before! What are in these salads? Cucumber, canned corn, tuna or chopped up cold cuts (or shredded), salt, pepper and olive oil. Mix them and place them in the containers. Easy. And can be made the night before too.

People think it’s hard to make sushi. Ummm…honestly, it takes me the same amount of time to make those and sandwiches. So really, it’s not about showing off, it’s about using what’s there. I normally use day old rice (again, I usually do this when I cook rice for dinner the night before). This is when I know I’ve run out of bread from the night before and can’t be bothered to go out and buy it! I don’t even use the sushi rolling mat to roll the sushi to be honest. So, what I do is, place some of the rice on the nori sheet, flatten it with the back of a wet spoon. That way it won’t stick. Spread some mayonnaise (the basic normal ones), and place either cold cut or tuna and…roll! I usually slice them up too, with a sharp knife. You can also choose to add some cucumber batons in there. If not, leave it out. It’s up to you.

Oh and if you’re worried if people think  you’re showing off because your kids aren’t eating sandwiches, ignore that. They’re not feeding your kids, you are!

Those are some of the tips that I’ve got up my sleeve. Pretty good I think for someone who hates organising. But I’ve also got a few other links you can check out from other mums who are a lot more organised than I am:

If you’ve got any other handy tips to share, please do. Goodness knows we all need some super handy hints to survive the school term!


Jan20

Are YOU a Bad Parent? Why Name Calling is NOT the Way to Handle Delicate Issues.

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Are YOU a Bad Parent? Why Name Calling is NOT the Way to Handle Delicate Issues.

Parents and parenting have so many different terms associated with them don’t they? Bad, good, perfect, helicopter, free-range…the list goes on. But, when you look at it, I think, most of the time the terms refer to women. True isn’t it? When we hear about parenting, or someone being a good or bad or whatever type of parent, how often do we see MEN being the subject? And usually, it’s women who call each other whatever names they want to. Sad but true.

I was intrigued by the reaction this particular article had on the people who shared this via Facebook the other day. The title says it all  “Bad Parents Leaving Kids Unsupervised At Playcentres”. It wasn’t so much the article itself that got me interested, more so the reaction surrounding it. Today, I wrote a guest post on Real Mums, sharing my thoughts on the issue of judging other parents. Join me and share your thoughts on this matter either here or over where the article has been posted.

 

Jan18

Designer Clothes at Not So Designer Prices

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Designer Clothes at Not So Designer Prices

I don’t usually encourage brands or labels on my kids. Especially when it comes to their clothes and shoes. To me, it’s about value for money, style and appropriateness of the design. If you read my post on how annoyed I was at how difficult it is for me to find clothes that let them still be kids, you would know how hard it is for us – or at least me, to find clothes that are age appropriate, namely for girls between the ages of 7 – 12. Too often I find that the clothes look too mature – too much like what a teenager would wear than what a child between the ages of 7-12 SHOULD wear. Yes, I’m going to say should as in what I perceive as they should be wearing, because let’s face it, they are still kids.

There are thankfully, clothes out there that have age appropriate designs, that don’t make them look like little toddlers, nor do they make them look too old for their age. Brands like Gumboots and Tilli. The prices though…for me personally can be a bit pricey but, I do like the quality and it’s always great when they have some kind of sale – THAT’S when I start my buying spree for the girls.

I’ve recently though, discovered a new label – Havoc Denim, thanks to Jack+Bill,

jack + bill is a pop-up public relations agency committed to identifying and representing emerging Australian fashion, jewellery and accessories design talent based in Melbourne, through publicity campaigns in 2011 at no cost.

In their 2011 call-out for submissions, Havoc Denim was one of the 3 chosen to have representation, and I have to say, I’m not surprised why.

An Australian denim brand, Havoc Denim stocks clothing for kids aged 2- 14, with some funky yet wearable designs that are not only fashion forward but also age appropriate. Another important factor is the quality of the clothes they produce, especially their denim range. Their denim goes through a 3 stage washing process – meaning, you won’t need to wonder if it will run when you throw them in the wash. Plus, they have been pre-shrunk to avoid further shrinkage. Havoc Denim understands the fundamental need to have clothes last and so, their high quality also means that their collection can be passed down from one sibling to the next! In my case, the girls get to share the clothes and possibly when we do pass it to the Salvos or the like, it will be well worth the money for them!

Thanks to Porter Novelli, I managed to touch, feel and let my girls try out two items from the Havoc Denim range. The 50′s style ruffled check top is not only cute, but I love the slight variation in design with the angled neckline. The ruffles gives it a playful look and the checkered pattern is great for Summer. Also, if I wanted to extend it to the colder months, I can simply add a long sleeved top underneath. Both Miss 8 and Miss almost 10 can wear this size 10 top. It fits just nicely and I think can last them another year or so – in length and width.

Ruffled Checkered Top rrp$39.95

Ruffled Checkered Top rrp$39.95

The denim beach mini skirt is also to die for. Yes, it’s a mini, but luckily it stops just a few inches above the knee, so it’s not that much a mini, which is GREAT! I also love the detailing on the pockets and the feel of the fabric is soft and comfortable enough for you to wear in Summer.

Girls Denim Mini Skirt rrp$59.95

Girls Denim Mini Skirt rrp$59.95

The pricing is about the average of what you would find in Gumboots and the various brands in Myer – around $59.95 for the skirt – which would last a long time and if you calculate cost per wear between the 2 girls (yes they share the clothes most of the time), it’s about $30 per child and divide that by the number of times or years they would wear – totally worth it! The top is $39.95, again, pretty reasonable for what I would term as designer wear – ok, I know it’s not designer as in BIG name designers like BIG by Fiona Scanlan, but you get my drift (I hope).

L-R: Cotton Playsuit rrp$59.95, Boys Relaxed Roll-Tab Lightweight Jeans rrp$59.95

L-R: Cotton Playsuit rrp$59.95, Boys Relaxed Roll-Tab Lightweight Jeans rrp$59.95

I’m also in love with their denim cotton playsuit – it’s practical yet still stylish and playful! The boys jeans look soft and it doesn’t hurt that you can adjust the length with the tabs on the side. This is a range of clothing I can get used to. If you’re looking at getting your hands on some of their range, check out their stockists. They are not only available nationally in stores but also online!

Tell me, have you found age and design appropriate clothes for girls (and also boys) at this very hard to decide age?

 

*I was given the ruffled top and denim mini skirt from Havoc Denim for consideration in accordance with the site’s Disclosure Policy. 

 

 

Jan13

Super Holidays with a Mixture of Fun & Education with a Vegecation!

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Super Holidays with a Mixture of Fun & Education with a Vegecation!

From my title, you must be wondering, wth is she on about? Has the school holidays messed up her head? Well, yes, and no. Whilst I didn’t really get the sleep in I was looking forward to school holidays can be SUPER fun AND educational at the same time. It’s really how you make for yourself to enjoy the school holidays. Ignore the tantrums, feed the hungry hordes and if you’ve got fine weather…send them outside! (Although Melbourne’s weather has been a bit of a worry these past few days).

And this is what this post is about – getting them excited about being outside AND learning at the same time – having a Vegecation. Let me first explain what it means – in my own words of course – a vegetable vacation. A time where they can learn about vegetables – from start to finish. If you’re in Melbourne, then head on to Centro Box Hill where there will be a special holiday program for kids to learn all about vegetables! This is where the kids will learn how to plant amazing vegetables, and also create delicious meals with them. In the “Plant Potting” section there will be a different vegetable focused each day – from purple carrots, striped eggplants to striped beetroot and more! Ok, even I didn’t know there was such a thing as purple carrots or striped vegetables! Shows how much I really know about what’s out there, which is what this program is setting out to do.

I was quite surprised to find out that in a recent study that was done by the Dietitians Association of Australia, that one in two young Australians between the ages of 18-24 really didn’t know how much intake of fruit and vegetables they should have each day. I confess – neither do I and I’m not young! And let’s face it, how many of us; let alone the kids, know which is a vegetable and which is a fruit? I get confused at times, but thanks to my kids who do have an Environmental Science subject at school do know which is what. Phew!

The school's vegetable garden grown by the kids themselves

The school's vegetable garden grown by the kids themselves

 

If you can’t get them to Centro Box Hill between the 23rd – 27th of Jan 2012, then these are the other steps you can follow these other steps to create your own Vegecation. According to The Gould League; an environmental educational organisation, to encourage an appreciation of vegetables, kids need to start by gardening and planting their own vegetables. That way they will learn to love and appreciate the fruits of their labour and therefore enjoy eating them too.

Here are some tips from Vegecation Melbourne to encourage them to get them and also you gardening:

  • Include vegetables that your child enjoys eating, vegetables that look interesting – flowering and fruiting plants like tomatoes and strawberries – and vegetables that grow really fast, because we know how impatient they can get. I think sprouts are a great idea too – they can literally see it growing day by day.
  • Get them involved in the planting, from sowing the seeds, to the watering and then even the pruning.
  • Encourage them to keep a gardening journal to track the growth of their seedlings.
  • You don’t need a huge space for planting, in fact a small patch will do. Or pots to grow herbs even!
  • Finally, including them in the cooking process of the fruits and vegetables they have grown would make them feel like they’ve contributed and therefore boost their confidence too!

Also, just for a bit of fun, I thought I’d have a little poll just to see how much your child knows about vegetables:

Tomatoes 

Is this a vegetable or a fruit

  • Fruit (100%, 4 Votes)
  • Vegetable (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 4

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Tomatoes