Is doing your laundry a full time job?

I'm definitely getting old. For my upcoming 34th birthday I'm getting a TUMBLE DRYER (yes I'm shouting) and I'm very excited.

In the past I used to consider spending money on myself to include such treats as a haircut, new clothes, shoes etc. Now, a treat is a (hopefully) fantastic device designed to spit out dry clothes for all of the family.

With 5 of us in the family we get through around 3 loads of laundry a day. That includes cloth nappies, daily changes of bedding for a toddler and an endless supply of un-paired socks. With a baby in the house I'm also washing even my jeans and cardigans after every use. And then there are towels, chair cushions, ballet and swimming costumes. You get the picture.

We have 3 drying racks permanently on display in the dining room, and without either the sun shining or the heating on everything takes 2-3 days to dry. So, like a 1950's housewife I'm looking forward to a labour saving device. My Mum is enabling this treat, although she insisted that I have a rotary dryer for the garden as well, just in case I would rather stand for an hour pegging all my clothes outside than move them from the washing machine to the tumble dryer.

For anyone who has read this far, well done. This topic will either bore you completely or be of the utmost relevance to your life :-) I'll keep you updated on the progress of the dryer!

Ideas for bank hol / half term

At the time of writing it's Friday night and the beginning of the half term holiday. Luckily we have a bank holiday weekend as well so a bit more time away from work. Even more luckily we live in Devon, so there is no shortage of things to do!

We're hoping to drive down to Torquay to venture on to the beach and then take the boat across the bay to Brixham. We'll probably make it to Bicton Park and Escot, plus we have 2 play dates arranged. Time to make the sandwiches and try and save some money :-)

What are your plans this weekend? Write your ideas below....

Introducing the sippy cup

Getting my children to give up their milk bottles has never been easy. All 3 have been breastfed initially but at some point have moved on to bottles. With my eldest child I fed her for 9 months and then gradually introduced a bottle. She loved it and we had it until she was 2, and she continued to have a night-time bottle until she was 3.

She loved the comfort of sucking from a bottle and so we really struggled to get her to give it up. We tried to be tough a few times but she was so distraught that we didn't feel able to persevere. We managed to phase it out gradually by allowing a bottle in the morning and one at night-time but insisting on a sippy cup during the day. Getting rid of those last bottles were definitely a struggle, and the final night-time one had to be replaced with a loooong bed time routine of stories and songs.

My feeling definitely has been that it is more about the parents being ready and able to give up the milk bottle rather than the child! At least in our case we had to be prepared for an upset child, sleepless nights and a disrupted routine. As our second child was born when our first was aged 2 years and 4 months we weren't immediately ready to take on the challenge.

Our second child has just recently turned 2. He is equally happy and comforted by his milk bottle, and we are in the same situation with also having a 6 month old baby. 'Choose your battles' has become a parenting motto (see Choose your battles - teaching good behaviour). Yet with our 2 year old son now starting pre-school it seemed like a good time to try once again to introduce sippy cups. The pre-school teachers were definitely encouraging me to try, but I wanted to give him a few weeks to get used to that new environment.

 

I bought him a new sippy cup that he could feel was his own, but initially he refused to go near it. However his older sister, now aged 4, decided that the two of them should have a picnic together in the garden and set about preparing drinks for them both. She gave him the sippy cup with milk inside (showing some good skills of breaking into the fridge, using a large milk carton and screwing the lids on their cups!) and the two of them trotted around the garden together with their cups.

Can it really be that easy? Has my 4 year old successfully introduced the sippy cup? So far the signs are good. I sent him to pre-school with the cup these last few days and he has been totally fine. He is still having night-time bottles but this is great progress. So now I'm steeling my resolve to be firm and not let him go back to daytime bottles. Can I get my daughter to show him how to use the potty next???

How do you get your kids to sleep?

I'm counting myself very lucky tonight because by 9pm all my three children under 5 years old are asleep and I can sit at the computer without distraction! Each child seems to require a different bed-time routine.

My 4 year old definitely requires a long routine. We usually start at 7pm after her bath and the routine involves a prayer, reading a story and then some songs. Luckily we had grandparents here to help today so she got lots of attention.

My 2 year old can be the easiest one to get off to sleep. On days like today when he hasnt napped he is completely done in by 6pm and will head off to bed with a bottle of milk. And yes we do suffer plenty of judgement for letting him still drink from a bottle, but I'm totally OK with it. If he has napped then there is usually half an hour of him running out of his bed and me catching him and putting him back in again.

My youngest child is just over 6 months old. He usually falls asleep at the breast, but in the evenings has resolutely refused to be put down into his cot. We've spent many evenings cuddling him whilst he sleeps, but recently have been trying to get him to sleep properly in the cot. The last few weeks he has struggled even to sleep in our arms so we felt there was no other alternative than to try controlled crying. After hours of feeding and rocking we've been putting him in the cot and then going back after 2 mins, 5 mins and then 10 mins to reassure him that we're still there and help him to settle. Thankfully it has worked very well so far and he has fallen into deep sleeps and stayed in his cot for a few hours.

Let me know your top tips for getting those tricky kiddies off to bed!

Choose your battles - teaching good behaviour

Like every parent, I face daily battles with my children to get them to display good behaviour. Regular skirmishes include sitting at the table, eating vegetables, putting on jumpers and coats, and going to bed on time.

 

My son who has just turned 2 is transitioning out of having a midday nap. So he often falls asleep at 3 or 4pm and then we cant get him to sleep at bedtime.

 



It can be really challenging to be consistent in offering discipline. Ensuring a consistent routine takes care of most of the food and sleep issues (easier said than done!) but what about behaviour to others? Our 4 year old daughter can sometimes shout or speak in an inappropriate tone of voice, but she is most likely learning that from the way we talk to her. My husband and I are trying to practice speaking more calmly and giving the consistent punishment of a 'time out' rather than shouting or being too cross with her.

We are trying to use the language of the virtues in order to explain what kind of behaviour we would like to see. For example saying 'You need to use your patience at the moment' or 'Please show kindness to your brother'.

Most of the time I feel like I'm totally overwhelmed and incoherent as a mother, but I hope that's a sign that I'm trying my best!

I'd love to hear your stories of parenting challenges and victories. Thanks for reading :-)

Back to work... end of year accounts

Last month I wrote about the 10 reasons I love working from home . This month I've had no time for writing because I've been preparing our end of year accounts. I guess that is the down side to running your own business :-)

As our business (Serenity Baby selling maternity clothes and baby products) has evolved from a small side project into a full time gig for my husband and I, our method of working has evolved gradually, and accounting has been one of the last things to catch up. We've recently requested the services of a local accountant and she has really helped us see what we should be counting and why.

Over the past few weeks I've been grappling with the accounting programme Sage and finally feel that I've mastered the basics! I now know illuminating things such as: a) our business is profitable! b) nominal codes are a source of joy c) you need to add your stock value into your calculations (oops..) and d) what a journal is (OK I still dont know that, but now I can use one)

Write and let me know your self-employed year end traumas...



Nothing to do with accounting... just love the cute pic of my eldest and youngest!

Exmouth Beach and Fun Park

For a sunny day in the Easter holidays the family headed to Exmouth beach. It was still a chilly 8 or 9 degrees and quite windy, but you can't beat sand, a bucket and spade for little kids. We spent the afternoon at Exmouth because as well as being a naturally beautiful place it also has a Fun Park which the children enjoy (http://www.exmouthfunpark.co.uk/)

Exmouth fun park has a load of different activities. You buy tokens from the kiosk (50p each) and most things cost 2 or 3 tokens per child.

There are trampolines, small motorcars, pedal boats, a bouncy castle, a little train ride, an adventure playground and much more. The kiosk sells snacks, drinks and ice creams and there are about 3 other cafes within a few minutes walk.

We spent loads of lovely days out at Exmouth last summer and are looking forward to the good weather returning properly so we can have more fun at the beach. All in all, it's an ideal place for our kids - currently aged 5 months to 4 years.