Tag: parenthood

Bedtime Stories: Julia Donaldson

I’ve been meaning to write another post about the stories I’ve been reading with my oldest daughter, and decided to focus on some of the wonderful stories by Julia Donaldson we’ve enjoyed together.

The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child

The Gruffalo is a modern classic picture book about a little mouse who out wits all the creatures in a forest that want to eat him, including the fearsome Gruffalo. A wonderful story about how being small doesn’t mean being helpless which is an important message for children.

I’ve written about The Gruffalo’s Child before as it was one of the first stories my oldest daughter showed an interest in and one that she still requests from time to time. In the sequel, the Gruffalo’s daughter ventures into the deep, dark wood to see if she can find the big bad mouse her father warned her about, and once again the cunning little mouse has to outsmart a bigger creature.

Room on the Broom

Another old favourite that my oldest daughter knows off by heart and we take turns to read/recite a line from start to end. Room on the Broom is the story of a witch who is always losing her belongings but who makes friends with all the creatures that help her find them again. I love the themes of kindness, helping each other and teamwork in this story.

The Snail and The Whale

This is another lovely story about a little Sea Snail that wants to travel the world and has the chance to do so on the tail of a humpback Whale. A recurring theme in this and The Gruffalo is that being small doesn’t mean being helpless, and it’s the determined and clever, little snail that ends up saving the whale’s life.

Zog and Zog and The Flying Doctors

A dragon called Zog is learning all the skills he needs to know at dragon school and is repeatedly helped by a girl who turns out to a Princess. In a clever reversal to the usual fairytale, Princess Pearl aspires to be a Doctor instead, which is a really inspiring message for girls in particular.

In the sequel, Zog and the Flying Doctors travel around helping different creatures who all have the chance to return the favour and help Princess Pearl later on. Of all the stories we have by Julia Donaldson, I think these two are my favourites with themes of perseverance, friendship and kindness.

Stickman

Stickman goes out one morning and then finds himself lost and far from home as different people and animals mistake him for a stick and use him for everything from playing fetch with a dog to building a nest. Stickman is a heartwarming story about never giving up no matter how hopeless things seem, but I tend to save this one for Christmas as Santa Claus shows up at the end.

The Princess and The Wizard

Finally, I wanted to mention The Princess and The Wizard as it was one of the first books my oldest daughter chose (no doubt drawn to it by the pink cover with a Princess) after she got her own library card and we’ve borrowed it a few times since. It’s a story about a Princess who is kidnapped by an evil wizard on her 7th birthday and the seven attempts she makes to escape by changing her colour and changing her shape. Another encouraging story about how determination and cleverness can overcome a more powerful enemy.

Have a lovely week. X

A Rainy Walk in the Woods

We’ve had a fairly quiet weekend as both girls have been poorly with fever, coughs and runny noses. After a few days recuperating at home, playing with playdough, potting up seeds in the greenhouse, plink plonking on the piano, reading stories, watching Sea Beast and How to Train Your Dragon, and having some epic afternoon naps, we were all feeling well enough for a little trip out.

We decided to visit Rouken Glen so we could buy some seeds at the garden centre and then took a wander around the woodland paths to see the waterfalls after a few days of rain.

It was overcast with drizzle but the trees protected us from the worst of the weather. I carried our youngest, while my husband gave our oldest daughter piggybacks when she complained about tired legs.

It was lovely to see the waterfalls flowing and the forest looking so green and leafy, but the unexpected highlight was spotting a little duckling nesting in a tree hollow. We were very quiet and after lifting the kids up to have a quick look, we returned to the path, then it was time to head home for cheese toasties for lunch and the girls’ afternoon naps. Have a lovely week. X

Bedtime Stories

Even though my own reading progress has been slow and sporadic this year, I’ve been reading much more consistently with our 3 year old daughter who loves her bedtime stories and we usually read at least two but often four or more picture books together every evening and wanted to share some of our current favourites.

A Dress With Pockets by Lily Murray, illustrated by Jenny Lovlie

This is a mostly rhyming story about a little girl called Lucy choosing a new dress for her birthday who eschews a dazzling choice of sparkles, frills, feathers and everything in between for a dress with pockets to store all the curious things she finds on her adventures. We love this story because much like Lucy, my daughter loves dresses but couldn’t be less prissy and enjoys exploring on her own little adventures.

‘A Home’ Series by Peter Bently, illustrated by Charles Fuge

A trilogy of books about a badger called Bramble and his friends, I found the first one in the library then bought the whole series second hand. These are lovely rhyming stories about kindness and friends helping each other out from investigating when the local river runs dry to inviting his friends to stay when a storm wrecks their dens and celebrating birthdays together.

Bunny’s Book Club by Annie Silvestro, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss

A cute and cosy story about a bunny who loves reading so much that he starts sneaking into the library every night to borrow books, before long he starts including his animal friends in his after dark heists until one evening the librarian catches them in the act.

Where Happiness Lives by Barry Timms, illustrated by Greg Abbot

Another rhyming story of three little mice who all live in very different homes from a little cottage to a huge mansion, and the risk of assuming that bigger must be better. Where Happiness Lives is a really lovely story that reminds us to appreciate what we have and to avoid comparing, a message that feels so important to learn early in the era of social media.

Usborne Farmyard Tales ‘Poppy and Sam’ Series, illustrated by Stephen Cartwright

A simple series about two children, Poppy and Sam, who live on Appletree farm with their parents, Ted the farmhand and a range of farm animals from their pets Rusty the dog and Whiskers the Cat to Curly the piglet and, my daughter’s favourite, Woolly the naughty sheep, and all the little adventures they have together.

Our 5 month daughter also likes stories, and we’ve enjoyed a few stories together including books from her baby box, as well as a few That’s Not My, lift the flap and board books she got for Christmas too.

I really love reading bedtime stories together, it’s a lovely activity to help our boisterous oldest girl calm down before bed, and often one of the highlights of my day. I’ve loved discovering so many new stories with both my girls and look forward to sharing more of our favourites soon. Have a lovely week. X

Spring Moments and Milestones

I feel like blogging has fallen by the wayside; time seems to be slipping through my fingers and I can hardly believe that we’re a quarter of the way through the year already – life is just so busy and full at the moment.

Our oldest daughter moved from nursery to pre-school at the start of the year, which has generally been a smooth transition. We still go to our sensory group together almost every week (which we’ve been going to since she was 6 months old), and I’ve also been taking her to playgym where she can play and experiment with gymnastics equipment. There have been regular trips to the swimming pool with her dad while I usually have a coffee and cuddle with the youngest. We bought her first pedal bike for her 3rd birthday, and with her typical determination she mastered pedaling, steering and braking in just a few days so we’ve been spending lots of time at the park while she practices cycling.

Our youngest – now 5 months old – is also hitting new milestones every day from giggling and rolling to teething. She’s still very petite, but a bright, cheerful and curious little baby. We’ve been going to Bookbug song and story sessions at the library (something I missed out on with my oldest during the pandemic) and we’ll start baby sensory soon but most of our days are still spent at home reading stories, singing nursery rhymes, playing and snuggling. Our daughters are fascinated by each other, and it won’t be long until they’ll become little playmates and friends.

Our senior lady, Mara, has spent most of winter hibernating, but she’s been a bit more active lately, wanting to play, snuggle up and curious to see what we’re up to. I’m so impressed with how well Mara’s coped with the upheaval two noisy little interlopers joining the family caused. Mara really is a very special cat, we’re lucky to have such a gentle, playful, affectionate and stoic family pet to teach them about caring and handling animals, and our little daughters adore her.

I’m so enjoying this period of family life as the baby and toddler stages are so brief and the girls’ milestones come thick and fast as they change and grow. I love having my blog to record all the details of daily life, and always enjoy looking back at older posts when I’m feeling nostalgic. Have a lovely week. X

Sunshine and Snow in the Garden

Over the last few days, we’ve had a cold snap bringing frost, subzero temperatures and a tiny dusting of snow, but it was only the week before that I spent a lovely afternoon out in the garden with my girls in the sunshine.

Our youngest was wrapped up in her bouncer watching pinwheels spinning in the breeze before she drifted off for a little nap, as I tidied up the long border removing all the dried stems from last year, while our the three year old played witch on a broomstick. It’s not easy to keen on top of gardening with two little kids underfoot so I’ve been trying a little and often approach.

It’s always lovely watching the garden waking up after winter, from the first hellebores underneath the bamboo to the tete-a-tete daffodils in the long border. I’ve also enjoyed watching birds flitting around the garden, there have been blue tits, sparrows, long tailed tits, blackbirds, Robins and tiny wrens, which we’ve never seen in the garden before.

We woke this morning to a light flurry of snow falling. Spring can be such a changeable and unpredictable season, and yet one that I appreciate more and more as a time of renewal and the return of light and life after the barren darkness of winter. Have a lovely week. X

A Little Adventure at Mugdock Country Park

We’re no strangers to inclement weather in Scotland but this winter we’ve had more damp cold and unrelenting rain than magical blankets of snow and sparkling frosts. As daylight increases we’re getting out for more walks and little adventures, and we took a trip to Mugdock Park recently for a wander and to feed the ducks, and had a really lovely afternoon spotting signs of Spring there before dusk descended. Some of the best days we’ve had at Mugdock have been when it’s been overcast or drizzling, and we’ve just pulled on wellies and waterproofs to splash in the puddles and feed the ducks anyway.

Both of our girls preferred the carrier to the pram as babies, which has meant we’ve never had to worry too much about the terrain on our walks, and on this outing carrying our youngest gave us the freedom to venture off the path to let our adventurous 3 year old jump in puddles, paddle in the stream, scramble through scrub, explore hollows and climb trees.

Living in a city, I often worry about whether our children get enough time outside, and given that both my husband and I are outdoorsy types who enjoy everything from gardening to hiking, we really want to inspire a love and appreciation of nature in them, but our oldest daughter always enjoys woodland walks and strolls along the beach as much as trips to soft play or the local parks.

Back at the start of the trail, we let the oldest have a go on the swings, slide and flying fox at the play park, before returning home with rumbling tummies and stretched legs. Have a lovely week. X

January Reading Wrapup

I’m off to a slow start with my reading this year as broken sleep and back-to-back illnesses sapped my energy and attention, so only managed to read 3 books last month, but thoroughly enjoyed them all from two very different parenting books and the eagerly awaited sequel to the brilliant Ninth House that was definitely worth the wait.

How Toddlers Thrive by Tovah Klein

This book focuses on children between the ages of 2-5 years old and really changed my understanding of what motivates toddlers and how they think, feel and perceive the world, which in turn changed how I respond to my own toddler’s behaviour. As is often the case, there are some suggestions for parenting that we’re already doing but it contradicted some of the others ways my husband and I parent our daughters. It also turns some ideas on their head by suggesting that our job as parents is not to make our children happy but to help them learn how to cope with uncomfortable emotions like anger, frustration, disappointment, sadness and fear in order to develop emotional regulation, resilience and flexibility. Klein stresses the importance of realistic expectations for children in this age range, as well as the importance of routines, consistency and learning through play. How Toddlers Thrive is a really interesting and useful book and definitely one I’ll be referring to again over the next few years while we navigate the early years with our girls.

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

My most anticipated book of 2023 and I started reading this as soon as it dropped through the letterbox. Reading Hell Bent was like meeting up with old friends, I loved exploring the Yale campus with Alex, Dawes and Detective Turner as they tried to find a way to rescue their friend and mentor, Darlington from Hell. Alex finds herself surrounded by new and old enemies, and as morally ambivalent as ever she’s more haunted by the lives she couldn’t save than the ones she has taken. Although I didn’t find the twists quite as clever or unpredictable as those in Ninth House, Hell Bent is still a gripping, atmospheric read that adds new layers and details to the original, especially about Alex’s powers to communicate with the dead and the history of Yale’s secret societies, and the ending sets the scene for the next part of the series. This has become one of my favourite series and I really can’t wait to see what happens next.

The Unmumsy Mum by Sarah Turner

This is the type of parenting book I usually avoid preferring those based on child development to those that are anecdotal and personal, but I borrowed the ebook late one night while feeding the baby and it made me laugh out loud so many times. Sarah Turner takes an unflinching look at the realities of parenting from breastfeeding and sleep deprivation to mum guilt and so many other aspects of life with young children. The Unmumsy Mum is such an easy to read, relatable, humourous, poignant handhold of a book for anyone that loves their kids but doesn’t love every moment of parenting.

I also had a DNF, The Ballad of Never After, the sequel to Once Upon A Broken Heart, I enjoyed the first book but the sequel just didn’t hold my attention and I gave up at page 134.

Have a lovely week. X

Counting my blessings amidst change…

Our daughter turned three this week and we had a little party at a soft play cafe with her cousins (our daughters are two of seven girls on my husband’s side all quite close in age) to celebrate. Our oldest daughter can be shy, but once she feels comfortable I’m always impressed by how enthusiastically she falls in with other children and their games.

At times our oldest still seems so little but I’m often surprised by how grown up she is; she’s bright, funny, determined and kind with seemingly boundless energy (that puts my laziness to shame), and she fills our days with so much fun, mischief and laughter.

My second maternity leave has been very different from my first, most of which took place during consecutive lockdowns through 2020 and 2021. This time around I’ve been able to meet friends for lunch, and join local baby groups like the Bookbug singalong sessions at our library and a music group at our community centre too, as well as a post natal pilates class, but I’m still enjoying slow days at home playing and snuggling with the baby too. Our youngest is now 3 months old, seemingly more placid than her big sister ever was, but absorbing everything with her big, blue eyes and always quick to flash her wide gummy smile.

Life has been a bit hectic lately, and there are times when I wish I could pause the clock as our girls are growing, changing and learning so much every day. We’ve had a run of almost laughable misfortune since Christmas that has added to the usual stresses and busy-ness, and although I’m hoping our luck will improve soon, it’s been a reminder to focus on our blessings, not our burdens. Have a lovely week. X

The Year Ahead and the One Behind…

January is usually a peaceful month for us spent recovering from the Christmas busy-ness. We’ve been gradually settling back into our routines, our older daughter was delighted to be reunited with her friends at nursery and returning to our weekly sensory group, exploring new soft play cafes and I’m glad to have a few days at home with the youngest (now 10 weeks old) while the older one is at nursery.

I always like to take some time to reflect on the previous year, and 2022 was another good year for us with visits to Culzean Castle and Five Sisters Zoo, trips to the beach, a night away in Edinburgh and ice-skating at Elfingrove among the most memorable moments. Our oldest daughter turned two in February, then in September my husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and 7 years since we adopted our cat Mara in October, but the real highlight of the year came in November with the arrival of our second daughter, who has slotted into our family so smoothly.

The low points of the year were mostly related to illness, in March we were all knocked out by the flu, and our toddler had a night in hospital with chicken pox due to a stubbornly high fever and a secondary skin infection, then we had a nocturnal trip to A&E in October when she had croup. We ended the year and started this one with illness too, thankfully nothing serious but it’s taken me a little time to bounce back.

I don’t go in for new year diets and gym memberships, which seem so out of sync with the natural world that’s conserving energy until spring, but there are some changes I’d like to make. I started going to yoga classes in 2014 and continued right up to the month before my first daughter was born in 2020, since then I’ve struggled to get back into a routine so I’ve joined a local post natal pilates class – something I’ve wanted to try for ages – and I’m determined to get back to my old yoga studio once the baby can be left for longer.

In many ways I’m feeling very content and I don’t have any burning ambitions but there’s a whole year stretching out ahead of me and I’m looking forward to time with family and friends, reading, gardening and improving my fitness. What are your plans for the year ahead? X

Twixtmas Greetings

I’ve been reminiscing about Christmas’s past lately, from one very cosy Christmas when I was little that was just me and mum to the year there were so many extended family members that the grandkids and cousins needed their own kids’ table; the early years of marriage when we’d spend the morning with my husband’s family and the rest of the day with mine; and visiting my nanna at the care home for our last Christmas with her before she passed away… For the last couple of years my husband and I have hosted Christmas, and the benefit of having had so many different festive experiences over the years means we’re free to make our own traditions instead of trying to fit in with everyone else’s.

On Christmas Eve, we spent most of the day outside hoping our nearly 3 year old would tire herself out enough to sleep (it worked and we got a rare lie-in on Christmas morning!). We had takeaway for dinner, a little tradition that started when my husband and I used to finish work, rush home to load the car with presents before driving down to spend Christmas with our families. Afterwards we put out a mince pie for Santa and an oddly-shaped apple for Rudolph that our toddler chose instead of a carrot, and read The Night Before Christmas before settling the little ones into bed.

There was absolute chaos on Christmas morning opening presents, before gathering around the table for our Christmas Dinner, then a leisurely afternoon of adults chatting, the little one playing with all her new toys and our six week old daughter wide awake and taking everything in, before a buffet supper and an early night for all. It was a simple, lovely day of togetherness celebrating the return of the light after the shortest day, followed by more of the same on Boxing Day and a visit from my in-laws the day after.

Christmas isn’t always a joyous or peaceful time though and within my family there have been deaths and divorce around the festive period, a sobering reminder never to take the people we love and care about for granted.

The remainder of the week has been busy and we’ve had an unexpected run of bad luck from our car breaking down, my husband and kids getting conjunctivitis, and a cracked phone screen, so I’m hoping for a quieter, calmer January.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year when it comes. X