My favourite family and parenting youtube channels I like to watch

Hello and welcome to a new parenting blog post. This is keeping in with a blog I wrote yesterday on my site:

https://everyonecanbuildacastle.com

On this site I want to share my favourite family and parenting youtube channels I like to watch, and there is quite a few.

The first one I am going to recommend is a lady whom I have watched from very early on when I first began watching Youtube and that is a lovely lady called,

1. Kate Murnane

She does day in a life videos, parenting videos, clean with me and hauls, and gives some brilliant hacks to make life that bit easier, especially if you have children.

Kate has two boys called Archie and Elliott and does share some really good tips on entertaining your children and things you can do to save yourself a lot of time.

The other channel I like watching is,

2. Pretty Neat Living

Another person I have watched since discovering Youtube and she used to do a lot of organizational videos, day in a life videos and planner videos, but since becoming a mum of two children she has done a lot of mother and baby videos, and what her life is like now that she has two children and her family life.

3. Jordan Paige

Yes I have featured her channel in my blog I wrote in the link above on Everyone can build a castle, but she does do a lot of videos on her family life as a parent too, and I watch her channel religiously because having 8 children now, she really helps with planning stuff for your kids and how to manage them without going insane.

4. Jessica Hover 

This channel is fairly new to me, but I do like her channel and have shared a video she did a while back that really was like someone seeing into my own world and creating content about it.

Parenting is hard at times and she shares that in her content and explains what to expect that often is not talked about when having children and is very relatable and truthful.

5.  Louise Pentland

This lady I have watched since the early days and has a new book coming out about being a mum and a lot of things that noone tells you about, and about her own childhood.

Louise is a mother of two girls Darcy and Pearl and shares a lot of her life on Youtube as a influencer, content creator, an Author and being a mum to two children.

All these ladies I love to watch because they don’t shy over the challenges of motherhood or parenthood and are so real that it is like someone shining a light as if to say “Your not alone” I have been there too, and that is comforting to me, as I will admit I struggle as a parent sometimes and it is good to see that I am not the only one out there and there are resolutions to problems you just have to persevere.

6. Brittany Vasseur 

This lady is about to have another child as she already has a little boy and one on the way.

I love her content as she does content on products that are good to buy to clean and organize your home and what not to waste your money on, and hacks that are a game changer in my book.

She has also bought out her own essential oils out so please check her out, and many of her videos are focussed on her now being a mum of soon to be two children, and what is she doing to prepare for her next baby that is due soon.

7. Phil and Alex 

These two are phenomenal and have had so many struggles with trying to conceive to have a biological child of their own. They already have two gorgeous girls who were adopted and of course they love them so much, but have been trying to have a child naturally of their own too, and boy have they had to go through a lot of IVF to get there.

I am so thrilled that they finally have a child biologically of their own and my heart and prays goes out to them because I think they are truly amazing, and show that whatever challenges you face something good will come in the end.

Please do check out their videos as there journey of becoming parents will relate to a lot of people and they do give some advice to help those too who have had fertility troubles, by taking you along the way of their life on Youtube.

8. KKandBabyJ

I love watching this family of 5 as they have 3 boys and share their life as a family and again don’t shy away from showing the many challenges that come with having 3 boys.

They take you through the births of each child and the journey of bringing up 3 small boys up in Florida.

9. Emily Norris 

This lady does endless videos of cleaning up her home, being a mum of 3 boys and hacks.

She also has her own planner which she has created to help us mums be organized and plan our days especially now we are in the UK summer holiday season.

Her meal ideas and tips of keeping her house clean are great and very easy to follow.

10. The Sunday Stylist 

This a new channel I watch but have really enjoyed this lady’s content so far on organization.

She is a mum and is always sorting out her home to make it more organized and takes you through it as she reorganizes her home and what products she buys from Amazon that are really useful items to have in your home to help keep it organized.

I think for me Youtube has become my new TV as I do tend to watch more Youtube than Television because I just love what people share on there and find it empowering as a mum and inspiring.

If you have any channels you would like to recommend to me being a fellow parent then do let me know, by commenting below.

I would like to say thank you so much for those following me so far it is truly amazing and if you are new and like my content I share on this blog site, then please follow me on WordPress.com to be kept up to date with my posts I write on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting your kids to be more independent

So as your child/children grow so does their mobility and awareness, and so as soon as they are able to move around more and pick things up, is then time to get them to do things for themselves.

Getting your kids to be more independent is a the road to helping their  healthcare and development, such as:

• Learning to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush and independently brush their teeth
• Put their own clothes away and into the dirty laundry basket. A hack use a pillow case as a laundry bag for dirty clothes or a storage box or basket
• Get them a step to the sink and have them wash up their own dishes, cups and plates. I loved doing the washing up as a kid and playing, and so I would spend a lot of time washing up and playing with the bubbles
• Have your children go round with a jug or bottle of water (example an empty plastic bottle and recycled filled up with tap water) and water the plants and flowers in your home, and digging. My son loves to get involved in these activities and it helps value these things and types of activities
• Get them to make their own sandwiches and pack their lunch for days out and for school. My son loves being able to make his own sandwich and when I know he can be more responsible eventually I will have him pack his own bag for school, including packing lunches
• Make their own beds and strip the bed taking it into the laundry room or to the washing machine area, and then assist remaking the bed after the bedding has been washed
• Walk unaided along streets and parks, but reminding them to stay close by and stop before crossing a road and following road safety rules. This will help them to be aware of danger when crossing roads and to be street wise
• Have them clean their own bikes and scooters, or have them help clean your car. Having them clean their own equipment or yours helps them to look after their toys and possessions and understanding the value of things
• I am now helping Henry to use a swing independently so he doesn’t need to rely on me pushing him, and by doing this it did make him start to learn this skill, and it made him use other things in the park like climbing frames rather than him playing on the swings all the time
• Operate his tablet and choose what he wants to watch on his tablet, of course monitoring him at the same time, to make sure it is suitable content he is watching

So don’t be so eager to help them even though it is parents instinct to do so, but will benefit them better when they start to do things by themselves.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

Doing homework during the school summer holidays

Hi and welcome to a new blogpost! So now my son is off for the summer holidays, until September, and to help with his learning his school has given us some printables of activities to do during the holidays (see below an example) and this maths book he has to work through.

To get kids to do their homework I have found having a structured day even during the school holidays to be more effective than doing it at random times, because I find Henry is a lot more willing to do school work in the mornings after a good nights sleep rather than in the afternoon or evening.

I have also found doing a bit each time to be a lot more effective and breaking it down into little chucks, because Henry does have ADHD and works better when he has a small amount to do, than doing say half an hours worth.

Try and set a time for when you want them to do some school work, by setting a timer with no TV or android devices as with my son he can get easily distracted with these on. So I take these away do the homework and then my son is allowed to watch some TV or his tablet afterwards as a reward.

There is brilliant website called Oak School and is a great online service that has teachers for different levels to help kids with different subjects and would totally recommend it for online learning.

If it is easier and the sun is out, why not set up a homework area in the garden so they get to be outdoors and learn at the same time.

Here are some really good books we have that have really helped with my sons reading.

My son loves these books and has quite a collection and are created for different levels of learning.

Use outdoor things to help with their learning, example my son loves buses so we will look at the many different buses and we go through what their numbers are and where they travel to and from.

We have recently bought Henry a watch to help him learn about time  and the other day he pointed at the clock and knew when it was  8 O’Clock.

Then today we were going through different door numbers as we walked to the park, as yesterday we took him to the seaside to see my Auntie and she had this talking parrot which repeated everything you said and he loved it, so took him to the toy shop to find one but they didn’t have one, so I bought him skateboard instead because he was fascinated by the skateboarders we saw when we took him to the South Bank in the week.

Teaching them about the different time zones if you are travelling abroad and seasons so they learn about the nights being lighter for longer and it becoming dark early in the winter.

There is so much you can do to help them with their learning, to the point where like my son did today asked if he can do some maths or reading.

When they start to begin to ask to do some work you know you are on the road to a winner.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

 

10 tips of staying safe this summer of 2020

Hello and welcome. So my son has begun his school holidays and even though he is 6 years old he still sometimes becomes unaware of danger.

Staying safe during the summer holidays helps us parents to have a good peacefulish time aswell and enjoy the holidays with little tears and tantrums. Here are 10 tips of staying safe this summer of 2020:

1. When out on their bikes, scooters or skates make sure they have a helmet on, with knee and elbow pads to protect them should they take a fall
2. If travelling on transport and are a toddler or young child, encourage them to wear a mask, and this will be a requirement as of tomorrow for everyone including children to wear a mask when in the shops
3. Explain to your children that they can hug mum, dad, siblings or grandparents but no body else, due to the infection of COVID 19, and to follow the social distancing rules
4. When in a park always supervise them, as even the other a day I saw a young child wonder off out of a park gate and the mum had to run after them, because they can wonder off if you turn your back just for a second and can be a frightful experience when you  cannot find them
5. If you going abroad use bottles water not tap water, as not all water is clean in other countries and can cause infections
6. Have kids wearing bright coloured clothing. This is a hack my mum came up with and makes perfect sense, because as said kids may wonder off, but if they are wearing bright colours they will be easily seen, especially if you are going to a holiday resort or attraction, like a theme park
7. Invest in a smart watch for your kids to wear which you can use if they are old enough to go out independently and you can see exactly where they are at all times
8. Check all ingredients of kids meals in case they are prone to allergies like nuts, fish, eggs, milk or gluten, so you can be reassured that they can eat out without getting seriously ill
9. Have kids wearing suncream between factor 35-50 at all times. What I tend to do is cover my son in suncream in the morning before he puts his day clothes on and then apply throughout the day, to the parts of his body that will be exposed to the sun
10. Have them wear a hat and try and keep especially younger children in the shade to stop them from getting too hot

So I wish everyone a happy rest of the week and that you have a good start to the summer holidays of 2020 and I will blog again over the weekend.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

The Summer Holiday Begin/What you can do without spending loads of money

My son playing in Pimlico Gardens

Hello and welcome to another blogpost. So now my son has broken up for the summer holidays and so I am going to be super busy for 6 weeks apart from most of the weekends as my son spends this time with his dad.

I did create a plan for the summer holidays, but as there were demonstrations going on and because my son had other ideas as to what he wanted to do, that has somewhat been scrapped. So instead I have decided to plan on each day as they come.

However here are some ideas of what you can do without spending loads of money:

1. Explore your local town. Where I live in Wimbledon we are very lucky in the fact there are quite a lot of parks, so I will be taking Henry to different ones around our area, including the Common
2. Take a packed lunch with you for the day, using a cool bag. I bought a new one from TK Maxx which was just £5.99, and I love it. I used it for today and yesterday and it saved us loads.
3. Create a movie day or evening, if out during the day, and make your own popcorn or like I did today bought some from Poundland to have film day indoors.
4. Get an Oyster card and explore London. So today I went up to London by car as my mum was going into work, and so took advantage. However an Oyster card is brilliant if you are doing a lot of travel on public transport and top up as you go.
5. Have an arts and crafts day, making cards for people you haven’t seen during lockdown or if you have any birthday coming up.
6. Fun learning games. So to help keep Henry up to date with his learning we will be doing some online activities to help with his education and his development, and physical activities like play a board game or he has this maths book which is for year 1 from school and involvings counting and circling items into different categories
7. Have picnic in your garden. You can go to a park or a beach but with the social distancing rules can be tricky so why not have picnic in your own back garden. We often do this for Henry and he loves it
8. Pick up some vouchers online or get the Sun newspaper and collect tokens to visit a theme park. Sun does this every year and can save you a lot of money, aswell as the 3 for 2 offers, from cereal boxes
9. Create a talent show for your friends and family to see via video or around your home, seeing that we can now have more people in our homes. Me and my friend Hayley did this once when we were kids for my grandparents who were looking after us. We never actually did the show though because some other people we didn’t quite know were there and both became really shy, but if your kids aren’t shy or you, then why not create a talent show. This is great if you are having a quite a few kids around you home during the holidays.
10. Sort out the garden. If you have a garden that looks sorry for itself or are a keen gardener, then why not get your kids involved in planting some seeds or flowers. Or even your own vegetables, and let them help you look after them. My son loves this activity and keeps him busy for half an hour or so.

So it is time to get on and have an idea of what we will be doing tomorrow. Have fun everyone and I will post my next post on this site on Thursday.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

Looking after a childs mental health

From a young age I began to have insecurities about myself and so I know from experience that a child’s mental health can be effected from quite early on in their life.

This is why it is important when they are looking a bit frustrated or unhappy to not tell them off but to talk to them, as sometimes they just want someone’s ear to listen to them, not have an opinion or comment, but for someone to just hear them.

Even the most confident child can still have mental health problems, as like us our adults we can often put a brave face on, when really we are suffering in silence.

Creating flash cards to show them a happy face or a sad face can help them, to tell us their feelings and then this can help them to talk about it, and what we can do together to help those worries and fears.

Getting in touch with a childs feelings and saying “I am here for you if you want to talk” is a great way to let them know you support them and are there if needed. Never pressurise them, but be ready to speak to them when they want to express their feelings to you.

Having some quiet time is good, because they are more likely to talk sometimes when chilled out and calm and peaceful.

I notice whenever I get upset, because I can often struggle with my mental health, Henry will put is hands to his ears as if he doesn’t want to hear it and not sure as to what to do.

Being someone who has struggled with mental health for most of my life, I do feel somewhat guilty, whenever I have a bad day, but at the same time I have learned to deal with it, and in turn help my son with his mental health too.

It is human nature for us to a variety of feelings, and will still have when even older, can have a good day and a bad day, but once you know how to control those feelings, it can become a lot easier to deal with.

Whenever I see my son is unhappy I will try to find out why, and try not to get annoyed, but allow him to express himself. Making good eye contact is a must and whenever I have a moment of not feeling good, I tell him, “That mummy is okay just feeling not so good today”.

Kids need to see your emotions to learn about their own, and so if I am annoyed I don’t hide it away, because if he sees me expressing myself, then that encourages him to do the same.

Often kids will lash out because they are trying to communicate to you, and is not meant to be malicious in any way, even though it can feel like that.

In this case I will try by again getting to his level, making eye contact say “Don’t get angry, just say how you feel”, and then I will ask him questions to understand why he is cross and almost at point of having a massive tantrum.

Often being a parent you can be target number one, when they get angry or upset, but if you start to shout, often Henry won’t take this seriously and laugh, sending me to have a tantrum of my own.

What I have found effective is making Henry sit in his room or a quiet place for him to calm down, not really as a punishment, but space for him to think about what he is doing, and go through it with them so you can make them and you happy again.

Lets all support mental health and one another so we can all as parents have a better wellbeing too, to help our kids to grow up feeling happy about life and themselves. 

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

 

 

 

 

The end of the school blues

There are days that I love where I drop Henry off to school happily and then pick him up with smiles too, but sometimes, well in my case by the end of the week Henry can start to be a little bit grumpy at the end of school.

Henry has always been an early riser and will rarely sleep in beyond 6am, so when getting up this early every morning appart from the weekends starts to wear thin and leaving him all grumpy, he will stamp his feet and get upset over the slightest thing, like his father not come to school to pick him up, it wasn’t grandpa opening up the gates for us to park or him wanting to in a different direction to where we are heading.

The end of the school blues can be a common occurrence so the one thing you should not do, which I have found myself doing in the passed, is to get annoyed with them over the fact they aren’t happy at the end of school.

For me the way I handle it, is to try and calm him down and get to his level and ask, “Why aren’t you happy?”. Let them express themselves because this helps them talk about their emotions, so together you can both come up with a solution.

When Henry was upset today, I crouched down gave him a hug and just said “Come on lets go on home and I am sure you will feel a lot better”. In the end he did calm down, but got upset when we parked up to go indoors.

When Henry is tired, like a lot of children the little things can bother him but I think to be honest, we can all be like that some weeks and days ourselves.

I hated school and dreaded Mondays. I was grumpy at the beginning of the week and couldn’t wait until Friday came, however the way school is structured now I see many children smiling when they go to school, and Henry is the same.

If they are grumpy due to tiredness then instead of doing homework, leave this to the weekend or beginning of the week and have some well earned quiet time instead, so they can chill out.

Encourage them to have an early night and do the same, and why not have some together time and watch a movie in bed together.

If our kids are wiped out at the end of the week the chances are we as parents are too, so why not all of you get an early night so you can all be fresh faced tomorrow.

I hope this blog is helpful to you and please follow me if you would like to be kept up to date with my blog posts on this site, and many thanks for reading

 

Carrie X

 

What I enjoy about being a parent

So on this site I often write about how hard it can be and the many dilemmas that come with parenting.

In this blog I am sharing some of the things I enjoy about being a parent.

 

 

• Having meal times together, it just nice to sit down and eat with no TV or distractions just the two of us
• Receiving hugs and kisses. My son loves to cuddle and so do I and for me it is our bonding time, forgetting all the tears and tantrums, and just be together as mother and son
• Watching a film or TV programme. Henry and I both love afternoon TV because of the many quiz and game shows there are on and so we get engrossed in these and pretend to play some of  quiz’s and shows ourselves
• Going for walks. My son and I love to spend some time outdoors, and Henry loves watching buses and trains go by, so we will spend some time watching these and exploring our home town or during school holidays, we will travel somewhere to spend some time together
• Playing games we both enjoy. So I love the classics like connect 4 and darts, and so does my son, so after school we will come back home do some homework and then have a game such as these for the rest of the day until dinner and bedtime
• Receiving good reports about Henry at school. I wrote a blog post about How to handle bad school reports however when he has had a good day it can feel amazing, and I don’t feel such a failure as a parent
• When they are happy taking them to and from school. There is nothing worse than starting the day with your child having a tantrum, but when they are all smiles and happy the school run can be the best experience in the world

Being a parent there is often no knowing at times how they are going to be from each day to the next, but when they are happy it can make up from the days when they are unhappy.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X

 

Are Android/smart devices a Godsend for kids or a nuisance

 

So this week my son has kicked off in the mornings before going to school wanting his tablet.

If you have read my previous posts you would have seen that I have on some occasions allowed him his tablet before bed time, because it seemed to be the only option at the time to make him stay put in his bed, however there are times I wonder if android and smart devices are a Godsend or a nuisance.

It appears that due to these devices that we can often now be antisocial because of them and don’t spend family time like when I was a kid sharing our day and playing out on the streets.

As a kid I lived in a housing estate, please see my book below The Peabody Years which is about my life back then growing up in Peabody Estate, and we would use the arches as our houses and play around the estate with our pretend pushchairs and babies and use whatever wall we could find to play ball games.

I wrote a blog a while ago about Limiting screen time for kids I do think it is important because I see it as it can limit their learning. There is no greater game then actual physical activities like going out riding a bike or scooter, playing with other kids and board games.

When I was a kid I remember playing card games with my nan and grandad, and we would spend hours playing these. Then there is access to unsuitable content on these devices and can get them unwanted attention.

Me and my brother often told that listening to a walkmen was being antisociable, but now everyone has tablets so things like walkmens or portable CD players no longer exist and like me many people listen to music on their mobile phones.

With a puzzle or a game you can work together and have a chat about school at the same time.

However there are some good educational sites and APPs you can access on these devices and so can be great for their learning.

However I do enjoy having family time with my son watching game and quiz shows together or playing his favourite game, which is magnetic darts.

The tablet was good for when he was a baby and I would play lullaby tunes via Youtube to help settle him to sleep and that seemed to have worked for a while, but with the screen facing down so no blue light would come through effecting his sleep.

We have now have band the tablet in the mornings because when he first kicked off about his tablet, which was on Tuesday he screamed all the way from the car to the school gate and I then wanted to have a tantrum of my own.

I say monitor it and add it is in a part of your routine but only on good behaviour and while you need to get on with something other than watching endless episodes of Peppa Pig.

As with everything I think it comes down to moderation, and taking it away in the mornings and evenings does save a lot of hassle. Henry did still kicked the next, but when we set off he stopped and was alright again and didn’t even mention it come Friday. As with everything you just have to be consistent and persevere the best you can.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carries X

 

How to make everyday things seem fun for your kids

Getting kids to do as they are told can often be a hard task, but making everyday tasks fun can making a chore seem like the best thing in the world.

• When out shopping give them a list to carry and tick things off and see how many items they can find that is on the list. Every item they find they are rewarded a point, and then this can lead to them picking a treat or a meal they love 

Getting kids to take part in everyday things is important because of gaining their own independence.

Jordan Paige who I love to watch on Youtube has some brilliant methods on having kids do their chores (see videos below):

• Allow them to choose what they want to do by going through the list of items they can see on the list, and get them to tick it off once it is done.
• Do a clean clothes challenge where by each child has a basket of washed clothes and get them to see how many clothes they can hang up within a minute
• Create a check list like I have done (see example below) of things they need to do in the morning before school, afternoon (once they return home from school) and then in the evening, and then using a bucket have them pick out a reward for completely 3 to 4 things on the checklist

• Have your kids clean your car or tidy their room for some pocket money. This will help teach them to take care of their own space and stuff
• Have them pushing the shopping trolley or pulling the basket, when in the supermarket and have them put in items the basket and  then onto the conveyor belt at the checkout.
• Have your children hand over the money for goods and then count the change given. Teaching kids about money is so important for when they buy things on their own when they are old enough to do so 
• Why not get your kids involved in looking after your garden and plant some flowers or seeds and have them water them and checking on them regularly 
• At dinner time have them set the table and prepare the meal. Often when getting kids are involved in cooking food the more chance you have of them eating it
• During the summer holidays which is a couple of weeks away I will be helping Henry create a picture book for school of what he did during the summer holidays to show his school friends and teacher. This encourages him to talk about their experiences they have had 

Getting kids involved in everyday tasks will help them for when they are older, and if they see it is fun will want to continue on.

Many thanks for reading,

 

Carrie X