10 Tips on Productive Parenting/Teaching Independents in kids

Hello as always when I write my weekly Parenting blog post please see my recent Truth About Parenting video: #BeSmart Campaign Online.

So this blog post is about Productive Parenting and no it isn’t about 25 to do lists, but making time for everything that surrounds parenthood aswell as getting stuff done.

There is a Youtube Content Creator who has a channel called Get Shit done, and it is really good in giving tips on decluttering and having a more organized life but not being a chore.

So lets think about getting out of the Lockdown because I bet you were praying for it to lift, not because you don’t love being with your kids but Homeschooling can take its toll.

1# Plan the night before of what you want to get done. This is where you can get your life together when you choose tasks that you like to do, which can then release the endorphins to do more. I find it gives you a head start and why not give your kids a list of 5 things to do, to help you

2# Teach classes in two hour blocks througyh the day. This way your children don’t get burn out and neither do you

3# Prep meals if they are back at school and you work from home, in the morning after you have dropped then off and saves you a lot of time after school has finished.

4# If you work from home then why not have a cleaning breaks throughout the day. The one thing I am looking forward to when I have my own home again is to have a declutter and buy new homewares decor items, and have your kids involved by having them write down what they would like their bedrooms to look like

5# When it comes to doing homework, rather than doing it after school why not in the mornings when they are fresh faced and there was one mum I saw who’s daughter was in Henry’s class, have her daughter reading in the car before it was time to go into school for the day.

6# Do some physical activity with your kids, like me and my son would have a dance in the morning. it is great way for you and your kids to wake up, and why not have everyone brush their teeth at the same time rather than one at a tinme.

7# Put together and create a Working from home mum Capsule wardrobe that you can grab rather at short notice rather than searching through your closet and feel like you can’t find anything to wear

8# Buy groceries online and you can buy many items from Amazon, and set programmes into your planner, so you can enjoy the food you bought and then can watch some TV without searching through and thenn it is all there ready for to have.

9# Delegate duties to your kids, like for example having them run their own bath and clean it after each use, and then it saves a job and it is always kept clean. I would put a little message to your kids, that once used please clean me afterwards, and have a hanging toiletry holder with a cloth and spray. If it is younger then put wipes for them to use for cleaning and then disposed of and in the bin

10# Have kids get rid of their plates and utensils, by having a pick up table, so a table where they pick up their plate of food take it to the table to eat, and have them help set the table and then have a waste and dirty plate and utensils station, and once cleaned and you have a dishwasher have them help empty it. This is great for their independence and it can bring smiles to their faces because you are allowing them free space and responsbility.

Being Productive doesn’t have to be things set in stone, but flexiblity helps wonders and helping them to be independent will help you get things done and teaches them life skills about looking after their home when they grow up

Many thanks for reading

Carrie X

5 Tips# in Preparing kids for school without too much hassle

Hello and welcome! So each week I do a video as part of my Youtube series Truth about parenting, and this week the video I did was talking about Parenting Mental Health.

So now your kids should have returned to school and being Friday it is time for them to be off again until next week. Five Tips in Preparing kid for school without a hassle, is the topic of this blog post.

Tip1# If they have a weekend first before they return to school get all uniform, bags and snacks packed in plenty of time, so I do this the night before, so there is no rushing around.

I find kids respond better too when things are set out, and Henry will often grab his bag himself and I put all bags and coats by the front door.

So the next tip,

Tip2# Always have a Get Ready with me place for you and your kids where you usually spend time in the morning. This saves so much time and even have breakfast ready the night before.

This means having cereal already in a individual plastic container so they can just pour in the milk, or even in a bowl.

Tip3# Write a diary to prepare your childs mindset, as some kids might be a bit anxious about going back and this will help prepare them mentally so its not a drastic shock to get back into the routine of school.

This is a great pack for kids for you and a child to use and they are just fun and beautiful and found this on amazon.com

Going back to school for me was an adjustment at times and often will have the fear of school because I work better on flexibility rather than a set structure and I think is one of the factors why I struggled at school.

Tip4# Good hack, put in their bags if they are in the early years and toilet training and you can even do this when they return to nursery, and that is use reusable clothes bags, that new clothes ordered online come in now, and put in for wet and dirty clothes, so if they do have an accident or get their uniform dirty by painting for example so it keeps rest of the items in your bag dry and clean. Let the teacher know that you have done that so they know and can use it.

This one is from Amazon and they have other colours and styles of these bags

The bags I go for is one that have the pocket at the front and ones at the side, as they are good to carry water bottles and putting sun cream in and other bits.

See these which are great to put snacks in and use as laundry bags for your kids to take to school and thesre are from amazon and do different sizes.

Tip5# Have a check list on the wall by the front door or in the place where you spend your mornings so you can go through whilst they eat their breakfast that they have everything.

I find using a White board to tick a check list is great as you can wipe it away and then do one at the beginning of each week.

So I hope you have had a good week and yes I am too looking forward to the weekend and soon I will be moving and so lots more blogs on this site and and my others.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

P.S: If you would like to see more of my blogs and video content please visit my blog network site:

https://carriesblognetwork.squarespace.com

World Book Day/Teaching kids to write books

Hello and welcome! Here is a new Parenting blog paying homeage to World Book day and Teaching kids to write books.

I wrote stories as a kid all the time and I worry that this soon will go out of fashion, yet it is a wonderful skill to have and even my nieces all love to write, and one of them, even had a poem she wrote like me and this is not to steal her thunder, but it has lived on in the family, published and I would love to show you a lovely story that my niece Ava wrote in school about her seeing my son Henry for the first time, her cousin and it was lovely.

To help them find them a book they love and create their own story like it, not too copy but to help inspire them with ideas to get them started.

Have them create a vision board to help them write notes and allow them to be as imaginitive as possible and bring the stories to life.

This could be a good Homeschooling activity, and I think this should be part of the National Criccilum, as the world is calling out for more writers and it was one activity knowing I hated school, that I actually liked.

I used card stock to make Henry a homemade book about buses, and you can do the same with your kids to help with their writing skills. Find pictures from a kids magazine they can use to include in it, or print pictures online and there are personalised books you can make, which Henry has many of, and have them write a story about a happy memory they had and have them read it to each other.

Me and a girl named Helen, at Primary school, would often do this and it a good way to help then be confident with writing, as you can be very self conscious at first about writing as being a writer I often doubted myself over it, and it is practice makes perfect.

I do feel handwriting is still important even with digitial services available, and if they want to type it up, let them. This will help with their IT skills which are important now and have them share it with their friends, and I have just had a Brain wave, and that is Creating a Kids World book club, and I want to with a very cuddly friend have different people read children’s book with him.

Another good way is to make story worksheets and I am going to make some printables to help my children and your kids to help them write stories, and to help them create a vision board for them and write notes and what resources they could use also to help them.

So I hope this is helpful, not long now for our kids to return to school and have a wonderful weekend.

If you would like to see my recent Truth about parenting videos then please click on this link below:

Parent Mental Health

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie L.M X

P.S: Please remember you can follow me on this blog and be kept up to date of my blog posts on this site and all my content is added to my network site:

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Five Skills for Your Kids Wellbeing

Hello and welcome! So if you haven’t watched my new video of my series of The Truth About Parenting then check it out my new video here: Truth about parenting/teaching kids about money and budgeting

In this blog post I am talking about 5 Skills for your kids wellbeing.

So with the internet it can, and it has be proven to cause kids to have anxiety and lack of self confidence and so it is more important now than never to look after our kids mindset and making life simple and easy living for them as much and as possible.

I have created a Printable with these skills too, which is completely free and I hope you find useful:

5-skills-for-your-kids-wellnessDownload

1. Let kids make their own choices. So instead of you picking an outfit for them, let them do it and have low sized wardrobes and racks, and chests of draws with handles so they don’t trap their fingers and choose their clothes for the day
2. Discuss mental health with your kids. This is so important as I became aware of my #mentalhealth at a young age and it helps them help you to meet their needs in terms of mental health and tell you how they are feeling
3. Teaching kids about mindfulness and meditation. Once I get to spend time with my son and other children again soon, this is something that I’d like to teach them should they feel stressed and if they are having any worries, and if you as a parent not done this before, it is good for new parents too. I am going to talk about Mental Health, being a parent in a post or video, because it is a common factor. If they decide it doesn’t help them, then that is fine, but it is a skill worth practicing and you can use wellness flash cards so they can go through different emotions of mental health and again can discuss the different feelings of the human mind to help deal with mental health problems that can effect children
4. Have a child look after a pet. As a kid I grew up having cats as pets and knowing people who had dogs, and they can be a great source of wellbeing. I found it gave me a sense of responsibility and when the cat didn’t attack me, being “Target number one” he would sit on my lap and a cuddle. With a pet can be a lovely sense of unconditional love, and it good for kids to know about animals and creatures, its a great way to get in touch with the world
5. Do a project with your kids. So as many kids are off from school due to Lockdown, why not do projects, like a Science project, write a book, like a children’s book or have them do a computer project example: teaching kids on Desk Top Publishing.

So I hope these tips have helped you, and thank you to those who have liked and followed me so far on this site and I will be back with one next week, and if there is a topic you’d like me to talk about them please leave a comment below.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X