Yes, and yes, it is another bank holiday and tomorow I see my son again and looking after him over the weekend before he is back at school, and for kids they just see it as another day, but teach them what they are for, and this month September was when Diana died and when 9/11 happened and so it is reflection of the two, yet I think its a good one because it creates an extra day until schools are back on.
So if you have children and you need a bit of help as to what to do, then here is what you can do:
Instead of having a family roast on a Sunday why not have it on Monday instead and have a bank holiday party and be great end to the summer holidays. Have your kids help cook it, cooking is a great thing to teach and it was my nan who inspired me, as she loved to cook
As they are going back to school help them create a vision board of all the things they have enjoyed during the school holidays and would like to do again
Have them read a story to each other and create stories of their own
Take a last minute trip to the seaside and have the search for seashells, I loved doing this as a kid and like my son to do the same, as shells are great for displaying in your home and completley free
Have kids do knitting and sewing. I loved as a kid with my nan’s doing knitting and sewing and make garments and is a great to learn. Teach them to do their own alterations on clothes and one of my nieces make her own scrunches.
So lets get this last weekend done and then its here “School time again”, happy last weekend of the summer.
I used to write these blogs on my other site Carries Verstile fashion on WordPress too about Shopping ideas, but because I write about many topics and sites wanted to do a Shopping Ideas post, when it comes to buying for kids.
Thank you for your feedback on my posts really means the world and I do a video on my Youtube Channel called Truth About Parenting each week so here is a link to watch them, along with other topics:
It can be tricky, especially when they are a sibling as they tend to, in my experience, receive hand-me-downs which i do recommend by the way, cause being a first time mother, it saved me a lot of money, and when you have other children to buy for being relatives, then it can be hard to know what to get them, when they change their favorite things all of the time.
They can have multiable things they like and so it is tricky to not get two of something. Often because of sibling rivalry you buy the other kids a gift in case the child who for example has a birthday, may get upset and it is good to do party bags for kids if it is birthday party.
When it comes to Chritmas I tend to do a theme for each year and try for example my nieces not getting something the other child has, and this can even be kids who have a huge age gap witht heir sibling.
Children also grow up so quickly and I was practically going through my son’s clothes and toys to hand down or to a charity shop.
With toys it can be hit and miss, as for me it has to be something my son is into and so I will observe what he currently likes and go with it for as long as I can before he becomes a fan of something else, and he is very much my son, as I as a child had many favourite gifts. Mine was beauty items, clothes or a record, and on year got a HiFi that I went ont using for years, and even now I have one. Its in my old home and when i do have my own place again will invest in one.
Choosing music is a great gift still so find out if they love in terms of music, and with digital technology you can make them their own compilation CD of songs they like.
The way to save money is to check out Charity shops, and that is where many of my son’s cuddly toys came from and books, and if you check Amazzon they will sell a series of books.
We have a store in the UK called The Works and they always have a deal on kids books and toys too.
Recycle gifts. I made Henry his own Advent Calendar, using boxes and toys from Christmas Craciers two years ago and would like to do the same this year too, and I used , toys received from Christmas Crackers and bought some other little toys from Pooundland, of course always make sure you supervise and wait until they are slightly older and no longer put objects in their mouths.
The other thing you can create is using recycliing items in your home to make thiings like spaceships or Airships out of plastic bottles, or reuse plastic containers from chinese restaurrant to make into gift boxes or to put little bits from games into and have them help orgainze the home, by making gifts you already have in your home.
I reuse Jewellery boxes as they are great items to use for other small gifs including giving all kids if having a birthday party, a keyring with their names on them inside.
Make them cupcakes with their names on them or homemade chocolates. Use milk coloured chocolate rather than dark as thart is better for making chocolates and for kids, or packages bags with smarties or fudge, if they like it.
So, never break the bank if on a low budget and you be surprised how you can create wonderful gifts that will be long term lasting memories.
Hello and welcome to another blog post. This weeks post is about your kids learning through the Summer Holidays.
So it is week 3 of the Summer Holidays and its been a lot of days out, I took Henry on a boat ride up London, from the London Waterloo Bridge to the Tower Of London, and sitting at the top it was a good journey and if you have an Oyster card it was cheaper than going on the London Eye site seeing cruise, and took Henry on a bus tour today, and that was with Golden Tours, if you want to do the same, it was really good learning as he is obsessed with the London Eye, and what you can do is afterwards is have them talk about it, and I am putting together a Summer Holiday Diary for him, and you can use a photo album, traditional scrapbooks or like I am using a Notebook/Journal.
My son playing with his buses
This morning I did some maths with Henry doing adding up, and counting, and there are some really good work books for different ages in stores like WHSmiths, The Works and even Poundland.
I have taken pictures of the books he has read to add to his Diary and gonna add the maths book too. Gonna take pictures of him play countdown, his favourite show, and he loves Tipping Point. Trivia is a great way to teach kids about things, and facts.
It is good to have them to have a learning space, and so when I have a new home would like to create this for my son and for other kids I hope to have, if not too late, being in my 40’s. You can use white boards or a pin, magnetic book to put a Summer Holiday Learning plan, and breaking it down thourgh the day.
The outdoors is important and if there are a kids summer club, then check these out, as my son craves for other children to play with, and so planning a play date is good and great for you too.
Hello! So it is week two and have had my patience tested by my 7 year old son with stroppiness, answering back whinging and needing the toilet where there isn’t one but they’ve not gone when there was one “Just in case”.
I love my son, but kids can drive you up the wall when your doing all you can as a parent to keep them entertained.
It is hard to keep up with their energy as my son has loads. If you are indoors and they become a little monster create a “Time out spot”. Mainly for them to calm down and be quiet for a bit as they can get over excited so it helps to them settle down if their play turns into aggression.
Try breaking the day up with different things such as, them doing pretend play. My son loves the countdown game pretending to be the host and putting the letters and numbers, going on bus trip, involve them in doing errands and yesterday I took him to a local park and they had water fountains that kids could play in and there are swings, climbing frames, a sand pit and a pond with geese and ducks.
Swimming is a great activity as helps them be confident with water and soft play centres are good. They will often have a cafe that sells drinks and food, and great places to arrange a Play Day. Kids love other kids and need that interaction.
National parks are good as up London you can often see the Queen guards and Regents Park have The London Zoo and great to play in. St James Park have swings and slides etc and I love taking my son up there.
Some parks you do pay for, like Kew Gardens but others mentioned in London are free and they staya} open until late in the evening.
Then there is travel. All depends where you go but there are many routes. I will go by a South Western train into London and then travel back by bus. I use my Oyster card which is good to have and they can be bought from all train stations and you top the Oyster card up, max amount is £50.00 and min amount is £5.00.
If you have recommendation of places to go, leave a comment below.
Hello and welcome to a new Parenting post, today is The Second week of the summer holidays and if you are going insane already you aren’t on your own and my patience has been challenged yet I got through it and so can you.
Kids come with many traits, stroppiness, answering back and full of energy and I am just glad I have my coffee to keep me from losing the plot and it has meant I have got my weeks worth of exercise.
Who needs a gym when your kids can make you run?
It means playing football a lot, cricket or WWF, yes and they say “Don’t try this at home” but as soon as I am picking stuff up of the floor to tidy I have a 7 year old who dive bombs and now I am wrestling to get up to drink my coffee that often goes cold. Good thing Iced coffees exist, as either way I get my energy and stay awake during the day for the course of the 6 weeks holidays.
If you wanna know what coffee I drink at the moment it is Nescafe but when buying a coffee out it is a caramel latte.
Should you use food when it comes to kids playing up?
Yes as they can play up when hungry and so I take snacks and water with me. My son doesn’t really drink flavoured drinks and it is milk or water and in terms of food I will take with me, crackers. or a sandwich, crisps. raisins and since COVID I will use my bank card and not take out cash but it depends where we go. If will often just take out like £20 in cash but if not need to then I don’t.
I tend to do different things during school holidays compared to when Henry is at school, like have an Ice Cream with my son, take a packed lunch and have a picnic and play ball somewhere or like tomorrow go to the seaside to see my family who live near there and having a lot of days out, as often kids especially if an only child at the minute, miss other children being around and when I used to go on holiday would make friends with new children who were also on holiday and being near the see helps me as a parent to keep my calm.
If they get upset when leaving then reassure them that they will have more time away and can write to them as I liked doing this I met a girl called Laura when I went to Devon one year to a holiday camp who lived in Nottingham and kept in touch. We have lost contact now but I loved as a kid to have penfriends and should be memerable for kids to look back on when they get older.
So more blogs to come and remember to #staysafe make sure you wear masks if required and wash your hands regularly when out due to the spread of germs and hand sanitizer.
The parenting adventures 