Packing for a School Trip

My son is off today on his first overnight stay with his school and I am pretty apprehensive. I wrote about it in my daily blog: https://mydailythougthsandfeelings.blogspot.com/2024/05/my-son-first-trip-away.html

I did almost pack the kitchen sink but had to remember he has to be able to carry it so downsized my originally idea of what to pack and what he’ll actually wear as he can be fussy when it comes to clothes.

He doesn’t like hoods so I found this waterproof tracksuit which comes in its own bag which is handy.

This is from Amazon by a company called Regatta Outdoors.

I have showed him and tried them on him and is a good purchase and bought him some wellies and showed a hack on Instagram and TikTok Putting his socks and pants into his welly boots and his toiletries in the other:

@typicallondongal

Packing for school trip and did this hack to pack toiletries, pants and socks #travelhack

♬ original sound – typicallondongal

Because he won’t wear a hood I am going to pack a baseball cap and have labelled all that he is taking as kids will leave things behind. So the more you can do to prevent this from happening the better they will remember to pick their belongings up.

I bought some miniature toiletries from Boots. There are Shower Gel, toothbrush, Flannel and sun cream, and labelled these aswell.

Depending on the weather make sure you apply sunscreen, and wear light cool clothing and a jacket and a sweater should the weather turn cold.

I bought him some thick socks from TU Sainsbury’s when I bought him knew wellies and have put in a pair of sunglasses and then there is water and snacks.

The school are providing lunch and then will have dinner at the place they are going to and so going to be a great adventure for him.

It is going to be hard and was getting a little upset as I am worried about it, but will be so good for his independence and is overnight so going to not show my emotions, as I want him to enjoy it and often it is best to keep your feelings and fears to yourself because, you don’t want your fears to pass on to them, but ask if they are okay and if they have fears and go through it their emotions, so they get as much out of the experience as much as possible.

I have prepared him for it as the school did a little leaflet about it to go through of the itinerary with my son and won’t be on his own when it comes to bed time so feel good in that, and so its just getting him dressed and ready.

If you have any advice or a comment about this blog, then please leave a comment below.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Cheat Sheet: Celebrating the Bank Holiday with your kids

So next Monday it is the bank holiday, 6th May 2024 and my husband, son and I will be going to a cafe for a cooked breakfast.

It is a great opportunity to catch up with friends and family and this Cheat sheet gives some tips on what to do on the Bank Holiday. I also posted my cheat sheet for my other blog site: https://everyonecanbuildacastle.com

Here is the cheat sheet, which free to download and please share.

celebrating-the-bank-holiday-with-your-kidsDownload

To let you know I do a life coaching programme at the beginning of May, called the Summer Project 2024 and will be blogs and videos to help you have a better life and better year so check it out, on Wednesday when it starts and did film a video talking about it too:

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Getting ready for the holidays

So Easter is this weekend, and still got to buy easter eggs, but will be doing this, this week and already have made some bookings for my son and where we are going go through the holidays, and so the cheat sheet I do for this week is dedicated to planning for School Seasonal holidays like Easter.

getting-your-kids-ready-for-the-school-seasonal-holidaysDownload

Some places like better gyms where I take my son Swimming can’t be booked in too far in advance but booked for my son to go to a holiday club and there are many in the UK.

Often schools have organization’s who run holiday clubs through the holidays, and if your schools around you does then book A.S.A.P as they can fully booked and great if you still have to work through the holidays and your kids get to still have fun and in a safe environment so you can drop then off and then pick them up. Many do half days or full day, so is worth having a check but can be expensive.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Getting your kids ready for spring

Yes tomorrow is the first day of spring and the days are getting lighter and looking forward to it. So means that kids can play out longer and put the laundry out in the garden and then also Easter is on its way, and I did a video on my Youtube channel My Way of living talking about Planning and Budgeting for the Easter Holiday, and means organizing an Easter hunt, and I am writing my Newsletter for March and sharing the things I like to do over Easter. This will be up on my blog site: Everyone can build a castle | Creating goals, habits and being empowered aiming for success

It means getting the BBQ out. Okay perhaps I am getting carried away, we no longer have one, but it good to be able to go outdoors and not with layers of clothing but in thinner jackets and have your kids to help organize and do a spring clean.

I look forward to having the windows open and read a book in the park and have your children’s birthdays in Spring outdoors in the park. There is a local gardens where I live when it starts to get warmer and lighter outdoors, have birthday parties.

Having playdates visiting local historical places, like one of my friends I met up with a weekend ago, visited Arundel and Winchester, which is in West Sussex and Hampshire and we have before now gone to Poole in Dorset and Bournemouth and such lovely places to visit and great for kids to run around and just being near the water can do wonders for you and your children.

There are bank holiday weekends coming and great way to get out, and often in some of the parks, like Wimbledon Park will have a funfair, and the theme parks will start to open.

These can expensive but often there will be offers in the Sun Newspaper and Cereal boxes advertising discount on theme park tickets, and great days out.

So lets put our puffer jackets away and looking forward to wearing my denim jackets and going to give my wardrobe and my sons a revamp and get some new items, and plan some good days out.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

New Weekly Cheat Sheet: Get away from it all

At the weekend my husband I went away for the weekend for a friends birthday party and it felt good to get away. I of course love my son, but it is important for them and you to have a break.

I hope this free cheat sheet helps you. It is can be tricky when away from your kids, because we don’t often do it so, when we do then we make the most of it.

getting-away-from-it-allDownload

Tomorrow it is back to normal. Seeing my son off to school, doing some shopping and working on my many projects.

There are more to come, and so if you’d like to be alerted then subscriber.

I also create videos on Youtube too and on Instagram, so check out these links below:

https://www.youtube.com/@typicallondongal

https://www.youtube.com/@mywayofliving1602

https://www.youtube.com/@carrieseducationyoutubecha4891

https://www.instagram.com/typicallondongal

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Getting ready for school Holidays 2024

So it is half term here in the UK and my son has gone to his holiday club, and then we off to a cat cafe and book swimming, but there are other things you can do so check this weeks Cheat Sheet for inspiration.

getting-ready-for-the-half-term-1Download

Please let me know if you like these cheat sheets, and I enjoying putting then together to share ideas of having fun and stress free, and are completely free to download and print off.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie Challoner

Creating Memories with your kids

The Christmas rush is here, and we can all feel that we haven’t got anything ready, and worry that the gifts we bought our kids may not be well received, and panicking a little.

Remember to take the price tag off and remember they won’t see the price, and even an empty box can still be fun and paint it to make it into a hide out, or into a Fort, and so, kids want fun and love anything that makes them laugh, sings a song or play imaginary play.

Party games always do well, including the old fashioned ones, like Pass the Parcel, musical Statues or musical chairs. Have your kids make presents. I love handmade gifts. I am going to get back into making handmade Christmas tags, greeting cards and food too.

I love Christmases as a kid, and yes there will be children that may not receive a gift so its not about how many presents you buy for your kids, and why not print off photos and have them make a scrap book, of the Christmas cards they received and something they can look back on, and if you have a foodbank donate a gift, and have your children do the same of their old toys they no longer use.

You can create photobooks on google with your google images, and these can make some gifts, and something they can look and keep forever.

If you have just lost someone, and you may feel sad about them, and your children feel sad too and not going to be there for Christmas. Have your children light a candle and do a display in their memory and have a toast to them. The first Christmas without my nan, who lived until she was 80, or around that age, was hard and then my parents got divorced, was tough and change can be hard. So the greatest gift is a hug, kiss and reassureance that things will be okay, and important to mend feuds so your kids have see all the people they love at Christmas, and don’t keep them in the dark, and be honest to them.

Yet I am installed with lots of good memories and that is what counts. I was lucky and it was good to see my cousins and aunty and uncles, and seeing friends. Coming together for our kids is whats important, and the greatest gifft to them, is you.

So I wish you a wonderful Christmas. I may blog over Christmas, and will be uploading on my Youtube channels and social media sites, see links below:

https://www.youtube.com/@typicallondongal

https://www.youtube.com/@mywayofliving1602

https://www.youtube.com/@carrieseducationyoutubecha4891

Link for my Pinterest:

Social media:

https://www.instagram.com/typicallondongal/

Tweets by Carrie82434764

https://www.facebook.com/typicallondongal/

You will alerted if you follow me on this site, and not miss a blog, so remember to subscribe and then you won’t miss a blog. Many thanks to those who subscribe to me now, it really means the world, so lets celebrate and work together to share the love in the parent community.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

5 gifts to buy for Kids for Christmas

Yes it is now December and I have bought 4 gifts, and still got to get my son a few more. I don’t go over the top, and budget but still want to let Santa know of what my son wants and make note of what he will be getting, and as Henry has grown it has been many different things.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Musical instruments and musical audio equipment: My son has a CD that he has been wanting to play and he loves dancing to musical, like Blippi and Justin’s House, and so got him a portable CD player and also my brother some years back got me a record player and so given this to my son so going to buy a record to see if it will play and in my opinion always a winner, and great to pass down to other kids.

Bikes, cars and scooters: Great to help kids with their motor skills, and helps with mobility and having fun outdoors, and great for playdates in the park and if in good condition can be passed down, and great way to get exercise.

Experiences: I did a video about this, on my youtube channel my way of living. https://youtu.be/i–zbKpxuos I bought a couple of Christmases ago a London Bus tour to see the lights of Christmas via Groupon, and my niece was bought by her nan, Horrible Histories tours, and was unwell to do it, so I was given the tickets from my sister in law, and it was really good, and my niece still went to next day, which I was glad about, as it was worth it and so if your kids like boat tours, then I recommment them, and there are many you can do.

Join your kids to a club. As a kid I always had a hobby, and for me that was dancing and great way to help your kids form good skills and interact with other children, and a great gift. Henry goes swimming and goes to a holiday club, and following on, on Experiences, why not invest them into a kids, club. Many offer a trial and have a whole year of fun. and making more friends. So good to have a hobby, and I enjoyed it. My niece goes to drama classes, and my nieces have done hobbies, and one of my nieces works at a local stable, and horse riding is a really good to do. My son was having horse riding at school, and really helps build their skills, rather indoors looking at a tablet all day.

Games. These never run out of fashion and loved playing games during the Christmas period. We would play many card games, board games and last year we played Pictionary and always a winner. It reallly helps to wind down after having dinner and having good family fun.

So I hope this helps give you gift ideas, and will be blogging more and then will a break over Christmas but will be posting on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/typicallondongal/and my Vlog channel: https://www.youtube.com/@typicallondongal

If you like a good book to read, then check out my book Mum&Me and will really make you laugh: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mum-Me-Gucci-Tits-Virtue-ebook/dp/B0BGSS7H9K/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3UIL0SMWJHEUM&keywords=mum+%26+me+carrie+holmes&qid=1701688294&sprefix=mum%26me+carrie+holme%2Caps%2C1163&sr=8-1

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie Challoner

The Strangest things kids do

Henry has a strange habit of putting a CD on the flour faced down, in the middle of the door leading to the kitchen and neither me or his dad can figure out why.

He has done this since he was able to walk and it is a CD with his name on it, and also wants to play it, so going to speak to Santa.

What stranges things do your kids do ? Please leave a comment below, about your kids?

My son also won’t wear a coat with a hood and often doesn’t like wearing a coat, and so got him a jacket where you can take the hood off.

I bought him a body warmer, and even that he is not sure of, but will wear jumper but won’t wear a fleece at all. He’s not sure about polo shirts, but has to wear one for his school, and has a pair of sandals for the summer, but takes us a lot of convincing for him to put them on, and loves walking making train noises, as he is mad about them. He wants to be a train, and fear this as he keeps saying he’d like to go on the train tracks, so little worried but of course will supervise him to make sure he doesn’t and will travel again up London by train, and if he wants to watch the trains for a little while, then we do.

As a baby he loved being winded, and this was from the very early days, and in hosptial as he was in there for a month, due to being premature, would when I was able to see him, as I development an Oral Virus, would wind him and he wouldn’t cry and enjoyed the sensation.

He wouldn’t sit in the bath at one point, but liked swimming , and only liked me to give him a bath, and once he built his confidence on his own, with supervision, started to out of the blue sit in the bath. He wouldn’t want to come out, and why often you have to repeat making him a bath, for example, for him to discover that it is okay.

Now as I write this blog he is dipping his cracker into his hot chocolate. I remember as a baby when he would wake up from a nap be really grumpy, and to calmed down when I put on the song, Only You by the Flying Pickets or if I read to him. I remember a little boy I knew as a baby, and was a kid myself still, loved the Eastenders song, and Henry would cry to You Spin right round, by Dead or Alive, and I think it was the video of it that freaked him out and not the actual song.

Not sure if he’d like it now, as not tried, so may experiment at some point.

He at first wouldn’t be excited about Christmas, and was not interested in opening up presents, but overtime this has changed, and loves it.

So I will be posting more as we get near to the festive season, and so have a good week ahead.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X

Kids get ready for Christmas

Yes it is coming up to the big C and deciding what to buy for our kids, oh sorry more Santa will be and means having a good dinner, and consulting Santa on what gifts our kids want.

Photo by Nicole Michalou on Pexels.com

So, first of all I think choosing what you kids can help with and set a date to have the Christmas decorations going up, and why not make everyone a hot drink whilst you decorate in your matching PJ;s, with some Christmas music playing.

Take them to go and see the lights in town, depending on where you live and many places in London will have Ice Rinks and I love a Christmas market where they have a Santas Grotto, like the Southbank in London.

Create a Christmas folder. I will be going to get mine out to update and I have decided on the theme for gifts and like traditional in many households, write a wish list.

Get out the games. Last year we played Pictionary type game, and growing up would play card games. Shut the box is a really fun game and great way to have everyone playing together rather then on mobiles or tablets and make it a tradition and each year buy a new game.

Have a table for the kids to eat together, depending on the room you have. Each child has a cracker they can pull and activities on the table to help with them not getting bored whilst waiting for the food and nominate one child and one adult to give out the gifts and take note of which child it was that did it that year, and then have another child do this on the following year or boxing day, to hand out the presents.

I have done a printable for Christmas tips and so check out here:

christmas-guide-for-parents-2023Download

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X