Silent Sunday - 08/07/12

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Wildlife Park Adventures

There are some definite advantages to being a stay at home mum and one of them is getting to go on little adventures when everyone else is at school or work.  Today we went to Wingham Wildlife Park to see the Tigers and penguins and had beautiful luck with the weather.  One of the best things about our day was that the zoo was so quiet, we could mooch at our leisure and enjoy the animals.

We set out nice and early (I still consider

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How much do you play with your child?

Parental guilt is something that seems to start before the baby is born and last until . . . well does it end?  The reasons for the guilt change as the child does but there is always something you could be doing different, better.  My current guilt lies in the question 'do I play with my child enough?'

We don't talk about the times we leave them too it whilst we tidy/hang the washing out/ clean the bathroom/ wash up or that portion of the day we may put the telly on as we drink a cup of tea and check facebook.  The truth is that I do not play with Dylan all day.  I love the fact that he can entertain himself.  Surround him with a box and some balls and there is an hour's entertainment, throwing them all in, emptying them out again - the cycle goes on.

Obviously we play together.  We build towers, talk to the puppets, read books and have cuddles.  But do we do it enough? How much parental stimulation do they need?  Everyday Dylan and I go out, whether it is to see friends, to a baby group, to the park or to the beach.  Everyday we read a book, we eat our lunch together and we have cuddles.  But there are still signifigant portions of the day where I am in the same room but doing my own thing.

I love my son to bits and am greatful that I get to stay at home with him during the week, but spending all day on the floor talking to an eleven month old would drive me crazy!  The monotony of tower building, ball throwing, button pushing and shape sorting can get a bit too much for me.  I think teaching a child independant play is also a great thing for them as long as they know you are there if they need you. 

So I would love to hear from you, how much do you play with your child?  Do you ever feel guilt that you are not doing it enough? It was only recently that I confided in a friend my worries and it was so reassuring to know we shared this guilt and we both gave our children plenty of time for independent play.  I am sure we are not the only ones out there with these worries?!?

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Plum Cookery School

I have never been one to cook.  I don't cook for myself and even with the best intentions, I don't really cook for the little dude. When we were invited to Plum's cookery school I was excited to see if they could persuade me that I can make a healthy meal for him.

As well as being completely lost in a kitchen, I worry that any meals I make for him won't have the same nutrition and taste that the pouches we buy do.  His health and well being is my priority so I need to know what I cook would be packed full of the right nutrition.

We were invited into the home of Beverly Glock which doubles as a cookery school, helping ordinary people get comfortable in the kitchen.  They invited 5 bloggers with young children along so that we could recreate their new taste adventure dish 'cape curry with beef'- one of Dylan's firm favourites.  I was looking forward to seeing how it was actually made and getting to taste our homemade version.

Together with Beverly's help, we recreated this great dish, using all the same ingredients you would find on the back of your plum pot.  It was so much easier and quicker than I

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You Make me Smile - week 3

We are on to the third week now of you make me smile, and I am looking forward to seeing some lovely pictures from you all.  Thanks so much for those of you that joined in last week, I loved seeing what you have been up to.  I would love for you to join in again, just grab the badge at the bottom and link up!  Remember it is 3 photos of things that have made you smile during the last week no matter how big or small. So without further ado, here are the things that made me smile this week;

Dylan turned eleven months yesterday and I have started planning the all important first birthday party!  We are going for a rainbow theme, with rainbow cake and bunting and very colourful decorations.  I have the plates, cutlery and bunting all sorted now!

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Summer Sun - Ways to have Fun

The white midriffs, pasty legs and abundance of sunglasses tell me that summer is here. Time for pub gardens and ice cold cider  the park and a carton of ice cold juice.  Living so close to the beach has one major advantage - free entertainment.  It doesn't matter if you are one or one hundred, the beach seems to be a source of constant amusement in the summer.  From sandcastles, to sunbathing, to sitting in deckchairs scoffing fish'n'chips, we do like to be beside the seaside.

This summer the baby will need entertaining a lot more than last year.  Last year he spent half the summer as a bump, and the other half as a sleeping, feeding, pooing machine, waking up only to feed, and even then he seemed half asleep.  This year I will have a (presumably) mobile, active toddler on my hands.

So here are the things we plan to do if the glorious weather stays this way:

-Lots of trips to the beach.  We are lucky enough to be a 5 minute walk from a gorgeous sandy beach so any spare time will be spent down there. Dylan loves feeling the sand between his fingers but I have yet to convince him that the cold waves are actually a lot of fun!

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Silent Sunday - 1st July

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