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A Christmas message from The Modern Parent

December 24, 2011 By 4 Comments

Well it ain’t no message from the Queen but the picture above pretty much sums up all that I wish for myself, my friends my family and all of my readers for the ensuing festive season.

Take it Easy and Relax: Hopefully you have managed to scrounge some days off work to spend with the family. If so, take a load off and enjoy. Enjoy just chilling out, relaxing, having fun and conforming to no rules, times, criteria or schedules.

Eat, Drink  & Do not Diet: Well this is fairly self explanatory. Whilst I am all for looking after yourselves and maintaining a healthy lifestyle (I said I was all for it but never actually stipulated i did it), it is important to just eat up and enjoy this Christmas. If you need to burn off a few extra kilojoules, go outside and play some cricket, dive in a pool or go for a big walk with the family to view some Christmas lights.

Be Merry and Smile: The most important thing to remember this festive season. Now that all the shopping is done, it is now  the time to be merry. Time to smile and laugh and have fun with those important to you. To rejoice in all you have and look forward to lots of good times ahead.

Thankyou to all those that have read and commented and given me feedback this year. One year into my blog and I have learnt so much and have so much more to plan for the coming year. I look forward to a happy and productive 2012 with so many exciting endeavours in store.

I wish you all a safe, happy and healthy festive season full of love, laughter and good times surrounded by those you love.

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Answering questions about Father Christmas: How do you do Santa in your house?

December 18, 2011 By 14 Comments

When it comes to questions about Santa’s extraordinary stamina and logistical feats on Christmas Eve, we as parents are often heard gesticulating about the magic of Christmas and the power of believing. To the innocent and unsuspecting little minds, those hooves clippity clapping on the rooftop never break a single roof tile and their tummies are never full from ingesting a gazillion carrots. Santa, no surprise is a little on the tubby side, but never leaves more than a few crumbs behind from the cookies, milk and occasional beer. Lucky for him Rudolph has that nose to guide a slightly sloshed Santa through the skyways to deliver all the goodies for all the boys and girls. I like the idea of Santa. I like the magic of Christmas and I like joy he brings to all the little girls and boys.  [Read more...]

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5 Ways to build a connection with your child despite your busy lifestyle

December 13, 2011 By 3 Comments

After a busy week unpacking a house, preparing for a 10th birthday and recovering from my husbands 40th,  it is now time to get back to thinking about Christmas. I am starting to feel the time escaping pretty quickly, so this weeks post comes as a timely reminder for now and all those times when we as parents are super busy.

This week I have my first guest post, written by Janell Fowler. Janell is the owner of BabyButton, where she sells stylish and fun products for babies and children.  She is also the creator of a unique range of breastfeeding covers which help maintain a bond between mother and baby while feeding. Today though she is sharing with us her 5 ways to help build a connection with our kids even when we are going a little pre-Christmas crazy.

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I don’t know about you, but I can feel the pace of life getting faster each year.  You get to the end of the day and although you’ve managed to get everything done – work completed, meals cooked, kids bathed and into bed – you can’t help but feel as though you haven’t done any of it very well. [Read more...]

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The best ages and stages of our childrens development

December 5, 2011 By 4 Comments

What is your favourite stage of a child’s development? Recently I have found myself saying to a lot of parents of babies and children of various ages “Ooooh I love this age…they are so….” I guess that is because there are aspects of all stages that I do love, and definitely some other aspects of certain ages that I find a little less endearing. Think 18 month old, who whilst adorably cute, at times can also be very frustrated by their complete understanding of the world around them but their often less than adequate language skills to match that understanding. Hence we are often left with points and grunts and squeals and tantrums as they try to get themselves understood. But today I am focusing on all the good stuff so I am going to outline what I love about certain ages and stages. So for those of you that have been there and done that then here is a moment to relive the preciousness, and for those yet to reach many of the milestones, then rejoice in all you have to look forward to. [Read more...]

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