Comments (11)

By Little Mummy, November 27, 2006 3:30 am

My good internet buddie Megin wrote a paragraph (the last one) that I wholeheartedly agree with. Here is the link to the full post ‘My Package‘.

It’s sad but true that very few of the gifts one receives as a child are ever remembered. Sure, there are a few. I remember my little computer that I practised my spelling on, a particular doll and a sweet shop toy. So here we are, a lot of us worrying about the size of the piles (christmas prezzie piles!) and what the kids really remember is the days we used to go out in the car for a drive and play the ‘let’s get lost’ game, or enjoying picnic teas on eurovision song contest night.

Money can’t buy these memories.

If you can’t think of what to buy a kid for their birthday or christmas, give them the greatest gift of all. You. Plan a day out swimming, a special picnic, a trip to the zoo, a fun packed sleepover, visit to a farm, anything. It’s not all about money and toys. I read on a blog (I can’t remember which) of a Dad who had given his son twelve lunch vouchers. One for each month of the year. These vouchers entitled the young boy to a lunch out at the local burger bar with his Dad. Just him and his Dad, a time for them to enjoy each others company and chat about cars with no girls or distractions. I thought that was a great idea.

Megin is right about gifts for the mums and dads too. I have all I need right here.

Having the opportunity to do fun things with them, together, and one at a time is the greatest gift of all.

Perhaps I will take you up on your offer of that weekend mum, I think Erin will have a ball (we’ll do it in the summer!).

Megin says “I love and I hate this time of year for so many reasons” and I have to agree with her. Christmas done in the correct spirit, religious or not can be the highlight of the year. Unfortunately more often than not it is all about money, ridiculous amounts of presents with barely a thoughtful gift in sight. I have been guilty of this too, I am going to try much harder to put the magic back into christmas for my family. As Erin gets older I will remember the voucher idea, making and baking will be as much a part of christmas as the gifts, handmade gifts will be as valued as shop bought gifts and the ethos of Christmas being a time for family will be reinforced at our christmas eve party. Merry Christmas!

Comments (5)

By Little Mummy, November 26, 2006 11:51 am

I talked recently about advent calendars and what I was going to do to mark off the days during December.

Well there has been a change of plan.

Yesterday morning I received the presents from Erin’s Nana (my mum) and just looking at hers combined with mine I knew that it was going to be too overwhelming on Christmas morning, especially as these do not include any other presents from family. I haven’t bought an advent calendar yet, so we have decided to try something a little different.

During December we will do alternate days of a milkybar tree decoration and a present to open. This is the advent box below – these will go under and on the tree.

This has a few advantages. Less to open on the day. More chance to play and appreciate the gifts. Less chocolate (this is a good thing when you are 10 months!). Plus Erin doesn’t really have many toys at the moment as we have been purposely holding back knowing that Christmas would provide more than enough so it will give us some new things to play with.

Here’s a sneaky peek at santa’s loot for Christmas Day.

I don’t know what is in a lot of the advent parcels so stay tuned as we reveal what surprises lie in store for us (can you tell I am as excited as Erin, if not more!!)

Comments (2)

By Little Mummy, November 26, 2006 6:40 am

A blogger I respect a lot has written an article with a title very similar to that above. Sticking to my rule of ‘more than three lines and it warrants a blog post rather than a comment’ here goes.

Is internet access necessary in schools?

Yes it is.

We are living in a society that is dependant on computers. Practically every company out there has a website, most homes are linked to the internet, and kids need to be able to use computers and the internet efficiently if they are to succeed. Scientists use computers to analyse lab results, retailers use the internet to sell their wares and computer programs for stock taking, accountants, teachers, and police staff all require computer skills. At some time or another each will require the internet, to do research, to purchase something, to acquire contact details.

I don’t think it does take a lot of skill to use a mouse or type something into google, therefore, I don’t think it needs to be taught as a subject in itself but it should be available in all classrooms for research purposes and to help with projects. Textbook learning is fine but it does get dull. To fully engage pupils you need to be more creative and utilise all medias along with arts, crafts, quizzes and as many other ways you can think of to really bring the subjects alive, especially at primary school, where a love of learning needs to be nurtured and is perhaps more important than the learning itself.

And whilst I’m on my soap box I think ‘Wall Ball‘ is a perfectly acceptable yard game too

Comments (0)

By Little Mummy, November 22, 2006 11:19 am

Hi folks, thanks for your patience.

I’m finally getting back to blogging after all the changes and laptop problems.

I am going to start a new series ‘A-Z of Christmas’ which as you can imagine will be an alphabetical look through all the stuff to do with christmas. I will be including links, ideas, and thoughts on my own christmasses and how things will be different this year now I’ll be playing Santa.

Please participate with your own ideas, links and thoughts in the comments.

Comments (2)

By Little Mummy, November 12, 2006 1:56 am

Why start a blog?

As a mother it’s a great way to keep track of milestones. When your child gets older they may like to take over the blog themselves – if you can give it up!

If your child is already a bit older it’s a great activity to do together, use it as a reason to research interesting topics to post about or to display art and craftwork.

If your interested in starting a blog here is a great HOWTO.

Comments (0)

By Little Mummy, November 10, 2006 12:11 pm

Erin and I made this crown.

We used some card from a box, paint, glitter glue and star stickers.

I cut the shape from the box. Erin helped paint the crown purple. We decorated it with glitter glue in green, gold and red and added the final touch with gold star stickers.

It was a lot of fun, Erin particularly enjoyed the glitter glue part

Comments (18)

By Little Mummy, November 8, 2006 1:36 am

I have long wondered, should I have been started much earlier in my language training would I now be bi-lingual, or even fluent in more than two languages?

It’s a long argued point that kids in Britain do not start language training early enough, and, not enough emphasis is put on it during the primary school years.

My first taste of a foreign language came very late in my primary school education, I think I was about ten. With these thoughts playing on my mind and recognising the importance of learning other languages and the lucrative jobs that this skill can land you, I have decided to start super early with Erin.

My first move was to buy this bi-lingual toy for christmas. For her birthday I have asked her aunty to buy a French learning pack. I’m not going to sit down and attempt to ‘teach’ her anything at this stage, after all, she is only a baby. However, I will be integrating french words and songs to our daily routine to get her used to hearing the sounds.

I hope that by doing this I will encourage a life long love of learning languages that will open up a variety of opportunity for travel and work in her future.

More to come on learning a language….

Are YOU teaching your kids a second language?

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By Little Mummy, November 5, 2006 9:55 am

Following on from my last post;

I was saying how Erin loved playing her piano, here is the link

also, today, I gave her a special treat. This Fisher Price Musical Pipes toy was supposed to be for christmas but I sneaked this one in early sorry, no link, can’t find it anywhere, perhaps Erin has the last one….in the whole world!!

I’m finding that only now has she started showing any interest in toys, this bodes well for christmas!

Comments (0)

By Little Mummy, November 4, 2006 2:32 pm

Erin is sitting up for long periods of time now. She likes having quite a few toys out at a time, she presses the piano to make a tune, plays with her other toys and when the tune stops she will press it again.

Comments (0)

By Little Mummy, November 2, 2006 5:51 am

You will need;

Tin Foil

and that’s it!!!

Provide your kid/s with a length of tin foil and get them to make sculptures of animals, people, buildings, or anything they want!!

(bet you can sense the possibility of a quiet five minutes with this one!)