A Mum's Life

This week I offered a little of my spare time to take care of a friends little girl. Since this was my first time sitting for her, I thought it might be wise to go armed with a few creative activities to keep her entertained!

After browsing some creative kits, I decided to buy a ‘make your own jewellery’ set from the Early Learning Centre.  I’d heard from Maya’s mum that her little one often begged to sleep in her ‘dressing up’ jewellery, so I thought this one could be a winner. (And I’ll admit, I quite fancied a little jewellery making myself.)

As soon as I arrived and gave Maya her gift, she spotted the pictures of wooden ladybirds on the box and wanted to get started. The pack contained:

• An array of wooden beads including ladybirds and flowers
• A coloured elasticated wooden bracelet
• Glue
• Elastic cord
• EVA foam and templates for cutting shapes.
• Plus instructions

The pack had enough to make 2 wooden bracelets, a ponytail clip and a necklace.

Like most three year olds, Maya wasn’t mad keen on working to instructions! She began by picking her favourite beads and together we began to glue them onto the pre-strung cuff bracelet. After a couple of demonstrations, she was away and happily glued the rest of the beads herself.

This is what we made. Maya loved it!

Next, she wanted to make another bracelet. I cut a length of cord for her and she chose other beads and threaded them onto the cord herself, naming the colours as she went. She was really focussed on this and seemed to really enjoy it. The results were very cute.

I then suggested we made the hair clip together, which involved tracing stencils onto UVA foam and cutting them out. Maya seemed less interested in this part (this may have been because we had already been playing for one hour or perhaps because she was unable to do this part independently). The stencils were quite small and fiddly to draw around and the foam needed sharp scissors to cut.

It was at this point she got a little bored and suggested that perhaps we have a princess tea party instead – I was happy to oblige! I do hear from her mummy that she has requested to sleep in the bracelets! So all in all, I’d consider the jewellery making kit a hit! A great present for a three to five year old girl.

Thank you for reading…AML x

Travelling with babies and toddlers on a plane isn't as bad as you may think!

We have taken the Little Man on a couple of long haul holidays in his short little life, so I think I’m pretty qualified to give some tips on travelling with a baby/toddler on a plane. Were we mad? Not really! It’s not as bad as you may think. But you need to be prepared – and then some! For us, it was so much easier when he was a baby, rather than a toddler. As soon as he was walking we had our work cut out a bit more. We nickname him our Pocket Rocket, as he’s got way too much energy and is pretty fast on his feet, so having to sit on a 12 hour flight was always going to be tough for him, but I think we all did pretty well. I did feel really nervous beforehand though. A couple of glasses of wine after take off helped a bit too!

The best thing you can do it be prepared and have lots of tricks up your sleeve to keep the entertainment going, more so for toddlers!

Travelling with a baby

The first holiday was to Boston, USA. It was a 7-8 hour flight and he was 12 months old. Here are my tips…

1. If possible try and get the bulkhead seats, so there is room for your little one to crawl around or just sit and play.
2. Get an isle seat, so you can easily get up and down without having to keep pushing past people.
3. Get them changed into a clean nappy, vest and baby grow just before you get on the flight, so they are super comfortable. Layers are good!
4. Give them a milk feed at take off.
5. Walk around with them as much as possible during the flight – that will be good for you and them!
6. A few of their favourite toys, we had the magnetic cars from ELC.
7. Favourite books, puppet books and some new books.
8. Lots of changes of clothes and plenty of wipes.
9. Disposable bibs (The Pound Shop do these as a pack of 10)
10. We took the Ella’s Kitchen pouches of food incase he didn’t eat anything on the plane. They are resealable do are ideal.
11. Snacks – bread sticks, rice cakes.

Don't under estimate being prepared!

Travelling with a toddler

The second holiday was to California. The flight was 11 hours and the Little Man was 21 months.

Here are some ideas to take on the plane…

1. A couple of new toys wrapped up, so when the boredom starts to kick in, then to open something new will keep them occupied and interested for a while longer!
2. Flash cards and books.
3. DVD player – although there are cartoons and films, if they like anything in particular then this can help. Toy Story was our saving grace!
4. Ice cubes in a cup from the flight attendants.
5. Masking tape and a pen – it’s ideal to draw on and just stick!!
6. Stickers and sticker books.
7. Crayons and colouring books.
8. iPad/tablet, or iPhone with flashcards. The Elias range of apps for babies are brilliant – they are a interactive flash cards.
9. Lots of snacks.
10. Disposable bibs (The Pound Shop do these as a pack of 10)
11. Straws.
12. Favourite blanket/soft toy,
13. Really comfy clothes, layers are best. Take a  few changes of clothes on board with you along with plenty of wipes.

Masking tape - not an obvious choice but a saviour all the same!

Another essentials that we found really useful on holiday:

1. Travel seat (we use this now at home instead of a high chair, so a great investment).

2. Lightweight Silvercross Pushchair with travel bag.

3. Blackout UV pushchair shade – was ideal when the Littleman needed to sleep out and about and we didn’t have to worry about him being in the sun.

If you have any other tips, I’d love to hear them – Good luck with your travels!
Thanks for reading….AML x