Hands up, who has daughters?
Why is it that when we meet a little girl we often comment on her hair, her dress or how she looks? But when we meet a little boy, we almost never talk about appearance. Instead, we will maybe ask them what sports they play, what their hobbies are or something along those lines. For way too long, a woman’s appearance has mattered way too much and it’s ingrained in us. I mean, how often do we still look in the mirror and criticise what we see?
Recently my friend Ana from Pinknounou shared a really fun way to teach maths and I had to share it with you. The idea – using lego bricks to teach maths! This is such a creative idea, right? I’m all for doing anything and everything to make maths fun so that our kids develop a love for maths from an early age rather than a fear of it.
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Have you taught your kids to tell the time or are you relying on school to teach them? I was having this conversation with a friend a few weeks ago when she said ‘oh they can’t read the time yet because they haven’t done it in school’. This got me thinking that we as parents should teach our kids more life stuff than always relying on school or worse, not doing it at all. Things like tying shoelaces, telling the time, simple cooking skills, tidying up and all that kind of stuff.
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“Have you said thank you?” is the line I often find myself saying to my seven year old when she receives a gift or she’s leaving a party or a play date. She’s a well mannered child and does remember to say thank you most of the time but I still remind her just in case. It’s our job as parents not only to teach our kids good manners but more importantly to lead by example. I’m sure most of us are polite and always remember to thank our friends and family for the obvious things like gifts, their hospitality and their help. But what about the little things?
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I recently read an article (I can’t remember where) that talked about raising happy kids. All of us want happy kids, right? One of the things the article mentioned was the importance of giving your child choices, especially younger kids (say under 10) who have little or no control over their lives. This point really stood out for me. Kids really don’t have much control over their lives, do they? They are told what to eat and when, at school everything is structured and decided for them, they attend extra curricular activities that perhaps parents choose for them. They are told what time to go to bed, what time to get up, when to shower, when to do homework and the list goes on. While some of this stuff has to be decided for them (if I left mine to decide when to shower, it would be never!) I’ve realised it is possible to give them more control.
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I’ve had a fussy/picky/tricky (pick a word) eater since the day she was born. The first clue she gave us was the on the day she was born. She wouldn’t drink her milk or barely had a few drops. I was actually kept in hospital an extra two days as they were concerned about her lack of appetite. Then came weaning – probably the most difficult phase we’ve been through yet. It took nearly 1.5 years to wean her – that is truth. Fast forward seven years and lots of creative, sometimes downright crazy tricks and methods used by me and things have improved. While I’m no expert on how to get fussy eaters to eat, I think I’ve learned a thing or two. I would still call her a fussy eater but at least she eats far better than she used to.
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I am so looking forward to the holidays and some down time with my family. Our plans are to take it easy, see lots of friends and family and cook and eat lots. Before I sign off I just wanted to wish you all a wonderful festive break filled with love and joy! Thank you for visiting the blog, for your comments, for your likes and for your support. My blog is my baby and your support means the world. Here’s looking at an even bigger and better 2016. I shall see you all back here in the new year (but there will be an ebabee shop update before then). Happy & merry everything! – nomita x
Do you encourage your kids make new years resolutions? I’ve started making resolutions throughout the year whenever I feel I need to make a change but there is something special and a feeling of a fresh start that only a new year brings. I especially love making them at this time of year and have been thinking about encouraging Anya to do the same.
Last year we talked to her about making new years resolutions and while she liked the idea, she struggled to come up with what resolutions to make. I’ve since realised that she’s a bit too young to come up with resolutions herself so this year I’ve decided to give her some prompts which will help. I’ve come up with a list of 10 questions and prompts which I plan to give her and see what she comes up with. I thought I would share them here in case they inspire you to do the same with your kids. So here are my ideas for new years resolutions for kids:
What I especially like about resolutions is that it allows you to take a little time out and think about yourself – what you like about yourself and what you feel you can improve on. For me, resolutions aren’t just about changing the bad but also a lot about doing more of what you are good at or love. They’re about broadening your horizon’s and living a more fulfilled life. So are you going to be making resolutions? And will you encourage your kids to?
A couple of weeks ago we were invited to a private screening of Snoopy and Charlie Brown – the peanuts movie. Growing up I was never much in to cartoon characters but there were two exceptions – Miss Piggy and Snoopy. With snoopy & charlie brown I particularly remember reading the comic strips in the newspapers and really enjoying them. But as the years went on I forgot about Snoopy and Charlie Brown because you didn’t see much of them. That was until I received an invite to see the film and really wanted to go almost for old times sake.
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Do you cook with your kids? I don’t mean the odd cake or planned baking time but involving them in everyday cooking, everyday? I love cooking and cook most days but I just didn’t enjoy it as much with Anya because of the mess and slowness that it brought. I used to despair at the extra cleaning up, the extra time, the extra everything. A simple task that was supposed to take 10 minutes would take five times that!
Then I started thinking about it and realised that cooking with Anya could be a lot of fun if I changed the way I looked at things. She is interested in cooking (as most kids are) and it would be a real shame not to develop her interest especially when we all know that there are so many benefits of cooking with kids. So I thought about how I could make our cooking time in to something that we both looked forward to everyday. Here’s what I did and what anyone can do to make cooking with kids a daily thing that fun for everybody.
My tips for cooking with kids everyday (without killing them 😉 )
1. Make up your mind to remain patient no matter what.
Before you start, make up your mind to stay patient. This has helped me no end. Taking a minute beforehand to decide that impatience isn’t an option has made for much happier cooking together times, for Anya and for me. And after a while, like me, you will naturally be more patient.
2. Only cook with kids when you have time.
Cooking with kids is always going to take a lot longer than if you did it by yourself. There will be days when you need to be somewhere or you need to get dinner on the table in a hurry, so just do it yourself on those days. But when you know you have more time, that’s when you can take a slower pace, keep your patience in check and enjoy the process together.
3. Expect mess.
This used to drive me insane – poor Anya would barely spill a drop and I’d whip out the cloth and clean up after her every move. I put myself in her shoes and I couldn’t think of anything more irritating than someone cleaning up after you every five seconds! So now I accept there will be mess, sometimes a lot of mess and when I feel like reaching for that cloth, I just remind myself of the decision I made before I started cooking – see point 1.
4. Let them lead where possible.
Give them a task that they can be in charge of, without any help from you. This makes kids feel happy and proud – the look of pride on Anya’s face when she has done something completely by herself and the concentration while she’s doing it is priceless. It can be as simple or as involved as your child can manage, depending on their age of course. Things like pouring all the ingredients in to a bowl and mixing or breading homemade fish fingers which is one of Anya’s favourite jobs.
5. Let them express themselves.
If you’re a fan of cooking, you’ll know that it’s one of life’s great pleasures for so many reasons. For me cooking is fun, it’s relaxing and it’s so creative. This is exactly how kids should be allowed to feel about it too if they are going to enjoy it. The only way they will feel like this is if they are allowed to express themselves freely, without you giving instructions the whole way. Let them give ideas on what to cook, suggest extra ingredients that may not have been part of the plan or give ideas on presentation.
6. Think of it as bonding time.
Cooking together with your kids is a great time for bonding but only if you view it as this. Once you view it as this, cooking becomes such a fun part of your time together and you will come to look forward to it everyday. Anya and I chat about her day, tell jokes and laugh at the mishaps and spills. And then when Richard comes home, she excitedly tells him about what she helped make.
These are a few things I’ve done but I’d love to hear from you too. Would you involve your kids in everyday cooking? Do you have any tips for cooking with kids everyday?
P.S. If you’d like to check out some recipes perfect for kids to get involved with, take a look at these soba noodles or these homemade pizzas or homemade fish fingers.
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