Travelling Twinkles
Parenting

Keeping kids entertained on a rainy day …

Not too long ago in history, a rainy day trapped inside the house with the kids would mean that a good deal of imagination would have to be summoned up in order to chase the blues away, and come up with some entertaining ways of getting the most out of the day without resorting to devices.  These days, with all the virtually limitless entertainment gadgets and devices around us 24/7, the need for imagination has more or less faded away. If you were so inclined, you could just set your kids down in front of the TV, or Xbox, on…

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Parenting

A letter to Henry & Heidi as they …

It’s the evening before your first day at school. Heidi, you’re so excited to start school and so ready too. You love reading and writing and I know you’ll try so hard to please your teacher. You’ve always been independent (and feisty!) and starting school will allow to use this independence to achieve great things. You’re a bit (ok, a lot!) of a performer and like to entertain and do shows, so I’m sure you’ll soon be entertaining your little class mates and making lots of new friends. You’re such a happy little girl and have a real zest for life. You’re…

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Parenting

The twins’ last day at pre-school

Tomorrow is the twins’ last day at pre-school and I’m feeling very sad. They attend a lovely little village pre-school and have done since they were two. Oscar also attended when he was younger. It’s such a lovely caring place. The staff are brilliant and really go the extra mile to help the children and parents make amazing memories. The annual nativity, easter bonnet parade and summer show are all lovely events that we’ve always enjoyed attending. And tomorrow we say our final goodbye. Pre-school, and the fabulous staff, have been part of our lives for over five years, but…

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Parenting

Why I disagree with SATs – a bit …

Next week Oscar will take his Year 2 SATs exams. For the past few weeks he has been anxious and stressed about taking the exams and it makes me so cross that seven year-olds are put through this completely unnecessary stress. We’ve obviously reassured Oscar that SATs are not important and he just needs to try his best. In fact, I’ve told him that the only exams that are important are his GCSEs, which he’ll take when he is 16! Until that point exam stress should not even be part of his life. At seven he should be developing his…

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Parenting

When your child struggles at school

I’ve debated whether to post about this subject for a while now. My blog is basically a place to store all our memories, so that the kids can read them all when they get older. It’s basically their journey. Generally I try and record the special memories, the nice happy ones. After all we live in an Instagram world where we always present our best side to the world and it’s good to be positive. However, everyone’s journey has ups and downs and if I don’t record it all then I’d feel dishonest and like I’m saying I’m ashamed of…

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Parenting

The twins are four!

At the beginning of February the twins turned four! I know everyone says it, but I can’t quite believe how fast it’s gone since they were born. I remember it like it was yesterday and yet in September my two babies will actually be starting school! I had booked the day off work and we spent the day eating cake (mainly me) and going crazy at soft play (mainly them), where we also met Simon for lunch (he didn’t have enough holiday left to have the day off). Early evening we went to our local Indian, where we normally celebrate…

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Parenting

Childrens’ body odour – breaking the taboo

When Oscar first started school, I was really shocked to find that at the end of the school day he often had a bit of a whiff about him. I always assumed that children didn’t really get body odour until they hit the puberty years, however, this isn’t the case and childrens’ body odour is now actually quite common. After speaking to a few friends with children of similar ages, it was clear Oscar wasn’t the only one and that school-age children, particularly boys, often sweat a lot and as a result can sometimes pong a bit! I suppose it…

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Parenting

A letter to Oscar on his seventh …

Dear Oscar Today you turned seven! I know it’s a huge cliche, but I can’t quite believe how quickly the past seven years have gone. As I said to you this morning, seven years ago you changed my life – you made me a mummy. I wrote about the day you were born a couple of years’ ago, you can read all about it here. I’m so proud of the lovely, kind-hearted boy that you’ve become. You’re kind, sensitive and a little bit of a worrier at times (you get that from me – sorry!). You love your brother and…

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Parenting

The parenting rollercoaster – stop the ride I …

As a mum of three, including 3 year-old twins, I often get asked “How do you do it?”. If I’m brutally honest, somedays I really don’t know! Recently I’ve been finding this whole parenting lark hard. Really hard. All three of our children seem to waking up before 6am, particularly at weekends. Plus the twins, Heidi especially, are taking the whole ‘threenager’ phase to a whole new level. I’m absolutely exhausted! Last weekend was particularly tough. Here’s one example of many incidents that occurred during our two days of supposed quality family time… The kids were all awake at 5.30am on…

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Parenting

My Captured Moment – Sports Days

This week has been a week of Sports Days, and thankfully the weather has been kind! Although I don’t think they warrant a post on their own, it’s nice to capture them and this weekly My Captured Moment post is the perfect place. On Monday Oscar has his Sports Day. He was super proud to come third in his running race. At his school they do team events, but finish with a few running races, which are good fun. On Thursday it was the twins first pre-school Sports Day, which consisted of lots of run races. I was completely shocked…

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