Real Bedtime Stories for Children

My children love reading books; pop-up books, lift up flap books, fairy tales, magazines, picture books, cook books, and encyclopedia type books.

My two boys also love bedtime stories, apparently.

Books keep them quiet and calm, and also help them to focus their attention, unless they’re bedtime stories, and then they often have the opposite effect. Well, they do in this house.

Bedtime stories in our house are, more often than not, interrupted constantly with wrestling, crying, burping, pooping, throwing, screaming, and little rascals getting in and out of their beds! Sorry if you envisioned our bedtime stories to be quiet, relaxing, and magical.

I am about to give you an insight into a bedtime story at my house, read by momma.

One of my boys most favourite books is the well known story The Three Little Pigs. If you haven’t read this book then you are really missing out so go and buy it! Your kids will love it.

Here is the story from beginning to end according to bedtime in our house with two loveable little rogues I call my children. The extra words that aren’t in the book will be made bold for ease of reading! These extra words are from momma, but courtesy of my little darlings!

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs who went off to build their own houses. Please stop licking your brother, he does not like it!

The first little pig built his house out of straw, do not wipe your nose on my arm! which was not very strong. Let me get a tissue!

One day, the big bad wolf came and said, get your hands out of your nappy! “Little pig, little pig, let me sit still and listen please come in.”

“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,” said the first do not get out of bed! little pig.

Get back into bed or we will not finish the story! “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down.”

And he did. Don’t pull your brother’s hair! And the little pig ran away as fast as he could!

The second little pig built his house out of sticks, which were not very strong. Let go of him!

One day, the big bad wolf came and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”

“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,” said the keep your hands to yourself please boys! second little pig.

“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.”

And he did. Put the pillow back on the bed!  And the little pig ran away as fast as he could!

The third little pig built his house out of bricks, which were very strong. The first, and second little pig ran all the way to the house of bricks and hid inside with their brother.

One day, the big bad wolf came and said, don’t call your brother stupid, it’s not kind! “Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in.”

“Not by the hairs of our chinny chin chins,” said the all the little pigs.

“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.” You are not the wolf, do not blow on your brother!

But no matter how I said do not blow on your brother you are making him cry! much the wolf huffed and puffed, the house did not blow down. Get up, you did not get blown down, get back into bed!

So the big bad wolf said, no he did not say roarrr! “I’ll come down the chimney and eat you all up.” It’s ok it’s just a story, the wolf won’t come down our chimney, he is not real, you’re not a pig, and we don’t have a chimney!

But when the wolf came down the chimney,  do not tell your brother the wolf will eat him, you’ve made him cry he fell into a pot of hot soup, No I don’t know what flavour it was and he got up and ran away as fast as he could and they never saw him again!

And the no! It was not bottom flavour! three little pigs lived happily ever after excuse me, what do you need to say after you burp please? in the house of bricks.

The end.

So there you have it, my uncensored version of The Three Little Pigs! What are your kids favourites?

Whitworths Review

My 4yo loves raisins, he would eat the whole bag if I let him, but they have to be good ones! None of these dry, tiny excuses of raisins, but the big juicy raisins. I have only ever found one brand live up to my 4yo’s expectations, and that is Whitworths. Whitworths raisins are delicious, and both my children agree.

We have been buying Whitworths raisins for quite a while now, and now, because of their high standards, nothing else compares! My 4yo would pick Whitworths raisins out of a line up any day! (So would I)

We tweeted Whitworths about the love in our household for their raisins and they kindly sent us a box of goodies to try out! My 4yo squealed with delight at the arrival of this little red box of delights!

Whitworths Snack Happy Day

We had apricots, raisins, strawberries, bananas, dates, mangoes, cranberries and some delicious breakfast packs for on the go. This was great for my children who can often be fussy with trying new things, but because it was in their special red box they were excited to give everything a go!

I would highly recommend all of the fruit bags from Whitworths, but the breakfast on the go packs were divine! The strawberry and banana one was out of this world, my 2yo stole it from me in the end!

Whitworths breakfast on the go packs are now a necessity on our shopping list!

Whitworths blogger snack box

Every morning, until the red box was emtpy, my 4yo would ask for porridge and then ask to choose a packet of fruit to sprinkle in it! It made breakfast so exciting for him, and also gave him 1 of his 5-a-day at the same time. It revolutionised breakfast time and fruit intake for him.

Whitworths Cranberries in porridge

He even wanted them sprinkled on his frosted flakes, and at snack time with his milk! Whitworths has become an irreplaceable brand in my little boys life!

Whitworths Raisins with Cereal

In our little red box of delight were also some of the Whitworths Shots. I told my 4yo these were for grown ups (naughty I know!). These Shots are out of this world, and are now a firm favourite of mine, especially the Fruity Biscuit Shot!

Whitworths Snacking on the go shots

 

Whitworths are a brand worth swapping to, and we would never go back to using any other brand. They are definitely worth the money.

Thank you Whitworths for revitalising breakfast and snack times for both myself, my husband and my children! And if you ever need any tasters in the future you know where to find us! We would recommend you to everyone!

So, if you haven’t tried Whitworths yet go and buy something from them today – you will not be disappointed!

Sensory Stepping Stones

Here’s our homemade sensory stepping stones activity…

My 4yo is all about textures, he adores soft textures, but cannot stand rough textures, so an activity based around textures is highly beneficial for him. My 2yo just loves making a mess and standing on things he thinks he shouldn’t, so a sensory stepping stones activity sounded right up his street.

I carefully thought about all of the possibilities for the stepping stones, and they were endless. I wanted to use both everyday items, and items that were readily available. I collected together various items and made sure they were safe to step on with bare feet. I wanted my boys to get the most they could out of this experience, and bare footedness would most definitely accomplish this.

Sensory Stepping Stones Setup

I set up two strips of blue coloured material. On one strip I placed A4 squares of fake green grass, two coloured acrylic tiles, two pieces of wood, two ceramic tiles with a 3D patterned metallic finish, porridge oats, and two A6 pieces of brightly coloured fake grass.

Sensory Stepping Stones activity for children

On the second strip of blue material I placed two ceramic tiles finished with different 3D metallic patterns, A5 brightly coloured fake grass, A4 green fake grass, A5 piece of oak, several sticks we collected at the park the previous day, an orange acrylic tile, a mirror, cotton wool balls, a silicone Lego mould, silver plastic  wrapping, clear plastic packaging, and a large present bow.

Sensory Stepping Stones StepsI told my boys the blue strip of material was a river and they had to make their way safely across using all of the items as stepping stones. They loved this idea, and took their socks off straight away! It was such a good way to incorporate imaginative play into our activity.

Child walking over Sensory Stepping Stones

We spoke about the textures of the sensory stepping stones along the way, and  asked my boys what each one felt like. They walked along, ran along, tiptoed along, and crawled along. They used their feet and their hands to explore the textures.

Child walking in oats during Sensory Stepping Stones activity

The porridge oats stepping stone was a big hit. Both of my boys loved stepping into this, and wriggling their toes around. It soon turned to a game of ‘lets see how far we can kick these oats’! Boys will be boys!

Children creating Sensory Stepping Stones

After walking down the first strip several times my 4yo decided to rearrange the sensory stepping stones himself, and they both then walked up and down the arrangement several times, and then they crawled up and down it! This let them both practise their balancing skills too – they didn’t want to fall into the ‘water’!

Children walking on Sensory Stepping Stones

Children playing with Sensory Stepping Stones

My boys then moved onto the next strip of blue material. They loved stepping into the sticks, and they were even more delighted about them being the sticks they had collected at the park the day before. My 2yo loved standing on the plastic packaging and hearing it crunch under his feet – he loves anything that seems mischievous, and this certainly sounded it!

Ribbon on grass for Sensory Stepping Stones activity

The present bow sensory stepping stone was also very popular with my 2yo. He loved the feel of it on his feet and the crunching noise it made.

Cotton balls for Sensory Stepping Stones activity

As they made their way through the sensory stepping stones they then went back to explore each one. The cotton wool turned into ‘snow’, and then we had a snowball fight – initiated by my 4yo of course! A huge plastic T-Rex was placed onto the sticks sensory stepping stone, the pieces of wood were piled high, and the mirror was used to pull faces into!

We loved this activity, and would recommend sensory stepping stones to everybody with children. It is such a versatile activity in terms of setup too. It is also good for their senses, their balance, their agility, and their imaginative play – the possibilities are endless. And the best thing about this activity is that you can use anything you want for your sensory stepping stones – next time we are going to try an edible sensory stepping stones activity!

Give it a go!

New Year’s Resolutions as a Parent

Twelve months is a very long time in the world of parenting. You cannot possibly count the tantrums, the bogeys, the amount of times you are vomited on, the tears you wipe, the hugs you give, the food you prepare, the chocolate consumed, the vegetables refused, the battles you won, the battles you lost, the times you’ve yelled, the times you were patient, the baths you gave, the cuddles you received, the car journeys you took, the holidays you went on, the food shops you waded through, the break downs you had, the bad dreams you banished,the budgets you didn’t stick to, the sacrifices you made, the butts you wiped, the rooms you cleaned, the idiots you’ve encountered, or the coffees you consume.

As the end of the year approaches you find yourself, as a parent, reflecting on the year you’re leaving behind and making your new year resolutions as a parent (whether verbally or somewhere in your subconscious). Were you a good parent? Were your children happy? Did you feed them healthy food? Did you yell just enough as to not cross the border into scarring them for life? Did you make fun memories? Did you laugh enough?

When I look back on my year I see a lot of things, both good and bad. I see a momma who yelled, but a also a momma who fiercely loved. I see a momma who wanted to curl up in to a ball and cry for a week solid, but I also see a momma who carried on regardless and made life fun.

We had treasure hunts, spontaneous tea parties, cinema trips, and outings to feed the ducks. We went crabbing, to the fair, on train rides, to theme parks, to the beach, to the forest, to firework parties, to birthday parties. We celebrated our babies birthdays in VIP style, and left no detail to chance. We made Christmas magical. We (my husband and I) poured every ounce of ourselves into making life an adventure for our little people.

The happiness will always outweigh the crappiness.

When I look back I see we had an amazing year, we had low points, sometimes very low points, but the happiness outweighs the crappiness, and always will.

The year ahead is set to be amazing, and by amazing (I am under no illusion believe me!) I mean it will be full of laughter, fun, tears, snot, poop, cheeky four year old’s, terrible two year old’s, birthday parties, wrestling, (a bit of) yelling, time-outs, family holidays, things getting broken, grazed knees, grazed hearts, cleaning, lots and lots of cleaning, meeting new people, saying goodbye to toxic people, not putting up with peoples crap, making fun memories, and making life a fun, secure adventure for my two little boys.

My New Year’s Resolutions

We all know a new year’s post would not be the same without adding some of my new year’s resolutions as a parent, so here they are:

  1. When one of my darling children hand me a huge bogey to dispose of I will not gag loud enough for someone on the next continent to hear. I will work on my gag-reflex
  2. When my name is called for the four hundredth time that hour I will not get irritated; I will smile and respond accordingly
  3. I will try not to yell at all ( or maybe limiting myself to 3 times a day seems a more attainable goal)
  4. I will wash my hair 3 times a week, even if it means showering with a 4yo, a 2yo, Nemo, the whole cast of Monsters Inc, and two squirting penguins. Dry shampoo should not be an everyday essential.
  5. I will brave potty training my little rascal of a 2yo
  6. I will discover a way to get my children to sleep in until 9am every single day. I will. I most definitely will!
  7. I will stay awake past 8.30pm at least on Fridays and Saturdays
  8. I will spring clean the house from top to bottom at least once a week (maybe once a month, or maybe bi-monthly sounds more achievable?)
  9. I won’t run away from the geese when we go to feed the ducks
  10. I will be more sociable. In fact I will be sociable full-stop.
  11. I will assume people like me instead of always assuming they don’t, unless they tell me otherwise.
  12. I will eat healthy. I’m laughing already at this one! Great start, great start, ugh!
  13. I will be more of  a ‘Yes Parent’!
  14. My husband and I will go on at least two date nights a month, and on one out of the two he may get lucky! (As in he may get to choose where we go! Come on! What were you thinking?!!)
  15. I will be less grumpy, even when I am grumpy
  16. I will learn to like wine. Wine always sounds so grown-up and sophisticated. Most taste like paint stripper to me. (I am currently gagging my way through a bottle – resolution completion in full swing!)
  17. I will learn to like watching a movie. Husband this is for you!
  18. I won’t bear a grudge against whoever interrupts my morning coffee!
  19. I will learn to love Lego. And quickly. I will be a Master Builder because everything is awesome!
  20. I will cry less
  21. I’ll love more
  22. I’ll conquer my fears. All of them! (Except spiders, roller-coasters, and wasps!)
  23. I will blog more

And there we have it, my new year’s resolutions a parent! What are yours?

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