CRAFTS AND DIY
Make a bright flower petals sun-catcher
For this bright flower petals sun-catcher craft, any available blooms you select will create a lovely effect. We used different flowers we had on hand from old bouquets. Here, we used a mix of tulip, daffodils, cherry blossoms and daisy petals to create an 8-pointed star shaped display. If you have a school-aged child, it ...
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FASHION
Shopping for tween & teen girls -- some favourite brands
While it felt like a very slow and steady journey into adolescence for my boys, it appeared to happen completely overnight for Ivy! I don't know if this is a difference between boys and girls, but for Ivy it has certainly been a huge year of growing and changing quickly. She will turn 12 in ...
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PARENTING
A big chop for charity, donating hair for children who need wigs...
The photos are from a year ago, but the pride remains the same for my brave big girl who chopped twelve inches off of her hair for charity. She was then six, soon to be seven, and more focussed in her desire and more confident than her years, not flinching even once when she went in ...
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PARENTING TIPS
Tips for dealing with children's tiredness
Children's tiredness can be exhausting, not only for them, but also for parents too. We all know that being tired has a huge impact on our daily life and can really dictate the way that we behave towards others. However, it is only really during adulthood that we are able to recognize the link ...
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HEALTH & CARE
Essential tips for children's eye health and prescription eye glasses -- tips from a parent that knows
You might not think you need to read this unless you think your child needs glasses, but I promise, it is worth it. I have learned some incredible information from various doctors, opticians, other parents, and eyeglass stores (like our new favourite eyewear shop I wrote about here, Auerbach & Steele). I have become a bit ...
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PARENTING
Tips for keeping our teenage boys close
Easton will be 16 this year, and Quin will soon turn 14. Two teenage boys, both incredibly different. What I've learned so far in parenting teen boys is that each child's needs are different, and how I am with one isn't necessarily the same approach I take with the other. But really, what matters most is that ...
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PARENTING
A personal message...
Dear friends, A Happy New Year to all of you! It is undeniable: 2021 already has a rocky start... But I hope you can keep your spirits up, and that better times will be upon us very, very soon. I am writing this post with a personal message, and equal feelings of excitement and sadness. ...
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CHRISTMAS CRAFTS
A slow and simple Christmas (and craft to make with little ones)
For me and for many, 2020 has been a year of 'Slow and Simple'. Our lifestyles and livelihoods were forced to slow down, to adapt or at the very least relocate to our living rooms. And many of us have had to scale back on things and to keep things simple so as to get ...
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COOK BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
What's Cooking at 10 Garden Street - A delightful cookbook for kids that also tells a story!
As a child growing up, I was privileged enough to be raised by a village. My mother was intentional about raising me among diverse groups of people. This also meant that I was exposed to diverse foods. To this day, a good dal or pancit is comfort food to me. I learned from an early ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Treasure baskets - our revolutionary discovery for baby play
We have recently discovered treasure baskets in our house and they really have been quite revolutionary for play. I am full of play ideas for my eldest daughter Lily, who is two, I create toys from cardboard and love thinking up fun games we can play with things we have around our home. But for ...
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FASHION
Good Work Ethic & Entrepreneurial Teenagers
When I was growing up, and as teenagers, we didn't get an allowance. We didn't get pocket money. And we didn't expect to get all the things we wanted. This may sound harsh, but it wasn't at all. It was normal to us and totally fine. We knew that we could work, we could find ...
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PARENTING
Black History Month -- it isn’t just a month
[caption id="attachment_80686" align="alignnone" width="640"] Nelson Mandela by Chris Van Wyk[/caption] As we arrive in November, you will have recently learnt a lot more about Black History than you will have done since, well, maybe June. 2020, it seems, has been a bumper year. October was Black History Month here in the UK (February takes that title ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Black owned games brand for all the family - Very Puzzled
I wanted to share this glorious black owned puzzles brand on here. I discovered them earlier this year before being gifted another of their products, their colour- in tshirt, more recently. Very Puzzled is a toys and games brand and is Dad-run. It was born from a mission to provide black children and families with ...
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CELEBRATIONS
How we do Halloween, when we don’t do Halloween.
As a child, growing up in a part of South London which was, at the time (early 90’s) rather under-represented, Halloween was a given. Halloween seemed to be everywhere, and everyone celebrated it. Or at least that’s how it felt when I was 7 years old. I had a couple of very makeshift outfits, remember ...
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BOOKS
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai - an autobiography for older children
I have fallen in love with the work from Thanhha Lai and her poetric writings. Inside Out & Back Again is an autobiographical novel written in verse. It captures one year in the life of ten year old Kim Hàbook which reflects Lai's own childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and ...
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BOOKS
Seasonal book rotation, do you do this too?
We completed our seasonal book rotation! Every few months, we update our home with something special and we also pull out some books to acknowledge the season. We keep it quite simple but some of our family like to go all out. And that is fantastic for us when we get the chance to visit ...
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SERVICES
Creating a Rosemood custom photo book -- documenting our summer travels
Not so long ago I spent an evening on a lagoon beach in Galicia. I was eating sardines straight from the tin with crusty pieces of bread. The last sunny rays of the day were warming my back as I was lazily watching my husband navigate his SUPboard in the shallow waters in front of me, ...
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SERVICES
Discussion -- What Subscription/Delivery Services do you use?
I've always loved drawing inspiration and reading discussions on this platform, whether small or more complex parenting topics. So I wanted to pop in here and quickly ask a very profound question; what subscription-based delivery services does your family use that you would recommend? Ha! Serious question. I'm curious if there are any subscription-based services out ...
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EDUCATION
Autumnal Artworks for Home Learning
As the wind brings in the seasonal change, we are welcoming in the Autumnal opportunity to incorporate some art appreciation into our home learning. My children are under 5 so art appreciation is about the visual right now but slowing creeping in is the background and stories behind the works. By using famous artworks we ...
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PARENTING TIPS
Moving abroad made eas(ier) - 5 tips and thoughts
This week on Instagram, I shared the news of my family and I moving abroad (indefinitely) to France. I received so many wonderful messages of congratulations, excitement and support as well as a lot of questions about how we had done it from people wanting to do the same. I’ve shared below the main ways ...
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TEENAGERS
Clothing allowance -- when, and how much to give?
A few months ago we started giving Sara a clothing allowance. She is now 15 years old, and it seemed appropriate to start giving her some financial independence and ownership of her choices concerning style and fashion. With the decision of giving her 'clothing money', as we say here in The Netherlands, came the immediate ...
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BOOKS
"Tiny, perfect things" by M.H. Clark and Madeline Kloepper
"Tiny, perfect things" is one of those picture books that help you find joy simply by observing what goes on in your own neighbourhood. And that's quite delightful! A recommendation from a while back, it made its way to our collection this summer. I am so glad it did! In this beautiful story by M.H. ...
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PARENTING
And So, September Is Here
It felt as though it would never come, but the longest summer is now over, and we have truly hit Autumn here in London. My children and I are preparing for new starts – my daughter begins reception next week, my son starts nursery the week after and I will head back to work after ...
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