My Other Name Is Mum: {All Things Kids}

Showing posts with label {All Things Kids}. Show all posts

Rosie's World - Join in the Fun with her new OE Game

28 March 2017

Bringing kids up in today’s world is challenging, especially when it comes to the ever-evolving world of technology. I let my kids (well the one who is old enough to) watch TV, and play on devices from time to time because sometimes I need a break, need to make dinner, or just because.

Letting them do this – makes them vulnerable to so many things online, and trying to keep an eye on what they are watching or looking at can be challenging, especially when I am not in the same room. Rosie’s World has been a lifesaver for this. It’s a safe platform for kids to be on, where they can play around, learn and watch video’s (that are safe) and are all on one website.

Christmas 2016 - Kids Must have's

8 November 2016

Christmas is just over a month away. - like seriously where has this year gone. Just the other day I was getting ready to go on maternity leave (all the way back in march), and now its almost time for me to be going back (sob). I am trying to get myself organised before Christmas (I say that every year and then find myself doing late night shopping the week before).
Thankfully The Warehouse has made my life a whole lot easier, by having just about everything I need/want all under one roof - and at crazy prices too - especially gifts for the kids.

I have put together a few of my favourites, and a lot of these will be going under our Christmas tree this year. Most of these are available now, so I have added links to them online too.

Accelor8 Skateboard | MADD Whip Extreme Scooter | NERF Super Soaker Alpha Fire

Paw Patrol Mini Puzzle Tin | Paw Patrol Gift Set | Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Double Down | Spider-Man Marvel Mini Flying Disc

| Star Wars LEGO Rebel Alliance Battle Pack

| MADD Kick Scooter Purple

4D Augmented Tees - These are SERIOUSLY cool. They are interactive tees that come to life when you snap a picture of them. All you do is download the "4D Gear" app, point it at the shirt and it comes to life. There are 16 designs to choose from, and are a bargain at $20 each. (Keep reading as I have 2 of these to giveaway).

From decorations to stocking fillers, teacher gifts to tableware, The Warehouse has you sorted for Christmas shopping this year. I have already done some online shopping, as the prices are just too good. I am sure before the month is up, I will have done a lot more too.

W I N >> Thanks to The Warehouse, I have 2 of the 4D Augmented Tees to giveaway, one for the boys,and one for the girls. To enter, pop over to my Facebook page, you can also see what Keaton thinks of his super cool shirt.

As you can see - he approves, he keeps looking down at his shirt when I have the app in selfie mode and tries to catch the dino.

LETS BE FRIENDS

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*** All thoughts and opinions are my own ***

Kids Canvas Art DIY

28 August 2016

KIDS CANVAS DIY ART - MY OTHER NAME IS MUM

Keaton loves painting, so when I saw that The Warehouse had a special on canvas boards, I was there like a flash and picked up 2 for the crazy price of $2.40 for both BARGAIN!!!!

They were super easy to make and a lot of fun too.

To make them you will need:

Canvas Boards

Paint Brushes, or Sponges

Paint

Something to put the paint in

Masking Tape

Firstly place the masking tape at random on the canvas boards, make sure you press this down firmly, or the paint may bleed.

Next go wild painting, Keaton used his fingers, as well as doing what every kid does, mixed all the paint together to form his own unique colours.

Once the Paint is dry, remove the masking take, and you have one of a kind art.

Told you it was simple.

LETS BE FRIENDS

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A letter to my 3 year old

15 June 2016

I know you have it pretty tough, not only are you in one of many rebellious phases in your life, but you have also recently become a big brother -so I get it, there have been a lot of changes in your life in a short space of time... but my friend there are still limits.

Here are a few things I would like you to take note of:

Please:

don't get grumpy at me when I ask if you need to use the bathroom every couple of hours. It's not that I have forgotten that I have already asked you, it's because you sometimes get so engrossed in what you are doing that you forget to listen to what your body is telling you.

don't have a melt down when it comes to bed time - most nights we let you stay up a bit past your bed time anyway. But you need your sleep so that you can grow and learn new things (and give us a little break).

stop jumping on the bed, couch, and everything else we tell you not to. I know its fun to jump, but that is what we bought you a trampoline for - not to mention its really dangerous jumping on and off the couch, bed, coffee table etc.

don't get upset when I limit your TV watching, I get it, you love Paw Patrol, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Fireman Sam, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder, but you can't watch all of them (in that order) every night before bed. It's not because I don't love you, it's be cause I do love you that I would rather have you play with your toys or read a book than watching programmes you have seen multiple times already.

note that I have to call rice "risotto" in order for you to eat it, I don't like lying to you, but it's the only way to get you to eat it.

learn to clean up your toys when you are done with them. Tidy up time does not mean - lets watch dad tidy up all of my toys while you stand there pretending to be taking part.

continue sleeping so well at night, I love that you go to sleep, and we don't have to worry about you waking up for every little noise. It would be even better if you could wake up a little later than 6am though, even half an hour would be great.
use your ears, they really are not for decoration, and once mastered, you will find them really great and useful.

Please also know that:

I hate having to constantly shout at you.

I know you are just learning, but it makes me sad to see you frustrated and upset when you are trying to do something that you are not quite ready to do. I know it makes you cross when I try to help you with it, or when I tell you that you are still to little.

I don't mean to shout and tell you off for things on a daily basis, but you test patience and I can't help it.
you won't really turn into a giant booger if you continue eating them(well maybe you will), I only say that because its totally gross and embarrassing to see you sticking your finger up your nose and eating what ever "treasure" comes out with it.

I know I threaten you with the "time out" chair, or soap in your mouth, and while that may seem mean, it's the only thing that gets you to listen to me... sometimes. (believe me, I have tried numerous other methods of reasoning and discipline.

Despite everything above, please continue to use that amazing imagination of yours. You are a wonderful little person, and I am so glad to call you my son. For such a little person, you are so independent, I love watching you doing the things you should be doing, like dressing yourself, brushing your teeth, and using your knife and fork (well sometimes).

P.S - I love you just the way you are.

LETS BE FRIENDS

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Yes I am Pregnant, and No I don't care for your dumb questions.

23 February 2016

Do you often get asked questions when you are pregnant, and you think to yourself really? You had to go and ask that? Well lately I have been asked some really "dumb" (well they are to me) questions, so thought I would share them below -

Dumb things people say to pregnant people

There are more, but I thought I would start with my top 10 most annoying ones:

Oh wow you're pregnant again - um yes my first child is nearly 3, and I was not aware that I had to inform you of my plans to have another baby. You make it sound like I do this for a living!

Do you know what you are having? It looks like you are having a xxx - No we don't know what we are having, and if we wanted to know we would know, thanks for your totally scientifically calculated guess though, you have a 50% chance of being correct.

You look way better this time around - really? so all those compliments you paid me last time were just lies - how can I believe what you are saying now then?

Isn't the heat getting to you? How you do it I don't know! - I just get on with it, its not like there is no summer when you are not pregnant, and yes its a little bit hotter, but honestly you just deal with it.

You look massive - WOW I would not have thought carrying a baby would change the way I look in anyway.

I hope you don't have the baby at work - yes because that is my lifelong goal, and like I have any control over when he wants to come out.

If your baby came early last time, then this one will come even earlier - Oh please! This baby has no idea when the last one came out, I'm pretty positive he will come out when he wants to, but again thanks for the scientific calculation.

Are you ready to have no sleep again? I'm pretty sure I gave up the right to sleep when I had my first child thanks, I manage on limited sleep as it is, so I am sure I will manage.

When are you having the next one? Do you mind me having this one first, come on. And who is to even say we will have another one, and if we did, it would not be any of your business.

You chose the wrong time to get pregnant. Why? because I am pregnant in the summer? Does it really make that much of a difference when I am pregnant? Should I not just be grateful that I am pregnant in the first place?

I don't mean to sound ungrateful, and maybe I should appreciate the fact that people are interested in my pregnancy, but seriously, think before you speak people! ( I blame this post on pregnancy hormones - I am not normally this bitchy, okay well sometimes, but still it's the hormones).

Have you been asked anything really stupid?

LET'S BE FRIENDS

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See what link ups I have linked up with

Homemade Baby Wipes

26 January 2016

I love trying new things, and I love them even more when they are super simple to make. When I found out I was pregnant again, my mum gave me a book called “Mother's little helper” – by Wendyl Nissen. Now mum has been into all things natural for a while, and makes a few of Wendyl’s products already, so I was eager to see what things I could make myself.

The first thing that stood out to me (and is what this post is about) were the baby wipes. I already have a super sensitive toddler, and I am particular with what wipes we use on him, the washing powder he uses, and the soap etc. I think we sometimes tend to forget about the chemicals that are out there, especially in kids and baby products, so if there is a way I can reduce the exposure my kids have to chemicals, then I will definitely give it a try.

So when I saw a ~~3 ingredient~~ all natural 3 ingredient recipe for baby wipes, I was super excited to give it a try.

Here is what you need:

½ cup water

1 tbsp rosewater

1 tbsp witch hazel

(Paper towel/Chux – and a sealable container)

Pour some of the mixture into the bottom of a plastic container (I used a Sistema because it seems to close better, and the paper towels fit on there folded in half), and then pull apart the paper towels (you can also get the ones that are half the size of a regular one) and place them in the bottom of the container, lay them down in batches of 10, and then pour some more mixture, continue layering until the paper towels are soaked.

Wendyl suggests using Chux cloths as an alternative to the paper towels, as you can reuse them – I would personally use them for the hands and face, but will stick to the paper towel for the nappy ones (just because I hate washing).

Another thing I plan to do, is to put some in zip lock bags in the fridge, that way when we go out, I can just grab a pack from there head out.

The rosewater and witch hazel I got were preservative free – so these bad boys are going to stay in the fridge, as they will go off in summer. For winter time – I would think they would be fine to keep out. You can also just make up the mixture and dampen the paper towels as and when you need them (which I also plan on doing).

As my toddler is about 95% potty trained, I will be using these on his face and hands mainly, so it makes me feel better knowing that I am not using any nasty chemicals on his skin. I plan to use these for the baby too. We had a test run with them already and they were great - especially great to wipe the face in the heat.

I was super impressed with how easy these are to make, and they are so inexpensive which is even better. I ended up doubling the recipe and using about 3/4 of a roll of paper towel, I did not realise how much the paper towels absorbed, so there is enough liquid in there to add more paper towels.

Wendyl’s products are 100% natural – and are all made locally in Auckland. The products all use simple ingredients such as baking soda, borax, vinegar, soda ash, and oxygen bleach.

If you have not already popped over to Wendyl’s online store, I urge you to. You can pick up already made products (including the baby wipe solution – score!!!), as well as the recipes in case you are not a DIY’er – there are very few places that will actually give you the recipes of the products they sell nowadays.

I have teamed up with Wendyl and her son Daniel who have kindly given me a AWESOME hamper full of their baby products to giveaway:

Here’s what you can win:

Make sure to pop on over to Wendy's facebook page and say hi,

If you would like to win all of the above (I mean who wouldn’t) then enter below

**** Congratulations to HOLLY DEAN ****

You can also see Wendyl's recipe here

LET'S BE FRIENDS

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Iphone Kiddy Lock

15 January 2016

Okay so I may be one of “those parents” who let their kids watch You Tube and other video’s off their phones – come on, we are all guilty of it at some time right. I am finding it happening more and more as my due date gets closer. Sometimes I just want to sit down after a long day, and chill, so if he wants to watch fire trucks on my phone – well who am I to stop him. I mean I don’t let him sit them glued to the phone for hours, but 30 mins is more than enough for me to recharge my batteries. And he doesn’t enjoy watching TV, he won’t sit for more than about 5 minutes in front of the TV, so this is the next best thing.

I love hacks, and am always watching hack video’s, and lately I have been watching hacks on iPhone’s as there are so many little things that can make one's life easier that I just don’t know about.

Que Guided Access. OMG – how did I not know about this sooner – I must have been living under a rock. If you have an iPhone, or iPad and a little one who likes to use it, then you NEED to get this. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t tell Keaton to “ leave the volume buttons”, or stop pressing the round button. Well with guided access – all that is taken away. It basically disables certain areas of your phone, so you don’t have to worry about them doing anything else on there except for what they are meant to.

The setup can be achieved in 4 simple steps:

1. Go to Settings, General, Accessibility, scroll all the way down to the bottom until you see "Guided Access"

2. Turn the slider to on (so its green)

3. Enter a passcode that you will remember (you can also set your fingerprint function as a activator)

4. Set whether the phone can go to sleep during a session

Now you are set. So go to what you want them to watch, or play with, and triple click the home button.

The screen will shrink to the middle of the phone and at the top you will see the words “Cancel”, “Guided Access” and “start”

At the bottom you will see “options” and then a little sentence saying “ Circle areas on the screen you would like to disable” – if there are any parts of the screen you would like to disable, then circle these by pressing and drawing a circle with your finger. Because my little one just watched video’s, I just click start, and it locks the phone, so he can only watch and change video’s on you tube (for example). Once you have started the session, you will get a little pop up to say “Guided access has been enabled”.

To turn it off – triple click on the home screen, enter in the password, and click end.