Time is all they need... (it's been one of those days)

I've had a week of days that I don't like my kids all that much but I love them anyway. The days we all know too well; that start great.. get a little shall I say, horrible in the middle, and end with cuddles and gorgeous sleeping children. So this week I tried out some new tactics to settle down the horrible middle we all hate so much... here is how I went.

Ignore them: Worked well until I was told my one of the builders in the house (note constant renovations and 17 builders roaming around) I should really pick him up and give him a cuddle now. Guilt rushed over me and I said "sorry baby, I love you but can you please stop winging now, its slowly killing me"... he hit me in the face and laughed it off. FAIL

Distract them with toys: Once they had realised what I was doing when creeping away for a coffee they started throwing toys at each other... toys were a fail.

Feed them: Great until the food ran out and I wasn't going to over feed them!

Take them out of the house: Surely fresh air will work a treat! All went very well... the park became my new hero and I thought if anything ever happened to this park I would be distraught. On the way back we needed to pick up some milk... I should have known better. All went down hill quicker than they ate their snacks! Home we go.

Match them: At one point in this day the noise was so loud I thought how in the world can I calm this down. And then I thought how about I just join them. So I did ... Terrible I know but it was soothing. That was until they wanted to beat me instead!

So I gave in, it was a day for cuddles, love and time together. Sometimes there is no amount of distracting you can do that surpasses the need for YOU. Makes for a good story and a strong heart at the end of the day.

For my nanny children,
C x

(on a side note, we have added a "like" button at the very bottom of all our posts, so if you liked what you read it's now even easier to let us know and show us a little love!)

Kids say the darndest things (and I wrote some of them down - #2)

Hey there lovelies! The other day Chan shared some of the adorable and hilarious things she's heard from that funny bunch she spends her days with, and it seems you all enjoyed it! I promised to share some of my own, which is easy as I am in the habit of writing down anything that I don't want to forget my boy saying. It all goes too fast, and as much as I believe I will remember it at the time, lets face it; by bedtime I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast that day so I don't like to take my chances... a backup is a good idea...

The things that come out of that tiny little loud mouth melt my heart and crack me up, DAILY. Here are a few...

While playing with his toy police motorbike on us and the couch. 

"Shhh Daddy" and sweetly brushes his Dad's eyes closed so he "sleeps". 

Then runs bike over his face, making a loud siren noise "NEENAWNEENAW! ... AWAKE!" 

"Oh no, I got crumbles"..... Crumbs 

Him - "I love Marnie and Pa. I love you too." 

Me  - "I love you too, you're my little man."

Him - "I not a man. I a boy."

Talking about our one day veggie patch...

Me - "I think we'll grow some carrots" 

Him - "Carrots. Or some spaghetti!"

'Breastfeeding' his favourite toy...

"I feeding him because he's hungry. This (*points*) one's pasta and this one's milk!" 

"Plants" -  Pants 

"Putanas" - Sultanas (apologies to any Italians...)

"Oviler"  -  Oliver

Heading for my Aunty's place, hopefully for a swim, but he said we can't swim because "it's totally cold out there".

Not wanting to sleep in his room

"I don't like my bedroom. Take it to the bedroom shop"

Coming home from shopping 

"I've been gone ages! I've been gone FIVE minutes!!"

Trying to teach him about mistakes. "I make lots of mustaches" 

"I doing hair bands!" ... Handstands

If you have some hilarious cuteness of your own to share we'd love to hear it!
H x

Board Game Chores (a DIY with a bit of bribery)

The kids start getting older, are more capable and can understand contributing to their home... but how can we convince them to help. First thing that comes to mind is to tell them to, just make them. We all know that ends in arguments and nagging, two things I'm sure you aren't a fan of.

A little while ago I decided to test out a new 'chore chart' idea that has been floating around the world of parental tips and tricks (of course we added our own flare). It went quite well, considering these bunnies hadn't really had to do much before this exercise, mainly because I was terrible on reminding them and following through myself. This can be tricky if your children are of different ages. Be aware that you will need to customise the chores and amount given to each child so that it is fair and age appropriate. I found this way of sorting out chores to be less effort for me. I don't have to chase up anything... they just know that if they do it, they get their reward/s.  

What you will need:

Paint or coloured pens (choose the amount of colours depending on number of children)

Large paddle pop sticks

2 jars to hold the sticks

Method:

Decide on the chores you want to give your children to do. How many for each child and then do the same for the rewards.

We did the following;

13 Year old 3 chores and 2 rewards

8 Year old - 2 chores and 1 reward

3 Year old - 1 chore and 1 reward

Note: The key is to make the rewards their own, let them decide what they want for a reward and give them a little bit of say over the chores in their pot to help push them along. Also make sure you have plenty of 'free for you' rewards. Make it as fun as possible! See below for some of our 'board game' rewards we came up with;

- Get out of one chore next week

- 30 mins extra TV

- 15 mins extra xbox

- Chore swap

- Double your rewards

Paint one end of the stick in the colour relating to that child and write the chore/reward on the other end. Make sure you don't write the chore/reward too far up the stick or you will find yourself in a pickle.

Place rewards in one pot/jar and the chores in another, with the coloured end of the stick sitting up so they know which one is theirs to pull out.

Before you return the sticks from the current week have them choose the new ones so that the chores and rewards aren't the same every week.

Each week sit down together talk about the week before, then pick out your chores and reward/s. Each child is to keep them in their rooms in their own pot or place in eye's view.

I have always found that following through can be hard, this exercise took the hard work out of the chore debate in our house. They believe I will follow through on the reward and I knew they wanted it. Was almost a board game for chores! Anything that works I say!

Enjoy! And if you do create your own version or have any great ideas of your own, be sure to let us know below! (or you can always join the conversation on Instagram or Facebook!).

C x

Kids say the darndest things (and I wrote some of them down - #1)

The list of funny, honest, terrible, misunderstood, loving things that children have said in my presence over the years is endless. At the end of a 12 hour day with my little munchkins I am exhausted beyond reason - and I am completely full of love and stories to go with it. My favourite thing about working with children is their ability to shock me. The things that they come out with and learn everyday is astounding. Let's just say my days are filled with laughter, frustration, repetition and a serious amount of fun!

I know how much joy the things they say bring me, so I thought I should share a few little stories, misunderstood words and funny one-liners from those who do it best;

Misunderstood words:

Fiveteen - Fifteen

Elevo - Eleven

John Sniff - John Smith from pocohontas

Honk - Hulk

Cheese Louise - Geez Louise

Duck Duck Juice - Duck Duck Goose

Underdorm - Thunderstorm

Flavourite - Favourite

Bounce-a-line - Trampoline

Basgetthi - Spaghetti

Punkuter - Computer

One-Liners that I'll never forget:

I can't even wait

It’s going to take for a long time

I think it in my brain

I 'magiced' it away

I love you too much

You're driving me nuts

Hi Sweet cheeks

I love you to the moon and the stars and the trees and the dinosaurs

Oh don't worry

Love: 3 year old little man

C: I love you

S: I know you do!

C: Oh and you don't love me?

S: I do love you

C: You just don't want to say it?

S: I don't need to say it, you know I love you, it's in my brain.

Excuses : 4 Year old monkey

C: No eating that in on the carpet... only on the timber ok.

S: Yeah of course

........... 2 mins later

C: What is that on the carpet?

S: *shrug*

C: How did that happen?

S: It jumped out of my hand and stuck to the floor, it was so crazy.

C: Oh yeah…

S: Crazy, what the heck!

I could go on forever and I am sure before I actually manage to post this I will have many more to share. I hope you all got a little chuckle out of them... they sure keep me going each day in my crazy job.

C x

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