What do your children value? Reflecting on the way children treasure the simplest things can teach us important lessons in life about what we treasure. My girls are obsessed with little bits and pieces. Their bits and pieces might be a compilation of parts from toys, Barbie accessories, bracelets or plastic jewellery. They love anything little. It’s the kind of stuff that I would call junk, but my Esther and Magdalene ...

Parenting comes with so many challenges. But the biggest challenge of all is stopping to enjoy the joys – the ‘sweet spots’ – of parenting. This year has been one of the most challenging years of parenting for me. In some ways, I assumed this year would be easier because Esther would be at kindy, and I’d only have Maggie and Phoebe at home. But it can be hard keeping a ...

It’s November, which means next month is Christmas. It will come sooner than you think. Here’s a Christmas recipe to tuck away, ready for the silly season. Recently, I had a crazy idea of creating a Christmas nativity scene out of chocolate. If I’m honest, I’m no food blogger. I have previously shared a photo of my Christmas shortbread: it was as black as the ace of spades. That’s what happens ...

Whether you’re toilet-training your kids or just trying to survive an outing to the shopping mall, we all have an embarrassing toilet story to tell! We all have embarrassing stories we’d rather not re-live … right? I have one or two that made my cheeks burn red. Okay, maybe it’s more like half a dozen. A few years ago, my daughter Esther decided to add one more incident to the list. ...

I remember the conversation I had with my mum friends 3 years ago as if it was yesterday. Esther was 22 months old and every fortnight I headed to a friend’s house where a group of mums caught up with each other. I was sitting at the outside table, momentarily lost in thought, when I immediately caught on to the conversation with the mums talking about placing their child’s name down ...

Here are some tips from an experienced mother on how you can succeed in transitioning your toddler from a cot to a bed. This post has been written in collaboration with Sleepmaker This year, Phoebe will be out of a cot and into a bed and I’m not sure how I feel about it because, being my last baby, this will mean this is the last time the cot will be ...

Although we all pursue it in different ways, friendship is a natural part of human life. It is critical that parents pray for their children to gain quality lifelong friends. When it comes to friendships I tend to be a drifter. I don’t actually have a best friend. My best friend is Jacob. I do have close relationships with friends that if there was ever a family emergency or a Birthday ...

Have you ever dreamed a dream, had all the steps fall into place and suddenly you’re living your dream and it’s nothing like how you imagined it? Welcome to Parenthood We dream of the baby, but have no idea how that little person will change the rest of our lives. We then have that baby who turns our dream of becoming a mum into a frumpy, financially stretched, sleep-deprived banshee who just ...

Have you ever shared how ridiculous a particular situation is with a friend to find that they think it’s crazy too but their predicament is actually worse than yours and you really have nothing to complain about? That happened to me on the weekend. Lately, I’ve been having little reminders sent in the way of a status from an inspiring blogger to words from a good friend that have slowly reminded ...

The life of a mum is difficult, but, despite the chaos and hardship, the unglamorous mum is beautiful through it all. Although at times our kids drive us crazy, it is the little, precious moments that make it totally worth it in the end! The Unglamorous Mum Last Friday afternoon, I caught sight of myself in a mirror at Rockmans as I was heading to the change room to try on ...

I don’t know how many times I have looked at the clock since becoming a mum and have willed those handles to spin a little faster. There have been many a day when I have wished for nap time to come sooner and for bedtime to be brought forward. I’ve always contemplated why time feels like it goes forever when stopping and playing with kids on the floor, yet when life ...

Tossing up on whether to go with a car that has more seats? Here’s why we chose a 7-seater SUV over a 5-seater sedan.  When I found out I was pregnant with Phoebe, I knew a new car was on the cards for our family. The surprise pregnancy was the catalyst for us making a decision on whether to purchase an SUV or another sedan. The SUV won in the end, ...

There was a time where I was anti-women getting into trades. I was an end-of-third year apprentice, had just finished my Diploma in Fashion Styling and I was about to complete my last block of TAFE for my plumbing apprenticeship. I was over plumbing. Over male tradies. Over male apprentices. I was over having to prove myself when I worked. I was over TAFE teachers who read from the Standards, rather ...

If there was ever a time to support local businesses, now would be it. And I have no doubt many of us have been doing what we can by ordering takeaway from our local restaurants or buying from online Australian stores. But the difficulty many face with supporting local is having the income to do so and for a lot of families, it’s a really tight request to ask. The impacts ...

This Father’s Day will be different again. Border closures and social distancing rules have made it harder to socialise locally. These home-delivered Father’s Day gifts will help us love our dads from afar and make them feel appreciated, even if we can’t be there in person. Supporting local shops and Australian-made products is going to benefit our local economy. If you’re at a loss on what to send your dad via ...

Create a visual journal of crafts made with your kids at home in isolation. The corkboard craft display will be a tangible visual reminder of the fun you got up to with your kids. We’ve had our first week and a bit in isolation… Some have been doing home-school. It’s been a crazy juggle for parents as they manage working from home, while ensuring kids are… occupied and learning. It’s not ...