There are probably very few parents of children in the early years of school who are not familiar with sight words coming home for revision and review each night. The challenge for us all is to make this a fun time for your child – and believe it or not, sight words CAN be fun! There are so many games and activities that you can play, and it’s an exciting...

I can’t quite believe it yet!! We first started looking at caravans at the end of last year. We thought we had PLENTY of time to make a decision. And then we decided to head off to Tassie in September as a warm-up for our big trip around Australia. So in the blink of an eye, the months flew by and we realised that we had to make the decision NOW! We headed into...

I try not to get involved in Rugby League discussions. Despite coming from a family of football fans (Dad, you probably shoudln’t read this post), I have absolutely no interest in the game whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong – I do actually enjoy sports in general. There is nothing more thrilling than a close game that comes down to the final moments. I...

Pre-children, in my days of mothering idealism, I thought that having children (and four of them at that) would be a cinch. I would get along like a mother duck with her little ducklings waddling along behind her, all in a lovely straight line with just a few little quiet quacks to let me know that all was well. I was deluded. Completely deluded. What they...

*** Congratulations to the winner of the giveaway – Mary Preston! *** Our house has been blessed with rather compact bedrooms. So when we tried to put a desk into my eldest daughter’s room, it just wasn’t going to work. I spent weeks looking at different loft bed options, and heard lots of feedback from the Mummy Smiles Facebook community. The pros...

So I told you about why we decided to begin our Additive Free journey in Part 1 HERE. But then suddenly we were faced with the question,  ”Where on earth do we start?”. There is just so much information out there, and when you start looking at “numbers” in foods, it can become a little overwhelming. We decided that it was a one-in, all-in...

When my son was born, there seemed to be one issue after another. Nothing big, just lots of little things. As a c-section baby, he’d had a build up of birth fluids in his stomach which made him feel sick for the first few days, and he was constantly throwing up lots of muck, choking on it in his sleep (he is my only baby that the midwives insisted he sleep on his...

Yesterday we celebrated Mother’s Day. It has, in recent years, become one of my favourite days of the year. I love al the planning that the children put into their handmade gifts. It makes me laugh when I innocently walk into their rooms to put away washing and suddenly have children flinging themselves in front of me, and body-blocking the cupboard so that I...

There has always been a passion inside of me when it comes to children and education. As a child I would “play school” with my imaginary classmates. In my school, I would collect leaves that had fallen from the trees – studying their shape and their colour – marvelling at how different they looked when actually in my hands. Feeling the...

Yesterday in the car, where all of our most in-depth conversations seem to happen, my son asked me about ANZAC Day. I have had quite a few changes of heart when it comes to my thoughts on this day. When I was in Primary School I was a trumpet player, and although I never had the honour of playing The Last Post, I remember vividly how it made me feel. I remember the...