My eleven year old 'C' LOVES to cook and experiment in the kitchen and I'm trying to encourage this as much as possible as feeding the family should be a family affair! Food is important in our household and the more involved people are in the cooking process, the more they love to eat it. One advantage of screen-time is when C finds simple cooking videos - apparently no one follows recipes any more - and states he's making dinner. Bring it!
We're all running on this never ending treadmill juggling so many balls but this is life and it's not going to stop (besides the odd pandemic of course!). Life will continue to deliver those super high highs and those mind blowing lows. It's what being human means. How do you cope? You have to stop. What do you do when you stop? Look for small ways to give yourself an edge without reinventing the wheel. Little actions over time equal very big changes.
So my partner has never been a book reader! Look he's probably read 8-10 books in the 25 years we've been together, but I don't consider that a reader! I have 4-8 books on the go at any one time (that's another story) so I consider myself a reader (see how I got my whole family to read just a little bit more here). So as we co-parent our tween and teen, I get rather frustrated when I find an amazing Earth-shattering book that is life-changing from a parenting perspective and I can't get him to read it. But, no more banging my head against a wall. I've crashed through it and found a solution!!
I love the Dr Seuss quote 'there is no one who is you-er than you'... how true! When we're younger we don't always want to stand out, we want to be accepted by our peers and fit in. We discover all those things we dislike about ourselves and the internal dialogue keeps us safe and controlled. Why do we do that? Age is magic and I love how this definitely changes as I get older, expand within myself and open my eyes to the important stuff. The biggest epiphany with age is a real freedom of not giving a f*$k. Not caring what anyone thinks of me and their agenda but putting myself at the top of the totem pole.
I had a milestone birthday recently and I thought I’d take advantage of the situation to teach my kids about money and creativity at once. It appears that many kids these days have no idea what a $1 is worth or anything really. Money is something that is connected to a piece of plastic that you tap and in exchange get stuff. They know it ‘costs’ something but don’t seem to understand where the money came from and don’t really seem to care (until the well runs dry). First I should say, this is my tween and teen and the more we discuss it, the more I realise they don’t know about money!
Do you have a fussy eater? Do you worry that they're getting enough food, especially during the school day, to have enough energy to stay alert? My youngest son used to be such a picky eater and I would pack so many different options in his lunch bag spending so much time and effort into putting his school lunch together. Still it would come home uneaten or slightly nibbled. What's a mum to do?
Getting back out into society and our lives after lockdown can be a stressful and anxious exercise, especially for children. It's important that we take our time and communicate with our kids to be aware that the world has changed yet we can do little things that will make a big difference.
When we started our Fridge-to-go business 14 years ago, we never imagined what a ride it would be and how we would adapt and change. I was on maternity leave with my first son and enjoying having time and rediscovering the world alongside him. We had so much variety with park visits, beach trips, zoo adventures and interacting with our mother's group. My husband thought I needed a project and Fridge-to-go became our second baby. I love seeing how our business has evolved to its current stage as our kids and those around us have grown and changed. They say if you don't change you die.
I didn't know there was a name for it, but there is. The Slight Edge is all about living your best life and reaping the rewards at the same time because you're totally in flow and good things happen. This is not to be mistaken for luck. You MAKE this happen and need to be very present to acknowledge that this is the point.
I believe that everyone in the world is first and foremost, kind. At our very base level, we all want to help and support one another and show up. Things happen in our lives that effect us and have us react out of fear, but where possible, I believe we are all doing our best and are good people. Keeping this in mind as you move through the world can make life easier for you as you break down barriers and allow spontaneous moments of magic especially when interacting with strangers.
I've always wanted to make a difference, especially after my own breast cancer journey a few years ago. Life goes so fast and is so precious, yet it's not that hard to really make a difference in someone's life. This is where the Luci Pack comes in.
Parenting is hard work. Without doubt it's one of the hardest things I've ever done and continues to teach me with new challenges and adventures. We tell ourselves that we can do more and be better while we get stretched thinner and thinner and look everywhere for guidance and inspiration. There's no parent guidebook they say... actually there are too many parent guidebooks so it's hard to know what's helpful and what's harmful!
