I think it was a couple of years ago now that we received a really beautiful glass keepsake box from Maria Allen to include in a Christmas gift guide. At the time, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with it but after a little bit of thinking I decided that I would fill it with postcards for Erin. I don’t have a lot from my childhood. I have a small selection of photographs of me as a child and from a few days out with family, as well as having some old photos of some family members.
It’s been a while now since I last wrote about Erin’s birth and the fact that I was dealing with the aftermath of birth trauma and post natal depression. It’s actually not something I write too much about now but last month there was a birth trauma awareness week and I thought it was important to post something then so I did on social media. It got me thinking a bit though so I thought it was time for a bit of an update. Erin will be turning 4 in January and her birth is obviously something that will always
AD | Gifted The World Never Sleeps by Natalie Rompella, published by Tilbury House Publishers on 1 July 2019. Available to purchase on Amazon. Midnight. Stars speckle the darkness with bits of light. A cockroach skitters across the kitchen floor to snatch a forgotten breadcrumb. In the backyard, a spider weaves an intricate design on the fence. Winged insects dance and flicker in the porch light. Day and night, small creatures are busy working, eating, hunting, hiding. Just recently Erin has been a lot more interested in all different kinds of animals and bugs. While we have a few books
AD | Gifted Living in quite a small town we don’t have many options for buying things like toys and activities for Erin. We don’t have a toy shop apart from the section in the local supermarket and looking at certain shops online can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. Unless you know what you’re looking for then it’s hard to search for things for inspiration. I certainly don’t always know what I want to buy for Erin and I also don’t know what other children her age might be playing with. We recently tried out a
AD | Gifted When I look for new games or toys for Erin I now try to look for something that she will not only have fun with but also something that will challenge her a little bit. Something we haven’t done a lot of is balancing so when we were offered Bunny’s Garden from Goula I was hoping it would be something Erin would enjoy. Inside the box you get a wooden bunny seesaw, 6 food pieces and 1 dice. The aim of the game is quite simple; each time the dice is rolled you add that coloured piece
AD | Gifted Red Red Red by Polly Dunbar, published by Walker Books on 1st August. Available to purchase on Amazon. Every toddler feels frustrated sometimes, every toddler gets ANGRY. They scream, they shout, they see RED RED RED. Now, in her singularly expressive style, the beloved Polly Dunbar brings us the perfect picture story book to share with those little ones overwhelmed by their emotions; a true-to-life, upbeat story about a toddler tantrum that offers a meditative way to calm them down. “Why not count to ten?” Mum suggests to her son. One … two … three… Erin will
AD | Gifted items Can you believe we’re half way through the summer holidays already? When Erin finished nursery I thought the holidays would drag but they’re really going so far. Before we know it, the children will be going back to school and it’s time to get them prepared. Whether you’re already sorted or not, I wanted to share some ideas for back to school essentials! Growing up I think I was quite lucky to only have the dreaded head lice once. So far since January Erin’s nursery has only had one warning of there being a known case
AD | Collaborative post We’re half way through the summer holidays and I’ll be honest, I’m running out of ideas of things to do with Erin at home. While we have had some fantastic days out to places like Holt Country Park and Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure, I have tried to make sure that we have some ‘at home’ days to relax a bit and do some things that aren’t quite as exhausting. One of Erin’s absolute favourite crafty type thing to do at home is what we call ‘sticking’. I have a couple of boxes of craft items and paper
