Category: Family Life

Helping Your Child Stay Connected with Friends During the Pandemic

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD | Collaborative post It’s a tough time out there for everyone at the moment, particularly for children who might be missing their friends and the social aspect of school. The pandemic has brought many changes to our lives, and it’s important to try and lessen the effects on children of not seeing their friends face-to-face. Here are some great ideas from a private school near London for helping your child stay connected with friends during the pandemic.  Make use of virtual technology The pandemic has increased our reliance on virtual technology to keep in

Family picture in the snow

Snowball Fights And Snowmen

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

Saturday 16th January 2021… the first snow of winter. The day before we’d had a weather warning with some risk of it being absolutely freezing and a bit of snow. What I wasn’t expecting was to wake up and to see only white outside the window.   While I was still in bed, I could hear Erin overly excited downstairs at the prospect of going out to play in the snow. It’s not something she’s experienced too much in her 5 years so it’s very much a novelty when it happens. I managed to have

Child playing in sand

5 Fun Ways For Children To Play Outdoors

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD | Collaborative post Ever since Erin was little we’ve got outside as much as possible. We’re very lucky to have a large back garden as well as a park only a couple of minutes walk from our house. Sometimes though, especially in the colder weather, it can be easy to stay indoors if you think there’s not much to do. I wanted to share some of our favourite ways to play outside, no matter what the weather is like. Tuff Trays It took us a while but we’ve really grown to love our Tuff

Lab equipment

What To Expect From A Home COVID Test For A 4 Year Old

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

A few weeks ago we got the call that we had been dreading. Erin’s school phoned to say that her cough wasn’t going away so based on Government guidance, Erin was no longer able to stay at school and we had to go and pick her up as soon as possible. I’ll be completely honest, at this point I had a bit of a breakdown. It wasn’t that I was worried that Erin had COVID 19 because I wasn’t. Erin gets coughs quite often and they sometimes last quite a while so I knew what

Erin in school uniform

The Transition From Nursery To Infant School

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

Just over 2 weeks ago Erin had her very first session in Reception. Before Erin even finished nursery back in July we had started to prepare her for moving up to infant school. Luckily, the school is around the corner from our house and we saw it every day on the walk to nursery. I think having the new school so close to home really helped Erin to get used to the idea of going somewhere new. Obviously, with COVID and lock down, the end of nursery wasn’t quite how it was supposed to be

Husband I Love You, But You Drive Me Mad

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

When John and I first got together I lived in Nottingham while he lived in Norfolk. Aside from the summer I lived with him, we pretty much had a long distance relationship until I graduated. For the first year or so we lived in a really small two bedroom flat. Without that spare room I think I would have killed him. We needed that spare bedroom so that we could have our own space if we needed it (and we did). When we purchased our house we made sure we would have more than enough

flatlay of school uniform

The Countdown To Reception

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

It seems like a lifetime ago when we applied for Erin’s place at infant school. Due to everything else that has been going on lately the day for admission announcements kind of got forgotten. It only dawned on my the evening before and after that I was filled with both excitement and fear. We live in a small town with two infant schools. One is a 2 minute walk away from our house and the other is right across town. We don’t drive so Erin not getting in to our first choice would have made

What To Look For In Residential Care For Your Elderly Relative

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD | Collaborative post When the time comes and your relative is unable, or doesn’t want, to stay at home, starting to search for ‘residential care homes near me’ is the next step. And there are a number of factors to consider, as well as lots of questions to be asked. As a Darlington assisted living facility, not a nursing home, we recognise that this isn’t an easy decision to make, so here are a few things that you what to look for in homes for elderly relatives. Where to start? If your relative is able